May 2013 – Life with us ~ The Wandering Workentins

Sharing & Writing

One of my RV friends, Donna B McNicol writes a blog called Write4Ten

and I stumbled upon it in the wee hours of the morning and have decided to follow the blog and use the PROMPTS that are given each day as a topic for a blog post. Hopefully I can do it every day but if not I know the ones I participate in will a lot of fun.

Today’s word is SHARE Think about it, read the definitions below, then sit for ten minutes (minimum) and write. It could be fact or fiction, your choice. The idea is to spark your imagination and get back into enjoying writing.
share¹ (shâr)

1. A part or portion belonging to, distributed to, contributed by, or owed by a person or group.

2. An equitable portion: do one’s share of the work.

3. Any of the equal parts into which the capital stock of a corporation or company is divided.

v. shared, shar·ing, shares

Share, Sharing, Shared, Shares

When I first read the word share this morning my mind immediately went to a memory of sharing my lunch with others while in grade school. Not really a big deal what kids bring to school for lunch that is until you bring the same boring bologna sandwich on cheap white bread (it was 29 c ents a loaf back then ~ and yes that is showing my age 🙂 with mayonnaise that had not been refrigerated since the early morning hours and maybe an apple or an orange and once in a while (big while) there might be a cookie or two and then the little carton of milk if I could find the 5 cents to buy it. Lunches at that time were not pleasant to make, bring to school or even eat. But once in a while someone would ask if anyone wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You bet…I still love peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Jam more than jelly, especially homemade strawberry or raspberry jam with the seeds…yummy.

Did you ever share your lunch with someone or did someone share their lunch with you.

I still share my lunch or dinner with someone quite often.

When visiting my grandchildren we will often share a peanut butter & jam sandwich or a big bucket of movie popcorn ~ I just love movie popcorn that is a day or two old…it just tastes good and crunches 🙂

Sometimes at dinner I will share part of my dinner with my sweetie. It is usually because I get full and ask him if he wants the rest of mine. And usually he does .

One thing I really enjoy sharing are my thoughts, saying that I read on Facebook or hear from a friend and recipes! Recipes are so fun. I was challenged to only share healthy recipes for 30 days…do you know it’s hard to find healthy, good looking, hopefully tasty recipes. Or maybe I am not looking in the right places.

I also love snuggles with my grandchildren. Max doesn’t like sharing snuggles with me much less hugs and kisses but he does humor me and gives me a hug when we part our ways. I guess I can understand…he is 14 years old y’know.

I enjoy spending time with people and sharing stories of our lives as well as how the Lord is working in our lives, through the difficult times and easy times. I enjoy being a part of ladies retreats and get togethers sharing how the Lord has protected me, having faith in difficult times and how He has healed me from some very painful issues I have had to deal with in my life. And I like to share my story with those who are facing some of the many struggles and hard times I have had in my life.

Along with sharing my stories I like to hear others’ stories…baby stories, first word stories, kids going to school or how a parent embarrassed one of their children when they were in middle school. Oh, that’s right I was the parent that embarrassed my younger son when he was in the 7th grade. Maybe sometime I will share that story here in my blog. Would you like that? Let me know.

Have you shared a story recently? What about a meal? Or what about your time with someone who just needed a friend? Do you like to share with others? If so, what is your favorite thing to share? What do you like others to share with you? Maybe a piece of candy, maybe a joke or ????

God in Action

As I continue my study on Faith

I am thankful for God’s protection in our lives.

Last night and today our area has been riddled with lots of storms:

Lots of Thunder & Lightning

And right now we are under a

But through it all as long as my eyes are on the Lord and remember He is in control all will be well.

And in 1 Peter 1:5-11 we are told be

diligent and intentional in our walk with Jesus Christ.

Faith + Virtue+ Knowledge + Self-control + Perseverance + Godliness + Brotherly Kindness + Love

are the things we need to be focused on in our walk with the Lord.

Along with the above scripture reference there was a story about a man who took a new job away from family who was asked after one year was he really committed to his new job as he had not yet sold his home in his previous location, had not moved his family to the new location and his boss asked him if he was totally committed to his job because his actions weren’t expressing that.

I felt the Lord was challenging me about my attitude about committing to a church body, getting involved with others in the different locations we have lived in over the past 2 1/2 years and what I realized was I was enjoying some of the benefits of being involved with some I wasn’t totally committed to being a part of the group.

As we contemplate accepting a new position in the next few weeks I find that I am asking God to show me where to be involved and how to use my talents wherever God lands me.

Thank you Lord for this awareness and now as Tom used to say

help me to take my AWARENESS and add some CONTACT and see how God CHANGES me 🙂

Storms of Life

Wow! Wow!

Is all I can say.

We have had some doozy storms lately.

Wednesday night, 5/29 we were sitting in the rig. I was crocheting and Ron was reading RV Forum on the Ipad when the NOAA Weather Radio alarm went off startling both of us to say the least. It had not been a stormy day so the alarm was definitely unexpected. The calm voice on the other end said “Seek shelter now! Severe Thunderstorms have been spotted in the Coffeyville, KS area.” So we started to gather our things and then the alarm went off again “Seek Immediate Shelter NOW! Winds of 70 mph are rapidly approaching.” We couldn’t move fast enough. Got in the Jeep to head to the shelter. It was raining hard, I called Debra the manager of the campground and we stopped by Jesse & Ryans. Told them about the storm warnings. And we continued to the shelter. We were there from 8:28 p.m. till almost 10:00 p.m. ~ no one else came. Made me wonder what people are thinking when NOAA makes those announcements…its not a game…lives are in serious danger. We stayed till the all clear.

We returned to the rig and got settled for the night. Both said a prayer that the storms would pass us by and we would get a full nights rest.

Thursday morning was overcast. We had a few errands to run so we made a quick trip to the Post Office and Country Mart. One sweet older lady said to us as she was heading into the store and we were going to our car. “Make sure you pick me up if I topple over 🙂 ” We all chuckled and said we would. We watched her safely get into the store while we loaded the groceries into the Jeep and before heading back home.

Shortly after we got home, Ron commented that the skies were sure getting dark.

(Sorry the first three pictures were taken from the rig looking outside through the window with our screen on it)

But you get the idea…the skies were not very pretty.

And then the alarm went off! Severe Thunderstorms were on the way again.

Took the above picture just before the skies opened up. And then it rained. It hailed. And rained some more! The wind was blowing somewhat but never got above 50 mph. Not only were we listening to the weather radio we also had the radar on our computer. It helps to see what is coming

And then the rain stopped. The clouds cleared up a little.

This is looking out from our rig towards 169.

This is right outside our door. Yesterday, Mike the manager and Ron had worked on leveling out the big ruts in the yard with three loads of dirt.

Our own little pond 🙂

Clear skies for a while.

And then dark clouds moved in once again.

After raining for about another 45 minutes to an hour the skies started to clear once more.

And the water started to recede from beside the rig.

And then the sun came out.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was nice, sunny and warm.

As we went to bed we both commented “wonder what tomorrow will bring?”

As I reflected on how the storms came rushing in along with the downpour and hail and then the beautiful sunshine I reflected on how my life goes that way sometimes. Things can be going along just fine and then out of nowhere WHAM! Like a flat tire on the Jeep – comes unexpectedly. Do I find myself panicking or preparing to deal with things. I was told quite often a few years back “you need to reign in those wild horses. So hard to do when they are running amok and the panic and anxiety soars. But when I kept my eye on the horses, being prepared for their slightest rumblings made such a huge difference…sort of like us with the unexpected weather that hits this area…as long as my emergency bag is packed, I have the weather radio turned on I respond much calmer and handle the storm raging outside much calmer inside the rig or the shelter.

How do you handle the unexpected storms in your life?

Are you prepared to some degree or do you freak out a bit, finding yourself surrounded chaos and panic?

Road Trip to Bethany, MO and back to Coffeyville, KS ~ Day 3

Friday ~ May 24th

Slept in and then made our way to breakfast…it was delicious and plentiful. So nice to have good tasting food and a clean jovial place to enjoy our meal before heading out for the day. We stayed at the Best Western just out of Kansas City. And then we began our journey back to Coffeyville, KS.

The day started out overcast but slowly turned to blue skies and sunny.

One of the reasons Ron wanted to go to Leavenworth was to see the Federal Prison. While he was stationed at McChord AFB, Tacoma, WA a few guys in his unit were arrested and court martialed for selling and promoting the use of a variety of drugs. It is a huge prison. They raise beef and buffalo and have a huge garden. All behind fences with huge rolls of Constatina Wire. All these pictures were taken from across the prison as there are lots of signs once you cross onto the federal prison property that say no pictures. Across the street from the prison is a housing development with a huge park and ball fields – we wondered if that is where families of the prisoners stay when they come to visit the prisoners.

On a side note,

the picture of the blue bridge is for Ron’s cousins who live in Pasco, WA

and have to cross a blue bridge into the Tri-cities 🙂 .

The above pictures are in Leavenworth, KS itself. There is definitely the older part of town where the Air Force Base is located and the newer part of town where all the shopping malls and fast food restaurants are.

While at the hotel Ron found a brochure that talked about a museum that sounded interesting so after touring the area of the prison and the air base we made our way over to the two historical homes. Alas, the museum was closed that day 😦 We could only imagine the stories of those who had lived in the homes. The one shown in the center was a private residence until 1964 when it was donated to the city of Leavenworth.

From the town of Leavenworth we made our way to the Veterans Hospital and Home where many of our veterans who have been injured over the years are treated and live. We saw many veterans walking around the lawns…we say THANK YOU for serving and giving so much for us and our country. In some of the pictures you can see where they are updating and making the dormitories/houses more habitable.

And then we continued on our drive.

We saw beautiful churches, a great looking motorhome and some cool looking barns

Driving through the countryside

And then we had a HICCUP. The first flat tire we have had in our Jeep since we bought it in November 2010. If you have been following our blog long, you know Ron loves to drive on the back roads and avoid the freeways as often as possible. Ron started the process of changing the tire when our first big bump was that there was a locking lug nut and us with no tools to get it off. After trying for about 15 minutes with what tools he had, Ron started trekking down the road to the nearest farmhome, no one was home so off to the second one. I stayed at the Jeep, texting and praying, praying and texting watching three different trucks go speeding past with not a glance towards me or the Jeep 😦 and then Ron came back carrying a couple of tools. He got the lug nuts off and tried to pull the tire off the Jeep ~ no such luck…fortunately by this time, a young man stopped to see if we needed assistance. After talking for a few minutes and both he and Ron pulling on a tire that would not budge, the young man grabbed his hammer and gave the tire a big hit…and voila, the tire came off. And with that the tire was changed and we were off to give the lady down the road her tools…found out the young man that helped us was her son! Giving thanks to God that she was home and her son had a hammer.

A BIG Hiccup in our day :) — A BIG Hiccup in our day 🙂

We then made our way to Parsons, KS to pick up a few groceries

And then we were home at our rig at the

Big Chief RV Park.

We had a great three days off and are excited to see how God continues to lead us.

Faith ~ the Size of a Mustard Seed

The focus of my scripture readings and study’s for the month of May have been on the topic of Faith.

The verse above is one that I have claimed for many years as a reminder that no matter what God is in control. And that all I need is faith the size of a mustard seed.

Have you ever looked at the size of a mustard seed?

It is very tiny and as long as I have faith, just a speck of faith, I can trust God’s word is always right.

And as we are told in 1 Peter 1:6-9

by following and trusting in God we can be joyful in all things!

And we can do that with holding onto our faith even if it is only the size of a mustard seed.

It is amazing to see how God continues to work in our lives. Specifically seeing His handiwork as we continue to seek Him and follow His leading.

Road Trip to Bethany, MO and Back to Coffeyville, KS ~ Day 2

Thursday, 5/23 ~ woke to grey skies and threats of rain. Since our business with D & P was finished for the time being we decided to take a leisurely trip back to Coffeyville.

First stop was to get gas and look who was filling up across from us.

We love seeing old cars and how they travel.

We decided to take the roundabout way to get back to Coffeyville.

We both love to read books about the Amish and found a little Amish/Mennonite community that was sort of on our way home. Well not really, but we were on a road trip right 🙂

We headed off to Jamesport, MO

These are the sights along the road to Jamesport.

We love all the purple flowers along the way, old barns and crazy bouncy roads. Even ran into a little construction…the guy holding the sign was sitting in his truck when we pulled up. We said hi as we were passing and he said it was too cold to be standing outside 🙂 One of the things we really enjoyed was seeing the different fields and corn coming up, the perfect rows and this amazingly huge tree that from a distance looked like a person checking out the happenings along the road.

And then we got into the outskirts of the Amish/Mennonite community of Jamesport. Anytime we see a Paint we comment and think about our friends Al & Selma and the story of their little foal that was the paint that ain’t. Aren’t the white barns and houses beautiful along the green of the fields and the blue skies.

We arrived at Jamesport around 11 a.m. so after walking around a bit we decided to grab some lunch at Gingerich Family Restaurant. Jamesport has a sign (red one) with the annual yearly activities…we are hoping to attend one of their weekends in the future. There is a sweet little hotel, Jamesport Inn that would be perfect to spend a weekend at and touring around the area. We laughed when we saw the sign “No Hitching” and we did see a few buggy’s coming into town as we were leaving.

We saw lots of posters for a birding event coming up Memorial Day Weekend. The farm pictured below was going to be lowering the bird houses/nests every hour on the hour so people could see the baby birds and the nests they call home. During our drive we saw lots of gourd style bird houses.

More of the country side and Amish homesteads. The picture in the middle was a home where the Amish were gathering for some type of meeting/event. Must have been about 10 to 12 buggies there. One thing we noticed as we were driving around the little Amish children would smile, wave and then quickly turn and hide their faces.

This group of pictures is of the Flory Creamery. It is run by the Flory family, a Mennonite family. We met a couple who were visiting the US from Russia inside the little store. It was fun to talk with them as Ron shared about his father and his family escaping out of Siberia in 1928 near Harbin, China. The gal said she knew exactly where Ron was talking about. As we pulled in we saw the chicken house and where the calves are kept. Ron enjoyed checking out some of their farm equipment. I noticed the old fashioned merry-go-round in the front yard. We enjoyed chatting with the young girl running the store, sampling about 12 different kinds of cheeses and of course buying a few packages. The one thing they didn’t have was curds 😦 maybe next time. I told Ron if we lived in a sticks n bricks home I would love one of the rocking chairs pictured in the bottom corner below.

As we continued on our drive we saw some interesting parks, an old cemetery began in the mid 1800’s and drove over some roads that were nothing more than ruts in the ground 🙂 At one point we had to laugh as we had made a full circle and traveled only about 30 miles (if we had gone in a straight line) from where we crossed the day before in Cameron, MO but we had actually driven over 125 miles 🙂

And then it was time to find a place to stay for the night. We had gone from Bethany, MO to Jamesport, MO through Cameron, MO, and St. Joseph’s and crossed over into Kansas but backtracked about 10 miles to Platte City, MO and stayed at the Best Western where we had a much better stay than the night before.

Stay tuned for Day 3 of our Road Trip to Bethany, MO and back to Coffeyville, KS.

Road Trip to Bethany, MO and back to Coffeyville, KS ~ Day 1

Last week we made a road trip to Bethany, MO for both pleasure and work.

We have been approached about returning to Branson, MO as campground managers and the soon-to-be new owners, D & P, wanted to meet with us. So off to Bethany, MO we went.

Wednesday, 5/22 we had planned to get up at 5 and hit the road by 6 but when that dang alarm went off we decided to set it to snooze till 6 a.m. Because as everyone knows, days off should include a little sleeping in 🙂 By the time we got ourselves ready to go, got the Jeep loaded, made a

it was 7:30 a.m. The day was beautiful and sunny!

Ron enjoying his breakfast shake!

Coming into one of the many small towns we drove through. The church shown was built in the 1880’s.

More old buildings and glorious sunshine!

Love these old time lights.

And we wandered through the little town of Colony, KS ~ population 67 ~ Ron’s kind of town.

And then we saw this sweet car ~ thinking our grandson Max wouldn’t mind having one of these 🙂

And heading into Kansas City.

More of the skyline in Kansas City.

Approaching a bridge that looked quite interesting in design.

Close up of the bridge. Ron thought Christmas lights would look cool on every one of the stringers.

And looking over the bridge and into the river…just magnificent.

Pulling into Bethany the skies had changed to dark and grey and the weather was cold. And us in our shorts 🙂

After a delightful lunch at a little Mexican restaurant in Bethany with D & P and sharing many ideas, expectations and goals for a sweet little campground in Branson we parted feeling lots of peace and anxious to see where God will lead. We parted ways till evening when we went to church with D & P. We both felt the Lord speaking to us and you can read more about it all here: Road Trip Reflections.

After church we returned to the hotel and went for a swim. We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Bethany. We would not recommend this hotel for anyone…the rooms were dirty, don’t know the last time the carpets had been vacuumed, the breakfast that they speak about was minimal at best…couldn’t make a waffle that was edible and when asked if they had any yogurt (they had a fridge and a place marked for it) we were snappishly told No!

Though the hotel was not the best, our day’s drive to Bethany was a nice drive. Stay tuned for Day 2 of our mini-vacation/road trip.

My Body is not Mine Alone

Woke up this morning to the motor home rockin’ and a rollin’ as we were experiencing wind gusts up to 40 mph ~ whew!

As I was reading

I was reminded that my body is not my own but a temple of the Lords and I need to take care of it like it was the most precious thing around BECAUSE it is a temple of the Lord!!

I weighed this morning and I was back where I was two Monday’s ago…what a reminder that getting healthy is not done once in a while but needs to be part of my focus each and every day.

And in my devotional I was reminded

Faith is believing in what I cannot see but to be committed to walk in Christ’s footsteps

even though I don’t know what is ahead of me.

Faith calls us to live not by our feelings but by what we know is TRUTH!!

I am not to worry about tomorrow as I don’t know what it will bring.

Instead I need to focus on today and and see God’s blessings now!

And how special friendships are as talked about in Proverbs 27:9

Today I give thanks for the many friendships I am blessed with. I have many friends, some I speak to every day, sometimes once a week or even once a month. I have friends I have spent time with, sometimes even six hours in a coffee shop as God healed our relationship. And I have friends I have never met in person but who have blessed me with a card, a phone call, an email or even placing flowers on our little Royce’s grave as they passed through Las Vegas. I have friends who I have only seen a few times over the past 35 years and yet I know that at any given moment I could reach out to any one of my friends and know that just as God is with me and I am never alone that my friends are with me to hold my hand, listen to me cry, share in my joys and even help me to see the humor in a tire that refuses to come loose so we can continue our journey.

Thank you Lord for being my friend and blessing me with friends around the world.

And the little reminder from Proverbs 27:23 to be diligent, to know the state of your flock (household) and to attend to your herds (what it is that needs to be done).

For me, this was a reminder of paying attention to the little things and the big things that need to be done each day like balancing the checkbook, paying the bills, preparing healthy meals, taking care of my health, loving my hubby, my children and grandchildren, to keep my focus on the Lord and follow where He leads.

Sunday School & Worship Service Reflections

Interesting Sunday School class this week ~ the lesson came from Deuteronomy 21:18-21

And how even though the ways of discipline is different today ~ we don’t stone our children or others who are disobedient ~ it is still important to address disobedience.

I reflected a lot during the lesson about how we parented our boys at different times and how we had to use “Tough Love” even when it was very hard. And that we were able to stand and hold onto our values with the strength of the Lord and the love and support of other parents who had walked a similar road as we were at the time.

One thing Pastor Daniel shared was that in the case of this rebellious son his rebelliousness did not happen over night but over a period of time and I thought about one of my personal struggles ~ being overweight and the struggles I face as I change my lifestyle of poor eating and lack of exercise to making healthy choices and moving more. I know, some of you are laughing as it seems we are always moving :), in this case I am thinking of moving my body, getting exercise. I did not gain all this weight over night but over many years and I can’t expect that making a few changes will immediately show great results of a new healthy me.

And I find myself asking the Lord to help me daily to make healthy choices. Each and every day!

It’s like using Tough Love on myself…sometimes it is necessary to be a little tougher/stronger in my journey of getting healthy.

And I am reminded that

And then the sermon was titled “If it concerns God does it concern me?”

Scripture came from Mark 10:13-16

Luke 18:15, 2 Samuel 12:23

And that ALL things matter to God, not just the big things.

EVERYTHING! matters to God

and if it is important to God it should be important to me.

And the question was asked ~

Are you not only concerned but are you concerned enough?

I have often asked “Are you okay?” and have been asked that question by others but I think what needs to be asked is

Lord help me not to just offer words but to DO something for those who you bring into my life. I may not have much money but I have many blessings that I can share with others.

Road Trip Reflections

Wow, can’t believe two weeks have passed since I last wrote…what have we been doing?

Ron’s days off 5/15-18/2013 was spent close to home. It rained quite a bit so the weather was not conducive to checking out the area. We did a lot of resting which was kind of nice ~ just reading, spending time together, watching some shows on Netflix. We are enjoying The Guardian and Cheers!

Ron’s days off 5/22-24/2013 was spent on a road trip. Our blog, The Wandering Workentins will be updated later today about our road trip with lots of pictures…let me share a little bit of our trip and how the Lord spoke to both of us.

Our road trip was from Coffeyville, KS to Bethany, MO and back to Coffeyville, KS in a roundabout way

Tried to put a picture of the map of our route: Coffeyville, KS to Bethany, MO to Jamesport, MO to Leavenworth, KS to Pittsburg, KS to Parsons, KS and back to Coffeyville, KS…I just couldn’t figure out how to make the map into a picture…maybe next time.

The reason for our trip was an interview for a full-time, permanent position as campground managers. We did not apply for this job, the owner came looking for us 🙂 We agreed to meet with him and so we planned our trip to go meet him in his home town. He is not only a business man but also a farmer and a pastor. We looked forward to meeting with him and his wife to see what they were offering, if we could work together, did we have similar goals and especially to see if the Lord was opening an unexpected door and opportunity.

We enjoyed our trip. Wednesday started out sunny but by the time we arrived in Bethany it was cool and overcast. We were definitely not dressed for the change in weather as we were both in shorts and tank tops 🙂 We met at a little Mexican restaurant and talked for almost two hours. Lots of things were talked about and we feel the Lord is leading us in that direction. In the evening we were invited to attend church w/D & P and thought it would be fun and see how the Lord would speak to us. The ladies have their own Bible study and the men meet together. Once we gathered to return to the hotel we laughed at how the Lord spoke to both of us.

Alice hearing from the Lord

God went before Ron and I to speak to D & P, to ready the discussions ~ am I open to hearing how he is leading and then following him.

I felt God asking me the following: Do I choose to follow Christ? Are my values His values? Do I allow “STUFF” to compete for God in my life? Do I make room for God in my life? Do I sit in the quiet and wait upon the Lord? Are God’s priorities my priorities? Do I put God first or is he an after thought? How can I follow and serve Christ first if I allow ~~things~~ busyness to fill my life?

And from Philippians 3:1-11

God requires repentance and faith in Him. We don’t deserve nor can we earn God’s blessings.

To sum up what I (Alice) felt the Lord saying to me: stop all the busyness, trust and walk in Faith with Him and keep trusting that he, GOD, walks before me, opens and closes doors as needed and trust that He will honor my faith in Him!!

And Ron felt the Lord reminding him that just as God used the clouds to show when the Israelites were to move in Egypt (when the cloud moved, the people moved) that as God opens the doors in our lives we need to follow his leading.

And so we have said to D & P that as the Lord opens the doors we are interested in going through those doors. In this case it would mean moving again and managing a campground, working along with like minded Christians to share God’s blessings and bounty with others.

So now we wait to see when God actually opens the door and we can move forward. In the meantime we serve where we can where we are, Ron continues to work at Amazon and we live our lives to the fullest, trusting Him with every aspect of our lives.