the garage

 When living in a bus you never know where you might end up.

For example a week trip to see Mum in Woodville can last for three months when the engine breaks down and a new one is put in.

A quick trip across Tennessee can turn into a week at a Walmart when there is a flood.

It is not at all uncommon to find us on the side of the road.
Nigel outside fixing whatever is broken.
Me inside making lunch or reading a book.
It is very nice to have our home with us when we break down.

This week we ended up spending the night at Otaki Diesel garage. 
We brought the bus in to get a wheel bearing fixed and the brakes done. They had to order the part and it wouldnt be there till the next day.
The wheel was already off so why not stay the night!

I woke up the the sounds of REM, Aerosmith, and Alanis Morisette on the radio.
The mechanics arrived early in the morning and got to work while we were still in bed!
By the time we were up and had breakfast they were done and we were on our way out the door!

the sand

I was at the beach with a wonderful friend of mine and her two gorgeous little girls a few weeks back. She was off on a little adventure with the girls and I was laying on the blanket letting the sand run through my fingers. When I see sand I am reminded of the verse from Psalms 139, "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!"
I am always amazed looking at all that sand by how much He loves us.
Now as I was laying there I started thinking about how God made the sand. He created it. And for what?
I am sure sand is great for all sorts of things. I like to walk on it, it is great in a sandbox, little creatures live in it, it looks nice in a jar on a shelf, and my succulents love to grow in it.
But maybe He had another idea in mind when He made all that sand Maybe He made it so we would have a visual picture of how much He thinks about us...

the road trip

We left Minneapolis for a road trip extravaganza the day after my last post. One month and 11 days ago. This is my first day since then with ample computer time to be able to sit down and blog.

My brain is still processing the whole trip, so for now I will give you the basics....

We left Minneapolis in the Jesus Kitchen bus and drove to the YWAM base in Lakeside Montana. There were 15 people on board. We stayed one night at a walmart, most of us have likely blocked that from our minds, and one night camped by a railroad track. The train only came by every few hours and blew its whistle. Not bad.

From MT we went to the national rainbow gathering in Washington state. There was snow on the ground, it rained on the hike in, and our air mattress popped the first night! It was a very tiring gathering for us. We had a small team and a lot of work. The team was great and everyone gave all they had. We got to feed thousands. Our prayer before the gathering was "more of Him and less of us." That really came true this year. There wasnt much of us left after a day of hard work. But the Lord still moved in peoples lives.
After the gathering Nigel and I hopped in Ben and T's minivan along with our friend Angela and the cat and headed south.

We decided if we were coming all the way out to WA that we may as well enjoy the west coast. We have done a lot in a short time. We have caught up with long lost friends, soaked in hot springs, cried with the redwoods(ok I may have been the only one shedding a tear), picked blueberries, ate the yummiest strawberries ever, Nigel found a cup of coffee to his standard in Portland and one near his standard in Arcata, we walked on the Oregon coast, visited the Lords Land, went to Mt. Angel Abbey, saw the new Harry Potter movie, had a weaving lesson, played some Frisbee, viewed amazing flower fields(aka seed farms),sampled quite a bit of cheese and chocolate, and poked around tide pools.

Fun.
It has been a great journey and its not over yet....

the month of april

We spent the month of April on Nomads Land in Alabama.

Here are some Highlights from the trip...

cooking in a beautiful outdoor kitchen. this is where i spent most of my time.

the "pod" built inside the existing barn

the chicken palace that ben built

the beginnings of a cob house

the new garbage bin

skinning logs for the cob house

watching the garden grow

Have I made you curious? You can check out more about Nomads Land at www.thenomadsland.org

the old man camp

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17

I recently met a man at a Rainbow Gathering named Jerry. Teresa and I were walking back to our camp one night and we saw Jerry sitting by his fire,just him and his dog Boo Boo. We stopped in to say hello. We ended up staying for a while and heard some amazing stories. Jerry kept saying "If someone would write down the stories I have and make em into a book, they would have a best seller. I've seen some pretty weird things in my day." He may be right.
I woke up a few days later thinking, "Hey, I could write down Jerry's stories!" I got permission from Jerry to share them and permission to take his photo so you can have a face to go with the stories. I will write them in the first person, but they are really just a paraphrase from me. Maybe next time I will have a tape recorder.

One night I was fishing on the gulf. Sometimes on the gulf the water will be a smooth as glass. When a storm comes in on the gulf you can hear the wind coming in across the water. So there I was, just me and my two dogs fishing when I started to hear the wind. The water started to ripple a little. I said, "Not now, I'm trying to fish!"
Then I heard a voice say,"Put you hand on the water and it will be still." I look around to see who was there and I didn't see anyone. I shrugged it off, thinking I was imagining it.
Meanwhile the ripples are still coming. Again I say, "Not now, I'm trying to fish!"
And again I hear the voice, "Put your hand on the water and it will be still."
I look around again and no one is there. I figure what do I have to lose. So I walk down place my hand on the water and at that instant the water goes still as glass. I can still hear the wind, but no waves. I fish for two three hours. then pack up my stuff and go back to my tent. Before I go in I say, "Okay, now ya can blow." 
And instantly the waves come.


Another time I was down fishing and these men near me had caught a shark. They didn't want him so they threw him back in. When you catch a shark and put him back he gets all disorientated and doesn't know which way to swim. He kept swimming back to shore and they would turn him around and he would go out a bit and come back in. 
So I am watching this and again I hear the voice, "Put you hand on the water and he will swim out." Oh man, not this again. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't let up. 
So I walk down to where my line is in the water. See I thought I would just pretend to be fixing my line, I didn't want to look crazy.
So I walked down to the water and place my hand on it. Immediately, the shark swims out to sea.
One of  the men walks over to me and says, "I see what you done, I seen you place your hand on the water."


Another time I invited a friend out on my fishing boat at night. He asks me what for, and  I tell him to see the lights. He asks me what lights, and I say well, come and see.
So we get into the boat and head out on the water. It is dark and quiet. I say to him, look up. And we look up.
Above us are are these lights dancing around.
"What are they?" he asks.
"Angels" I say.
I've seen em in the woods too. If you get out to a place where it is real calm and quiet, a place with no distractions, you can see em. There is a lot of stuff we don't see cause we don't bother to stop long enough to notice.
That man, he still won't come out on a boat with me.


So there you have it.
Jerry's stories.
Beautiful treasures.
I hope to hear more some day.

the bag of sugar

Nigel and I are down in Florida with the Jesus Kitchen and friends. Then other day Nigel and I hit the thrift store jack pot. There was a few mile stretch with a thrift store on every block.
I love to look for books at the second hand stores. I found some good ones this time around, a dictionary for a dollar, a copy of the Poisonwood Bible(My favorite book, I always give it away and have to buy a new copy every couple years or so), and I found a Little House on the Prairie book. Somehow I have made it this far in life without reading the little house books. I know crazy right!

So in Little House Pa works all winter trapping animals for their fur. Then in the spring he makes the big trip to town to sell his furs and to get supplies and the things he needs for planting. On this trip he brings Ma home a bag of white sugar. Apparently back then white sugar was not the white death it is today and was a very prized possesion. Now what does Ma do with that sugar. She puts it safely away in the cupboard to be brought out only when company comes. Then they can have white sugar in their coffee instead of molasses.

I want to be a person who shares my bag of white sugar. So often I get something special and I hide it away for myself. I would never think of taking out my special treat when company comes. I mean then it would all get eaten up! And its another whole winter of trapping animals and that long trip to town. Oh wait, that's right, i can always get more at the supermarket.

I am challenged by the Ingalls family.

the downsize

We are moving into another moving vehicle. Our bus is still broken and instead of taking the time to fix it and missing the rainbow gathering we are borrowing a truck and camper from our beautiful Birmingham friends.
So we are downsizing.
I like the idea of living simply but it is quite the process deciding what to take.
4 forks, 4 spoons, 4 knifes. The small pots and pans, for room sake and also maybe to help me not cook so much. I always cook for 10 even with just me and Nigel!
I am bringing about half the clothes I have and it still feels like too much!
Only 5 tea towels are coming with me. I look forward to seeing the rest when we come back to Alabama, I have a minor tea towel addiction.
Nigel can stand up without hitting his head in a couple spots which is good. It is actually the same in our New Zealand bus, so he should be used to holding his head sideways.
And now I am procrastinating, time to finish moving, I feel like a squirrel.

the mini blinds

What follows is a random train of thought.
It has been a train of thought that has taken me a few months to follow, and I have a feeling it is not quite finished.
I was staring at the mini blinds a few months ago. And a thought popped into my head.
"We are not created for sameness."
Mini blinds are all the same. We as humans have a tendency to create the same thing again and again.
But the Creator he creates one of a kind things. One of a kind trees, and flowers, and sunsets, and days, and people. We pay millions for a one of a kind piece of art and yet we are surrounded everyday by one of a kind masterpieces.
So that was my vibe for a while, we are not created for sameness. We are created for adventure.
Then a few weeks ago I had another thought. "The Creator, He is the same yesterday, today and always! We are created for adventure with security!"
 I find the times I most enjoy this adventure He has me on are the times when I find my security in Him.

the kaimais

pikowai beach

Nigel and I took a lovely lil holiday in New Zealand. We spent some time around Te Puke checking out the beach there. On our way to see his brother we had to go over the Kaimais. A rather high mountain range....
Well we went up and up and up. And then we went down and down and......oh wait we lost our brakes! Thats right no brakes!
Nigel did a bit of race car driving. Third gear the rest of the way down using the parking brake to slow down around the tight turns.
I did a lot of praying. Praying and thinking actually. Thoughts like, "What would happen to the bus if we slammed into that cliff?, Would it be better to hit it head on or ease up on the side?, Will our propane tank explode?, Maybe I should tie Nigel into his seat so he doesn't go through the window!"
As you can see, we lived to tell about the experience. One I hope to never have again.
My heart still beats faster when I think about our roller coaster ride down the Kaimais.

ps....after the whole incident nigel tells me that he had so much adrenaline running through his body that at one point down the hill he felt himself almost blacking out! I may have to learn how to drive the bus.....