The End of an Era

After a decade in the trucking business, we are coming off the road. We are having a "going-out-of-business" sale...Anybody need a semi? As you can see, we have a whole barnlot full of them.

This decision has been a long time coming, but there were many factors that were indicators that this was God's timing. September 30th was our last day. Cooper Trucking began April 1, 2001, with a $5 investment to open a checking account. The guy we were working for carried the loan on our first truck. Scott Floyd was our first driver.

Over the past 10 1/2 years, we've seen 30 drivers come through here. God has given us the opportunity to minister to many of them in different ways. We've presented the Gospel to them every year at our annual Christmas party. We even were blessed to see one driver that we had to let go accept Christ as his Savior when he met Gary to turn in his truck and phone. It has been a decade of growth as our faith has been increased. There have been good times and bad, happy times and sad, mountain peaks and valleys.

It's been a bit scary to take this step, but exciting at the same time. The business has become very stressful. Gary is really looking forward to harvest without having to spend his day trying to orchestrate truck repairs over the phone while sitting at the end of the field with everyone waiting on him to get off the phone.

People have asked, "What are you going to do with all your spare time?" or "What are you going to do now?" The answers to those questions would be that we plan to be able to spend more time together as a family, to be more involved in our church, to actually be able to talk to Gary, to be able to go places when we want to & not have to stay close to home in case there's a service call. Nineteen years ago, we told Gary's dad that we didn't want to take over the dairy operation when he retired because we didn't want to be tied down and never able to leave home. The trucks have become those dairy cows to us. Somebody we'd never met before asked Gary today if he was retired. I snickered and said, "He's not old enough to retire even though he looks like it." Gary said he hoped it would feel like he was retired in the near future without all the trucks and drivers to babysit.

This has been quite a year with Lainey, Krissy, and now this...so many life-changing events. As you all know, music is a big part of our life and I'm always quoting a favorite song. What comes to mind now is .......Here on the potter's wheel, I find myself once more...I'll trust the potter's hand. He knows what's best for me. He has a perfect plan these human eyes can't see. He's the potter. I'm the clay. He knows just how much I can take. When I face the fire again, I'll trust the potter's hand.