days inn!!

3/25/09

even as a child I was never as excited as I was yesterday to get to stay at a hotel...

6 days of sweat & dirt really almost becomes a suit. I literally could not wait for a couple of showers, a warm bed where I don't wake up with my feet cold in the night, and a washer & dryer for the one pair of shorts and two shirts I've been wearing everyday.

you know how after a long day of work, either in the yard or at a job, how a hot shower or bath feels?... now imagine a theif came in and stole your shower, bath, all the sinks, and most depressingly, the hot water... in the place of it he's put a 50 degree little trickle of water in your backyard that's a half of a mile from your bed (you inherited a lot of land...work with me, it's part of the scenario). it's 40 degrees outside, and ur so far away from a warm bed or house that if you wash off there, your wet and cold and in danger of hypothermia... now imagine that everyday for a week... and then try and think about a beautiful yellow & blue sign with the words "days inn" written out below a warm ray of sunshine (the days inn logo), and how behind each of those beautiful little, overused yellowish smoke tar covered doors is warm blast of water for as long as you want it.

anyway... it was good, wendy's was good (stomach shrinking, appetite small, not able to eat a as much as we thought), supper was good, sleep was good. it took all afternoon to plan & prepare for the next two weeks... which stunk, we didn't get to make phone calls to everyone we wanted to... but it was also good to get everything somewhat planned out. we just had a good complimentary microwaveable breakfast and coffee; now we're back trying to get prepared mentally & physically by coming up with slow jazz improv lyrics about rain to the elevator music from the weather channel as we see all of the dark clouds and thunder bolts hiking with us in the days ahead.

fastfoward now to the afternoon still at the days inn, where we've decided to stay 1 more night. call us crazy, but lightning coupled with high ridges and tall trees, metal hiking poles, and threats of tornadoes added with the bonus of more muscle & joint recuperation, plus more time to reconnect with fam = we decided to leave early in the morning. I know it seems early to be taking these 2 day breaks, but we felt that as muscles are getting used to it.. we need to listen to our bodies and try not push to the point that it's punishment and misery. we're trying to walk the walk we feel like we're supposed to walk (last weeks' blog). we've got a big week and a half ahead, lots of miles, and a cheap hostel stay there. we've weighed pros and cons, prayed, and here we are.

I can't tell you how much you guys' comments, thoughts, prayers, and encouragements add fuel to the fire that the Lord has placed within us to be on this journey. just like I was talking about with the days inn and appreciating it so much more than I normally would, your words to us affect much deeper places within us than would normally and we are eternally grateful. we love you people very much and can, even now, see the seeds that He is bringing to fruition concerning the awakening of our souls to this life around us. his poeople, his creation, his gifts. as we become little more blessed during this season to breathe in deep the beauty of it all, it really is overwhelming. I'm sure it weird to read about, but emotions are somewhat hightened as each step is taken. which is awesome, because our fear and prayers during this time is that it wouldn't turn into a clock in, clock out sort of job, where we become to numb to everything around us... which is one of the main reasons we came out here to begin with... to get away from that.

to begin with, this journey for both of us, we believe was somewhat self-centered, where we were praying about change for us as individuals... Micah graciously reminded me the other day while hiking that the call in our lives is for worship, then sharing love and the gospel of Christ with the people around us... we began to talk about how He is the Autor, Perfector, Sustainer, & Sanctifier of this life. in pursuit of worship and the sharing of Christs' love within us, he's going to expose, change, and bring us to a deeper, more intimate, place with Him.... basically, it's not our job to fix, or to figure out how and what to change within, but to love.

so I guess this in a way a missionary journey... sent out in a pair... learning to care for deep thinkers and the neat people we meet on the out here. pray for us... that we are taught... changed... directed towards truth- the sharing of it, and more in love with He who made us.

so far we've met some cool people and had some really awesome conversations. more later.

....

so yeah... there's a lot of rain in the forecast in the next 10 days. we've been trying to make light of it, but really there's no escaping the reality of how hard it is going to be to push through when it's already cold and everything you have is wet. pray for us.

it's been awesome... the weather has been unbelieveable to this point. with the trees still barren, the views have been indescribeable... sunsets, sunrises, all of it. hopefully you guys can catch some glimpses of those when you watch the video next week.

much love to you all.

until next time,
g