Marching Into The Peace Corps, Pt 2: “When God Speaks Everyone Listens, Even E.F. Hutton”

I’ve made the trek several times in November, and I don’t know how much distance is between my house and the store. Next time my friend comes down to help me out on something, I’ll ask her to drive it and tell me the mileage just out of curiosity. Generally, I try to avoid being a burden to my friends with stuff like this, but to carry a 2.5 gallon jug of water in a backpack isn’t a practical solution.

After the first hike to the store, I felt a pain in the arch of my left foot, and I hobbled around on it for the next few days. I simply chalked it up to being from exercise I’m not used to engaging in. I’ll admit it – I’m very out of shape and find myself breathing heavy after I’ve crawled into bed. Now if I were the kind of person who could do phone sex for pay, I’d make a lot of money with all that huffing and puffing! Pain may be a motivator, but hunger is an even bigger one, so when the food ran low, I strapped on the backpack and hit the pavement.

I knew I had to get my butt in gear the day before Thanksgiving just in case the grocery store closed early. I didn’t have much in my pocket for cash, but I had enough to get a couple cans of tuna, more Ramen noodles, tomato soup, and a fresh box of Cheerios. I pushed back from the computer desk, and started to think. “I need a shower. I’m hungry. I’m thirsty. I have to pee. Join the Peace Corps.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. What just came out of my brain?! I instantly remembered an old Sesame Street song I used to sing as a joke when something wasn’t right. “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn’t the same…” I could understand shower, hunger, thirst, and need to relieve myself, but the Peace Corps?! I wasn’t thinking about joining anything except a bar of soap to my stinky body and spoon to my lips.

The shower called to me, so I jumped in and jumped out. I didn’t know how long the stores would be open, but it was already past 3:00 PM and if I didn’t move it, I would be going a bit hungry. Throwing myself together so as not to scare little children or cause cars to go off the road, I ventured outside to the store. There was only one thing on my mind: did I really hear what I thought I heard? Was this God’s voice, or another spirit trying to trick me into screwing up my life further? Answers are great, but they often do not come around according to your time frame.

quazen.com articles by this writer can be found here

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