Our travels began and ended on the train.
An Amtrak roomette is about the size of my dining room table. Cozy for one, tight for two. On a suggestion on the internet, we booked two roomettes across the hall from each other. Enough personal space for each of us and views out both sides of the train.
For those with sleeping accommodations, meals are included, and sumptuous. I did not finish my vegetables (sorry, Mom), but I had dessert anyway. I mean, blueberry cheesecake?
Then, of course, it was time to sleep. Or not. Sleeping on a train is a learned behavior. Some people, my sister for one, got it right away. (Maybe because she spent the first of her three nights sitting up in a coach chair.) I figured it out in time for the last night.
There was so much to see out the window. We saw sheep, horses, deer and antelope! Several times, cattle, grazing near the tracks, stampeded away in panic. A few turned to look at us; most kept running. Silly cows! Didn’t they know we were track bound and no threat whatsoever?
But how many times have I panicked over something that couldn’t get to me? How often have I lain awake worrying about something that would never happen? I know better than that. I can choose not to stampede with the crowd.
But when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
I praise God for what he has promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:3-4 NLT
The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God,
you fear nothing else,
whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.
Oswald Chambers