Missing the Signs

Earl Palmer frequently tells the story of a cross-country with two other young pastors early in his pastoral ministry.

They were making a cross-country trip from the East Coast back to California. In a money-saving plan, they developed a rotating system of drivers, while passengers slept. At one point Earl was sleeping when the driver came into a small town late at night and the only gas station was on the opposite side of the road.

Earl was the next driver but had not been told that the car was now facing east, not west. The other two guys went promptly to…