Whew, I’m behind in up-dating you…I guess the holidays are busy where ever you are and no matter what you are doing. Let’s see…I guess I should pick up with Tuesday, Dec. 12th. We woke up and drove Pastor Mike’s truck (at his suggestion—he told us that he felt bad that he had gotten us so far from HWY 90) back to Crestview just down the rode from where he picked us up and dropped it off for him to pick up later. (His uncle, Hubert, was having surgery in Montgomery, AL that day…please pray for Uncle Hubert…he has a tumor on his brain.) We kept heading west on HWY 90 hoping to reach Holt, FL. Pastor Mike told us about a missions-minded church and pastor that he thought we would enjoy. So we started walking from Crestview. We walked about 4 miles to Milligan where we met Amanda Jenkins at the gas station where we stopped to use the bathroom. She offered to give us a ride, but we realized we were going in different directions. I believe God crossed our paths so that we could learn her story and begin to pray for her. She and her husband just lost their 2nd child. We don’t really know what happened to the first baby, but the second was born premature and only lived about 3 weeks. Please pray for that family.
We continued walking, and almost immediately we saw what we thought was another back-packer in the front of a church. We wanted to say “hey” and find out his/her story, so we walked over. We met
Marguerite who turned out to be a homeless lady with not a back pack, but a dolly carrying all of her possessions wrapped up in a tarp. She was very panicked about the weather and not being able to make it to the next town. Chris & I weren’t sure what to do…we couldn’t carry her load and ours nor did we know of anyone we could ask for assistance. The only thing we knew to do was pray, so we prayed over her before we left and gave her the food that we had. We continued to pray for her as we walked…about 4 minutes later a car pulled over, and we saw that it was 
police officer. I didn’t think we had done anything wrong, so I looked a little closer. It was the police officer that we met the week before with Pastor Mike!! He asked us how we were doing, and told him about Marguerite. He told us that he would check on her and offer to help her. Pretty amazing how quickly God answered our prayers…we were praising God and I was singing!! About 3 minutes later, a pick-up truck pulled off the road on the other side and a lady named Evelyn asked if we wanted a ride to the next town, Holt. We agreed and hopped in the back. When she stopped at the gas station at the little crossroads of Holt, we jumped out. I couldn’t believe it…the church that Pastor Mike had been trying to call on Monday was right across the street. I was so excited that I told 
Evelyn and Chris at the same time. Then Evelyn got all excited because it was her church!! We couldn’t believe it. So she invited us to her house because she wanted to feed us and let us take a hot shower. She wasn’t sure if we could stay the night, but she said she’d ask. We didn’t understand what she meant until we got to her house…again we were amazed at God’s going before us…she lives in the same 
RV park that Pastor Mike left his car at the week before when we rode with Katlyn’s family to the Laurel Hill basketball game in Pensicola. We could see things lining up for us to spend a little time with Evelyn, but when we walked into her camper and saw her Bible study laying open on the correct day, we knew we were okay!! Evelyn shared her story with us...she was a prison guard (like Guy Adams) and she had no intention of staying in Holt. A flat tire near Chipley started the chain of events that lead her to Holt. Not long after she’d been there she started going to church at First Baptist of Holt…several weeks ago she accepted Christ as her Savior and she’s planning on being baptized on Christmas Eve!! We talked the rest of the afternoon and evening sharing God stories and how He had been working in all of our lives. She called her pastor, David Wheat, and he invited us to breakfast the next morning. At the end of the night I thought about Marguerite…we all have the same choice—to sit paralyzed with fear because we are comfortable were we are or too tired to move on OR to go and do what God is leading us to do. We aren’t all called to a literal journey like Chris & I are on, but we are all called to be obedient to the things God is calling us to do everyday. He will provide!!Wednesday morning, we had a great breakfast at the little diner in town, and then we went to the church to see if we could help out in the food pantry and clothing closet that they opened to the community on Wednesdays. We met
Brother Melvin and Sister Jane and a couple of other people who were involved this outreach. A lady was “shopping” with her little girl, 
Angel, and her little boy. Angel and I played together with her stuffed animals and before I knew it, she asked me to read her a story from the Bible. Since it was close to Christmas, I decided to read out of Luke 2 about baby Jesus. She listened and then wanted to play some more. She was exploring different things in the youth room where we were, and she came to the podium and said what’s that (pointing at the Bible on top of it). I said that’s a Bible and it was opened to Luke 2. Wow! We kept playing for a few more minutes, but she wanted me to read her another story out of the Bible. This time she wanted something about her…I immediately thought of Psalm 139 about God knowing you before you are born, but it was only a New Testament, so I flipped to John 3:16 tried to tell her in a way that a 3 year old could understand “God loved you, Angel, so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for your sins and if you believe in Him, you won’t die…instead you will live forever with Him in Heaven.” She looked at me, and then started playing again. We sent her home with the little New Testament. I’m praying that she’ll ask her mom to read it to her and that God’s Word will change her whole family!!!We never got a picture of Pastor Wheat…he’s always on the move, always serving…but he provided lunch for us from the little grill across the street. Right after lunch,
James & Christy (the youth pastor & his wife) arrived at the church to get ready for the evening service. We really enjoyed talking with them, and hearing what God was doing through them with the youth in the community. Their plan had been to be at the church for just one year (until they graduated from school) and then they would begin looking for a church somewhere else. Well, God has different plans than us humans sometimes, so they will be staying for a least another year!! God is really moving in that church…Holt is just a crossroads, but there are about 30-40 young people who come to youth group on a regular basis!! After we talked with them, we got a call from Pastor Mike and then Jeremy (his son) saying that Jeremy would be coming through Holt in his 18-wheeler in 2-3 hours. If we wanted a ride to Milton (the next town over), he would be glad to take us. (Y’all have to understand that every time we walk, Chris says “I wonder when we are going to get to ride in a big truck, I really want to ride in a big truck, etc) So we had a bit of a dilemma. We were organizing clothes in the Clothing Closet, but we could get further down the road if we caught a ride. We started praying, and discussing, and praying some more. After about an hour, James came in and told us that what he had to say to the kids that night wasn’t going to take that long, so if we wanted to share with them a little of our testimony, that would be great. We prayed a little more and felt that was what we were supposed to do. So we had to call Jeremy to tell him we’d have to wait until another time. It ended up being a really 
good service…Two girls lead the praise songs and the whole group joined in! James was right about his message, it didn’t take him long to say what he wanted to say, but it was good.
He spoke to the kids about Simeon in Luke 2 and how the Holy Spirit moves within you…He illuminates scripture in your life if you’ll just let him!! Interestingly enough our message and his message tied together really well…that’s a God thing!! After church, we had several invitations to stay with people and the church was available as well! Both Chris and I thought that we should stay with Melvin Hinnant, the deacon who we met earlier working with the clothes and food. He fixed us supper, and we enjoyed looking at all of his Christmas decorations!! He did a great job moving everything around and laying it out just right!! We learned that his wife passed away almost a year ago with cancer. It was so obvious that he loved her a lot and that she was an amazing woman.Thursday morning started before Chris or I knew what was going on…the phone rang and Mr. Melvin knocked on our door to tell us that Pastor Wheat had decided to take Marguerite (who had shown up the day before at the church in Holt as well…she ended up not accepting the officers help, but chose to stay at the church in Milligan over night because she didn’t want to go back to Crestview where the officer offered to take her. Pastor Wheat & his wife took Marguerite back to Crestview anyway on Wednesday night after church, but he was going to take her to Milton, FL the next day. When he picked her up, she didn’t want to go to Milton, she wanted to go to Biloxi, MS. She said that they had a shelter that had a program that she needed there.) to Biloxi instead of Milton. He would be willing to take us if we wanted to go as well. We rushed through our reading and praying and of course couldn’t make a decision. I started getting ready and Chris decided to talk to Mr. Melvin. At first he told us that he couldn’t tell us what to do…as he listened to Chris explain our hurry and confusion about Marguerite continuing to cross our path…he said that we hadn’t taken time to know what God is saying and that he was going to Pensicola later on that day. After we took time to seek the Lord, then we could make a decision about what we should do. (I really thought that I had already learned that lesson!! Praise God that He doesn’t just teach us once and drop us off…He knows it takes some of us many times to really know what we are supposed to do!! I’m really amazed at His patience…it gives me a little insight into parenting!!)
After breakfast, we spent some time in the Word and in prayer, so we knew that we should ride as far as Milton with Mr. Melvin. (Through several coincidences…aka God’s hand in every day life…Pastor Mike put us in contact with a Peruvian pastor—Jack Goldfarb—in Milton…so we thought we should meet him and his wife!) Mr. Melvin shared a little more about his wife…she was a hospice nurse before she got sick and she always told the story of her first patient who died. This person’s entire family gathered around his/her bed and sang praises to God because they knew their loved one was going home to be with the Lord. When her time came, she could hear her family crying around her bed, and she told them, “What is this I hear? I don’t want you to cry. I want you to sing. I’m going home to be with Jesus.” That’s just what they did. After that took place, she wasn’t really conscious anymore. Pretty amazing testimony, huh? Mr. Melvin also told us about God’s provision during her sickness. The medicine that the doctors prescribed for her was so expensive that only certain licensed pharmacies could carry it. They finally found a place, but the insurance wouldn’t cover the cost--$6,000. So he did the only thing he knew to do, he went to Pastor Wheat and explained the situation. Pastor Wheat decided that they should take up a love offering. Keep in mind that this church runs about 125 on Sunday mornings…they collected exactly $6000. Oh, but the story doesn’t end there…Mr. Melvin went back to the pharmacy, and the pharmacist argued with the insurance company on the phone until they agreed to cover the medicine. As he filled the prescription, he realized that he had been praying for Mr. Melvin's wife for several years because the Hinnants' daughter went to his church. Isn’t God incredible? After giving testimony to God’s provision, Mr. Melvin wanted to show us around his property—his house sits on a rather large creek. He also has an
RV, so we took a tour of it and learned a little more about how they work. Then it was time to head out…
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