The Trip

Happy New Year!!  My best friend Cheree and I have officially begun our road trip to Nashville!

We left Portland on Sunday morning and made it to my dear friends, Lance & Bekah's, house in Oakley, California that night around 1:00am.  We left Monday morning for Buckeye, Arizona where a great surprise awaited Cheree (but I'll tell you about that later) :)

The LORD has been so gracious to us on our trip.  We haven't had any significant car problems (just some smoking from oil leaking onto the exhaust pipe) and there have been a couple "moments" along the way that have been sweet gifts from Jesus.  The first was a clear black sky full of brilliant stars & constellations.  We pulled over at a dark (ie. sketchy!) rest stop in southeastern California to absorb the full effect.  Absolutely amazing.  We felt small & in awe of our Great God who put every star in the sky & knows them by name.  And the other sweet gift was an unexpected & sweet time of worship in the car.  We were listening to a few of our fave's:  Brandon Heath, Tim Hughes & Brian Cheney.  The song "Arise My Soul, Arise" came on (Brian Cheney style) and by the 4th verse, I suddenly burst into tears of thankfulness & praise to my Amazing Savior.  Cheree soon followed and we offered up songs of worship to Jesus right there in the car.  It was such a gift...such a moment.

Now...about that surprise... :)  On Christmas Day, I told Cheree that I had a surprise for her, somewhere between Portland and Nashville.  She seemed curious, but probably didn't think too much of it.  Well...the surprise was this:  we weren't just staying at some random person's house in Arizona.  We were staying at a dear friend's parents' house...and that dear friend (who's been living in Australia for the past 7 months) was waiting for us inside!! :)  The LORD is so good.  He's given us 5 days to spend with Andrea Laurita...to enjoy the deep love & friendship we all share.  It is a gift to us all.  Thank You, Jesus!!!

I'm thankful to the LORD for all of you who are reading this, walking with me on this journey & praying for me as Jesus puts me on your heart.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!  He is a good & loving Father.

January 3rd, we head to Texas.

January 4th, we make our way to Arkansas.

January 5th...we pull into Nashville, Tennessee!!!

This is a GREAT Adventure! :)