Santee National Wildlife Refuge

    We made it to South Carolina last Sunday night.  Our position is as resident volunteers putting in 24 hours a piece a week in exchange for full hook ups (water, electric, sewer).  The people are great and the place is beautiful.  We are right in between Columbia and Charleston on Lake Marion.  We will be doing maintenance and some work in the visitor center and whatever else needs to be done.  We'll be spending this weekend getting to know the area better.  Our internet access is pretty limited at this point so the updates might be a bit lagging and we are working on putting pictures together.  We'll let you know when we have done/know more.  Thanks for all your prayers!

Quick Update

We're moving to South Carolina tomorrow.  Let you know when we get there.

Good Times In MO

So we left you at IHOP, the International House of Prayer that is. As Nate was feeling spiritually moved to wait and listen, I was having a different experience. Since we left, I have been wondering about that verse in Proverbs about not leaning on your own understanding and letting God guide you. At IHOP I was asking God to show us something. What we needed to do, where we needed to go,  how we could have this adventure and still be of some use to him. I felt moved to open to Proverbs to look up that verse. And what  I saw first was the title of a chapter called “ Start with God” the first step in learning is bowing down to God. I went on to find my good verse and found an amazing chapter instead. Please read Proverbs 3:5-12. My favorite part is “Trust God from the bottom of your heart, don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track”. We went to IHOP to spend time with God and ask him our questions, but I think God lead us there because he just wanted to spend time with us. Wanted us to make a single act of selflessness; to start with Him.  No questions, just worship.

Marty and Randy's

From IHOP we went south to stay with my cousins Marty and Randy. They own a farm/ranch with 5 dogs, 3 cats, 9 horses, and a few other things walking around. And we are sure glad that we did! Not only are they some of the most welcoming and friendliest folk you’d ever meet, they know how to show you a good time! Randy works for Garmin, makers of GPS units. We had an amazing tour of the company where we visited the labs and offices and observed some of the inner workings of their amazing products. Randy then treated us to an amazing lunch, made fresh by Garmin chefs, and then a tour of a sunken steam boat museum where we enjoyed viewing thousands of amazingly preserved artifacts as well as an incredible story. We saw where Marty and her son Donnie work in Kansas City, very nice offices, and went to my cousin Trevor’s, 15 yrs old, football game. That was day one!!! We stayed 5 days, Randy kept bribing us with fun things to do. Marty showed us how to play the video game ROCK BAND! Which is similar to guitar hero except there are several different instruments. Nate tried everything and sang which was great! I myself rocked out on the drums. Woohoo! Nathan bought a ukulele and then I broke an unbreakable string tuning it for him last night! I am trying to learn guitar. I have officially learned C major. What?! Oh, that’s right, look out! Randy helped us fix the vibrating in our car, it was a tie rod! We are so thankful to him for helping us solve that mystery. Then they treated us to Jackson’s “This is It” movie, which was great!! Then on Sunday we had amazing motorcycle rides. At one moment Randy and Marty had us going at 95 mph and I didn’t pee my pants!! They made us breakfast and dinner almost every day, while having a farm, kids, and FT jobs in the city. Wow!!! That visit is going to be hard to beat!

Fern's

We are in Vanzant, MO now, very close to Arkansas, where Marty and Randy own about 220 acres. Her mother and brother live there, Fern and Ray and Ray’s wife Kathy and their 2 daughters Katie and Maggie and Katie’s baby. Went on our first hike today, had lunch over a fire and I am typing this in a hammock while dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. It is lovely down here. Lord, thank you for the amazing weather, safe trip, full bellies, and incredible family and friends. Love!