We are now in Alabama and I kind of feel like we are rounding to the home stretch of this leg of our journey. Ben and I have enjoyed some much needed down time over the last couple of days. We ended up staying at a large bass fishing state park here in Alabama, where we didn’t do any fishing at all. We didn’t actually know that we were going to be at one of the largest bass fishing lakes in the country or we would have maybe gotten a fishing license!
Our time traveling (not really traveling through time but rather our time out on the road) has been going well. We just got out of the woods almost a week ago. We were at the Apalachicola Rainbow Gathering in Florida. It was a very good Gathering. Our team actually got to the Gathering kind of late so by the time we got there it was almost over. But it was really good to be there at that time and get to know and hang out with the people who were left there. We were at this Gathering about 10 days, but it’s getting harder and harder to keep track of time and dates…so I am not sure if it was a full 1o days or not...or if it was more than that. While we were there we had some great times together as a team worshiping and praying together. We also had a “love tea party” where everyone was invited and no one was allowed to serve themselves a cup of tea…someone else had to pour it for you. It was a lot of fun to have everyone over to our camp.
We are definitely feeling the Lord calling us to be more inviting to those around us and I have been thinking a lot about Isaiah 58 where it talks about what true fasting is and what is pleasing to the Lord…to feed the hungry, to loosen the chains of the oppressed, to cloth those that need clothes and to provide shelter to the poor wanderer.
We are also called to be reflections of God’s glory. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, it says that we are reflections of God’s glory. I am always amazed and blown away by this statement because I am broken and yet the Lord always uses me to be a reflection of His glory. One time I created a piece of artwork reflecting this scripture. I took a full length mirror and I smashed it with a hammer. I then took the pieces out of the frame and hung it up on the wall. When someone looks into the broken pieces…the outlook is not a whole person but just bits and fragments. I see this as a representation of what it is to be a reflection of God’s glory…broken yet still able to reflect His glory.
So we continue on our journey that the Lord has set before us. We will be heading into the Talladega Gathering here in Alabama on Thursday or Friday. I invite you to join with us in this journey by being in prayer for us as we head in. We could possibly be in at this Gathering for up to 3 weeks but that is always variable!
Please pray for:
-Our marriage that we can find time to spend with one another when there are so many people around and so much to do. That we can fall in love more and more with each other and learn how to live gracefully with each other in a small space.
-For the Talladega Gathering, that our team would learn more about what it means to be inviting and that we would be reflections of the Lord’s glory.
-That we would see the Lord continue to move more and more in our lives and in the lives of those we meet.
Blessings!
Love Benjamin and T
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Month 1: Florida
We've been on the road now for almost one month. I can't believe that a whole month has gone by. It's been a good month but it has had it's challenging moments as well!
We left Minnesota for Florida on Feb. 4th and we took about a week to get down here. We were able to stop by and see a few friends along the way, which was really wonderful and we didn't really have a time line for when we needed to be in Florida so it was nice to take our time getting here. However, it was our first trip with the RV and we had a few kinks to work out! We had to replace our alternator...that caused a few adventurous moments in the rain/snow and dark! But the Lord orchestrated everything for us and it ended up all working out perfectly!
We were at the first Rainbow Gathering from Feb. 12th-19th in Ocala National Forest. During this time we ended up camping with another Christian kitchen called Jesus Loves You. They are a great group and our friends from other Gatherings. It was wonderful to camp with them and see how they do things at a Gathering. It was also wonderful to just watch them as they loved the Rainbow Family and to learn from all their experience.
We are now parked in a town called New Smyrna Beach which is just south of Daytona, Florida. We were able to get some work picking up trash at the Daytona Bike Week. It's nice to have some work but it can be a bit tiring have to look down at the ground all day long! It's been fun, though, seeing all the different kinds of bikes and I (Teresa) am working in the Harley Davidson section...so it's fun to people watch (when I look up from the ground) as well.
We will be here working until March 9th and then we'll be heading over to meet up with Rachel and Nigel (another couple from our kitchen). We will then spend a few days just resting together and praying for the next Gathering, which starts this week and is in Apalachicola, Florida. We will be there for a couple of weeks and then I am not sure where we will go from there yet.
It's been a good time so far. I am learning a lot about living in such a small space and learning how to be fully dependent on the Lord. It has been challenging for me, personally, because I am an introverted person and realizing how important it is for me to take some time off from all that is going on around me and to just be.
Prayer Requests:
-That we would finish out our work time with energy and physically have the strength to keep going (it gets a bit sore on the shoulders/neck to look down all the time!).
-For our marriage that the Lord would protect us and give us time to spend together even though there is so much going on.
-For Ben as he works on fixing up the RV (just little things that need to be worked on) that he would have the wisdom to know what to work on and that he would have the time to do so.
-For our team that we would continue to be united and love one another!
Thanks to all! We will try to be better at writing although we do not always have internet access.
Love,
Ben and T
We left Minnesota for Florida on Feb. 4th and we took about a week to get down here. We were able to stop by and see a few friends along the way, which was really wonderful and we didn't really have a time line for when we needed to be in Florida so it was nice to take our time getting here. However, it was our first trip with the RV and we had a few kinks to work out! We had to replace our alternator...that caused a few adventurous moments in the rain/snow and dark! But the Lord orchestrated everything for us and it ended up all working out perfectly!
We were at the first Rainbow Gathering from Feb. 12th-19th in Ocala National Forest. During this time we ended up camping with another Christian kitchen called Jesus Loves You. They are a great group and our friends from other Gatherings. It was wonderful to camp with them and see how they do things at a Gathering. It was also wonderful to just watch them as they loved the Rainbow Family and to learn from all their experience.
We are now parked in a town called New Smyrna Beach which is just south of Daytona, Florida. We were able to get some work picking up trash at the Daytona Bike Week. It's nice to have some work but it can be a bit tiring have to look down at the ground all day long! It's been fun, though, seeing all the different kinds of bikes and I (Teresa) am working in the Harley Davidson section...so it's fun to people watch (when I look up from the ground) as well.
We will be here working until March 9th and then we'll be heading over to meet up with Rachel and Nigel (another couple from our kitchen). We will then spend a few days just resting together and praying for the next Gathering, which starts this week and is in Apalachicola, Florida. We will be there for a couple of weeks and then I am not sure where we will go from there yet.
It's been a good time so far. I am learning a lot about living in such a small space and learning how to be fully dependent on the Lord. It has been challenging for me, personally, because I am an introverted person and realizing how important it is for me to take some time off from all that is going on around me and to just be.
Prayer Requests:
-That we would finish out our work time with energy and physically have the strength to keep going (it gets a bit sore on the shoulders/neck to look down all the time!).
-For our marriage that the Lord would protect us and give us time to spend together even though there is so much going on.
-For Ben as he works on fixing up the RV (just little things that need to be worked on) that he would have the wisdom to know what to work on and that he would have the time to do so.
-For our team that we would continue to be united and love one another!
Thanks to all! We will try to be better at writing although we do not always have internet access.
Love,
Ben and T
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