Category Archives: Blog

The Tale of Two Food banks

Food Bank 1:

We arrived at FOOD BANK 1 in Florida to help organize and clean the donation area. We were told they had so many donations that they couldn’t keep up. This sounded like an amazing food bank if they have that many donations!

As we entered the room stuffed with boxes and cans, a nasty rotten smell filled my nostrils. As I glanced around the room, spider webs, roach carcasses and rusted dented cans surrounded us. I held back my gags, started to clean and sort items. We were given a very specific list of what we should keep. My heart churned as I was instructed to keep cans within 7 years of the actual expiration, rusted and dirty. We chose to throw several questionable ones in the dumpster and my husband was instructed to dumpster dive to get them back out because “they are good enough”.

As we set up the aisles so people could “shop”, we were told to put all the rusty cans and dented boxes in the front so they could get rid of those first. At the entrance to the food bank was a clip board, requesting financial information from each needy family that was to enter. We worked hard to set this all up. The day of the food bank was here. No one showed up. No one came to get food. The attitude of the staff was disheartening as it was exclaimed, “they must not be very hungry then”. We packed up our very defeated family and left.

FOOD BANK 2:

As we pulled up to FOOD BANK 2 in Texas, we drove past a line of hundreds of cars, stretching out well over a mile. As the cars entered the gate, they were instructed to form 3 separate lines circling a huge warehouse. As they drove closer to the warehouse, a single line formed again to have each car packed with food under the huge awning. I watched as volunteers walked through the lines with big smiles and baskets of fresh baked cookies.

We joined volunteers in the warehouse for instructions from the Pastor. We were told that our most important job today is to make people feel loved and welcome. I was assigned to the prayer team to go to each car, have conversations, welcome our guests and pray for every single one of them. My family was assigned to the car packing port area. As they walked to their assigned places, they were surrounded by boxes of organic fresh produce, organic whole chicken and hams, fresh baked breads, flowers and multiple name brand products. No dented or rusted can was in sight. Any package that looked questionable was immediately thrown away. There were no papers requesting financial information, only prayer cards. This food bank served over 2,000 people that day. When we left this food bank, we felt invigorated and amazing. We have returned to serve multiple times.

Our take away from this tale:

If we are giving to people so they know that Jesus Loves them, we better not be giving out crap and rusted cans. Can you imagine Jesus handing someone an old rusted can and saying “Here, eat this and I love you”.

Give and Give your BEST! LOVE on everyone as if they are the children of a King, because they are.

The dome of destruction

Mexico City Beach

Now that we have pulled out from the Panama City and Mexico City Beach area, we have been repeatedly asked “How was the panhandle disaster relief?”

We drove away from the area, destruction in our rearview mirror and normalcy stretched out in front of us. It stuck me that I felt like we just toured a Hollywood Movie set.

The movie set was approximately a 30 to 50 mile diameter dome (similar to the one in the Truman Show), and the storyline was about the end of the world.

While on the set, we experienced the harsh reality of daily struggles of no electricity, roofs caving in, dangerous trees hanging in the roadways and children freezing in makeshift tents. Christmas joy was replaced with the feelings of abandonment and despair. People struggling to keep thier children from getting cold or getting sick from mold. People walking in the streets with masks covering thier faces. Sounds of chainsaws and generators filled the air. People were searching for places to live or to work. Businesses were shut down. On every street were stacks of sheet rock, furniture, insulation and thousands of broken trees.

It was really hard to imagine there was normal life happening outside of that dome. It was impossible to think that Christmas is only days away.

The day came to leave this movie set. My heart was torn. As we started to pull away from the set, we began to see fewer trees snapped in half, fewer blue tarps and the streets lined with rubble disappeared behind us.

Suddenly we were out of the dome. Normalcy sprawled before us. Small town streets lined with festive Christmas lights. People in stores picking out toys for thier kids and spreading Christmas cheer. Within a day of departing the movie set, I start to question if it was real or not. These two completely opposite worlds can not really exist only mere miles apart. Can they?

I want to scream at people in neighboring towns “GO HELP THEM!! Don’t you know that they are suffering?” “How can we buy some frivolous gifts when people have NOTHING only a few miles away?”

How do people all over the USA not know that this dome of destruction and despair exists? How come the media isn’t providing coverage of this particular movie set?

I am having a hard time understanding and balancing my feelings. I must turn to my only source of comfort as I struggle with a weird sense of survivors guilt. Only He can bring peace and fully restore the spirit of the people under the dome of destruction.

Please Don’t forget the people in the FL Panhandle. They need us not to forget.

*photo credit @faithtakesflight

The Three O’s of Serving

 

It seems that one of the most common questions we have heard since we have been on the road is “How do you find places to serve on the road?’  I often get messages from other full-time RV families that have the desire to serve, but don’t know where to start.  Since my answer is always the same, I decided it was time to put in all in one post with links.

When we first went on the road, we had no idea how God would lead us to serving opportunities.  It was really a journey of blind faith, hoping and praying that He would lay opportunities at our feet.  Although He definitely did guide us in many ways, we also had to actively seek out opportunities. Continue reading The Three O’s of Serving

Mile Marker 3

 

Palmer  Pisle, Mile Marker #3

We met Palmer and his wife Sharon at a mission packing event at the GAIN Warehouse in Mount Joy, PA.   He was the area manager in the section of the warehouse we were assigned to.  It only took a few hours for us to discover that he also lives full time  in his RV.  It took about 5 minutes to discover that at 76 years old, Palmer is a non stop serving machine and has no intention of stopping any time soon. Continue reading Mile Marker 3

Mile Marker 2

The Raggedy Crow flies for others.

The first time I saw the Raggedy Crow, he went by the nickname “Tatted Chef”.  As this giant stepped out of the small doorway of the RV, I would be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t feel a little intimated.  This long haired, gray bearded, tattooed giant standing at 6 foot 7 inches approached me with his strangely long arm to shake my hand.  His smile and sparkling eyes immediately Continue reading Mile Marker 2

Divine Appointments

 

We have all had those moments in our lives that seem to be much deeper then a simple coincidence.  Those moments that just do not make any sense at all.  In faith circles, we often refer to these moments with terms such as: Godincidences,  God Winks, Divine Appointments or Divine Alignments.    Over the course of my 50 years on Earth, I have certainly had my share of Godincidences.  However, none of my past experiences that I have filed away as divine appointments, even come close to the details of the story I would like to tell you about now. Continue reading Divine Appointments

The Devil’s Churn

The Devil’s Churn

 

 

A wonderful ocean side site, it is a beautiful location with trails leading down to the ocean and the churn. If it has been raining the trails can be very slippery so choose the right footwear to walk safely. The churn is best viewed at high tide to get the most from your visit. You will appreciate the power of the ocean as you watch the wave’s crash spectacularly against the rocks! It is both audibly, and visually stimulating. Continue reading The Devil’s Churn

Becoming a little CRUNCHY

Something happened to me when we moved in to the RV.  I’m not really sure how it happened.  I started to become a little crunchy, a little  more holistic and a little more natural.  Although I haven’t completely sworn off all forms of traditional or over the counter medicine (Motrin will probably stay in my cabinet until I die), I have slowly started replacing chemically laden hygiene products, cleaning solutions and medicines. Continue reading Becoming a little CRUNCHY

Jacobs Well and Panes y Peces

Sanding seed trough

 

What do dumpster diving and tilapia have in common? Any guesses?  It would seem hard to find a common ground between these two things. However, when tilapia and dumpster diving are meshed  together with the heart of a servant, something AMAZING can happen.   Sometime back in the late 80’s,  a man began dumpster diving behind stores for products that were able to be re-purposed to help those living in poverty.  Continue reading Jacobs Well and Panes y Peces

The Force

When I pulled in to our campsite yesterday,  my husband was standing behind my rig praying with two strangers hand in hand.

I did not take a picture but this image reminds me on the scene I encountered.   Just prior to my arrival, each of the two men, approached Frank separately to chat.  Although the conversation may have started out as small talk, it quickly turned to a deeper one.  As the conversation continued , it was revealed the two strangers had similar stories. They shared two common themes: Addiction, BUT Jesus.

Continue reading The Force