Saturday, August 31, 2013

I want to tell you

Sometimes things just don't go as planned. This is one of those times.

I want to give you an amazing praise report of what ministry looks like here for us... But it's foggy even to me some days... And finding the energy to tell you that it feels a if nothing is really happening at all..well that feels to discouraging.

I am thankful we found a little church to fellowship and worship God.

But sometimes this being on the road stuff it's just lonely.
And hard.
Sometimes when it rains for days at a time it's hard to see that the sun is still there even if it's covered by the clouds.

Sometimes it's harder still to see the SON (Jesus) when you're in the valley.

Sometimes I just forget that even when I can't see Him or feel His presence.. That doesn't mean He isn't right there.

I wish I could tell you that we have our support letters ready to go.. But we have barely put to paper our missions statement.

I suppose after being away from what used to be home for almost 8 years and getting through the grieving process this is as good as it gets.

But deep down I am sure that's not true..
Havering never settled for anything before my heart aches for the lost here...and yet I have done very little to impact their eternity .

And that bothers me deeply.

But I am having a hard time seeing through these grey days

Thursday, August 22, 2013

A Hiding Place

When I was a kid I came to this place...

A place to swim
And fish
And hike

As I grew I came to hide
Or think
Or hike the trails

We discovered crawdads
And repelled down the cliffs
Or spent lazy afternoons wading or rafting down the creek

There are memories with friends
My grandpa teaching me how to bait my line
Waterfalls
Long afternoons sharing my deepest secrets with the whisper of the wind

Today we shared more memories here with our children wading down the waterfalls.
Then a storm rolled in...
The thunder telling a foreboding tale...
As we got out of the water
The skies opened up and we were drenched.

I want to continue living in moments like these making memories with our children


Saturday, August 10, 2013

Rest

I did not want to stop in Wyoming.

Mostly it was principle.

To me Wyoming represents where I was supposed to spend my anniversary just 10 days from now.. in Yellowstone. 

But things change

So in my mind I was not going to spend the night in this state til I could return.

But a late start, a boy just wrapping up potty training, a mountain climb in the dark and a van full of tired kids... to include a very grumpy baby changed all that.... oh and a very tired husband too.

So we are nestled in near Laramie WY with the alarm set for 6am.

And we will pray the kids do as well tomorrow.

Thanks so far for your prayers and support. We are still shy of what we need for gas to get to NY but we left in faith that God knows our exact needs.

Keep praying.

There are many more miles to go.


Friday, August 9, 2013

A change in direction.

My husband's mom is really sick.
She has been given just a short time to live.

When my dad was told that he lived 4 more months.

And we might not make it in time.

But she is all the way in upstate NY.

And we are still here in Utah.

See the thing is we have to budget every mile.

He really needs to be there for his dad & sisters. And the truth is...  if we get there in October as we budgeted... it may be way too late.

And our "adventure" my need to press pause...  just temporarily while we step in alongside family.

And so far we still have no additional support from any other churches.

And like many of you money is tight.

Would you help us to get there quicker?

A donation of any size would be a huge blessing. You can donate securely through our paypal button on the blog.

Thanks.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Birthdays on the road

Today was our 4 th child's birthday.

He turned 9.

So we got up this morning & made breakfast burritos

Gave him a new backpack for his travels, a set of mini military guys, sunglasses & a sticker.

Then we got dressed

And headed to the great salt lake.

I did some research before we went...

And thought who wouldn't want to float in the great salt lake?

So we got to Antelope island
Took in the incredible scenery

Stopped at the visitor center where we saw a bison

Shortly after we trekked down to the water.
The great salt lake is full of brine shrimp & the beaches full of brine flies.

It was a very interesting experience. 

Frank & the kids floated in the super salty water... and I took a few pictures...

It was a good day.

On the way home our birthday boy requested burgers from McD's.

We headed back to our camp.. took showers since we smelled like the salt lake
( let's just say its an interesting smell that needed to not enter the camper)

Sang happy birthday & ate a cookie cake.

Yeah. A good day.


Friday, August 2, 2013

30 days

When we wake up tomorrow we will have been on the road for 30 days. Tomorrow is our 1 month anniversary on the road full time.

The 1st 30 days we stayed in
Oceanside CA
Santa Clarita CA
Bakersfield CA
Sequoia National Park CA
Fresno CA
Yosemite National Park CA
Bridgeport CA
Carson City NV

It had it's ups & downs... emotionally & physically as we drove through the Sierra Nevada's.

Its been challenging, scary, exciting & so many more things.

As we embark on our 2nd month we will reassess which items to keep and what still needs to go. Which items have we used... and which items we have not...obviously we have to take into account which items we haven't used ( like clothes) that we didn't use because it wasn't cold enough to or the fact we have yet to encounter much rain.

It is slow going. I suppose somehow we would move faster. But its been a good pace. The fact we are unsupported stops us from going further faster. So we are being forced to reevaluate our route. At our current rate we will be lucky to reach the east coast in 8 months.

Sometimes its fun.
Other days are more difficult.

We try to keep the days we drive that the drive time is under 3 hours.

We have learned keeping a good mealtime  schedule is important...
we have learned we can dry dock if we conserve for about a week. ( Yosemite taught us that one)
We are stronger than we thought we were.

We have learned that we still have too much stuff.

We have learned that we still have a whole lot to learn