Arizona Adventures

On Sunday night we camped near the Petrified Forest National Park. We arrived later than we had hoped due to our side excursion that day, but all agreed it was worth it. On Monday morning we figured out how to fill the propane and set out to visit the Painted Dessert and the Petrified Forest. It was a fascinating place! We enjoyed seeing by the many colors of the different layers. We stopped for some scenic overlooks and and an amazing and beautiful short hike. We found petrified wood enjoyed exploring.

After this great start to the day, we drove the rest of the way to the Grand Canyon. The places within the park have been full for a long time, so we found a little campground just before entering the park. We got there in time to set up camp before dark and get some pizza to eat at the picnic bench near our campsite. It was good to sit around a table in a quiet place as a family. We are together a lot right now, but I always love having a family meal around a table together! 

The next morning we got up and headed to see the Grand Canyon. It was breathtaking! Pictures cannot do justice to the immensity and beauty of this place. But here is what I have. 

Elijah will have so many more amazing pictures from our time there. He is a great photographer! By the early afternoon, our family had enough hiking around the rim of the canyon and were ready for some down time. In the evening Elijah, Esther and I went back to get some more photos while the others relaxed at the campground. Here is what I got as my best phone photo that evening. 

The next morning we woke with elk outside our RV and tents. We were able to get very close and enjoyed seeing a mammal that we had not encountered before. 

 She was friendly and not as shy as I would have expected. I think the animals around the Grand Canyon have gotten used to having people around. We had a vole with a golden stripe down his back whose home was at our campsite. He didn’t seem to disturbed by sharing the area with us. Along the rim of the canyon on the previous day, a squirrel walked up to Evie and stood on its hind legs apparently asking for some food. 

After our encounter with the elk, we packed up and prepared for our long drive today. We are driving from the Grand Canyon in Arizona to Sequoia National Park in California. We are currently passing through the Mojave Desert. I’m thankful that the AC is working as it is extremely hot outside! Arizona was actually pretty cool while we were there. The nighttime temperatures were in the 50s! 

As David drives through the dessert and we see the Joshua trees, I had a chance to put on my headphones and listen to some worship music. As we passed an oasis, I thought of how worship is an oasis for me. In times when life feels like a desert, songs of truth that fix my eyes on the goodness and love of God refresh my soul. I need to remember to take time to worship the Lord in song in the midst of dry seasons. 

Learning from Detours

Now that we have figured out how this motorhome works, we are thoroughly enjoying our travels! Yesterday we drove from Amarillo, Texas to Arizona! As we were driving through New Mexico, we saw that there was going to be a significant traffic slow down on the interstate due to construction, and Google Maps suggested an alternate route. We had been thinking it would be good to take some side roads to see more. So we decided to go for an adventure! 

As we travelled this alternate route we saw on the map that there was an ice cave and a volcano a short hike from the main road. At first David didn’t believe that there was an ice cave in New Mexico in the summer, but he agreed to stop. It was so much fun! We saw this fascinating part of New Mexico. The ice in now 20 feet thick! 

It was also great to get some exercise as we had been sitting for many hours of driving. Along the path we saw so many interesting things that were new to us and even hiked the volcano. I loved the trees along the way. What a beautiful place! 

As I think about this unplanned side trip, I am reminded how God blesses us with unexpected detours in life. No one loves hearing that a 7 hour drive is turning into an 8 hour one. But that unexpected detour was a blessing to our family. I am reminded of a line from one of the songs that I have written about before. “You bring beauty from ashes.” This volcano is another picture of how God brings amazing beauty from literal ashes. Even though the volcanic eruption was violent, there is now this amazing landscape with ice caves in lava tubes, and new life growing on this volcanic soil. 

In the midst of the unexpected detours and volcanic eruptions of life, we often feel overwhelmed and discouraged. But our omnipotent God brings blessing. Sometimes I am too busy complaining or focusing on the frustration to see it. It is my prayer that you and I will see the beauty and blessing in the midst of the detours. When we are in the midst of the volcano erupting and we can’t see, I pray that we will walk by faith. May the God of this amazing Universe, give us faith and joy to see the beauty today! 

Many Blessings!

Last night we slept in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We found a RV park with people who were very helpful. Since we are still very new to this RV life, we have a lot to learn. We had a brief tutorial and took some videos when we were first learning how to use this RV, but there are so many details. We are thankful to be learning as we go. Since David needed to figure a few things out, I was looking for something to do with the kids for the morning. Esther found that Tulsa has an art museum and it wasn’t going to cost too much. Win-win! 

The art museum also had an amazing garden! We all wandered around for several hours while David dealt with the RV. I’m sure he would have rather been enjoying art and gardens than dealing with dumping the sewage. I sure am thankful to have such a hard working, capable husband!

After he was finished and when we got on the road again, we found that the AC was working again!!! I’m so very thankful! We drove all the way across Oklahoma and into the panhandle of Texas. Along the way we saw several cool things, windmills, bison and lots of farmland with cattle. It was a fun day! I’m falling asleep as I write, so I should be done, but I do want to remember the many things we have to be thankful for on this amazing adventure! 

Pray for Uganda!

Soon after we left for the US, the COVID cases in Uganda began to spike. Vaccines are not readily available like here in the US. Additionally, the hospitals can quickly become overwhelmed. Oxygen and ventilators are limited. In order to prevent further spread, the government put in place some serious lock-down measures. It is a very difficult time for those in Uganda. My heart is heavy as I hear of the hardships our friends there are experiencing. Friday was declared a Day of Prayer for Uganda, but you can still pray on Saturday. 😉 The Good Shepherd’s Fold social media pages have some specific prayer requests listed. 

This lockdown is scheduled to last until 2 days before our return flight. We do not know when schools will be permitted to reopen. We do not know if the lockdown will be extended or what the situation will be like in August, but there is not currently a restriction on re-entering Uganda. The restrictions are regarding movement within Uganda. Since things are always changing, and we have no control over the future, we are not borrowing trouble by worrying about our return. We trust that God has all those details planned and will guide and direct us in His perfect time. 

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭NIV‬‬

On the Road

We have begun our family road trip, and we will certainly have some stories. We are traveling in a friend’s RV and have begun the trip with some generator and air conditioning challenges. Driving all day in the Deep South in the summer without AC makes for some long days. Since we have scheduled some college visits for our son, our time frame is tight and we haven’t been able to fully resolve the issues yet. A thoughtful fellow camper suggested buying a fan which was a great idea! We have power and we have been able to get an AC unit in the back of the RV to work, but the one in the front, near the driver does not work. 

My husband has been amazing, dealing with the challenges of driving such a large vehicle with a tow vehicle, and doing so for hours on end while being hot and sweaty. He is not without fault and we both have struggled with the tendency to complain or be impatient. But he has persevered and has been a huge blessing to us! 

We have only camped two nights since people so graciously offered for us to stay in their homes before that. The first night we set up camp in the dark. We are taking turns sleeping in the tent since there are only 2 beds in the RV and there are 7 of us. Our kids are learning new skills and we are enjoying a new and different life experience. After our first night camping, we all woke early and enjoyed the beauty around us. A friend gave us an art set and the kids enjoyed making use of it. 

David took the older two to visit a university, and I stayed at the campground with the younger 3. I was sad to miss the campus tour, but the school had some COVID regulations about visitors. I stayed and tried to take the kids with me on a short hike. Since we were in Jackson, MS, and the mosquitoes were everywhere, we all put on bug spray before walking around. Even after bug spray, we couldn’t get very far without being attacked by mosquitoes. I had gone for a walk in the early morning and seen some beautiful bayous with fascinating cypress trees and wanted my kids to also enjoy the environment. But also, the mosquitoes won and chased us back to the RV. 

After the college visit was over, we all loaded up and began the drive toward our next stop. We didn’t know how far we were going to get and looked for a good place to stop along the way to our next college visit. We found Burns Park in North Little Rock and reached before dark. We were much more efficient at setting up the tent since we  arrived at the campground in the daylight and we already had figured out some of the tricks. It is a really amazing park and the staff were very helpful. I wished we had longer to stay, but we need to reach the next school by Friday afternoon to do the campus visit before the weekend. 

We did go out for an interesting meal at Sharks restaurant in Little Rock. It is a Southern restaurant where everything is fried, okra, onion rings, hush puppies, catfish, frog legs and more! David felt like our kids needed that cross-cultural experience. 

We are now on our way to northwest Arkansas to visit John Brown University. We don’t yet have plans where we will stay tonight, but we will figure it out. We hope to address the AC issue before driving through New Mexico and Nevada, but we will see. All the RV repair places I am calling are fully booked. Apparently we are not the only ones taking a trip this summer. We are also not the only ones who need to get some things repaired, on a Friday afternoon. 

While complications and changes in plans are not the way we like for things to go, I am growing in my ability to trust that God is working for good in it all. It is easy to complain and feel frustrated when things don’t go as we plan. David recently shared with our home office at Global Outreach that the past years and a half dealing with COVID have continually reminded us of a passage in the book of James. 

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.””

‭‭James‬ ‭4:13-15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So, as we are now moving slowly in traffic, and the day is heating up, I am going to try to make plans for a repair shop and a place to sleep tonight, but I am also going to trust that God will direct our steps. I want to focus more on loving my family and following Jesus than I focus on making my plans work. He knows what we need and He will provide!