Cali Trip: Day 3

Hello everyone!!! Robin here.   Here is our Day 3 of  our Cali trip.  

So we woke up at the Baymont in Warrenton, Mo.  Our accommodations were clean and surprisingly the breakfast wasn't too bad.  They had the make your own waffles and so the kids were happy.  :) 

I took the first leg of the trip.  We drove across Missouri and I don't believe we took any pictures while we were in Missouri.  I guess in comparison there wasn't a lot to see.  I drove to Topeka, KS.  We stopped there for lunch.  While we were driving we saw some people with some very unnerving signs about God hating people and such.  Saddened, I prayed for these people.  They need Jesus' love too.  So we kept on moving and I looked down at my phone to see where we needed to go next and found my explanation.  We were right outside of THE Westboro Baptist church.  It didn't change my opinion; I was still sad and they still need to be touched by Jesus' love, mercy and grace.   It was just a really interesting thing I guess, that's all.  

So then Brian took over driving and I took some pictures of Kansas.  People said it would be boring and mundane but I couldn't get over just how different this area of the country looks compared to where we are from.  We thought it was just beautiful and enjoyed it! 

Some of the scenery in Kansas.

We came across these wind turbines.  I wish the picture did them justice.  As Hailee said they were the "biggest fans I've ever seen!"  I hadn't seen anything like them.  They tower so tall over us and started out only a few at a time.  Then like a suspense movie, you drive over a hill and what you thought were only about 15 turn into hundreds and hundreds of them! It was incredible to see.  While we drove by some that weren't spinning at the time Hailee asked why some of them were "turned off."  She then suggested that "someone probably was cold and turned off the fans."  SO funny! 

This was a beautiful view. There is a reflection off the glass of our drinks but as someone mentioned on Facebook, it looks like flying saucers going over Kansas.  Haha.

So while I was driving my hair was getting annoying and long in my face so I asked Brian if he would help me.  He said, "What do you want me to do?"  I asked if he would put it up for me and he did.  This is the result of an adult male who has never done hair **Edit: Brian states "Hey, I've done hair!"**, doing hair for the first time.   You be the judge. 

Side view of said messy ponytail.  Excited that my hair was out of my face! Haha.

 More Kansas.

 Beautiful clouds and land in Kansas.

 This was in Flagler, Colorado.  We made it to Colorado! Hooray!  We stopped to get gas and Brian took these cute pictures of Hailee.  They are a little dark of her, but you get the idea.  :)

This was when we weren't too far outside of Colorado Springs.  Brian and I were driving together commenting how romantic it felt.  Odd I know- but when you are with your true love, watching one of the most incredible sunsets, on a great adventure with two gorgeous babies you made, it really doesn't get more blissful than that.  <3

 More of the beautiful Colorado sky.

 And we arrived!!! We got to Colorado Springs where Chuck and Melanie Boudreau kindly opened their home to our family.  We were able to crash into bed and sleep like rocks, shower, relax, laugh and visit.  It was not only good for our bodies but our hearts to connect with other people who are after bringing God's kingdom here to earth.  Love love love.
On top of that, I'm pretty sure we have at least one visitor in their family lined up in Redding.  :)

So day three ended at the Boudreau's in Colorado Springs, CO.

Cali Trip: Day 2

Greetings everyone!

This morning we woke up at  Brian's dad, John, and his wife Cathy's house.  Brian stated it was "the best sleep he had gotten" in a long time.  I (Robin) also slept really well. Thanks Pops and CeeCee! (That's what we and the kids call them).  Brian and I packed up the car with the things we had gotten out for the night while the kids played inside with Pops and CeeCee.  We had a quick breakfast and got on the road at 8:30est. 

Hailee sitting with Pops.

Hailee, Pops (John) , Brian and CeeCee (Cathy) just before we pulled away. 

I took the first leg of the trip and enjoyed driving.  I am actually from Illinois and we moved to Georgia when I was young, so I have made this trip many times. There is a place when you get to Chattanooga that I always remember was my favorite part of the entire trip.  You drive around this big curve around a large lake and there are mountains in the background.  I have always thought it was breathtaking. As we were driving around my favorite part, Brian took some pictures so we could share the view with everyone.  

Then we stopped for gas and were going to stop for lunch in Monteagle, TN, but everything in the restaurant was still on breakfast!  I was confused but then realized we had passed the time change so it was still 10:15 where we were.  We drove for a bit then stopped a little further up the road at Manchester, TN.  It worked out wonderfully because of a little open field that was open next to Arby's where we got our food.  We took our food outside with some beautiful weather and fresh air.   The kids had fun running back and forth between two trees.  We chased after them a little bit. 

After that Brian took over driving as we did our next long part of the day.  We drove up into Illinois and I took Brian and the kids through the area where I am from.  My parents went to college after my sister and I were born at Southern Illinois University- Carbondale.  We lived in some student housing.  So we drove through town and I showed Brian the college area and our old house.  

Here are some pictures of us on the road!

We then drove onto Sparta, Il.  This is where I was born!  It is a small town of 5000 and one of those you are able to give the tour in 5 minutes.  It was very important and so special to me that Brian was able to see where I came from, grew up and was raised.  

We arrived at Sparta and had been invited to stop in by some close friends of the family, the Peck's.  They made us a delicious homemade dinner of fresh fish out of their pond and frog legs! Yes frog legs!!! 

Here is a picture of the frog legs on the left, fish on the top, potatoes in the middle and corn on the bottom right.  Sorry I had already eaten a good bit of it.  I forgot to take a picture and was stuffing my face because it was so delicious!!! :) 

We switched drivers, Brian taking over here:

They took us out to see their horses and Hailee rode for a few minutes. She was trembling in my arms when we first walked up to the horse but by the end of the ride she was hanging on all by herself with a big smile. Nathaniel even ended up riding for a few steps. We said our goodbyes and Paul prayed for us before we left.

Hailee on the horse!  She was so excited.  

I wasn't going to let Nathaniel ride because he was so small and I didn't think he wanted to.  However, he kept yelling "horse, horse!" so Paul held him as he rode.

Both of them together.  Clearly the good choice was to let him ride.  He was so thrilled and while I think he might be too young to remember this later- these picture will always be a reminder of how excited he was. It made my heart happy.

Hailee, Rhonda, Nathaniel and Paul.  They took to them so quickly and loved hanging out with them. 

One with Robin!

We then headed over to see Robin's uncle David (Robs brother) and Pam. We visited for a short while as they got to see the kids. We had a great time talking and catching up with them.

The kids (who couldn't stop watching the dogs) with Uncle David and Robin.  Doesn't he look like Rob?!  

After we left, the rain started to pick up and we got really slowed down. Also, we tried to stop at a Starbucks in St louis but it took us forever because the first one google maps took us to is actually in the middle of a (closed) mall. Then, we took a wrong turn trying to navigate around St Louis and get back onto I-64. so, with all the delays we decided we were not going to be able to make it to Columbia, MO, so we stopped in Warrenton.  

We stayed at a Baymont Inn and this is where we ended our second day.  

Cali Drive: Day 1

Hello everyone!

So it's here.  Bittersweet.  Sad and happy.  So excited for the new adventure ahead and the incredible plans we know God has for  us.  Sad to leave all our family and friends behind.  We know and believe it is right, and it is only for a season, but it doesn't make leaving easy by any means.  With that being said, I am going to jump right in!

So today was our first day of travel.  Although I don't really think I would call this a "travel day" our van is packed to the brim and we did drive a distance.   Today we went to Atlanta.  Not far, but a very important day.

We got up this morning after only 4 hours of sleep.  We were up late with the help of Aaron (Robin's cousin) and Alan Abdelhadi (more on him in later blogs… stay tuned) packing up the van to the brim.  It was quite a chore but I am quite impressed with the awesome engineering smarts my husband put to use to pack the van with very minimal space left over.   Once we were all up and going we sat down to an awesome meal my (Robin's) parents made.  It was just like my maternal granny used to do when we were leaving her house to go back home after a visit.  It felt great and my family came over REALLY early just to send me off.  Many, many tears were shed.  They weren't tears of upset or hurt, but joy and happiness with a little bit of sorrow for the loss of being close.

Then we were on our way to Atlanta.

We got there right at lunch and ate at a wonderful pizza place with Josh and Brian's mom Julie also met us to take the kids and surprised us by eating with us and treating us all to lunch! Then we were finally able to see our best friend Josh's school, Georgia Tech.  It was great!  He gave us an awesome tour and I included some pictures below to walk you through just some of the highlights of what we saw.  It was great connecting all these stories he had told us with the actual places where the stories took place.  More than that, it was awesome being able to spend a few great hours with one of our best friends right before we leave.  We love you Josh and will miss you not being around all the time.

Josh in front of his dorm room for his LAST year of college!!!

Brian and Josh showing us Josh's (small!) dorm room.  He lives alone in the room but has 6 roommates in one apartment.  It has a common area, kitchen and two bathrooms.  

This was the view of downtown Atlanta from one of the top floors of their work out facility.  That would make me want to work out more! How about you?

This was a very cool bike we saw on campus.  Evidently you use your student ID called your Buzz card and it has money on it.  You rent a bike for an amount of time.  You just wave your card in front of the number "36" you see there near the wheel.  Crazy, right?  We might not have hover cars yet, but this is so awesome!

A beautiful fountain area in the middle of campus.  It was a gorgeous day with a wonderful breeze.  Also Brian and I were thankful to be walking so much the day before a long trip.

One with us and our buddy.  He has meant so much to us through the years.  We love him.  We are so proud of you Josh! :) Thanks again for the amazing tour! 

We then headed to Brian's mom, Julie's house.  We played there with her for a good while.  The kids enjoyed playing with all the old toys that were once Brian and his sister's.  They always have a great time playing with Grandma Joowee (as the kids pronounce it).


Then a couple hours later we headed over to Brian's dad and step-moms house, John and Cathy.  Again, we had such a great time visiting and playing with them.  We ate a wonderful BBQ meal they got us.  We are now here getting a really great night of sleep in a Temper Pedic (be jealous…haha) before we head for a long trip on the road tomorrow.  Make sure and keep checking back for updates!  We look forward to hearing from you!

Living with the Parents

We want to bring all of you along this crazy journey of ours.  That includes the awesome parts and the not so great parts and everywhere in between.  This week we want to share with you a deeper look into  what our lives look like at the moment. 

(If you are wondering how we got here, please take a look back at our previous blogs to see how our we got to this leg in our adventure and what lies ahead!) 

So, our house sold faster than expected.  Way faster (Go Jesus!) than we even thought was possible.  So we were booted out in June.  Ok, not booted but our closing date was in June and we had to get out.  However, we knew we didn't want to leave that early to go to CA with no job.  My parents (this is Robin writing) so graciously opened their home to us and we are living in their 3 bed 2.5 bath home.  It is a wonderful home.  Most of you probably are wondering how in the world have we lived with our parents for almost 10 weeks.  Let me tell you, shockingly, it really hasn't been bad!  The kids LOVE having Nana and Baw Baw (Robin's parents, Rob and Leslie Kelley) around to love on and play with.  It hasn't been without (mostly space) challenges, but we are thankful for a time of closeness before being so far away.

This blog is mostly a picture collage of several of the things we have been doing this summer together.  Some of us selling our place, some in preparation for leaving, and some of just the fun we've been having.  Hope you enjoy!

Our house during the moving out process.

Last picture of Brian and me at our first house together.  :' )  

(Cut us some slack it was raining hard while we loaded up the last of our stuff.)

We have tried to do some fun stuff this summer as a family.

Hailee's first real ride on a horse.  She loved it! 

Hailee and her two best friends and her cousins, Kelley and Emlyn.

Mark (our brother-in-law), Robin's dad (Rob Kelley) and Brian 

putting together a swing for mom for Mother's Day.

Getting our room at my parents cleared out, prepped and ready so we could move in.

The kids room at my parents.  It was moved around more after this, but the general idea is there. :)

Hailee had a lot of firsts this year...

Hailee's first trip to vacation Bible school! She had an awesome time. 

Hailee's first trip to the dentist.  We wanted to get this done here in Augusta before moving out to CA.  That way a lot of these things can hold off so we don't have to do them right away once we get there.

Hailee and Brian at a restaurant in Hilton Head.  We all (all 11 of our immediate family) went there for my mom's birthday to celebrate. We had a really awesome time being there as a family.  

Something very important I need to learn because of the big gaping hole that will be my sister: haircuts. (And no Lisa isn't just good for haircuts, but she does it OH so well.)

Before:

Before: side view

After: Look at that blonde that came out.  So handsome.

Lisa showing me how to grip Brian's hair, where my guide is and so much more.  Let's just say I am so thankful for technology such as video recording and skype!

My gorgeous sister singing in her band John & Lisa at the Bean Baskette.  This is one of our favorite things to do is relax, enjoy some coffee and food and hear her sing.  I will miss this dearly.

Hailee playing her first boardgame.  She actually won without anyone letting her win! This has been a very fun memory that we have made and continued since we have been at Nana's (Robin's mom).

This was some of our 4th of July fun.  My kids are so funny!  Caption should read:

Must be a blonde haired, blue eyed, hat wearing, popsicle eating, bathing suit wearing, outie belly button kid to attend this party.  Haha!

Kids all wrestling with Aunt Lisa.  We all love her and the whole Pendlebury crew.  

We will miss all of them dearly while we are in California.  

Well that's all for now.  But I am going to be posting some more pictures as well as having a guest blogger soon!  Hope that you all enjoyed looking through some of our summer fun with us.  :)  

Again, please look through our previous blogs if you haven't and read about what is going on and how you can help, pray and support us during our big move!  Thanks and God bless you all! 

Questions and Concerns?

Hi, this is Brian here. Just as a reminder, read the blog from the bottom entry of the page to the top if you want to go in chronological order.

I am going to answer some commonly asked questions and thoughts about Bethel. I know that it wont completely answer everything but at least you can be comfortable knowing that I have carefully considered the issues I am about to discuss. These issues are also the top couple of things that will come up if you do a quick google search for "Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry" and start reading critics' articles.

Q: Is Bethel a cult?

My personal opinions about cults is that they promote isolation and "worship" of human figureheads. Bethel Church is the Leader of a partnership of many churches called Global Legacy that recognizes that "relationship is the foundation of God's government", as it says on their website. As such they are networked with many other churches and have a high level of accountability. They also passionately promote a culture of honor and empowerment in accordance with Biblical principles. Most accusations against Bethel use scripture out of context while completely ignoring other scriptures that give a clear precedent for why Bethel Church does what it does. You can read a lot of critiques that sound compelling at first and use a lot of scripture, but fall apart quickly upon deeper inspection. If you have questions about any specific article or website please email or message me here and Ill be happy to talk about it. 

Q: Why is "Supernatural" in their name? That sounds cooky…


God is, by nature, supernatural. That is the greatest hope we have... that there is something more than what we see. One of my favorite authors, John Elderedge, calls it "the rest of reality". If the word "supernatural" bothers you, you dont have questions about Bethel, you have questions about Christianity and God as a whole. It is logical for God to do supernatural things!


Q: Why do they act so wierd?


I would like to point out the multitude of absolutely "bizarre" occurrences in the Bible. God appears to Moses (and many others) in the form of a cloud, Samson's strength was dependent on his hair,  God speaks to people about the future (prophecy), God speaks through a donkey, numerous people see visions of all kinds, Elijah gets taken up into heaven by a whirlwind, God's angels carry out his word by fighting wars and influencing the lives of humanity, rivers are parted four times, Paul's apron heals demonized people at Ephesus, Phillip gets "translated" e.g. teleported over 30 miles away, Jesus rubs mud, spits, etc to heal blind people, multiplies food, resurrects dead people, casts demons out of screaming maniacs as they shake violently on the floor… this is just the tiniest fraction of out-of-the-ordinary things that God does (and still does). Wierdness neither qualifies nor disqualifies something as being from God. 




Q: Brian, where did this decision come from?!?!
All of this will be a big shock to many of you who may not have seen me much the past few years.  God has changed a lot of things in me, and the experiences I have gone through have ignited my passion for what is really important in life. I love Jesus. I love family and friends. I love seeing people's faith in God skyrocket. It is the experiences of the power of God to heal the sick, cast out demons, etc that has made the Bible come alive in my life and steer me in a new direction. Above all I believe God has called me and my family, that He has a plan for us, and that He is fulfilling His promises to us as we obey Him and trust Him.

Like I said earlier, if you have any questions that I haven't answered please email me!

Love,
Brian

Hello and Welcome!!!

Hi everyone!  We are so excited you are here!

I am guessing that you are all coming around here as you are getting our letters and magnets we sent!  We are thrilled you are visiting. I assume a lot of you know this, but for those that don't: blogs generally work by the oldest (and first) post being at the bottom of a page and newest blog being at the top, as is the case here.  So please start at the bottom of the page with our longer version of our support letter we sent out to all of you to give you a little more insight into how we got here.  Then work your way up with our next few posts being on financials and prayer requests.

We are just so excited to see what God is going to do through our lives and the lives of our family and friends helping us along this journey!

So what can you expect from this blog? 

Soon we will have guest bloggers.  At this point Robin has been writing a majority of the blogs, but Brian will be writing, we will be adding pictures of the chaos that has been their life the last few months, and Leslie Kelley (Robin's mom) will be guest writing in the blog soon.  So we have some exciting things coming up.  So please make sure you come back!  We also will be updating you on our moving, new apartment and church out in California, and the support we have received.

One last thing I ask is… comment!!!  

Your love and encouragement mean so much to us.  To know you have visited our site, prayed for us, or even if we have just been on your mind would mean the world to us.  There is an easy way to comment below and you don't even have to have an account.  You simply comment as a guest.

Again, thank you so much for visiting and we are looking forward to sharing our lives with you.
Love and Blessings,
the Walker family