A quick update...just because I can

Greetings Friends!
Well, I am going to keep this short, because the spacebar on this keyboard is tired. Today, I left the Atlantic Ocean in the rearview mirror and made my way North and West to begin the long journey back across the U.S. It was a good day of driving, except for the rain. Yep, once again, I pulled the rainsuit out of it's place, shook it out andwore it with pride.
Really, nothing too interesting happened today. I drove a lot of it. Had a few interactions with people, but nothing too significant. I plan on resting up, and tomorrow, heading West, back to Central time and maybe some visits to different places. We shall see.
That's it, for now. Miss you all!

Tim

Day 40, The beach, NASA and ... a window in my brain.

Greetings All!
Well, much has happened again, since I last updated. I made it to Florida. Actually, right now, I just got back from sitting on the beach and swimming all day in Stuart, FL. I am slightly burned but very relaxed and salty. :) It was a great time though!

Yesterday, I went to Kennedy Space Center and toured around there all day which was awesome! For those of you who don't know, I have an absolute love for the space program and would have loved to get there and fly. Being at the space center brought back all those loves and visions and made me want to go and watch "Apollo 13." Honestly, I am still trying to reflect on what I saw and took pictures of, so I really don't have a lot to say about it, except that it was completely awesome seeing where the original rockets launched from and the bunkers that they did it out of, and then we saw the launch pads of Apollo and the Space Shuttle. To top it all off, I saw a Saturn V rocket up close and personal... it was a great day!

Actually, I have been reflecting a lot on something that I witnessed the other day on the beach in South Carolina. I was building a sand castle with some wonderful young children and soon, the tide was beginning to come in, so we had to build the walls higher and thicker to hold back the tide. They were calling mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and we were piling sand on this thing. Yet, as with all adults, we all knew the tide would win the war, but those kids believed in their hearts that if they kept piling sand and kept working, they could hold back the tide. I took a moment and thought about it. Isn't this what Jesus talked about when he said to have faith like a child?

As a children, we believed anything was possible. Our dad was the strongest fastest person in the world and could beat up any one else's dad. People should be able to fly; the stuffed animals had voices and feelings; I could win the world series any time I wanted, or make that game winning free throw... then something happened and we grow up and the word, "impossible", is brought to our vocabulary. Didn't Jesus do the impossible? Didn't his followers heal diseases and cast out demons and the Holy Spirit convert 3,000 people in one day? How many of us would call those things impossible? It seems that as we get older, we lose the ability to dream big. We lose the ability to envision something glorious and we lose the ability to dream, or even ask for, the "impossible" from God. Our brains very quickly see limits and very quickly only strive for those limits. But, what about God's limits? What?

I guess my big struggle is, what does it look like for me, a 23 year old, sinful, male to have faith like a child? How do I live my Christian life not knowing the word "impossible?" What do I do while following a God that isn't bound by anything? Maybe, all I can do is keep piling sand on the walls, knowing full well that my Father is the biggest and strongest and can hold back the tide, no matter how high. Just maybe.

Just some thoughts,

Tim

Day 38- So many thoughts, so little time...

Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
The public library system has come through again! Yet, I cannot write for very long, because I have many miles which I wish to go yet today and it is already 4:16. Here's a brief synopsis of what has happened since I last blogged. I left Athens, GA and made my way over to Charleston, SC and camped there. The next day, Sunday, I went to church, which is the story I will write about. Then, I went down to Patriot's Point and upon arrival, I saw, on the deck of the U.S.S. Yorktown, they had and F-14 Tomcat. Now, for those of you who don't know, that is absolutely my favorite airplane! I had to go and see it. So, I got a pass and toured the Yorktown, and touched and took pictures of the Tomcat (amazing!) and toured a submarine, battleship and coast guard cutter.

After that, I took a ferry out to Ft. Sumter, the place where the first shots of the Civil War took place. Once again, an amazing historical place to visit.

But, I wanted to tell you about what happened Sunday and about the kindness of strangers. I showed up at a United Methodist Church at about 10 to 10 and saw the service didn't start until 11. Well, I really didn't want to stick around for an hour before church started. A lady soon hailed me and told me to come in, so I was caught. Upon going in, I was soon meeting many people and having a bible study before church, which was awesome! Then, I sat with her and her husband in church, where the Pastor proceeded to talk smack to me from the pulpit about not riding a Harly! It was crazy! But, I bet I met about 20-30 people who wished me God's blessings and I had 2 people give me their phone numbers if I had any trouble. That is amazing in it of itself! Well, then after the service, Faye and her husband (the couple who I sat with) asked if I had any plans for eating. "Not really." "Well, would you like to eat with us." "...well, sure why not." So, they took me out for shrimp and fries and we talked over dinner.

I had never been apart of a church that was so full of the love of Christ. They were honestly overflowing with love and joy for their Lord and I praise God for having met them. It was something completely unlooked for, but once again, God just amazed me with the power of his name, through is people.

There are so many thoughts that I want to write about, even from experiences playing on the beach this morning with relatives... but I better get going. There are many miles that I wish to cover yet.

Thank you so much for your prayers and for you support. Honestly, if it weren't for you praying and for the kindness of people along the way, both who I meet and who I stay with, I would have turned around long ago. So, Thank you all very much!!

Tim

Day 35

Sorry, no picture and no interesting title. Basically, I am posting because the weekend is coming and if I am back on the road, there really aren't a lot of places to update. Libraries aren't usually open.

Anyway, my time here in Georgia has been very good so far. I have hung out with some great company and have gotten tours of Athens, GA. Yesterday, I washed the motorcycle and it amazed me how much dirt and grime got stuck to it. I know, I have traveled about 5,400 miles, so obviously, there's gonna be a lot of junk on it, but I forgot how much chrome actually shines when it is clean.

Last night, I even went golfing and, thanks to some advice from my uncle, the ball actually went where it was supposed to a few times. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So, sometime, early next week, I will be down in Florida touring around and seeing how I can be used and then I will begin heading west again, back into the Central Time Zone. Crazy!

One thing that has been on my mind lately, has been my conversations with Lenard and Nazarene in the hospital. The point I hate most about this trip is that I keep moving because it would have been good to back and visit with them several times and actually get to know them. We had good conversations, well at least one of them, and I want to build on that, but long relationships aren't really an aspect of this trip. I guess, I can pray that God will use our meeting to spur something on them and on me to pull all three of us closer to himself. Anyway, that is one of my frustrations.

God bless you all!

Tim

Updated Picture Albums

Greetings All from hot Georgia!
I updated my pictures again. The first link is to an album that has been posted already, but I put a few more pictures in it towards the end and the second link is a completely new album. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48747&l=f306d&id=713683254

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49863&l=7c25f&id=713683254

Hospitals...sigh.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As of right now, I am in Clayton, GA and have been here for a while. It was a day where I didn't have far to travel, so I wanted to take advantage and meet some people.

I'm struggling with how to start this post... For a long time, I have reflected on Christ's teachings and the call to action that is so prevelant in scripture by Jesus, himself, along with the writings of Paul. In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about the sheep and the goats and how one group fed, clothed, took care of and visited, "the least of these brothers of mine." Anyway, I see these teachings, but look at my own life and don't see a lot of action involved in my faith, so I am constantly challenged by the words of Jesus.

Anyway, I just returned from a hospital. With my free time, I decided to find a hospital and ask if there were any patients that didn't have a lot of visitors. So, I showed up at the door and one of the volunteers pointed me towards the nurses station. I told them what I was up to and they said, "visit all of them!" Well, I walked down the hall and stopped in at one man's room. His name was Lenard and he was a cancer patient which I soon found out. I could tell that he didn't want company too much and by looking in his eyes, I could see the despair and pain. He was an older man that was very closed off. While asking questions, I did find out that he used to work construction finishing off houses and building cabinets. I did not feel a push to talk to him about religion and when his food came, I asked if he wanted me to stay and talk or not, and he said "no." So, I said "I'll be praying for you and God bless you, Lenard." It was a strange, awkward encounter, but one that gave me still another picture into the eyes of those we are called to love.

After leaving Lenard, I walked down the hall a few rooms and found this lady, Nazarene, who was much more willing to talk with me. I found out she was originally from Wisconsin, but moved to Georgia because they had good work for homeless people. Apparently, she was poor and was cleaning hotels and doing farm work, until she had health issues. While talking with her, she made some comment about witnessing to people, so I pushed her a little bit and soon, we were talking about religion. I found out that she believed in "the Almighty." It is tough for me to sum up what we talked about, because we talked about a lot, but she had some strange beliefs that I pushed her on a little bit. She did believe in Jesus and she did believe in creation and how we are supposed to take care of our own section of it, but she wasn't so up on the whole loving your neighbor thing. I asked her if she had a Bible and if she read it, and she did have one, and she had read it before, but she doesn't a whole lot. To me, Nararene seemed a little crazy (literally) and she didn't know a lot about the Bible or what it said, but she had a lot of the basics. Before I left, I asked if I could pray for her, and she said that was alright so, I prayed for her and then said "God Bless you and I hope to see you again when the Almighty comes to refine his creation and make it new." (We talked about refining and the end times quite a bit.)

Before I left, there was a volunteer who had helped me find the nurses station and he asked how things went. I said they went pretty good and then he asked me why I was doing this. This is the question I live for! Well, I told him straight up, "I'm a Christian and I believe that Jesus Christ came to love the hurting and the afflicted, and there are no more hurting people than in a hospital, rest home or prison, so that is why I am here." He loved that and thought it was so awesome that someone to do that and before I left, we exchanged, "God bless yous." and then I headed out the door.

That was my experience for the day and I just pray that somehow, the Holy Spirit worked in the volunteer, the nurses and/or the patients today. Give praise to God and go out into the fields, for the harvest is great, but the workers are few!

God bless you all!

Tim

Day 32, long since overdue

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It has been a long time since I last posted, so hopefully, not too many of you gave up on me. :) I haven't really been in a place where I could blog in quite a while, so I am sorry.

I am now over one third of the way through: Day 32, 5200 miles done. Crazy. The motorcycle is running great except for a leaky fork seal. Yar.

Currently, I am in a little town just west of the Great Smoky Mountains, somewhere in Tennessee. Here is a basic catch-up of where I have been the last few days. From Washington, I went down to Norfolk, VA and saw "The Dark Knight" with some friends. Then, to Kitty Hawk, NC because you just have to if you love or know anything about flying. Then, West all the way across NC to Black Mountain for a nights stay in the mountains. Yesterday, a trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway to a campground on the mountain and today has been driving through the Great Smoky Mountains.

There is just too much to write about, so I will throw in a few random things about yesterday and today because I don't have enough time or space to write everything. Yesterday, I drove about 80 or so miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and I have never said "wow" so many times in an 80 mile stretch of road. There were some awesome views, which obviously, camera's don't do justice. For those of you who ride motorcycle or bike, these roads were a lot of fun to ride. It was up and down, over mountains, through tunnels, cutting left and right, accelerating and coasting... just a lot of fun.

My devotions times have been pretty good lately, probably mainly because I have actually been disciplining myself to do it. Since I am one third of the way through the trip, I recounted what happened and I realized how I haven't done a whole lot on a spiritual basis. Through prayer, I realize that I need to throw myself out there more and talk with people. So, last night, I was in a campground and I noticed the family next to me had prayed at supper. I went over there about 9 or so and thanked them for helping me earlier (they gave me some bread) and then I started talking with them and soon, our conversation led into spiritual matters. They were a great Christian family who was willing to help me and I had a great time talking with them about creation and how paths cross. We quoted some scripture and just sat around the fire and looked at the starts. Truly, it was amazing.

We shall see what the next few days bring. I am going to try and be more direct in ministering to people, so please pray about that. From here, I head south again towards Athens, GA and then back to the east coast and down to Florida. That's the plan.

Hopefully, I won't wait so long to blog next time! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support and I miss seeing you and hearing your voices!
God bless,

Tim