This Land is My Land

Jul16

Day 14 of our travels–almost the halfway point–finds us in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is where I grew up. I’m listening to my Oakland A’s on an audio broadcast, because I get blacked out on MLB.com when I’m in the place where the team plays. Happens at home whenever they’re playing the Tampa Bay Rays. But it’s better than nothing. We’re staying with my college roommate and her husband–whom I’ve actually known longer than her–while we visit our ministry partners in the area.

We arrived yesterday from our 3-day stay in Bakersfield. What a great time that was, visiting with my aunt and uncle. We enjoyed introducing them to our kids and getting to know them better. My great aunt, whom I mentioned last time lives on the same property, is 94 years old, and we don’t know when we’ll see her again. Having grown up with her often at our house for holidays, I felt a little sad that this is probably the last time we’ll see her. But if my aunt’s predictions are right, she’ll outlive us all!

From the heat and humidity of the south, to the dry, arid desert, we have experienced temperatures in the 100s down to the 50s. We’ve driven hours in the flat, flat lands of Texas and climbed our first mountains as we headed into the Grand Canyon. Rivers, oceans, bays and bayous have escorted us on our way.

Today, perhaps we’ll take a trip over to San Francisco. Morgan really wants to see sea lions. But since it’s going to be in the low 50s and windy, maybe we’ll just stay on this side of the bay. We’ll see what comes.

Tomorrow we hit the road again to start our northward journey to Washington. The big wedding is just 5 days away!

Thankful today for:

459. a chance to see my brother and his family

460. God’s creative animals

461. my sweet friend Sabrina

462. the view of the bay with the fog rolling in

463. time spent in my home city

464. people who know my history

465. our kids doing well so far

466. the friends who support our ministry

467. rest stop restrooms

468. generosity

469. faithfulness

470. longevity

Going Home Again

Jul12

Day 10 of our journey finds us on the family ranch in Bakersfield, Calif. This is the place where my mother grew up, and I spent many happy summers as a child. It’s right down the road from Pumpkin Center. It’s the boonies. But I love it. We are staying at the house of my aunt and uncle, whom we haven’t seen in more than 20 years. My kids have never met them. My aunt was my mom’s only sister.

We’re having a fun time catching up and chatting. My great aunt, known as Zizi, is here also. She lives on the same property in her own little house. She’s 94. We haven’t seen her since Morgan was a baby. Seeing this family was the impetus for this trip that has now morphed into this incredible journey. It’s possible to go home again. But “home” is definitely not the same. We’re grateful for this chance.

We are also grateful for the chance to stay with friends in Arizona and Southern California, visit the San Diego Zoo and show our kids what So. Cal beaches are like. We visited Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, and we saw more fancy sports cars in two days than we have in our entire experience in Florida. (At last count, I think it was 3 Lamborghinis, 3 Ferraris and at least a half dozen Porsches. The boys were highly impressed.) In Huntington Beach, we had breakfast with my friend Steve, with whom I went through grade school, junior high school and high school. We got to meet his wife and one of his kids. They took us to Ruby’s Diner on the pier. It was a fun time. This pelican was just standing around on the pier. It was odd behavior. Then we saw a woman throw him some fish. He’s not so dumb after all.

So, just as much fun for me as seeing the sites of the States has been seeing friends we very rarely, if ever, get to see. And there’s still more to come! The big wedding is in just 9 days, and we’ll be making our way up to Washington in about 5 more days. Meanwhile, we enjoy the company of my aunt, who reminds me so much of my mom, and my uncle, who now has a new audience in my kids for all his bad puns.

It feels a lot like home.

 

 

 

 

Thankful today for:

447. building relationships

448. the smell of pies in the oven

449. more than 2 nights in the same bed

450. the smoothness of the journey so far

451. being able to show my kids stuff that was important to me in the past

452. my kids being able to know their California relatives

453. a cooler day in a hot place

454. beautiful cotton plants growing in the fields outside the house

455. lots of fun things to look at in my aunt’s house

456. finding more statehood quarters that we need for our collection

457. rocking chairs

458. our tax refund

It’s Grand All Right

Jul8

Day 7 of the Incredible Journey finds us with good friends in Glendale, Ariz., where the sun rose this morning at 5:29 a.m. Nice. Yesterday was a full morning at the Grand Canyon, after staying the night on historic Route 66 in Williams, Ariz.

I loved the kids’ reactions upon first seeing the Canyon. Amazement. Awe. Excitement. First thing they wanted to do was hike way out on the tips of these rocks that were hanging out over the precipice. Yikes. It took everything I had in me to not keep saying, “Be careful!” I said it to myself. And I prayed. At one point, my entire family was out on one of those rocks. If they went over, I was hosed. The keys to the van were in David’s pocket. (For the record, I didn’t go down there the the first day because I was wearing flip flops. I got my share of hiking out onto precipices the next day, in decent shoes.)

We hiked the South Rim trail. At one point, it felt like we had the place all to ourselves. Most of the other visitors were in the other direction. It was wonderful. Sometimes, I just felt overwhelmed by the vastness and majesty of the place. There were some vistas that I didn’t even try to photograph; it just wouldn’t have done it justice. It is one of the 7 wonders of the world. I can see why.

Thankful today for:

435. swimming pool on hot days

436. the sun coming up

437. friends along the way

438. the U.S. highway system

439. firefighters (they put out a highway blaze that delayed our drive into Glendale by a half hour. Could have been a lot worse).

440. cool cacti

441. mountains

442. Gas Buddy

443. my job, even if it has to be done at an inconvenient time

444. anticipation

445. travel mercies

446. varied landscape

First stop, Texas

Jul4

After two days of driving, with an overnight stop in Hattiesburg, Miss., we made it to David’s aunt and uncle’s house in Justin, Texas. The cool thing about their place is that they live in a community of airplane pilots who all have hangers behind, in or as part of their houses. There’s an airstrip all around, and planes come and go throughout the day. It’s an aviation lover’s dream.

Morgan got to experience driving for the first time–in a golf cart. She loved it. The boys drove also, and ran around just loving the fact that they weren’t in a car for 10 hours.

Tonight, the boys went with their cousin back to his home about an hour away, and the rest of us enjoyed dinner and then sat outside in the dry air and breeze of a Texas summer night and watched fireworks exploding all around us for more than an hour. I didn’t even attempt to photograph them, as they never look as good as when you’re there. It was the perfect setting. We didn’t have to fight crowds, and we were far enough away not to be deafened by the booms, and we enjoyed a diversity of scenes from the comfort of our own chairs.

Tomorrow, we start making our way to the Grand Canyon, stopping overnight in Santa Rosa, N.M.

Happy birthday, America. We’re enjoying getting to know you a little bit better this month.

Thankful today for:

426. the freedom of our country

427. our founding fathers and their vision

428. family

429. the sites that await us in the next couple of days

430. that we have the ability to give our kids good gifts

431. watermelon

432. dry heat

433. other people’s fireworks

434. America

Did I Leave Anything Out?

Jul1

Our bags are nearly packed, except for the essentials; 24 hours until we hit the road. We’ve taken great care to make lists and ensure that we have everything we’ll need for a month on the road. But it occurred to me that there are some pretty important things that didn’t necessarily make the list, but God forbid that they be left behind.

Love: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

We’re going to be encountering a lot of people in the next month, and we can leave an impression all across the nation. What kind of impression we leave is completely up to us. We can show that we love each other and are so happy to have this time together. Or we can act like these are the last people on earth with whom we’d want to spend a month traveling. I vote for the former. That’s only going to come by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joy: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song” (Psalm 28:7).

So many times we try to find joy in our circumstances, but that doesn’t work very well. Many times, our circumstances aren’t exactly what we want them to be. Our joy has got to come from the Lord. If we find that truth, there will be more laughing than bickering along the way.

Peace: Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

In my mind, peace is the opposite of war. War often comes because someone else has something that we want. Maybe it comes from fear that we won’t end up with all we need. Resting in the fact that God has given us all that we need will bring peace to our hearts–and to our journey.

Patience: “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11).

This is a biggie. It’s like forgetting your toothbrush if you leave this one behind. Nothing feels right. We must overlook the accidentally kicked seat or whatever other minor irritation would cause us to focus on our circumstances and not on the Lord.

Kindness: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

The watchword around our house lately has been “kindness.” Show kindness whenever you have a chance. Say kind words, do kind deeds. That will become even more important as we spend hours on end in a minivan. But how good and pleasant it will be.

Goodness: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

This characteristic speaks to me of being Christ-like. The hackneyed “what would Jesus do” should always be evident in our lives. It’s not just about doing the right thing; it’s about being the right person–the one God wants you to be.

Faithfulness: “It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth” (3 John 1:3).

This is about doing what God wants us to do, and always following through. It’s about showing good faith. Be a person of your word.

Gentleness: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5).

Boys will be boys, but a spirit of gentleness will avoid a lot of pain, especially to one’s little sister.

Self-control: “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

‘Nuff said. Keep control of yourself. Don’t react. Be proactive to make sure that your heart and your mind are constantly fixed on Jesus.

The fruit of the Spirit. I can pack all the underwear I want, but if I forget to keep the Holy Spirit in charge of my life, then nothing else I’ve packed will do me any good.

Thankful today for:

420: the opportunity to host another baptism

421. the generosity of friends

422. google maps

423. reliable cell phone service

424. the two upcoming weddings in the family

425. good, clean family movies