A Few Days of Traveling ~ Part II

We left New Jersey Friday morning. We set the GPS to go to Lancaster, PA as we wanted to check out the Amish community and Ron was hoping we would stop for lunch where he would be able to get some veranika…one of his favorite things to eat that this wife doesn’t know how to make it but he loved his mom’s!

Here is a link to an easy to follow recipe. I have made veranika once in our 47 years of marriage…only once because I didn’t know there was a difference between regular cottage cheese and DRY cottage cheese. Trust me ~ there is!

We made it to Bird in Hand and Ron enjoyed some great Amish food at Bird in Hand Restaurant, sorry to say though, no veranika 😖. He did get to enjoy some shoofly pie

and smoked sausage and ham loaf. Maybe next time we can stay a couple of days and do some exploring and find him some veranika.

We got back on the road, intending to stay off the highways but decided we really wanted to make some time…this is where we found out DON”T change the GPS while driving. One of the things we talked about is how Ron would love to go to Washington DC…but we want to spend a week there to check out all the museums and history there so it was not supposed to happen on this trip…WELL, we didn’t exactly end up in Washington DC but we definitely were on the outskirts, traveling through Baltimore, Virginia and seeing lots of signs for WA DC exits!!! After a few hours of driving in lots of traffic, reminding us why we like to live in little off the wall towns, LOL…we finally made it to Manassa, Virginia for the night.

We were tired and ready to just veg for a bit but God had other plans. As we checked into the hotel for the night, we had what we call a Divine Intervention, orchestrated by God…as we checked in we met Shawna, the clerk checking us in and Tracy (our newest son LOL)…as we were checking in we were chatting, replying to the normal questions, where were we going, where were we headed, where we were from…and God was moving. Tracy kept saying how I reminded him of his mom, the way I talked, laughed and shared our life. We ended up visiting for about 25 minutes, sharing how God has led us to so many different places and sharing our family motto “traveling wherever the Lord leads us to love on His people.” Mr. Tracy asked us if we would remember him in our prayers. He shared how his wife of over 20 years had passed away two years ago and he was struggling, struggling hard (his words) and he needed lots of prayers.

I’m sure many of you say, like I do, yes I will pray for you…but Friday night was different, something led me to pray right then, something I don’t like to do, pray out loud but less with total strangers…so Ron, Mr. Tracy and Ms Shawna joined hands with me and I prayed. I prayed for peace for Ms Shawna as she worked alone for the night shift and for clarity for Mr. Tracy to know what he needed to do in the days to come. After praying, Ms Shawna said “how did you know I deal with anxiety/stress about working at night alone?” I said, I didn’t, I just prayed as the Lord led me. Mr. Tracy asked how did I know he needed to make some decisions? Again, I said I didn’t know, it was all God. We laughed, hugged and shared about how the Lord provides for us in ways we could never imagine. And as we headed toward our room, Mr. Tracy hollered “Mom thank you for praying for me!” I turned around, gave him another hug and said thanks for letting me love on you!! As Ron and I got into our room, we both talked about how special it was to share Jesus wherever we go. I need to add, as we were leaving the following morning, Ron saw Mr. Tracy and he told Ron: Dad, you and Mom have a safe trip!!!

I share this to say, we never know who we might run into but God does! Are you open to God putting people in your lives, if only for a few minutes? I know I am thankful for these divine interventions because each one reminds me of God’s love for me, for us and for all in this world.

We set the GPS for Gaffney, SC ~ we had decided to make a stop there to attend church on Sunday at Love Springs Baptist Church…we were both excited to be with our church family. It wasn’t the most direct route back to Kentucky but definitely good for our souls!! We loved getting/giving hugs plus being ministered to in so many ways, through the singing and the message. One thing I really like about PR’s sermons is how he uses words to help us to focus: this week was Plan, Presence, Power and Passion…great reminders to live each day under the Plan of Jesus ~ He guides us every step of the way, to be in His Presence, to purposely spend time in His word, giving him praise and thanksgiving and to trust in God’s Power and to pray to him faithfully and to live with Passion every day of our lives.

We left Gaffney to make our return trip to Kentucky…here are some pics I took along the way!!!

Another double time to arrive and hours to drive!!! And less than 250 miles to home!!! We pulled into Big Creek Missions at 6:06p…when we left Gaffney our initial ETA was 3:39p…I said we would get home between 5:00 and 6:00…so thankful for a good day of driving and safety on the road.

And just because I love to share pictures of our grands…here’s Max & Malarie!!

Aren’t they just the cutest!!!

Thanks for traveling along with us as we returned to Big Creek Missions!!! We are thankful for our little home on wheels and being able to be here at BCM ~ serving the Lord wherever he plants us!!!