Our Field Trip to Ft. Vancouver

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Me

Last Thursday I was priviledged to speak to the ladies of the Newberg church. Since we have been in the Portland area, the Newberg church has been a blessing to our family. The congregation is an array of new converts and pillars in Pentecost. Yet, young and old alike, they are the most loving kind people I have met. As I spoke to the ladies, I commented on how every time I try to shake their hands, they bear-hug me instead. It is a blessing to have such a warm feeling from people who just two months ago didn't even know us.

My topic for my talk was "me". Now if you know me very well, you will know that I'm not real fond of talking about me. I can brag on my husband, raise up my children but lets not put me in any of the lights. I usually get very ill feeling at the thought of it. But some how Thursday night was different, with the help of God.

As I began to study for this talk my mind wandered back to my childhood and upward. As I did, I marveled at just how many times God intervened in my life. No, not in the ways some may think but just in a way that is far more humbling. Jeremiah 1:5 (KJV) says "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." I'm not saying I'm a prophet but I am saying He knew me before I knew myself. I realized, throughout my life, God has always been right beside me, sometimes in front of me but always with me. Isn't that just like God.

Like the Prophet, Jeremiah, we are His children and He cares for us. My favorite scripture for years has been Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." But as I studied more I think I enjoyed The Message version better, for it says "This is God's Word on the subject: "As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jer. 29:10-11 (The Message). I know it's not as orthodox as the KJV but hey, isn't it true God always shows up and takes care of us. He has the perfect plan for us in His time. Not sooner, not later. We can try and pursuade Him, reason with Him and even beg Him to do it in our time, but He inevitably always does it in His time, simply because He knows what He's doing.

What's this got to do with my lecture? Well, as I studied more and read more, I realized, I am right where God had intended me to be all the time. No I'm not settled in and planting roots, I'm simply content in whatever He wants me to be in at this present time. Would I rather have a clear picture of my future, YOU BETCHA I would. I'm the one who used to plan to the minute what we were doing on our vacation (before we actually left on our vacation) and got a lot stressed if it wasn't followed. But He knew me before I knew myself and now I can say it's all in His hands. Jeremiah 17:7-10 tells us "7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." I am blessed because I trust in Him. I have a hope, I have a purpose and most of all I have a future. I am thankful today that I can put my trust in God and know He cares for me. Have you put your trust in Him today?

Updates, Updates, Updates

Wow, has it really been that long since I've updated my blog? Well, where do I begin then. October was a long time ago, and since so much has transpired I think I'll write in short terms rather than long.

We arrived back in Elk Grove early November for 2 days. Time to meet with my kids ES, attend one church service and head out again. OK so the next trip out was a planned vacation but it did take a bit of undoing since we were vacationing in our RV (the same one we call home). But we had planned ahead and packed the enclosed trailer appropriately. Our dirtbikes, gear and gasoline were ready to roll. We spent 10 days camping, riding, and just chillin' in Hollister Hills with our dear friends, Gregg, Monique, AJ and Blaise Sommers. We love this family and so glad to call them friends. They always help us have an incredibly enjoyable camping trip with them. This trip riding was exceptionally fun for me 'cause I FINALLY hit the black diamond (literally if you count the crash I had!) But as always we all managed to get out of Hollister without a visit to the local ER so all is good.

We were home in Elk Grove again for about 4 days. Time enough again for one church service, plan night and then we were off. But during this stop over we made a major decision to put our dearly loved labrador retriever, Bo, down. Bo had been with us since he was 7 weeks old and it was one of the hardest decisions we had to make. However, the cancer seemed to be getting worse and the traveling wasn't getting easier for him. It was one of the hardest decisions we had made in a long time. We all still miss him, but we know he wouldn't not have been able to endure the travels we've been on. This left us with only our little Chihuahua to travel with. But we have managed.

Our next destination was Lakeside, California (on the outskirts of San Diego). We arrived late Saturday night to the church and hooked up. The weather was so different from our last spot of Baker City, OR. The weather at 9 pm was 70 degrees and we wore flip-flops to walk down to Taco Bell to eat. Sunday services were GREAT! Carlos preached the morning service and as always God showed up. We had a great time with the Bertram's after service. Chantelle and David are absolutely charming kids and were a blessing to be around. True examples of a Godly family. They befriended and even encouraged Faith and Caleb. Sunday night Carlos was scheduled to preach but when the choir sang, the Holy Ghost fell and it was incredible. Carlos took the mic from Bro. Bertram and let the Holy Ghost take over. Peoples lives were changed and backsliders prayed through. Wow! is all I can say.

Lakeside was our only preaching engagement while in the San Diego. Since it was the week of Thanksgiving and we had plans in Poway for turkey day, we decided to head over to Coronado Island and stay at the Fiddler's Cove campground on the peninsula. What an incredible place to stay for next to nothing. As I have said before, sometimes the military benefits out way the fallout. Any one who knows me, knows I love things military. Our view from our RV was incredible. We faced San Diego and the Naval Base there. We could see the USNS Comfort, which is a LARGE floating hospital. There were many other floating vessels from the worlds mightiest Navy docked at USNB San Diego. For the majority of the week, the sky was sheer blue and the temperatures were in the 70's. WOW.

Thanksgiving day we spent with our very dear friend, Jennifer and her wonderful family. We finally had the opportunity to meet her husband, Tracy and were so glad we did. He is an absolutely fabulous man and Carlos enjoyed getting to know him. His daughter, Hannah was there and Faith enjoyed having someone her age to get to know as well. Of course, it's always good to see the English clan. The boys had all gotten so big and Analese is everything "the princess". We were also very excited to spend time with Jennifer's sister and family, Tena, Lenny, Kyle and Todd. These are awesome people and we loved our time with them. I even got a few photo tips from Tena while there. Dinner was incredible. Tena's alter-ego has to be Martha Stewart because she made food to die for. I think I walked away 10 pounds heavier. Just look at that bird. It's perfect.

Well, Thanksgiving was over and December was fast approaching. We made a command decision to stay in the San Diego area and vacation rather than head north. With that in mind, we moved to Admiral Baker campground (yes, yet another military facility) where we could have full hookups. We rented a car for the week to have the luxury of traveling around. Unfortunately, Carlos had been sick, Caleb was sick and Faith got sick. We ventured away from the campground minimally. Christmas season had started up but we were still on vacation. Not to mention it's hard to imagine it being Christmas when it's 75 degrees out. We did get together with Jennifer and her family again in Poway for dinner. We enjoyed the time to visit with them again before they moved to Texas.

Mid-December was fast approaching and I had yet another appointment in Elk Grove. By the end of the first week of December we decided we better start making our way north. We traveled as far as Riverside, where once again we hooked up (at March Air Force Base, go figure) and rented another car. We were able to visit with the family in Riverside for a couple of days and visit friends at the church in Rialto. We were glad we stayed south at this time though since they were having snow in Elk Grove. But all good things must come to an end so by the 9th of December we were headed back to Elk Grove. This time we stayed for a week. On that Saturday we spent the day at the Reighard's home making tamales. I couldn't let Kevin down and not make them this year. It was a blast and we had a lot of fun with the Goodman's and Marquez's too. We had several things to take care of this time around and by Wednesday we had purchased a tow-dolly and attached the Tercel to the back of the RV and headed north. Our first stop would be Eugene for the night to visit my dad and stepmom on Thursday and Friday we headed north to Portland.

Portland, the land of RAIN. My old stomping grounds, my hometown. We pulled in on December 19th and we haven't left yet. We started out visiting our friends at their church in Newberg, Oregon. A week later Carlos preached the first of 3 weeks worth of revivals. From there we have preached at other churches in the area with more scheduled in the month of February. When not preaching we like to attend the Newberg church were we can relax and hear good preaching. All while staying with my parents, having an immediate baby-sitter when we decide to fly to Baton Rouge, LA for a conference or back to Elk Grove to pick up the truck. The luxuries of a built in heated indoor pool and spa to enjoy daily while not having to live in your RV is pretty nice too.

Ok, so what's happening with the military.....That is always the first question someone asks after they hear we have been out on the road. So here's the update. Carlos has only two tasks left to meet the boards in March. His physical and his interview with an O-6. He has orders for 30 days to Ft. Lewis in Washington where he will work as a Chaplain for the month of February. This will give him the opportunity to prepare himself for Chaplaincy. This will also be an opportunity to make sure that is still the Will of God. Although this journey had started out as a time filler between civilian life and active duty, it has become so much more. It has been a time to draw closer to God and let Him reveal His destiny for us. I'm not saying Active Duty is not the Will of God but I am saying we are keeping our minds open to what He has for us. Too many times our flesh says "hey I started this path because God was telling me to so I can't change it" when maybe His ultimate plan was to get us to step out in faith and trust Him completely. Carlos never intended to teach when he started his Masters degree but now he is teaching 7 classes for Hope University and enjoying it. We never foresaw living with my parents but we are enjoying our time with them while we can because we realize it's not forever and they won't be here forever either. But more importantly we realize that God is still in control of our lives.

Ok, I hope I've updated you all enough. There is so much more I could say but that's a lot of saying already. I know, I know, if I'd just updated it more often it wouldn't have to be this way. I'll try and get it updated sooner next time. Who knows, maybe next time I'll have an idea of where we will go from here. Until then, remember God didn't commission us to sit in a pew and enjoy good preaching, He commissioned us to "Go ye into the world" to save souls. Chow.

Another update from our travels

Well, we left Wenatchee after a wonderful 10 days there. The weather there was anything but normal. Some sun, some rain, some clouds. But the move of God in service was definitely normal. Carlos preached 3 services, well not exactly. He preached 2 services and on the last one this Sunday God moved and the spirit took over. 2 1/2 hours later we left to eat at Applebee's. We had a wonderful time with the King Family and their extended kids, Cory, Kordell and Cara. The food was incredible as Sis. King held out no stops on her homecooking. She is an incredible cook and of course, an incredible hostess. We were spoiled, pampered and just down right taken care of while we were there. If all our stops are like that I could do this evangelizing for a long time to come :D !

We headed to Pendleton on Monday, where we spent the night at a KOA. It was a nice place with incredible wind gusts. Rather than use our own shower in the RV we simply used the campgrounds free (an oxymoron since we paid for the campsite), hot showers. The wind was gusting so hard we simply couldn't even keep the slide out because the noise was so loud. We woke to a dry, partly cloudy, cold day with the Blue Mountains covered in snow. Only one problem is we had to get to the other side of those mountains. We held off by going to eat at Shari's which has INCREDIBLE food and pies :D No one complained but once we were done we felt we better head over Meacham Pass in order to get to La Grande before dusk. Going over Meacham Pass was BEAUTIFUL. The snow was falling and the ground was pure white. Felt like Christmas. Getting in to La Grande was simple and there was no snow on the ground. We headed to Walmart where while we were there the snow started coming down hard. Unfortunately it did not stick. But it did look like cotton falling from the sky. We are blessed to be able to stay in La Grande at the Lighthouse Pentecostal Church where we are going to attend church tonight and enjoy service. Today it's been a really slow day. The kids have picked up their school books and done school. Carlos and I have gone through the stuff that we brought with us as we finished our packing. Hmm, we had to buy another small printer since the one he brought with us hasn't been used in over 2 years. Oh well, good thing they are cheap. Once I get home I will make sure and upload all the beautiful pictures that I have taken on my camera. The high today is around 38, partly cloudy and cold. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little warmer. We are hoping it warms up a bit. We are headed to Baker City tomorrow to the Neff's church. Can't wait to see Sissy and Nathan and all their kids too. I'll post a bit more if I get a chance but for now, chow.

Our travels

Well we've been gone a week now. I still have't updated this blog. It's really hard to update using my iPhone but I will attempt it. We finally left Elk Grove on Monday night at 2 am. Wow. Talk about fighting devils. Did we ever. But we got out of town. We headed north for about 40 miles, pulled in to a rest area and crashed. When I awoke around 8 it was storming so hard. I decided to take the straightest road across and that is exactly what we did. We stopped at Wal-Mart in Clear Lake to pick up groceries and let the dogs out. It was Cody's first experience with rain and it was hilarious. Carlos drove from then on and we headed up through the redwoods and it was beautiful. We arrived at a rest area in Oregon and again crashed. On Wednesday morning we did the best thing, bought my new iPhone in a state with no sales tax, went to Dutch Bros. Coffe, and then to Fred Meyers. I love these things. Carlos preached service at the Gold Beach church for Bro. & Sis. Champlain. It was a good move of God and afterwards we had pizza and then went to the Champlains home. The next morning Bro. Champlain took us to breakfast to a great little restaurant on the Rogue River before we headed out. As we left we were awed by the beauty of the changing seasons. We stopped in at Cranberries and Sweets to see my "other" mom, Pam Carlson. I had a hug to give her from Kim. From there we went to Eugene and spent an hour with Dad and Sharon. They had graciously put out a sandwich spread for us and we got to eat and enjoy their company for about an hour. Then we headed north to Portland where we had a full home cooked mea waiting for us. I think it was at that time I realized just how far we had gone, not physically but emotionally. We were "spent" as my husband would say. My mom and Gary were kind and had made sure the pool and hot tub was ready along with the washer and dryer were available. We spent the night there and was awaken to my Sis who had gotten up early to come over after getting home late from work in order to see us even for a minute. We left there before I really had a chance to get stuff put away. When I asked Carlos why he said he knew he needed to get me out of there or I'd get comfy at my moms. We headed to Wenatchee up the Gorge with a stop at Burgerville which I love! We arrived in Wenatchee, Wa late in the day at our dear friends home, Tim & Kierstin King. My kids were so excited to see their friends too. We stayed up late friday night catching up. Saturday they treated us to an incredible breakfast and then we headed to Leavenworth, Wa where Bavaria meets The Cascades. It was a cute adorable town. We had a lot of fun. The King's are ultimate hosts and have totally fed us a feast daily. Sunday we got to sleep inasmuch they have church at 2 pm. We had an incredible move of the holy ghost in service. It must have been moving because at alter call when Bro. Trevor asked me to sing I actually took the mike and sang. Wow, Sis Deathridge would have been proud of me. We fellowshipped at Red Robin and had an incredible dessert back at the King's. We wil be staying through Wednesday night as Bro. King has asked my husband to stay over. Who knows what God will do. Then again, who knew what God would have us to do as we wait on the Army. Better to plant while the season is ripe, than to starve in the off season. God is good ALL THE TIME! He knows, oh yes, He definitely knows! I'll try and keep posting. But for now, going to the church where the guys are painting today.