Lafayette, LA...we broke into the triple digits...It's Day 103

back to Our Walk of Faith

I'm still trying to recover from whatever cold this is, so we ended up staying a while longer with the Wahl's!! It's been soooo much fun! We've played, watched movies, read devotions, and prayed together! Friday was John's last day at work, so we baked a cake, and Mary & the kids decorated it for him. They made a poster, and we put balloons on the reflectors by the driveway! Deciding to follow the Lord...stepping out on faith is cause for celebration in our book!!

Friday night, we went with Jennifer, Natalie, Ben, Gary, Justin, Liz & Joya to Praise Church (where Sonny is the pastor). The cousins had been working on a drama to go with "Let My Love Open the Door (To Your Heart)"--a song that Audio Adrenaline re-made. Jennifer has had it on her heart for a while, but there's never been an opportunity to present it...they did an amazing job!! While they were preparing for the drama, the youth pastor told a story of a guy who had a dream about stepping out on faith. Then he all of a sudden asked us to explain what we were doing. We were shocked until we found out after church that Jennifer had given him a heads up!! After the drama, the guys and the girls split up to talk about dating relationships and making wise choices. (This was the talk that Liz was planning when I met her last Tuesday.) Both sessions went really well! At the invitation time at the end, one of the girls asked for prayer for her mom who abandoned her when she was 10. She only sees her rarely if ever now. We prayed for healing for the girl and for salvation for her mom. It was a really sweet time of the girls praying for one another. (I even met Michelle, Jennifer & Sierra who are from North Carolina...the just moved to Louisiana.)

After the service, the Wahls told us that we had to go to Raising Cane's...it's this chicken place that has 4 combos and that's it. Their specialty is their sauce. We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was! As we were getting ready to leave, Chris & I were able to talk to two of the girls who work there--Jacki (right of RE) & Kayla (left of RE). They were both pretty interested in what we are doing. Jacki told us about her church that was just up the street, and Kayla shared testimony of God's faithfulness. Kayla's mom passed away just one year after Kayla started attending church...she explained to people that the reason she could carry on was because of God. He didn't give her a choice about her mom's death, so she just had to trust Him. We were really touched to meet both girls!!On Saturday, Mary (pictured cutting the pinapple) and I shopped for groceries, which ended up being a time of prayer and testimony as well! She explained that many times in our lives when we are dealing with an issue or if God is dealing with us about an issue it's like peeling an onion. We peel off one layer, and we think we are done. And we are for what we can bare at the moment, but at the right time God peels off the next layer in what becomes a continual renewing and restoring process. It's a really good example that helps me understand what's going on a little better!

Saturday night, we went to church at Bethany again. It was really good again!! The pastor was continuing the series on faithful families--this time he was talking to the women. Part of what he explained about men is that their biggest battle comes from pride. With women, it's fear. Fear turns faithful women into carnal Christians. (He used Sarah from Genesis to make this point.) However, trusting in His promises can reverse the situation...you can go from Sarai (contentious) to Sarah (princess). The timing for his message was exceptional...just the night before, I started to have a few doubts about what would happen after we left our friends in Mexico. God so quickly reigned me back in! I just praise Him for that!! Mary recently shared this quote, "God's not going to get you in a situation where you don't have to depend fully on Him." I want full dependence on Him...I'm pretty excited to see what He's going to do now! The pastor also talked about wives being submissive--supportive of the mission of your husband! (1 Peter 3)

Sunday afternoon took us to the Blind River, the swamp and a bayou!! John wanted to show us "the camp" out in the swamp that belongs to his parents, so we borrowed his dad's boat and set out. It was so pretty...I never would have thought that I would ever describe a swamp in that way, but it really was pretty! He showed us around camp, then told Chris and I to take the canoe up the bayou that branched off just before "the camp." The water was so still...I kept waiting to see an alligator...Chris hit the canoe one time, and I probably jumped a foot! When Chris rowed us back to where John was waiting for us, we had some buttered French bread (oh so tasty) and New Orleans blend of coffee. (Chris likes it a lot.) It was dark by the time we started heading back, so John gave me the spotlight and told me to look for red eyes along the bank. (also known as alligators) I didn't really think I would see anything, so when we saw two pair of red eyes swimming along at the same speed as the boat, we got really excited!! We saw two other alligators before we got back to the boat ramp to take the boat out. That was enough to get my heart pumping and make me forget that it was a little windy. We also saw lots of glittering green eyes along the way...John explained that they were little spiders that lived in the moss and brush!! Who knew that the swamp would come so alive at night!!
Sunday night, we spent our last night (for now) with the Wahl's. We watched a movie, Beyond the Next Mountain. It's about a missionary who carried the Gospel to a tribe in Northeast India. He was forced to leave before he really began to see it flourish...but God's Word doesn't return void...Many churches began and pastors were raised up...they even began to write their own hymns. The only thing they lacked was a Bible in their language, so one of the pastor's young sons begins studying. After years and years of studying in India, then Scotland, and finally the US, the guy succeeds in translating the entire Bible into their language. He mails it off to be printed and goes to find the missionary to tell him what had become of the work that he had to abandon! Praise God that even when man abandons us, GOD DOES NOT!We prayed over each other and began to say our goodbyes. Jennifer and Natalie would be going back to school Monday morning...even though as of right now, they don't even have the money to pay for even the 1st payment of the semester. We were planning to get a ride with them back to Baton Rouge and go from there.
God's timing of bringing us into contact with the Wahls blows my mind...John & Mary are stepping out on faith in ministry, Jennifer & Natalie are going back to school on faith that God will provide, and we are headed to Peru on faith.
Bright and early Monday morning the 4 of us left Lutcher for our next step of faith. Chris & I came to Baton Rouge because we thought we were supposed to interact with Desire Street Ministries...they have a school for inner-city boys there. So we made several efforts to get in touch with them last week, but the doors just didn't seem to open. I even called as we neared Baton Rouge, but my phone had some weird message that I've never heard before & I couldn't use it! John called us when we were staying in Baton Rouge to invite us to their house last Tuesday...the phone works in that area. We had been praying for direction all week while we were in Lutcher and heard nothing. So our question was, do we stay in Baton Rouge or go a little further with the girls. Right where they were supposed to turn north, there was a large town, Lafayette. As the doors remained closed in Baton Rouge, we kept riding.

So here we are in Lafayette, the French capital of Louisiana!! There was a tourist info center very close to where they dropped us off, so we stopped in for some information. Larry (pictured with CE in the center) and Homer (pictured with CE on the left) helped us learn about the area--giving us maps and pamphlets galore! Homer didn't have very much to say, but we found that Larry lived in Fayetteville for awhile. (So he knew about that wonderful Smithfield's Chicken and BBQ!!) He also said that he would put us on the prayer list at his church! We left there to explore the city a bit...we went to the library and post office, but along the way we saw several beautiful murals, a massive cathedral, and an enormous oak tree. (I think it's the 3rd largest in the country!!) I was starting to feel really tired and sick again, so we began our quest for a place to stay the night. We saw the Acadia Motel on the map, so we decided to check it out. (Megan & Mike live in/near Acadia National Park, so I thought it was a good sign.) Too bad they were no longer in business...it was under "new ownership," but I've never seen a motel that was still in business look that run down...I'm fairly certain that those rooms probably rented by the hour!! We walked as fast as I felt like I could move, and finally we started to come closer to some more reputable establishments.

Right outside of the St. Francis motel, we met two boys--about 20 years old--who left home 3 days ago hitchhiking towards Tampa, Florida. Ben & Jesse (also names from the Wahl family that we just left!!) couldn't believe what we were doing and that we were Christians. Apparently everyone who has come across their path so far has been Christians!! They are beginning to see a pattern, so Chris shared part of our testimony as well and continuing just to add seeds of the Gospel to those already planted in them. We continued on our search for a place to stay, and they left to find some other people their age.Finally, we walked into Days Inn. The man behind the counter John (another Wahl name!) asked if he could help us. We asked about the rooms and internet access and stepped back to discuss what we should do. As we were discussing, he offered us a different price...we couldn't believe the offer. How awesome is our God?!! I really just wanted to sleep and didn't think I could go much further!! Praise God for His favor even at motels!!!Tuesday, I feel better after some rest, and Chris got some medicine for me. It's Wednesday, but we are still here...We are praying that I will feel well enough to walk tomorrow!! Thank God that He is a healer!! We'll be in touch again soon! We love you! God bless!

Pictured below: 1) Natalie straigtening RE's hair 2) CE with John's dad and John as we were preparing to go to "the camp" out in the swamp!!