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