hello friends! thank you for you prayers and support. we have successfully made it to oklahoma and are spending some sweet bonding time with christian's family, who we have not seen in over a year.
we had originally planned to leave nashville at the end of may, after our good friends gave birth to their second baby girl. But I met a man (we will call him mr. ship) at the coffee shop where i work who wanted us to drive his van out west. he and his girlfriend were going to take a summer long vacation and didn't want to spend 3 days of it driving to their destination. so we were hired. we were basically getting paid a couple hundred to take a long road trip. so in two weeks time we sold our stuff, sold our car, quit our jobs, took exams early, paid off bills, had about 12 dentist visits in a weeks time, and had our backpacks packed.
i was amazed to see how much junk we had when we actually started getting rid of it. i prided myself on being a minimalist, but i had heaps of clothes in the closet that i had worn once, dishes we have never used, and knick-knacks serving no purpose that were cluttering our lives. with every full box gone, i could breathe a little easier. and the funny thing is, i don't miss any of it. i didn't realize we even owned so much, and i don't miss anything i got rid of. it was actually really refreshing.
we were going to leave on a thursday at 5, but 45 minutes AFTER we were scheduled to depart, mr. ship told us the van didnt pass its inspection and needed specially ordered parts. so the trip got pushed back until saturday. saturday afternoon we got a call again, the mechanic ordered the wrong parts, so we would have to wait until tuesday to leave. tuesday came, another call after the flood, the van got flooded and mr. ship didn't know if he was even still going on the trip, but we were welcome to sit around our empty dark apartment and wait to find out. we decided it was probably time to take off.
thursday night we headed to the train yard to wait. our lucky ride came around 3 am. we hopped on one supposedly heading for memphis, then we would go from memphis to oklahoma. we woke up friday morning in a little town called evansville, indiana, wherever that is. so we hitched out of there and were lucky enough to get a ride to st. louis from a man going home after a year in afghanistan. we got an interesting 2 1/2 hour story time.
we slept outside of st. louis that night and got picked up a few times the next morning (Friday). after a long rut of walking way too many miles, a man pulled over and told us he was going to mustang oklahoma. what a stroke of luck! so, we got a 13 hour ride to oklahoma, right where we needed to be.
we had originally planned to leave nashville at the end of may, after our good friends gave birth to their second baby girl. But I met a man (we will call him mr. ship) at the coffee shop where i work who wanted us to drive his van out west. he and his girlfriend were going to take a summer long vacation and didn't want to spend 3 days of it driving to their destination. so we were hired. we were basically getting paid a couple hundred to take a long road trip. so in two weeks time we sold our stuff, sold our car, quit our jobs, took exams early, paid off bills, had about 12 dentist visits in a weeks time, and had our backpacks packed.
i was amazed to see how much junk we had when we actually started getting rid of it. i prided myself on being a minimalist, but i had heaps of clothes in the closet that i had worn once, dishes we have never used, and knick-knacks serving no purpose that were cluttering our lives. with every full box gone, i could breathe a little easier. and the funny thing is, i don't miss any of it. i didn't realize we even owned so much, and i don't miss anything i got rid of. it was actually really refreshing.
we were going to leave on a thursday at 5, but 45 minutes AFTER we were scheduled to depart, mr. ship told us the van didnt pass its inspection and needed specially ordered parts. so the trip got pushed back until saturday. saturday afternoon we got a call again, the mechanic ordered the wrong parts, so we would have to wait until tuesday to leave. tuesday came, another call after the flood, the van got flooded and mr. ship didn't know if he was even still going on the trip, but we were welcome to sit around our empty dark apartment and wait to find out. we decided it was probably time to take off.
thursday night we headed to the train yard to wait. our lucky ride came around 3 am. we hopped on one supposedly heading for memphis, then we would go from memphis to oklahoma. we woke up friday morning in a little town called evansville, indiana, wherever that is. so we hitched out of there and were lucky enough to get a ride to st. louis from a man going home after a year in afghanistan. we got an interesting 2 1/2 hour story time.
we slept outside of st. louis that night and got picked up a few times the next morning (Friday). after a long rut of walking way too many miles, a man pulled over and told us he was going to mustang oklahoma. what a stroke of luck! so, we got a 13 hour ride to oklahoma, right where we needed to be.
the Lord has blessed us and kept us safe. it is thrilling to have everything i need on my back. we are enjoying our time with family this week. we plan to be here for about another week and then head out to Kansas City to work on a garden with some nuns.
8 comments:
you may hate this comment, but Christians are called to rebuke each other in love when one is wrong. i do not believe it is in God's will for you to hop trains, and i believe you know it is wrong as well. trust in the Lord through honoring His ways, and he will provide. i hope that your travels keep you safe and that you do hear His voice by breaking away from life's distractions. grow closer to Him and each other, and love His children along the way. may God bless you.
just what I was thinking..........
i couldn't disagree more. there are certain things we should rebuke others about, in love, and probably in a private setting. hopping trains is not serious enough of a problem to rebuke someone anonymously on the internet. i dont want to be held to such a stringent standard when i am judged, do you anonymous person?
yes
I think what you two are doing is incredible! You're both young..live it up!! You'll have great stories to share and look back on :)
thanks for such honest comments. we really appreciate everyone's encouragement.
i cant help but continue coming back to these comments and reading how blind some people can be to who God really is and what he really wants from his people. we as a human race are lacking a sincere devotion and intimate relationship with the creator of this world. Instead we are concerned with our image to others. lets take the same fervor you have to tell me that my (Christian's) life choices are wrong and go after the real evils present in the world. thats my hope from all of this. there is a greater evil existing in this world then me hopping trains, lets address that with some passion. i can name a few things that arent illegal in most christians lives that i think need to be addressed above hopping trains that concern the human heart. Its not by job to tell anyone what they are doing is wrong it is my job to love them and through that lives will be changed.
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