Gatorland!

We are just about to start the long journey home to Illinois, but before we left I had to take advantage of internet to post some photos and catch up before I leave for Albania on Wednesday!  We had a bit of a break in our schedule and enjoyed a few days with my dear friend, Jan, at her mom and dad's home in Jacksonville.   On Sunday morning, we shared in an adult Sunday School class.

Mr. and Mrs. Graves

 Sunday afternoon we drove over to the fort at St. Augustine.  Since I know there are friends who visit this blog because of our connection through raising children with limb differences, I wanted to mention something we learned as a result of this visit.  The fort is operated by the National Park Service.  Apparently if you are an individual who has a permanent disability that impairs your ability to enjoy one or more major life activities, you can qualify for a free, lifetime pass to all national parks in the United States.  We were really confused when we were trying to pay for tickets as the park ranger tried to explain that we didn't need to.  Eventually we figured out what he was trying to say when he handed us a card for Reni and told us that we were being admitted for free!  While we saved $21 that day, we will be saving more in the future as we anticipate visiting more parks on our travels!

Monday Jan's mom and sister took us to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens on their family passes.  It was a fantastic zoo -- so pretty, and Ellie was thrilled to get to hold and feed birds in their aviary.

Jan's nephews and niece (whom I felt like I already knew from seeing the beautiful portraits she's captured).  It was a treat to get to know Jan's family better and see where she grew up!  They were all so welcoming and hospitable!  I hope that we can visit again!

From Jacksonville, we made our way down to Gainesville for the Global Impact Celebration (GIC) at the Family Church.  This was our second visit for a GIC (the first time was 8 years ago) and it was neat to recognize faces from our previous visit.

(Above, bottom right) We saw the Maverick, Steve Saint's flying car!

One afternoon we had some free time and paid a visit to the Natural History Museum.

Ellie made friends at a luncheon with another lady, Mrs. Scott, who shared her same first name.

The children's minister was thoughtful to arrange for the same ladies to take care of the kids Wednesday thru Sunday.  I think it definitely made the long weekend easier for them and allowed us to really enjoy all of the special events set up for the weekend.  Below Reni smiles with one of the ladies who took great care of him!

On Saturday afternoon, before small group, I was so excited to meet ladies from the Family Church who are traveling over to Albania on a team next week to facilitate a ladies retreat for the women of Vlashaj!  I don't know if I've shared on here just what a blessing this team is going to be, not only for the ladies of Vlashaj, but for opening so many doors for our family as we get acquainted with the community, our future home.  I hope to share more about what we'll be doing in the days ahead.  To say I'm excited is to put it mildly!

A very sweet, hospitable couple hosted us at their home.  Ms. Karen shared some special lavender oil on Ellie's feet to help her relax before bed.  I think Ellie's hooked!

Coming up next:  visits in Ft. Myers, Lakeland, Mt. Dora and Blountstown!  Thanks to everyone who has been praying for our vehicle!  The mechanic we consulted in Ft. Myers suggested we continue what we've been doing to for shifting gears until we could get it back home on Monday.  Just two more days to go!

Thanks also for praying for our family!  The kids have been amazing, enjoying the adventure of seeing new places and making new friends.  We really sense God's help in this! Thank you!

Winnie Is Sick

We just came off of a wonderful weekend in Gainesville. It was just what we needed -- inspiration from Kingdom workers (local and global), encouragement from fellow believers, and challenging messages that help us refocus as we are reminded why we are doing what we are doing.

How often do you hear someone ask for prayer that they might stay alive two more years and persevere through an illness so they can finish translating the New Testament?  Or hear that for the first time, Wycliffe officially has less language projects waiting to begin for Bible translation than they currently have in-process (about 2,000)?

I have much more to share from our time at The Family Church, but I want to wait until I can post some photos to supplement our testimony.  This brings me to the subject of this evening's post:

I suppose when you drive a vehicle as old as ours, maintenance issues are bound to pop up.  I've struggled with pride when it comes to sharing these 'issues', as you might imagine.  Pride because I don't want to look foolish for our investment in such a vintage mode of transportation, but also pride over admitting the anxiety I incur while traveling down the road!

One week from tonight we should be sleeping in our beds back at the farm house. That seems unbelievable while home is so many, many miles away. I imagine I will feel an palpable sense of relief when we actually arrive.  Since the tires blew, I am hyper sensitive to any rattle, grinding, squeak or squeal that might be out of place.  It's exhausting, actually.

I've shared before about the issue of the alternator belts breaking and coming off.  Miracle of miracles, we're still using the same belt as was installed in Wilmore over two weeks ago.  It helps that Nathan now knows how to tighten the belt himself (and replace it, if necessary). On the drive from Georgia to Jacksonville, then Jacksonville to Gainesville it seemed that we might possibly be "over the hump" of maintenance issues for this trip as Winnie resumed her usual rattle and hum down the interstate, and my tension and concern lifted with each passing mile.

Until yesterday. Apparently, Winnie wasn't done 'resting' during our Global Impact Celebration respite last week. This time, the transmission doesn't want to shift properly, though we were able to make it down to Ft. Myers.  We dropped her off at a shop this morning, and they were slammed with work after the weekend, of course.  They think it was a simple repair and performed it, but didn't get a chance to test her on the road yet. We are to leave in the morning, but I have developed a healthy dose of skepticism, and I'm trying really hard not to worry about what we'll do if she's not running right.  Yuck.  Worry is such an energy drainer, a joy stealer, a faith defeater. I know it's unproductive.  I would be overjoyed if they got to the bottom of whatever issues are taking place under the hood (there's a possibility the shifting issue is related to the alternator belt problems).  Lord willing, we'll be on the way up to central Florida tomorrow afternoon, but our schedule is ultimately in His hands!  I'll try to keep you posted!  7 days remain!

Georgia On My Mind

Perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of life on the road is loss of a schedule. No two days look the same, and finding time to post to the blog has been a trick.  Nevertheless, I don't want to skip anything as I document our journey so I'll try to play catch up!

My last post's photos ended with us pulling out of Toccoa.  Almost immediately after leaving we heard that awful grinding sound.  The sound almost always correlated with going downhill or Nathan hitting the brakes.  We assumed it had something to do with our brakes or the brake assist, and while on the phone with a friend we were to see in Marietta the next day, she offered to call her local mechanic and see if he could get us in.

As you know, we didn't make it to Marietta. About 30 minutes from the outerbelt around Atlanta the grinding was no longer intermittent but constant so Nathan pulled off at the next exit while I started searching auto repair businesses on the GPS.  Nathan had barely pulled into a gas station when two guys in an HVAC truck pulled in next to us to point out that our right rear tire was wobbling badly.  That's when we discovered the missing lug nuts. They recommended a tire shop less than half a mile a way, so we slowly got back on the road and crept there as carefully as possible. 

The business was obviously not busy with one gentleman playing on his phone outside and another at the desk watching TV.   One looked at the tire and twisted one of the three remaining lug nuts to test its tightness and it fell off in his hand.  They recommended we try a larger business, more capable of handling a vehicle of our size. When we asked just how a truck could tow our RV with no rear tires, they admitted they had no work that day and would try to help us. 

We got a ride into town with the coffee shop manager and ate lunch at his establishment before starting homeschool.  Unfortunately, the coffee shop closed at two, and our repair was not yet complete, but one other business in the tiny downtown was open for business so we walked ourselves and all our bags across the street to a sweet shop.  The kids were thrilled to eat cupcakes and draw on chalkboard tables!

Shortly thereafter we were notified that our vehicle was roadworthy again and back on the interstate we returned!  What a relief not to hear anymore grinding! That evening we visited the home of our friends, Phil and Sarah Bowdle, and their dog Sadie! After a stressful day, we felt restored in the company of old friends over good food!

The next morning we met the Espys for breakfast at a near by Chick Fil A.  We met Paul and Ashleigh last summer at a WGM missionary workshop, and this time we were thrilled to meet their kids too!  Their whole family is headed to Kenya in April, so it's been nice to know others walking in similar shoes as we are during this season.  When they get their blog up and running, I'll be sure to share a link.  Ashleigh has a wonderful way with words, expressing the Lord's work in their lives and I'm sure it will be as encouraging to you as it is to me!

They were so kind to give us some tickets to the Atlanta Zoo, and since we had some time in our schedule before our next visit, we stopped by for a few hours.  The kids absolutely loved it. They've been so good bouncing from one house to another, most of the time not knowing or remembering the folks we're visiting, so it was nice to do something just for them.

Above, Reni poses as a gorilla statue.  Below, our little navigator.  He was not eager to share his map, but more than willing to tell us where to go next!

Ellie's chief desire was to find as many birds as possible, and I was really impressed with how many she could identify by sight!  Sadly, I didn't take many photos.  I was just enjoying the quiet of the zoo on a mild day.

From the Zoo we drove down to Jonesboro to meet another Albanian adoptive family.  We new of the H family through our Lexington church friends, the Cochrans.  Howard and Michelle had told us for years of Howard's sister and brother-in-law who had two boys from Albania and that we should meet them. When we were planning this trip last fall, I contacted Howard's sister, Jennifer, to introduce myself, and they were gracious enough to invite us over!

Their neighborhood had a little pond with ducks, so before supper, the kids fed them some bread.

The H boys are now 19 and 17, and Reni hit it off with both, bonding over cars and snack food!

We had a really nice time meeting this family and I hope that we see them again soon, perhaps in Albania!  As I've said, the Albanian adoption community is small, but there is an instant affinity upon meeting.  We had fun comparing names of folks and places we've been on our various trips.  Jennifer -- please tell the boys that Reni slept with the transformer toy they gave him for several successive nights after our visit!

From Jonesboro, we headed back up slightly to Lilburn where we visited the Woodwards.  We knew Ryan from Asbury, and we met his wife, Jane, through the Alpha program at our church, just a few months before they married.  What a joy to see their home (though not for much longer -- they are moving up to New England) and meet their youngest!

From the Woodwards, we met up with college friend, Rebecca, and her husband Ed.  Since they had a doggie whom they didn't trust with children, after supper we invited them into our RV for hot chocolate and a rousing game of Go Ape (think Go Fish meets charades).  They were good sports!

Before leaving the next morning, the kids begged for more time with their puppy, Liam. Reni made the unusual request to have his photo taken with Liam.  This is the best I got.

Friday we started making our trek deeper south, stopping over in Statesboro to see my friend, Delia.  Delia's son, Jacob, is a senior at Asbury, but I met her 4 or five years ago when she picked me up at the airport when I attended a prayer retreat at St. Simon's Island.  Delia prays faithfully for missions and we're blessed that she faithfully follows this blog and prays for us!  During this season of life as her nest is emptying of her two oldest children, she's taken in her aging mother.  She told us, "I can't get out in the world, but you brought the world here!"

Delia, thank you for making us feel so welcome!  Hopefully our next visit will be longer!

As we look back and remember these visits, I can't help but feel overwhelmed at the friends (old and new) God has blessed us with.  I'm sure when we move over to Albania for good, it will be a tremendous encouragement to know that we have such a wonderful support network "back home", supporting us with their love and prayers!

Traveling Mercies...

Traveling mercies... that old-fashioned, perhaps 'holy-sounding' phrase we oft recite before driving.  Not that it's insincere, but it takes on a whole new meaning when one is driving, well, what we are driving.  In weather like what you see below... Often we think of 'traveling mercies' as safety for our person or vehicle, but it also comes in the form of hospitality and graciousness from a stranger or a friend along a journey.  We have experienced both on this trip, and we gratefully accept both gifts. 

For much of Saturday, that's what the road looked like.  It was supposed to be above freezing in Kentucky, and as warm as 55 by the time we reached our destination.  I don't think it got above freezing except for a small stretch in Tennessee.

Our first stop:  Berea, Kentucky.  Our college friends, Skip and Sarah Little, invited us to come for brunch to meet some of their friends Saturday morning.  We had a delightful time, eating Skip's yummy chocolate chip waffles, some locally made donuts, and lots and lots of fruit and sausage over easy conversation.  We are so blessed by the folks we meet along the way, and are humbled by friends who generously give of their time and resources to help us to Albania.  Unfortunately, I forgot to get my camera out of the bag until the very end!  Below is Reni and Nathan with Skip and Ryan and Skip's oldest son.  Sarah -- I'm so sorry you were under the weather!  We'll just have to come back another time! ;-)  Skip, you are a missionary's best friend, naturally anticipating needs and knowing just how to encourage. I'm not articulating it well, but just know we think you're awesome.

From the Littles', we made our way down to north Georgia to spend the remainder of our weekend with our friends, the Santors.  The trip took a couple of hours longer than the GPS predicted, thanks to snowy roads, but we safely pulled in just after dark, a little before 7.  In the last hour or so, we had begun to hear a grinding sound in the rear wheel wells going down hills, but assumed we were just accumulating snow and ice on the breaks.  The snow was falling so hard, visibility was poor on hilly, windy roads. To say we were relieved to finally arrive is a bit of an understatement.

We were warmly welcomed by our friends the moment we arrived.  Talk about balm for the soul. While we've only met in person once before, it didn't feel that way at all, getting hugs from the kids as we walked in the door.  We settled in and prepared for a gathering of their closest friends.  Nathan made Turkish coffee and we set up the projector for a little informal "Albania" night, kids included.  I don't want to give all the fun away, but hopefully everyone left with a little better knowledge about where we're moving and a glimpse of our hearts.  The evening ended with them surrounding us for a time of prayer.

The next morning we attended the Santors' church, where Aaron recently began pastoring (he formerly led worship -- you need to hear his his original music, playing on their blog).  The Santors' two boys brought little bongo-like drums.  Ellie asked to see one, then proceed to tap along with the worship in her seat.  I'm seriously thinking about buying her a drum of her own, the way it helped her stay engaged in the music.  (Not that she's not usually engaged in music, but it's just hard to tell since she usually doesn't sing).  Nathan shared a 10-minute message, and then we left with the children to do an object lesson in kids' church.

We wrapped up, sharing our theme verse for this year (Isaiah 45:3) about the hidden treasures God has given us in our journey with him.  Rich and MaryAnn (the children's leaders), opened the mic up for the kids to pray for our family.  As the line queued, Ellie leaned over to ask if she could go pray.  With a bit of reservation, I agreed. She waited her turn, then proceeded to pray a simple two line prayer: "God, thank you for parents who adopt orphan treasures and I pray for Albania."  I don't think I need to describe how Nathan and I were moved.

After church Ellie ran around with a new friend, "T".

Following lunch, we went to go see the Falls, on the campus of Toccoa Falls.

Jennifer had a photography assignment due the next evening, so she had her camera out to catch some images for class.  She shared her photos with me, so I'm not sure which images in this series are hers and which are mine!

The Santor kids are virtual gazelles and Reni wanted to be just like them.  He traversed quite a distance, navigating from rock to rock, like below.

 I'm not sure who likes it more when when Ellie gets to distribute doggie treats.  Don't worry, she wasn't feeding him M and Ms!

Some last-minute pics and we were on the road again!

Thank you, Santors and friends from Grace Fellowship!  You ministered to us in so many ways!  We are grateful for you all!  We can't wait to see you all again!

I hope to catch up the blog from this week's visits in the Atlanta area.  So far, the Winnie has been fine, squeaky belt aside. :-)  We hit the road shortly for Statesboro (about three hours away) after we finish school!  We are grateful for all of you who lift us up - thank you for praying for our safety on the road, but we also ask that you pray we might be good ambassadors, ever grateful for His provision!

Ongoing Adventures from the Road

What a week! I had many intentions to post, but got a bit overwhelmed at the thought of where to begin.  For those of you who followed our Tuesday night adventure on Facebook, I apologize that I never gave the end of the story!  That will be upcoming... Right now, we are sitting in a coffee shop in Georgia while the RV is in the shop yet again (you'll just have to read all the way to the bottom).  You might want to grab a cup of coffee.

I'll begin with Sunday!  Sunday morning found us at High Bridge Union Church.  This church is pastored by a former history prof that Nathan and I studied under at Asburry, Dr. Glen Spann.  It's also attended by our friends, the Kinnells and the Sheets.

  

In the photo above you'll see the kids all working diligently with their fidget toys -- brought by Amy, a serious student of sensory matters.  If someone was really smart, they'd sell a variety box of these toys.  Parents like me would buy them up in a heartbeat.

I don't have any photos of this, but before we left for Tennessee, we surprised our Asbury friends by staying for Global Cafe`.  Such a sweet, sweet time to be with some of our favorite-est people.  It's not lost on us that it won't be long before we don't know any of the students who attend (sniff, sniff).  For now, though, we don't think about it and enjoy a little taste of our 'former life'.  

Monday evening we drove down to Ashland City to see the Carneys.  At one point, the Carneys had been in the Albania program to adopt (which is how we met), before switching over to Russi*a.  They invited some of their church friends over for a yummy supper to meet us and hear about Albania.  It's always special to connect with folks over adoption and missions!  We stayed up WAY too late talking about all sorts of things and before we knew it, we had to be on the road again.  Thank you, Jason and Lindsey, for being such great hosts!  What a joy to meet your children (finally!)!  And thanks to Heidi and Jeff, Will and Casey, Scott, and Stanley and Marie for coming out!  We really enjoyed meeting you all!!!

 From the Carneys, we headed over to the Rutledges.  Elizabeth lived on my hall in the dorm, and we've reconnected through adoption (Rwanda, for them).  They've recently moved to the country, to an outdoors-y paradise for kids (complete with ponds, woods, and a cave!), but Ellie was happy just playing with their cat!  While I haven't seen Elizabeth in probably 18 years, it sure didn't feel that way!  They are a beautiful family and I was so glad for an opportunity like this to see them!

   We had just gotten north of Bowling Green, Kentucky when the RV started shaking violently and making a HUGE racket.  Ellie covered her ears and yelled, "Why are people shooting at us???  And why does it smell like gunpowder?" (like she knows what gunpowder smells like).  We had blown a tire, but because our rear tires are duallies,  we needed a tire service.  The gas station recommended a local guy who arrived within ten minutes.  

   He was really kind and after asking our story (why we were on the road), charged us only $50 for a service for which he said he usually charges $170. He discovered that the steel belting had knocked the tail pipe extension around, crimping one of them closed (a very dangerous situation).  With his tools, he knocked the end off and opened up the crimping.  Not even 15 minutes down the interstate, the spare tire blew.  We limped into a Pilot station, now about 9:30 at night, to strategize our options.

   Many of you friends on Facebook were kind to look up some tire places on the internet to refer us to.  Given the hour, we knew we'd have to spend the night near the tire shop since we couldn't drive more than 30 mph and felt it was safer to drive that speed at night instead of during rush hour the next morning.  We were directed to a tire place just one mile from the Pilot station.  He answered his phone at that hour (a miracle!) and told us that he just happened to have the tires we needed (a hard to find size). We got permission to park over night at Pilot with assurances from the tire shop that they would see us first thing after opening in the morning.  We got situated, hooked up the generator, cable locked it to the RV, set up the beds, and tried to settle in for the evening.  After settling comfortably in, we discovered that heavy rains and strong winds, lasting several hours, were coming our way.  Let me back up: we were told by the previous owner that if it was ever to rain, or if we were to park it long term outside to drive up one of the front tires on a wooden block he provided so the rain could drain off the roof (the ceiling AC unit is heavy and over the years had caused the roof to sag and collect water).  About 5:30 we were awakened to the sound of a heavy stream of water falling from the AC onto the aisle between our beds.  We quickly grabbed a skillet and some towels to absorb the splatter. 

You might ask, "Why didn't you go outside and drive up on the block?" Good, legitimate question.  Blowing downpour aside, the alternator belt had fallen off AGAIN somewhere outside of Nashville, so we had one start on our engine (that we could count on) and didn't want to start the RV until we were within a reasonable leave time for the tire shop.  We held out until a little after 6AM, when we saw a break in the storm on the radar.  Nathan quickly packed up the generator and moved the RV slightly on the prop and the leak stopped almost immediately.

As we started putting away our bedding, dressing, and getting ready to leave, I noticed a strong smell of diesel fumes. We would later learn that in addition to beating up the exhaust pipes, it had also cracked a large hole in the wheel well, under our kitchen sink.  With the tailpipe extension gone, exhaust was filling the wheel well and entering the interior of the RV.

We made it to the tire shop.  A very unassuming place.  The owner met us outside his trailer and along with the help of us his assistant, replaced all four rear tires.  You see, they quit putting these specific tires on vehicles in the late 80s or early 90s, and eventually quit manufacturing them altogether. They had four Firestones that would fit, but we would also need to buy new rims.  In less than an hour, we were on the road again.

Nathan and I had to cancel our dental appointments (thank you for being so gracious and understanding, Dr. Stahr).  But we got to Lexington in time for the children's appointments and eventually onto our most important scheduling item, a visit to First United Methodist Church of Lexington!  Our friends, Jonathan and Faith Powers, had arranged for us to meet their pastor of missions and discipleship, Martina Ockerman, and she invited us to share at their Wednesday night prayer meeting.  We really appreciate the opportunity to meet some folks at this missions-minded congregation, and they were full of great questions about our family and what we'll be doing in Albania.  Sadly, I didn't get any photos (I think I was so full of adrenaline from the previous evening's excitement that I was just putting one foot in front of the other).  

We dropped the RV off at a shop in Wilmore to try to figure out the belt issue, and attended our last 'real' appointment of our time in Kentucky: Reni's consultation at Shriners.  While we had borrowed the Kinnells' car Wednesday, we took advantage of Shriner's transportation service they graciously provide.  Two sweet retirees picked us up at 8AM and took us to Lexington.   

Briefly, it was determined that Reni needs another MRI for us to really know what's going on in his lower left leg.  For the first time we heard of the possibility of "extension" surgery which might add to any bone that might be growing below the femur, as well as additional surgery which might change the arc range of motion for his appendage.  We're hoping to have this scheduled after this trip is over in early March. 

(Above: because Shriners transport insurance only covers parents and patients, Ellie stayed with Sarah R while we attended Reni's appointment).

I can't describe how restful it is when we can stay at the student center. (Which is just what we needed). Unfortunately, our time was brief so we didn't get to see nearly as many folks as we would have liked. We met with some students, had a Skype conference call with our regional directors, and spent Friday afternoon catching up on computer work before picking up the RV again. All in all, not a bad place to be stranded.

(Below:  supper Thursday night courtesy of the Kinnells)

Friday night, we packed up the RV and left bright and early for Berea and then Georgia.  I'll share photos and a recap from those visits in the next post!

BELOW: the kids with Abby and Anna, their teachers-to-be next year!

FINALLY : thank you, prayer warriors, for lifting us up.  We send this just as we get back on the road again from having another repair.  For whatever reason, the lug nuts on the new right, rear tires, sheared off and we limped into a repair station with only 1 (of 8) nuts remaining. God's hand of protection has been on us (the tire shop owner told us while shaking his head that we were "lucky, lucky, lucky!" -- we told him, it wasn't "luck".  As the coffee shop owner (who gave us a ride to his place from delivering lunch to the tire shop) told us, "If you weren't doing the Lord's work, it would be easy going!"  We are reminded that there is one who would love to discourage us and steal us from the joy we find in this season of homeland ministry assignment.  We are staying ever dependent upon Him and hope that as we share of these provisions, you are encouraged to see how your prayers on our behalf are rendering affect.  We appreciate you!