Trails and Trials

We found the rural roads in Indiana and mid-Illinois to be quite smooth. Otherwise, most roads have been less than bad – they have been Terrible! Our poor R.V. has been quite shaken up!!

This trip has had many trials. The R.V. has run well overall, but at one point, the lights didn’t want to turn off. The entire light switch had rattled loose. Roger had to crawl under the dash/steering wheel to glue it back and tie it up! Then, this morning it didn’t want to start. Roger crawled underneath and banged on the starter. It worked! We drove off, but several hours later, the motor completely overheated. We pulled into a parking lot and ate lunch while the engine cooled. Roger put water in the system, but it didn’t make much difference. He added 3 gallons of coolant. What a shock!  However, it won't start. We are glad to be parked in Walmart’s parking lot. One towing service was very friendly, but not able to help us. We have called a mobile mechanic and are waiting – and praying!

But there are other trials, too. First we heard that Heather’s step mom was in the hospital and not doing well. The best we could do was send flowers for Mother’s Day, but so far she hasn’t received them (even though we were told they were delivered). Next we found out that a 13 yo granddaughter has to have brain surgery – any day now. And yesterday Heather’s brother wrote that he’s not doing well with his cancer treatments – losing weight, etc. So, we realize R.V. issues are just not that critical!

It's so great to know that God is in complete control!. Nothing takes Him by surprise. Our Bible Memory club is memorizing some verses from Isaiah 45 (18,19,22,23). Very appropriate!!

 

Indiana Friends

In Fort Wayne we spent 2 days with the Epleys. They always have a short list of projects for Roger, so it’s especially nice that we can satisfy most of their wish list. And Russ likes my cooking, so I get to use that gift I enjoy to bless us all.

On Wednesday we headed to Rochester, IN, to a college friend of Heather’s. Patty had an accident when they were still in FL and broke her leg. She’s quite limited in movement right now, so we were able to help put dinner on the table and leave them some prepared dinners for another time. She doesn’t have much pain, which is great. Their place is right on the Tippecanoe River and they have a lovely view with many birds and squirrels feeding near-by. We laughed over our many-years-ago memories!

Thursday saw us at a friend of Roger’s – a guy he worked with in the 80’s. Tom became a Christian and made contact with Roger. He lives alone on 11 acres, very organically-focused. Raises chickens and grows his own food as much as possible.

He’s the official photographer for the Chicago White Sox, and had just returned from spring training camp in AZ. He’s also an inventor and has many projects underway – all over his house! His home-grown bar-b-que chicken and corn on the cob dinner was delicious. We got a tour of all his hot houses, chickens and other things he’s working on to become completely self-sufficient.

On Friday we arrived at Heather and Harlan’s home in W. Lafayette. 

Heather and Heather attended Taylor U. together. She’s from England and I came from Germany, so together we formed the International Club at Taylor. Lots of good memories over the years.

Now it's on to MO.

OH – and camping with grandkids!

I thought camping with 3 grandkids (9,11,13) was a great idea – right by a stream they could fish and swim in; fires for s’mores; room to run; etc. What I didn’t realize was that it was going to be a very rainy, wet, muddy time! The nice river in the pictures was running brown, fast and broad! We stayed away.

The boys went through several outfits, which their mom ran out to purchase. We all crammed into the R.V. for a lot of the time. I had an egg hunt in mind, so we did it in the R.V.! There was a covered picnic table, which we used for our main meals. We played games and read the story of “Ian and the Giant Leafy Obstacle“. The time did pass and we got to know one another better than if the sun had been shining. Crystal & Vicki slept in the tent with one of the boys. Ellie and the other boy were with us in the R.V. With much persistence and help from the boys, Roger got the fire going – both days! So we had the hot dogs and sausages cooked over the fire and actually enjoyed s’mores both days!

Sunday morning the sun came up and the tent dried! The 2 boys went to Sunday School with us and the rest joined us for church. Afterwards we went to a local park for lunch and play time. At 4 Crystal, Vicki and Ellie left for NC. We played Pit and Qwixx with the boys until it was time to return them to their father.

Sunday night we spent with the Mitchell’s who have graciously offered their yard anytime for electric hook-ups and, more importantly, internet! I had a Zoom Bible memory meeting at 10:15 (eastern time), so it was nice to be able to be there for it.