Morning Walk Musings

Hooray--followed through on my "first day back" goal: our for a walk, against the weatherman's prediction of rain!!  I am asking the Lord to give me good listening skills as I walk and here is my take-away for today....
We missed the "peak days" of Michigan's beautiful autumn season (and I heard that this year was particularly spectacular!); however I was struck by the Burning Bushes (I refer to them as Moses Bushes) in our neighborhood--a deeper hue of red than I have noted in other years.  They strikingly stood out in the midst of the almost bare maples, and the yellow hues of the other trees whose leaves are now briskly falling.  I felt God whispering that this is what He wants of us -- to be still standing for Him, with a brilliance of color and purpose in our neighborhoods, at the end of this tumultuous election day.  He is able to be glorified even in this very broken world no matter what the polls reveal.

East Coast Adventure.....the End of the Line

What a whirlwind of exciting days we have had.  Bill and I keep looking at one another, wondering how 2 months could have flown by so quickly.  About 1 week in, we really thought it might drag on and we would get sick of this journey~~~ but we haven't!  Yes, we WILL take more road-trips!

Some mini lessons we have learned along the way:
Less Hurried Means Less Harried
Relaxing for Bill can actually mean more reading!! (5 books down)
Pacing ourselves leads to balance and moderation...and less anxiety.
If there is a choice between a cheap motel and sleeping in the RV...choose the RV:)
Acceptance of one another's weaknesses means a good day!
Flexibility in our schedule makes more interesting memories.
LOVE is an act of unending Forgiveness...
Appreciating our friends means keeping in touch more consistently~~we loved the time we spent with all the friends along the way.  As we chatted, Bill and I realized again how uniquely each person is fashioned and formed, but the common thread is their love of Jesus.  We were amazed and humbled at how God has used them for the Kingdom.  How blessed we are to call them friends!

Here is our route in a nutshell!  God was gracious in granting AMAZING weather, as you will note in the photos (only 2 rainy days!!) and no RV problems!!  Thanks for coming alongside & enjoying it with us!
  

  

  


  

 

  

  

A little disheveled, but happy to be back!  20 states & 6,000 miles.

Tennessee Time Out for Grandparenting!

Seven very full days in Knoxville!  Although we say it's for the grands, lots of our time was spent checking off Mikkel's lists of projects!!  It really was fun since we haven't had any of our own for a few months!  Bill was busy making shelves, shoe racks and assisting Teg in their almost completed main bathroom.  (He's also the BEST meal clean-upper.) I jumped in as school chauffeur, furniture arranger, decor suggest-or, ass't home school teacher, and sounding board.  So sorry we didn't finish de-sorting the clothing, Mik!
Highlights of our week:  Field Trip to Wonderworks (check out Jet on the Bed of Nails!), Halloween Fun, Cheering for our Soccer Kids, Reading Books, and just CELEBRATING our grandkids!

Mik in center, Azi at right!

Note Mikkel as the "Blind Ref" !!

Working on the mudroom lockers.

 

Azi assists her Robotics teacher
with younger students each week.

   

   

 

It's BOPPA time at the games!

 

Georgia on My Mind....

It was refreshing to be in Georgia and find out that it was way different than I had anticipated:  there are actually deciduous trees with leaves that change colors!  I was delighted to see the autumn foliage from the back porch of Tim and Naomi Thompson’s home in Dawsonville, just north of Atlanta.  Tim was a former Otsegoan from my early days at First Baptist during high school.  After Tim met Naomi at college, it was fun to host her on weekends in our Plainwell home during our pre-kid days!  It was great to catch up, and meet their 5 grandkids.  We covered a lot of ground in our 24 hours together, including a delicious roast beef dinner prepared by Tim!

Our other GA stop was in Kennesaw where we caught up with Wes Askren, but really missed seeing Robyn who was traveling.  The Askrens worked alongside us with the youth in Downers Grove, IL back in the early ‘80’s.  Five kids and three grands later, they anticipate calling GA home in the years ahead.  After treating us to dinner at a cute Columbian restaurant, we decided it would definitely be a nice stop on the way to FL, if we ever head that way!!  Pretty unusual that he and Bill found out they had many former Conservative Baptist “haunts” in common:  Minneapolis suburbs & churches , Camp Lebanon (MN),  Prescott Pines (AZ).  We loved that Wes referred to us as “kindred spirits”!! So true of them, as well as all of the other friends we have lingered with along the way.

    

As our sightseeing portion comes to an end, we find it hard to believe that two months have literally flown by and we feel both Grateful and Aware (GA) of God’s protection, provision, peace and presence as we leave Georgia.