Walking Resumes

Thanks for your patience in watching for my next post. I have been delayed in writing for several reasons. First, my computer had a hard drive problem and had to be put in the shop. Second, I temporarily suspended my walk so I could return to my hometown in Washington State to help my mom and dad with a few things before winter snows set in. I flew out of California on November 11th to Seattle and returned back to California on Wednesday the 17th.  Fortunately, my computer guru back home was able to resurrect my computer making it good as new. I spent the next day on the 18th getting administrative details up-to-speed in preparation for walking the next day...

Pesky Preachers

Friday 19th…up and at em’ at 6:00 am after listening to Christian radio since before 4:00 am. Pesky preachers were talking straight at me…again. Thankful that God loves me enough to continue working on me…don’t always like how it feels…but, time to get up and walk. Head for vehicle drop point before getting ride to my last end point...nice to visit with the convenience store man I met last week…great and helpful guy! Threw on my gear, stuck in my earpiece, fired up my GPS, and took off. Now back on the road…I resume thinking about how I will navigate between my current locale and the California-Arizona border due to lacking roads and highway restrictions. For the first time in thousands of miles walking the USA, I am faced with an impassable area along my intended route. Dilemma…Alternatives?... Main objective…intersect with those people God called me to reach despite challenges and unexpected course corrections…lots of talking to God…lots of listening… Question in mind…do I skip a section for first time in walk career or…cut south 60 miles to take alternate route? Uncertain…detour may cause me to by-pass important population centers. Flash! God knows what He is doing…not worried about Him…aware of own fallibility. Must be sure alternate frontage roads or courses exist all along potential detour route before ending up off course with same problem…map research. After 4 plus hours walking…time with Jesus…several phone calls…and one blister…finish walking for the day. Send out email requesting prayer for God’s wisdom and direction…

Saturday 20th…head back 80 miles to closest REI to remedy boot problem. Found myself recalling the streets and roads I had walked and people I met. Troubling memories of missing church presence, struggling people, and divine appointments God blessed me with. And then, I recalled the email I received from one dear lady a couple days after I was featured in several newspapers for walking (now 10 days ago).  Friends…Christians… Church…….please hear her words, put yourself in her circumstances, and pray for God’s intervention and goodness to overcome what assails her and her husband.   To guard her privacy, I have carefully revised and removed the names of people, organizations, and places in the excerpt from her letter below. Please read on…

Lady Responds To News Article

“I would like to tell you this year has been interesting, I have experienced many opportunities for closeness with Him this year. I was fired as a teacher at a Christian School with no unemployment to help. My husband, a disabled Viet Nam Vet with extreme psychosis was not happy. That same week my Mother-in-law died. Next, my Father-in-law was hospitalized. We made payments for the rest home but it set us back, so I started babysitting for my daughter. My husband was fighting for his sanity, the VA was sending heavy medications, and his sister (who is a "Christian") yelling for more money. I got in a car accident and our car was totaled by a non-insured motorist leaving the bank wanting $6,000 to cover what insurance didn't. We had to surrender our cars to the bank. My father-in-law died the next month, more bills. My husband wanted me to get a real job and threatened to "kick me out".  The State wanted $55 to give me an emergency credential to add onto the one I had years ago and couldn't get a teaching job with CA not hiring. I'm not fluent in Spanish.....I'm still babysitting... The little church we knew sent us a note and an envelope to send them money. We were not poor enough to get food from another church, but they wanted to make sure that we voted for them in some non-profit contest. This month I was able to order food…but CA food stamps still consider us too rich. I'm not asking for money. Even if we eat minimal, it's okay. My husband gained so much weight from the meds the VA gave him, he is embarrassed. I must tell you, when I was hit on the mountain pass and sent spinning in 4 lanes of traffic heading toward the center divider head on…I was praying at that very moment and had the peace of Christ that surpasses understanding. I usually have hypertension, but the fire department said my b/p was normal when they arrived. I did a “Dukes of Hazard” slide sideways and ended up parked perfectly backwards next to the center divider with fast lane oncoming traffic to the left of my door. We knew this was a "God Thing." Then two months ago my husband slipped into something…the VA doesn't know what happened.  He hit a tree and totaled his deceased Dad's old car. We are both alive and well. We still have lots of bills, but we know God isn't dead and something good is going to happen. We can't really afford to go to church, but God gives us opportunities of faith. It looks like He's doing that with you. Thanks, for listening….”

Things Can Always Get Worse

No matter how bad things seem, it is obvious that things can always grow worse as we read of this dear lady’s life experiences above. If you are like me…I sometimes find myself feeling sorry for myself, until…I look around and see the challenges faced by others. To some, not having the right color shirt, new enough car, or position we were promised…is a crisis. And yet, our troubles dim when we gaze upon others who cannot walk, have lost all, and who face life without hope not knowing the love of Almighty God through Jesus Christ. Does knowing Jesus rescue us from life’s troubles… No! Does knowing Jesus make us perfect… No! As we read in this dear woman’s letter above…despite all hammering on her life…she managed to sense the “peace of God that surpasses understanding.”

We Can Do More

I challenge you this day to take inventory of God’s love and blessings in your life. Likewise, I urge you to regain perspective when feeling downtrodden by looking beyond yourself to those less fortunate. And, I call you to prayer, authenticity, and action on behalf of this woman, her husband, and others similar as Christ’s ambassadors. The world around us is lost without Christ. He said they, meaning the world, will know us by our love. Love is not a feeling. Love has character that “always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres…believes all things…helps those in trouble…blesses those who harm…forgives those who sin against us…restores those who are broken…and meets the needs of those without with provision that changes the struggling person’s world. Who is hurting around you? Will you go? Will you help? Will you extend God’s love when it is inconvenient? We are God’s eyes, ears, hands, feet, and love to those around us… One question stays ever before me…was that person’s life improved, helped, empowered, or blessed because they met me?   I can only hope so as I give God permission to use me each day… How about you?