Tour Scrapbook

Sunday, March 16

Today began with a flurry of activity to get all of us, plus Dinina and AnnNan, ready for church! It was made easier because we stayed in a hotel this weekend. We needed time to work.

We attended church at Mariner's and felt like God was talking specifically to us. Our marriages have been given a cram course in dealing with struggles. We know God is refining us as couples, but the fire is often hot! Sharon was able to share this with a sweet lady, Patsy, who prayed and encouraged her. Patsy felt like someone needed to come pray that morning. She felt this so strongly that she stayed for the next service to be there when someone…Sharon came to pray. God is so good! Just because we're in ministry doesn't mean we have to have it all together. We're still learning that.

After church, we got a quick bite at Quizno's before taking Dinina to the airport to go home. Tears were shed and lots of hugs were exchanged as Dinina left. We went swimming to wash away some homesickness. The water was great, just a little windy! The kids spent the remainder of their afternoon playing in the hotel rooms. They amaze us with all the games they can think up!

We ordered Papa John's for dinner. Sharon and Crislynn went to pick it up. On the way to the car, Crislynn saw a man and said, "Look, there's another friend!" To have that perception of people no matter what they look like…the world would be a better place! As we ate our pizza all in one room, Pat commented, "Is this all of us?" It was all of us, but when we have a place to spread out, it feels so roomy!

The kids watched a movie in AnnNan's room tonight. Laurie and Sharon shopped for groceries then went to the buses for a time to clean…all alone!! A rare treat! Pat and Charles were busily using the phones and internet available at the hotel!! It would be a late night, but a very fun one!

Monday, March 17

Before leaving the hotel, we worked as much as possible, checked email one more time, gave the kids baths, packed up then made our way to Hard Rock Café. Steve and Glenda Culpepper, life-long friends from home, met us there. It was wonderful to have "home" hugs and to be treated to lunch by these sweet people, who are also fellow RVers! It always makes us a little homesick when we see people from home. Their visit was a blessing to us in so many ways.
After lunch we traveled to San Clemente and parked at Pacific Coast Church, where the parking lot has a fabulous view of the ocean! We are living in our "ocean home" for the night! We ate dinner on the bus before ladies from Pacific Coast Church picked Laurie and Sharon up to go to Ruth Spaethes' home for "coffee". What a warm, spirit-filled group of ladies. We immediately felt connected with them because of Jesus! What an awesome God we have! He can take complete strangers and because we're believers, we in one evening, feel as though we've known each other for years. We talked and prayed late into the night…until husbands were calling worried about us! Sorry guys!

Tuesday, March 18

Our morning at Pacific Coast was wonderful. What a fun audience! They were moved and let us know it through their tears and words or encouragement afterward.
That afternoon, after eating on the bus, we went to Mariners Church to share a song with the Home Connections group there, and to be blessed once again by Jeff Pries. What a down-to-earth," I'm right where you are" kind of pastor he is. It was great to see "old" friends at Mariners.
We left Mariners to head toward Redondo Beach, quite a trek for us. The kids were in bed before we left Mariners, so we had time to talk and fold clothes while traveling. The parking at Redondo Beach was a little tricky, but our expert drivers (no kidding!!) maneuvered very well!

Wednesday, March 19

Pat and Sharon overslept…again!! I think we're exhausted! It was Brittlea's day off so she had permission to sleep late!! We had a wonderful program with these ladies. Sometimes it's hard to be real, over and over, but these ladies made it easy. One mom told us over and over, "If I had known what it was going to be like, I would have invited so many people! I had no idea!" Sharon had the privilege of giving CDs to two moms whose husbands have been out of work. One mom was moved to tears. What a blessing for us to be able to give. We are always accepting gifts from people, so it feels really good to be able to give sometimes. Another mom shared that it was her birthday and wanted us to know that we had truly been a gift to her that day. Thanks, Lord!
Lunch was at Souplantation (someone had given us gift cards…yea!!) The kids really enjoyed the all-you-can-eat buffet…especially the blue Jell-O! We decided to go to the beach for the afternoon (2 blocks from the church!) We had a great time in the cold water and sand! Crislynn and Sharon made Abraham Lincoln in the sand while Davis ate the sand. A mom we met at the beach one time said not to worry about it. We would just see sand the next day, and she was right!!

For dinner, we ate separately as families. The Hilliards went to Buca de beppo (sweet memories of the Burgarello's in Arizona!) and the Autrys splurged and went to Benihana! We met a mom and her 13 year old son who shared our table.
We left Redondo Beach again with the kids in bed. Sharon talked to her mom all the way to the next church…Sierra Madre Bethany Church. On our drive we went through downtown LA and saw the Staples Center.

Thursday, March 20

We were awakened early this morning by a facilities guy wondering when we would move the buses. The buses cramp people's style sometimes. It has done a lot to teach us about handling conflict, an area we all had room to grow! Someone in the neighborhood called the police wanting them to see who we were…maybe terrorists!! We look really dangerous with two mini-vans and bicycles on the back of the bus! Anyway, because of our early morning, I (Sharon) had a quiet time that I probably would have slept through. God has a purpose for everything!
We shared with the ladies at Bethany Church and met another mom of a Davis! Fun! Jennifer and Meg were so good to talk to the police and let them know we weren't harmful! Thank, girls!
We were also privileged to work with Rich, the soundman, who providencially works as an audio duplicator. And he offered to duplicate our "Contentment" teaching on CD! Wow! What another huge blessing!

We had lunch outside then headed back to Pacific Coast Church (about 70 miles). Afternoons are our time to finish school, so we worked on our Reading Made Easy, skipped math because Uncle Charles had already covered it, then did handwriting. Britt wrote about her day off.
Lorra Davis, from Pacific Coast, welcomed us back by providing dinner for us - yummy enchiladas! The kids really enjoyed this church because of the great parking lot and because they have a refrigerator filled with drinks, any kind you could imagine! They would stand at the refrigerator and just stare trying to make a decision!

Friday, March 21

Our last day at Pacific Coast, and we were a little sad. These ladies had really met a need for friendship for us. The two Jennifers, Cristina, Jamie, Lorra, and Ruth, were precious! Heaven, someday, will be a blast with you girls! We shared with the group then heard overwhelming comments about how each one needed to hear the message. Here is one comment we received later by email: "You made me laugh hysterically, cry freely and want to do so much better! I couldn't wait to get out of MOPS at Pacific Coast Church and go hug and adore my kids. Thank you! As a mother who's expecting #5, and whose oldest is just 7, I needed the encouragement so much! God knew!" Thanks so much for writing us your thoughts! It keeps us going! After a concert, Laurie and I are emotionally exhausted. It's nice to hear these comments when we're not zapped!
We tell ladies that their strength to be content with their lives can only be found in Christ. I pray they will look to Him when their strength runs out.
We did say good-bye to these sweet ladies, but knowing we would see them again this side of heaven.
It was time to move the buses to an RV park. Praise the Lord!! We've been so busy that we haven't stayed in a park for two weeks! We saved money, but the laundry was suffering!
Our Anaheim RV park has a great view of the fireworks at Disney on Friday and Saturday nights so we watched the fireworks then Crislynn got to spend the night with Avery while Abby and Alec spent the night with Britt. The older kids watched a movie, had popcorn complete with M&M's! They went to sleep…finally!

Saturday, March 22

Laurie and Sharon left the RV park pretty early to go to a conference in Corona. Sheri Rose Shepherd was great! We were challenged to make Christ the center of what we do. It's easy to "know" things, but too often I forget to apply them. Thanks for the reminder, Shari! We learned that she and her family have recently taken the leap into full-time ministry, too! (shepfamily.com) The guys went to Mrs. Patti's house to let the kids play. We had lunch there then went back to the RV park for the night. Davis was getting sick with the same bug the kids had about a week ago! He kept us up during the night. Those sick days/nights sure are snuggly, though!!

-- Sharon