And so it begins...

I have a lot of catching up to do!  Last week was so busy.  We packed up and moved out of our trailer and took up permanent residence on the road.  All of our stuff is either in "don't need it now" storage or "gotta get to when we come to town" storage or with us.  It's the last one that we really need to work on getting to a more manageable load.  We have things for the hotel and things for camping and both places take a lot things!

The view from the roof at Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, TN was our first stop on this adventure.  The weather was fantastic considering that we pulled in that Sunday night to a whole lotta rain and a hurricane was predicted for the East Coast that week.  We had  sunny skies all week with only a bit drizzle on race day.  This was also my first week volunteering with Motor Racing Outreach (MRO).  In a nutshell, they are NASCARS ministry group.  On race days they provide a Christian "community center" for the children of the drivers to play and fellowship.  I helped set up and clean all the toys.  Being outside and by the track those toys get grimy!  I will help with set up and cleaning again this week in Atlanta.  Bringing God to kids who have such a nomadic lifestyle is such a blessing and MRO is doing an amazing job of getting His word out to the NASCAR community. (www.go2mro.com)

Visitors to our camp - wild turkeys

Darren setting up camp
    

Elk having a bit of breakfast

After a week in a stuffy hotel we were so excited to finally get to some camping.  We made plans to stay at a commercial campground but on the way there God had other plans.  Driving along the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains signs for the National Park were
all over.  Turn here for this camp site and turn here for that one.  Almost to our original campground we decided to turn into the park and see what was available.  Smokemont campground is on the TN-NC boarder and in the direction we needed to head to get to Atlanta.  Off to Smokemont we went.  Let me back up.  When we were first planning on camping between Bristol and Atlanta a friend suggested that we hike up to and camp at the Kephart Shelter.  It's a backcountry shelter that he goes to quite often.  We haven't done any backcountry camping yet and didn't feel comfortable trying it on our own the first time so, a pull in camp site is what we found.  BUT, and this is where God knows better than we do, Smokemont is near the 2 mile Kephart trail that leads to...Kephart Shelter!  He led us right to the spot that we wanted to see!!

The beginning our our hike to Kephart Shelter

Even though Darren's week is filled with a lot of walking there is nothing that compares to a good hike up a mountain.

Crossing on of the bridges

Kephart Shelter

If we had been looking for this on our own, we never would have found it or, more likely, gotten very turned around and very lost!  So, our best plans are nothing compared to His plans.  You never know what will happen when you listen to Him and follow.  It just might surprise you!  Also by following His lead we discovered the town of Cherokee, NC.  Located in the Cherokee Indian Reservation it's a great little town that has a lot for the the kids to do if we come back next summer.  We did a bit of shopping in town.  The cast iron Dutch oven we had been needing but not wanting to spend the $70+, we found on sale!  We also found FlapJacks (old fashioned red longjohns) to keep us warm on the cold nights ahead. And, Darren found this (thankfully he only tried on the hippy hair/hat combo):

Goof!

What a great start to our life on the road and there was God reminding us that He is along for the ride if we just take the time to listen.

"God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our master Jesus.  He will never give up on you.  Never forget that."
1 Corinthians 1:9

New Beginning

Most babies of my generation were baptized within a month or two after being born.  I was no exception.  My parents put me in a beautiful white gown and had me baptized in the hopes that I would have a relationship with Jesus.  For the next several decades I had a great Sunday relationship with Him.  I did my duty and volunteered at the church when asked.  I took my turn leading Sunday school and helped out with VBS every summer.  This is good enough, right?  Not really.  Something was missing.  A real relationship with Christ was what I was looking for but it wasn't the winter of 2009 that I started to get to know Him.


It is so hard to build a relationship with Christ if you don't surround yourself with other believers that also want to know Him personally.  It's not a coincidence that my relationship with Christ grew as my relationship with Darren did too.  I could never do justice to his testimony but in a nut shell, he began is walk with Christ while still trying to live in this world.  As those things faded away his relationship with Jesus really took off.  That's when we met.


Even though I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I still wanted to hang on to parts of this world.  It doesn't work!  On Sunday, August 14 I decided that enough was enough and if I was going to call myself a believer then I was going to have to take the first step and be baptized again. This time it was my choice.  Now, I didn't just walk into church and say, "ok, baptize me!"  The month of August at Lifepoint has been dedicated to All Things New.  Each Sunday we have been talking about how each of us can give more of our time and energy to the church and saying that now is the time to start our new life with Chirst.  More than 250 over two weekends came forward to commit their life to Christ!!!!  


So, this rainy Sunday morning I go to church not knowing what to expect.  We sang a bit.  Took offering (at the beginning? odd.) and Pastor Daniel came out.  My favorite part.  His sermons ROCK!!  "You can't call yourself a follower of Jesus if you don't take the first step." is how he starts.  I'm thinking I'm good since I already accepted Him as my Savior but I was wrong.  He's talking about baptism.  I was gone in July when they did it last time.  I made a mental note that this must be a monthly event and I would be prepared for it in September if we were in town.  "NO!  NOW!"  That's not Pastor talking to me but Him!  And He's a bit impatient with me.  God understands that He made me stubborn but still gets impatient with me.  I'm ok with that.  I have that effect on everyone.  Now the objections begin.  But, I'm not dressed for it.  "We have clothes for you to change into.", Pastor says. Oh.  I was baptized when I was a baby.  "You need to make it your choice in order to truly follow Christ.", Pastor says.  Ok.  I need to pray about it.  "Really???", God says!  At that point anyone who was taking this step in their life was asked to come forward and God said "GO!" I went.  On this rainy Sunday in August I chose to step out in the rain and get wet on purpose!


I am so blessed to have a Father in Heaven that loves me enough to send His Son to die for my sins and gave me someone here on Earth that helps me and encourages me daily in my life long walk with Him.

T minus 17 days and counting

With only 17 more days left with a roof over our head (ok, that's a bit dramatic).  With 17 days left before the adventure begins (that's better)...there is still so much to do!  My job is to pack, organize and separate the stuff that is going into storage and the stuff that is going with us.  It is a daunting task to say the least.  I went to storage today to get some of the boxes we saved from the last move and was so overwhelmed by what I was looking at.  WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!  I know this - Goodwill is going to love me!  I am only saving the stuff that is near and dear and, to me, irreplaceable.  
Thanks to NASCAR our first stop won't be a camp site but rather Bristol, TN.  However, between Bristol and Atlanta we are planning to get in some hiking and camping in the Great Smoky Mountains.  A friend told us that the Kephart Pong is a great place to do some backcountry hiking.  After spending the summer hiking the easy trails with the kids we are really looking forward to tackling the more challenging trails.
"God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son, and our Master Jesus.  He will never give up on you.  Never forget that." 1 Corinthians 1:9