Finally Online

It only took 12 days but we are now connected and wacky, world, web surfers! Man so much has been going on, where to start. First off, everyone is healthy. Katrina left a week ago and still is coughing, so we are almost all recovered from what we call the Texas crud. Shamrock TX was where we all woke up with runny noses and sore throats.

This week between unpacking boxes, assembling stuff and wrestling with Cox cable (internet provider), we played the role of tourist. Tuesday the family and the grandparents went to the San Diego Zoo. The San Diego Zoo is hard to describe. Think of a huge Disney World without rides but animials. We were told that you cannot do the entire zoo in one day and they were right. All told, we saw about 1/3 of the zoo. On Friday, Michelle's folks, the kids, and I went just three miles south to Point Loma National Park. It was a beautiful day to visit the point (well everyday is beautiful). Point Loma is basically a mountian ridge that goes out into the Pacific Ocean and creates a peninsual. San Diego has so much to do and the weather is sooo nice. We are in somewhat of of a heat wave, it was 77 today (normal is 74).

While we were at the Point, Michelle was downtown having lunch with all the Harbor Pastor's wives. She was so encouraged and really felt connected. Because Nanny got so sick, Michelle's folks had to cancel their plans for more travel and stayed an extra week. They flew out Saturday morning to spend a few days in Colorado. It was a hard, tearful goodbye, they were such a blessing to us.

Faith and Isaac have made so many friends here in the community. The pool has turned out to be a great place to get to know people and our kids are getting so tan and blonde! The kids play in the streets ( we live in an a private neighborhood), the adults join in and it seems to be such a great place for families. God put us right where we need to be.

Today, I preached at Xcross Roads Church in National City, it was so cool. The Lord helped me. There is nothing better that sharing God's Word and you sense He is using you in a special way. I'll be keeping my blog more current now that we have the internet.

We Are Slowly Getting Settled

After a week of living in Ocean Beach, things are starting to feel like home. We can now pull Michelle's van into the garage, so the boxes are slowly disappearing. Michelle and my mother discovered a second hand furniture store, which has saved us hundreds of dollars. So, we have a dinning room table and furniture to sit on in our living room. Mix in a few pictures and Michelle has turned our new home into a nice warm place.

We we very sad to see my mother, and Katrina and Kahli leave on Saturday. Thankfully, Michelle's folks are going to spend this week with us before heading back to North Carolina. They had planned to travel north and do some sight seeing, but because of Shirley's health they decided to stay and rest. Shirley is doing better, just weak.

I am officially making my new office Point Loma Nazarene College Library (where I am typing this blog). It is only two miles from our home. It sits right on the the cliffs of Point Loma and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. I'll post a few pictures once we get out home Internet service set up. Hopefully, it will be Tuesday or Wednesday?

Michelle and I are slowly getting over our colds. We try to ouy cough each other at night, but the battles are slowly subsiding. And I have had two quick chances to surf. They were SWEET!

Our newest newsletter will be out in a day, so be on the lookout.

The Promise Land

We made to Ocean Beach on Saturday around 1:00pm. Six or seven folks from Harbor welcomed us and had our truck unloaded in less than two hours. We were able to get the beds up and had a great night sleep, kind of. We are less than two miles from San Diego International Airport and in the direct path for takeoffs. Sunday morning we were awaken at 6:30 as five planes in a row took off. What a great alarm clock. Even though is was past midnight when we all made it to bed, Isaac and Faith were up with the first airplanes of the day.

Michelle is still snotty and coughing, but hanging in there. I have to keep telling her to "back away from the boxes". Shirley still is feeling bad, another trip to the doctor may be coming soon. I still have the crud in full force. Haven't even felt like going surfing, so you know I feel bad. May get my first surf tomorrow evening.

San Diego is beautiful. We have great neighbors with lots of children Faith and Isaac age. The community pool has been a great place to meet folks. Most of the people who live in our neighborhood are home owners and everyone knows everyone. So, we have been the newest attraction in town. I'll have more details and pictures on Friday when we get our Internet service at home. Right now I'm at a local library.

175 Miles To Go

Today was our desert day. I am amazed how many people live in Phoenix and Yuma Arizona. They have to be some of the hottest places in the world to live. You drive for hundreds of miles in the barren wasteland, then you come to a Wal-mart, Lowe's, with homes all over the place. Can you imagine the conversation a few developers had a few years back. Probably went something like: I think I can get a ton of land of almost nothing. I think we can develop it and promote the hound out of it and it will sell. But it is in the desert, do you think people will really move into the desert?

Well, 50 % of the people who live in Phoenix today did not live there five years ago. They were geniuses! If you want to know what the desert feels like, turn your oven on three fifty and stick your head in.

Tomorrow we should roll into Ocean Beach around noon. Most likely we will not have access to the internet until Monday or Tuesday. So, if there is no blog tomorrow you will know why.

Michelle's health was OK today, still coughing. Shirley turned the corner on her cold and I still feel like crud. Everyone else is doing great. Faith, Isaac, Kahli, and Katrina swam outside for over an hour this evening. No need for a towel, you can be dry in just a few minutes.

Interesting Fact: Katrina went to clean off the windshields of the van today while stopping for gas. The water evaporated before she could squeagy it off.

Also, i will continue to blog our comings and goings as we enter the new world of Church Planting. Thanks for your prayers.

Bonus Blog - The Jorney

As we have travel across America we have run into several of the same families. It has been fun to hear their stories.


Couple things that give cross country travelers away:
First: When they stop, everyone in the vehicle makes a B-line to the nearest bathroom.
Second: Every time a car door is opened, a Happy Meal toy falls out.
Thirdly: By the third day everyone is wearing ratty old shorts, T-shirts, and flip flops (comfort over fashion).


As our trip comes to and end, we would like to get an idea of who has been reading our daily blog. Please post a quick comment and let us know who is out there.


Off to Yuma Arizona tomorrow. High 117 Low 93

The Grand Canyon

Can your guess where we were today by our picture? Today was funny. We left at 9:00 from Williams on the Grand Canyon Railroad. The whole way we pumped up how big the Grand Canyon was going to be to Faith and Isaac. Once we walked up to the edge, they both were like, "What else do we do? "

The weather was perfect. A cold front came through the day before and cleared out all the haze. Cold front sounds more dramatic than reality. Instead of 100 + it was 90. In the shade it was not bad at all.

Michelle did not go with us today. She stayed back to rest. Her sinus infection is a little better. Mine is now in full blown mode. I feel like Charlie Brown head and have started coughing fits. Haven't had a cold like this one in a few years. I felt crummy but still enjoyed the day with the family. Shirley and Allen moved slow today walking around at 8,000 feet but could not find enough adjectives to describe what they saw. Katrina found a man today. Not sure if it will last since his occupation is a train robber (I'll post that photo in a bonus blog). Kahli is well and does a great job entertaining Faith and Isaac with her Ipod.

We travel to Yuma AZ in the morning. Pray for good health and safety.

I Need the Gospel

Today was a hard but good day. I woke up this morning with my nose stopped up and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I'll blame it on the cold but i was grumpy this morning. Told Michelle that I needed to ride alone to start off this morning. I listened to a sermon on a MP3 player and soaked up the Gospel from 2 Cor. Today was our most diverse. We had rugged canyons, high plains, and mountains. Katrina ran over a retread tire and it wrapped around the bottom of our van. At one point the tire stretched out to about eight feet. Looked like a long tail. Allen called me on my cell to tell me that Katrina and Michelle (Thelma and Louise) were dragging a dead animal.

Shirley completely lost her voice and had a sore throat all day. Once we got into Williams she went to an urgent care center. Katrina is now driving back to Flagstaff to get medicine at Walgreens. Michelle sounds pretty froggy too. That makes 5 out of 8 healthy people in our crew.

Good news, tomorrow is our day off at the Grand Canyon. We are taking the Grand Canyon Railroad which leaves just a few hundred yards from our hotel. Isaac is so excited, he may not sleep tonight. Faith is afraid that she may fall in!

Kahli is two for two: Cracker Barrel for lunch and Mexican for Dinner:)

The picture is of Allen, Michelle, and Shirley in the high plains of New Mexico.

New Mexico

Day 4 (Shamrock TX to Albuquerque NM)

The day began with a bike ride on the wide open plains heading down Route 66. I was into my third mile when the sun finally broke through, amazing! I dreamed about riding in the wide open in my mind for weeks. It exceeded any expectation. Felt like I was Forest Gump. Great way to start the day before 350 miles in a bumpy truck ride.

Isaac was my side kick this afternoon. He got in the truck talking and he did not come up for air for two hours. We made up silly stories and laughed a lot.

Isaac came down with a runny nose on Sunday, me on Monday, Michelle and Shirley today. Michelle and Shirley were feeling bad and both stayed in while we ate some Mexican food. It was much spicier than anything back in the south. Kahli was thrilled to finally have "real" food!

Interesting to ride in a thunderstorm with pouring rain and the road staying mostly dry. The rain evaporated as soon as it landed. Also saw the temperature go from the upper 90's to the upper 60's in just a few minutes. Michelle and Katrina took endless photos. Papa Allen said, "The mountains looked green from far away but when you got to them they were just rocks with stumble." Nanny (Shirley) although congested still had enough spunk and energy for us all. Faith was all smiles and so thankful that the pool at this hotel was working!

Off to Williams Arizona

Things are BIGGER and Hotter in Texas

First off, I want to apologize for not blogging yesterday. We did not run off the road, all is well. We traveled almost 500 miles yesterday and were worn out when we got to Fort Smith Ark. After a quick dinner and dip in the pool we all turned into pumpkins.

Today we traveled 379 miles mostly in Oklahoma and are spending the night in Shamrock TX. Oklahoma is not a flat state. I was surprised to see how many rolling hills there were. They were beautiful and I got to see a lot of them as I crawled up them at 45 miles an hour.

Just got back from DQ for dinner and it is 96 degrees at 8:15pm. Michelle stayed back at the room to rest. She had a good day but was worn out and needed some down time. Isaac had tummy problems yesterday and is back to his spunky self today. He road shotgun for a good part of the day. He loves trying to get other truckers to honk their horns. Allen and Shirley (Michelle's Folks) are like children at Disney World. They are enjoying the diverse scenery we get to see each day. Katrina and Kahli are doing well too. Kahli has some difficulty with food issues (she has diabetes and Celiac disease), the restaurants we have chosen have been out of things that she could eat. Cracker Barrel is her favorite and everyone else too! She has kept a great spirit through it all. Katrina has been the main driver of the family mobile and Michelle her co-captain. Kahli is a great "flight" attendant. Papa Allen has enjoyed the great view from the moving truck and Nannie has been jammin' in the F150 to America's greatest country music!

Tomorrow we will travel about 130 miles in Texas then into New Mexico totaling 372 miles for the day.

Picture is of Oklohoma:

Nashville

We made it to Nashville around 5:00 pm yesterday. There were no no major issues, just tired from being up into the early hours the night before. We stayed at my sister Tasha's home. She has two small children that has great toys. Isaac and Faith have been loving life. Most of their toys have been packed up for the past month and half. Today (Sunday) is going to be our longest day of travel. After today we will be 1/3 of the way there!

Michelle's health is a 5.5 (1-10 scale) this morning. This is promising because mornings are by far her most difficult time. She started some new medicine yesterday and it is already making a difference. Thanks for your prayers!

A Good Life Live

I got a message from my father early this morning that his mother, my grandmother passed away. Vita Huster died at the age of 99. I am not sure when the funeral will be, but most likely it will be sometime during our move to San Diego. This blog is in some way a part of my healing as a walk in the pain of losing someone so special.

My grandfather and grandmother Huster played a significant roll in my life. They only lived two miles from where I grew up. Living with my single mother and two sisters, I spent many days after school and summer days with them. The memory I will hang on most to is my grandmother reading her Bible and "Daily Bread" to me and my grandfather at breakfast. She modeled the great habit any person anyone could ever develop. I love you grandmother, give granddad a big hug for me!

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Packing Day - Michelle's health is 4.5 on a 10 point scale. Up a notch today.

We Will Not Be Homeless

This blog will be updated daily while we are on our trip across America. The trip officially begins Saturday morning around 8:30 am.

Here is a picture of our town home we will be leasing in Ocean Beach. It is a 3 bedroom 2. bath. Michelle and Katrina did a great job. It is in the heart of OB, just a mile from the beach. There are around 200 units in this self contained neighborhood, most of young families.

Today has been an unusually hard day so far. I awoke to the news that the 15 year old boy Austin, from Lexington SC, body was found yesterday. Austin drowned Sunday while on a mission trip with his youth group in Mexico. I found myself significantly affected my the news. This was one of my nightmares I had as a youth pastor. My heart grieves for the family and their church.

"Blessed are those who morn for they will be comforted"

Enjoy your family today and of course - FIREWORKS!