Love, love and more love.

You never know where you are in someone else's life and heart.  Early last April, we had a wonderful serendipity from Brian.  He drove all the way from Baton Rouge, LA (500 miles) to meet us for the first time. We had a wonderful time, talking about God and sharing stories of God blessings in our lives.

A week later we found ourselves in Fort Valley, GA. Visiting Pastor Steve Sandoval and his congregation at Calvary Chapel Heartland. That same Sunday we met with Roger and Debbie Tiffany.  They also drove about 500 miles from Daytona, FL to Fort Valley.  We had met them on our first journey in 2001 (from St. Augustine, FL to Garden Grove, CA). On that particular day they drove all over the place looking for us, to deliver 40 bottles of water, God had told them we needed.  As a tradition, this time too, they brought us a case of water.

Couple weeks went by and our friends Bob and Nancy Wallace, were traveling over the Chicago area and they called to meet with us. We were just north of Roberta, GA, were we met and actually Bob walked with Nick about 8 miles.

A few days ago, we met with Ralph and Cindy.  We originally met them at IHOP (International House of Prayer) about 4 years ago.  They live near Lawrence, GA; but we met them in Winder, GA.

Some times life get lonely on this side of the world, but now we feel recharged. We have been soo blessed with the greatest gift people can give you, TIME!  I know most of you are behind the scenes praying for us and sending us waves of love and for that I am most grateful. Your time in prayer matters to us!

I always thank God for you
1 Corinthians 1:4

  

Am I working?

I think I trust God and I do know that He is always taking care of us.  We have lacked for nothing, but when it comes to the road, my heart and my stomach start to acting up.

This past week has been a bit challenging, actually, I believe everything started when we left Montgomery, AL. The road which Nick has been walking on turned to a two lane Highway and we had not much shoulder, it drops off.  Even though God always provides what we need, some times I feel a little bit apprehensive about not knowing where my next stop is going to be, and if I am going to have enough room to park the RV or what's going to happen if Nick needs me and I cannot park. 


So Nick has been scouting the road and when he finds a good place for me, he calls me and says, "Lucy, about quarter of a mile from where I am, I see a steeple of a church on your side of the road, so come on over, go ahead of me.  I will meet you there." and that's what I do.


While I await his call, I have been copying the book of John in my note book. It is very interesting the things I have been learning as I pay more attention to the written Word. It is fascinating, how God shows us new things in the stories we though we knew.


Last Thursday, we got a call from our friend Brian, he said that he was on his way over to visit us from Baton Rouge.  We decided to have a short day, because we had to drive about 30 miles to Phenix City, AL.  This was the first time we met Brian in person and we had a very pleasant time. Friday, early in the morning we drove back to where we had stopped the night before and continue to walk again. We completed 13.2 miles that day.  Then we drove back to meet our friend once more. 

Friday we had a very good time and Brian brought his laptop in the RV and we were able to watch the Awakening that is happening at IHOP. 

When Saturday morning came we did the same thing, as the day before and drove back to where we stopped for the day. Nick began his walk, however, this day we had a short day, (only 5.9 miles), so we drove the rest of the way to Phenix City, and we met with Brian for lunch and we bid him goodbye. We drove to the  RV Park, to do our weekly routine, (laundry, empty tanks, fill up tanks, etc).  which was on the other side of the river, in Columbus, GA.

When we got to the campground I thought, I am going to ask Nick if we can just continue our journey, on this side of the river instead of going back to that two lane road, it makes me nervous!  If we stay here, we can relax for 2 days and we do not to have to worry about anything.  -- So when I approached the front desk, the man asked me, "How many night are you staying?" and I heard myself saying One...

You see, the week before as Nick was walking, I was copying the book of John in my notebook and on chapter 4:17 reads: Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."   As I read those words, I thought; Nick is working for God.  This walk is not just an adventure or a pleasure journey, or a trip to see how God manifest in our lives.  So I kept those words in my heart, and we stayed at the park for one night.

Sunday, we went to a local church in Columbus, GA and had the pleasure to meet a wonderful couple, Bobby and Virginia.  They were a delight. When our time with them came to a close,  we drove back to the other side of the river, back to Phenix City, AL.  We drove to Walmart for the night. 

As Monday morning came, wee did our routine and we drove back to where we had stopped the Saturday before to begin our day. I was a bit apprehensive, but I did not say a word.  I kissed my husband goodbye and he began his walk.

It was about 11:00 o'clock and I got a call from Nick, he said: "Come and meet me at the Piggy Wiggly store, a man by the name of Bob is going to meet you there, he is driving a white van and is wearing a yellow shirt.  He is going take a look at our computers and I will be there shortly."  Well, to make the long story short....Bob worked on our computers and in a matter of three hours, they were working good. His wife called the local television station and they did a short story on Nick.  We were blessed beyond our imagination.
 
I was so glad that I did not ask Nick to start this week over the other side of the river. We would have missed the blessings of God.  I trusted God's word that Nick is working for Him, as Jesus is working in our lives and God is working in our hearts.

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;
 ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight.

Thank you Lord for Your love and insight.  Thank You for working in me.

The luxury of traveling.....

Many people wonder how we do things as we travel in this castle-mobile..... well..... there is nothing like an RV to test your relationships.....  space is very narrow....not much room to manuver... I really do not know how tall people can live in one of these.  Whether it was the 1977 "Yellow Submarine" or our  1994 Winnebago.... RVs start to close in as time goes by. 

If you get mad at your spouse and you are living in an apartment or in a house, you can always walk away, go to the next room or go outside... here if we get mad....even when we go to the bathroom... we know that sooner or later we have to come out... and deal with "it."

When you are 4 feet tall, things are not easy to reach, so I have my handy dandy step stool and even then...Nick has to reach for things for me... and when he is not here.... I have to be creative.

Some things stay the same....we have to iron stuff, we have to empty the tanks, and fill the tanks
(the gray and black water) every weekend. We have to get our clothes ready for church and do the laundry.  Sweep and clean the floor.  Do the dishes......and the list goes on and on. I am sure you can relate!

No matter where you are the chores are never done.....ahhhh the luxury of traveling......

Let us not forget about our wonderful showers......yes,  I will give you an insight no one has ever seen before sooooo brace yourself.... yep.... Nick calls it a vision of loveliness, however, I said, he needs his glasses. 

Even though we do not have a luxury, we have a life of blessings, we have a roof over our head, food on the table,  clothes on our back and your prayers lifting us up.  You might not tell by looking at the pictures, but we are blessed and highly favored by God our Father.

Translation by the Spirit of God

As Nick was walking on the road, I was pondering about God.  I remember, when God appeared to Moses and asked Moses to go talk to Pharaoh,  Moses asked God.  "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of our fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Ex 3:13)

I tried to understand God's name; so I said to myself.  I AM Who I AM. Hmmm!  Even in Spanish I could not get it.  "Yo Soy El Que Soy"  Hmmmm, once again, it did not make any sense in my head.  "I AM WHO I AM" -- What does that mean?

So I said to God: This does not make any sense in my head, how do I translate that? He said to me....

"You do not translate it in your head.  You translate my name in your time of need.

I AM your Peace, 
I AM your Shield of Protection
I AM your Provider.
I AM your Rock, 
I AM the One Who Heals you, 
I AM your Good Shepherd
I AM your friend. 
I AM the One Who Loves you.

"So whatever your need is.... I supply it....That's who I AM"

In Isaiah 41:13 we read. - "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear I will help you."   Wow!  What an incredible God we serve.  Amazing!

He is always there!

We have not walked for the last 2 days.  Rain, rain and more rain.  So this morning when Nick walked me up.  He was sooo excited and ready to go, because according to the weather man today supposed to be cloudy and lots of sunshine by the afternoon.

Well, we got ready and drove back to the point where we had stopped two days before.  To our surprise there was a very heavy fog in the horizon.  Nick got ready, put his outfit on and he said, "see you later, honey."  As he took off I went to the drivers side of the RV and I sat there,  I marked down the time he left and the mileage on the speedometer as I do every day at the beginning of our day and after each meal break.

To my surprise, I did not feel any anxiety of Nick walking in the fog.  I thought to myself.  I am just going to stay put, until he calls me.

Well about 45 minutes later (which equals about 2 miles +) he called and said:  I need a little break. I had my blinker lights on and my head lights on, I looked around to make sure I did not have any traffic coming behind me, (I could not see but maybe 10 feet ahead of me and 10 feet behind me) The road was clear, so I made my move and  I drove ahead looking for Nick.

I tried to figure out how far he may have gone and I started to look for him.  All of the sudden I saw this figure on my side of the road, (on the shoulder) waving at me.  I slowly moved to the shoulder, parked the RV, stoped the engine and I waked to the back to I opened the door for Nick 

Well, less than 10 minutes and he was ready to go again.  He got his outfit on, put his bag of goods on, grabbed his staff and out the door he goes.  The fog was still heavy and once again I decided stay where I was until I got Nick's call.  As I was trying to get the news on the radio, I decided to walk to the kitchen counter area and I began to peel some oranges for Nick's next break.  Then I remembered that a while back I had began to copy from my Bible the book of John in my note pad and I had not completed it.  So I turned the radio off, grabbed my note book, my bible and my pen and I continue to write where I had left of on chapter 3.  ...did I mentioned the fog was very thick? .....

As I was writing, I had been thanking God for all of His blessings and His protection He has been sooo good to us.  Well, five minutes had gone by and I looked out the window and to my amazement, the fog had lifted up could see down the road so clearly, it was nice and clear.  Tears began to stream down my cheeks as I thanked God once again.  It was like magic I thought. 

As we walk in life we sometimes get blinded by the fog.... but as soon as we focus on the Word of God , everything becomes clear.  God is always in the little details of our life as well as the big events of our life.  Isn't God good?  All the time!

As We Walk In Life

You never know what road you will be traveling as you walk in life and why.

Some time last week as I was sitting on the drivers side of the RV, I was pondering on all the miles that Nick has walked, I also was thinking about his faithfulness and his obedience to God. Every morning, he wakes up,    ready for another adventure with God. Blessing the oncoming traffic as he walks along the road.                                                       

I was very impressed with Nick as he has his very own and unique way of loving God.  Then, as I was pondering, I said to God. "Does what we do really matter?  What difference are we making?  People are feeding and helping countries in distressed places like Haiti and Chile.  People at IHOP in Kansas City have been praying and worshiping You for 10 years non-stop, dedicating their lives to worship you."

So here we are on route 84, going east, step by step, mile by mile.  What are we contributing to Your Kingdom?

As I looked back to Nick there was a black dog, walking along side of him as if Nick was his master.  I drove to where they were. Nick crossed the 4 lanes of traffic for a meal break and so did his faithful friend.  As "Dri" was sitting by Nick, we tried to give her some water and a Fig Newton....she did not care for Fig Newtons mind you. (I did not think about giving her a piece of lunch meat... oh, well!)

Nick decided to check on her collar to see if there was a phone number... and "Eureka!"  We have contact, Mississippi!  We called the number and I told the person on the other end of the phone that we had found "Dri".  I told him that our RV was parked on the side of the road and that we would wait for him to come and get her.  About 7 minutes went by when a pick up truck parked behind us.  Two middle age men came out of it, and one of them said "Come on, Pete, get in the truck"....Pete?  The collar said "Dri" and it was a female dog.  Well, I guess to each their own. Nothing is ever as it seems, eh?

We shook hands, they thanked us and we parted ways, Nick got back into his biblical attire and hit the road once again.  Well, God does work in mysterious ways.  I guess we were at the right place at the right time.

Nick took off once again and I began to do some cleaning up in the RV.

All of the sudden I heard a knock on the door and as I looked out the back window, I saw a big red pick up  truck behind us. I went to the door and right in front of me there was a young woman, with tears streaming down her cheeks. She said: " I just had to do this. I  had to do this. God told me to do it."  Then she handed me 2 magazines and a bag  full of groceries.  She told me her name was Allison.  I thanked her for the gifts and I asked her if I could pray for her. She said, "Yes."  As we were praying I could feel the presence of a third person approaching the RV. ( I thought it was a police officer....)

As we finished our prayer,  I looked outside and toward the back of the RV, between the red pick up and the RV, there was another lady standing there checking us out. Alison said, "She's my mother-in-law," and continued, "I raided her pantry and I told her that I needed to bring the groceries to you."  Allison, had seen Nick walking down the road that day, and God touched her heart. Her mother-in-law waved at us.  I believe she was concerned for Allison's safety, so she follow her to make sure she was okay.

I could feel God saying to me: "Pray for people as you go on these highways, pray for the people who are supporting you and praying for you. I will take care of the results.  I will move the hearts of my people,  you just be obedient to the task. Like Noah, just be obedient".

I am sure that no one understood the building of the ark. I am sure Noah wondered if what he was doing made any sense. He had his questions too, but obedience contributes to the Kingdom. Scripture tells us that obedience is more important than sacrifice. Listen to God, do what He asks you to do...be obedient as best you can and... then leave the results to Him.

Love the One Who First Loved Us.

During our previous journeys and on this one so far, God has been our shield of protection.  He keeps directing our path.  Most of the path have had lots of good shoulder, and that makes me very happy because I can park, on the side of the road and provide Nick with food, water and a place to rest for few minutes.

When the weather has been cold or nasty with heavy rain and even snow.  God keeps directing us to safety, to a Wal-mart or a church parking lot.

One of the things that keeps coming up on this particular walk, is that we need to become knowledgeable of what God tells us in his Word.  The word tells us: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "  (Isaiah 55:8)

Sometimes when we read Scripture, we do not understand and we get discouraged, however, if we ask the Holy Spirit of God to help us understand, He gives us that understanding. Reading Scripture and being in touch with God, is like dating.

We begin to understand and know the person we are dating by our daily contact and communication with him or her.  It is the same with God, as we stay in touch with Him through His Word, we begin to learn more about His love for us, about His character, about His grace and our faith begins to increase.  Through Jesus Christ, God has taken the initiative in this relationship, do not let it go by.

You have heard it say: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17).  It is true!

We also have hear that: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17). So my question to you and to myself is who and to what have we been listening to?  Lets begin together and start listening to the Word of God to increase our faith.  

Even in Genesis, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit; they found out that they were naked, because they had eaten of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  When God came looking for them, He called, "Where are you?" Adam answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And He said, "Who told you that you were naked?" What voice have we been listening to.  It is time to change our radio station and learn more about the God who created us out of love.  It is not religion, it is a relationship.