Hello Friends, Family and Fellow Hikers,
It has been some time since I have written anything . I have been walking across America with my family.
My daughter was bitten from a tick in Ohio and contracted Lyme's Disease from the bite and that is what inspired this blog post. I have a lot of free time to think on God's word and HIS plans for ones life and this is what I have on my heart lately.
As I have been walking behind Chris and Katlyn since her bite she has been taken a antibiotic that has cause sun sensitivity. She has had to cover herself from the sun. So, she has had to hide from the sun . I have watched as she has walked step by step in the shadow of her Father. This has been the only relief from the burning rays of the sun she could get. I began to think on this a lot. If we walk in the steps and shadows of our Heavenly Father; we too, will not get burnt. She walked daily in her Fathers shadow for shade and protection. God; Our Heavenly FATHER, should be our protection daily in life's attacks. It was like the Mother hen and her chicks, she protects them under her wings from danger. We should be like Katlyn and how she used her Earthly Father's shadow for comfort and protection from danger and cover ourselves in the comfort and protection with our Heavenly Father. HIS words tell us HE will direct our paths and steps if we let HIM, HE will be our shield and comfort and much much more. I watched daily until we were blessed with an umbrella how close and comforting it was to see her getting relief just from her Daddies shadow. What a blessing God has given us; if we just look at the simple things in life, like a shadow for shade and relief from the elements and know HE is God.We have found a lot of comfort from a shade tree on our walk or from the shade from the corn fields also, my what little things can be taken for granted until you need them. Let's not take HIS Shadow for granted. HE cares for you and for me, so lets look for HIS shadows of blessings throughout the day and find a moment of rest in them. I have seen the protection that comes from a little shadow instead of burning fire from the heat.
God Bless You and I Love You ALL
GentleFir
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Is Jesus Just An App To You??????
Hello Everyone,
I have been working on several blog post lately, but today this subject just took tops for me. We are being hosted and slack packed by a nice christian family. We attended church with them this morning and stayed for a church picnic. While there we got involved in several different biblical discussions, as usual. This one though really inspired me and yet made me very sad about people today. We were discussing Christians or self proclaiming Christians of today and what the word of God says we are to do. We are to live a life for Christ daily, pick up your cross, daily. We are to lead lost ones to Christ, daily. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, daily. We are to be a light in this dark world we live in, daily. We are to be Christians every day , in every way of our lives, and in everything we do and say, daily.
This is what sparked this blog post today........
Chris and I were talking with Anthony Geizendanner, a Church of Christ preacher today about this very topic. Today, we see Christians seem to insert Jesus into their lives where they see fit. Today; instead of following Jesus daily and His word, we use what we want and leave the rest for another day. Why is this? We and Anthony, said it is like and app on a phone or tablet....add Christ today as an app and then, nope not today, delete app. Is this being a follower of Christ? Is this picking up your cross, daily? Is this letting others see Christ living in you and through you? The world is so disposable today. We live life as it is, today I want this and tomorrow ....How can we bring the lost in this world to come to know Christ as a Savior, if we treat Him like an app? Hello Christ, I need you today, download app, oops that is not what I wanted to hear or do....Delete Christ app. This is serious and sad to me, we are on this walk to take the love of Christ to ALL we meet, and we have found churches closed for good and locked doors and so much more. We camped in the back of a church lately in someone's yard and church members thought we were homeless and needed to leave their church. Ya'll I remember when churches were for helping the needy, hungered, sick, homeless......,,is this not what a Christian is supposed to do? We are to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give shelter and much more. As you have done unto the least of these you have done unto me......it seems more and more to me that we have become selfish Christians, a nation of I only, a downloaded app Christianity, not a Christian that says what Else can I do for Christ Kingdom! This is very sad and I often wonder what does Christ think of us? Do you want to be the one that says, Lord did we not cast out devils in your name? Did we not heal the sick and make the blind to see? He said flee from me, I never knew you.........
I do not want to be an app downloaded Christian, do you? I hope this will encourage you to go the extra mile for Christ and to pick up your Christ daily.
Lord Bless You and I Love You All,
GentleFir
Sunday, June 8, 2014
The Little things in Life.........
Hello Friends, Family, and Fellow Hikers,
I have been thinking a lot lately about the little things in life. In church today, I commented on some of the little things in life that make a difference. In God's word he looks at the little things in ones life as big things. The widow women, gave all she had, a little...two mites. The woman and Elijah and all she had was a little cornmeal to eat and then die, but she shared and was truly blessed. There are many stories in the bible on the little things that do not seem important to us but to God or to someone else they are huge.
Through our walk sometimes the little things are what keep us going or encourage us to continue on. We have learned the cold glass of water, the saying hello to someone on the road, brings a smile to someone, the small piece of candy you give to a child in a poverty stricken town. These are the little things that are really big things to others. We all need to look at others and think of what little thing might bless them rather than yourself. If someone offers you water accept it, you may deny them a blessing if you do not. We have accepted questionable cold water and yet saw a bright smiling face on the other side of the cold water handing it to us. We have seen just saying good morning or afternoon to a stranger, bring joy on someone's face. These are the little things in life, do not take the little things for granted. God uses the weak to achieve great things, look at David and Goliath, Mary Magdalene, the Widow Woman, the Good Samaritan and you.
Through our walk we met Amber under a shade tree and she found us a place to stay. She was the one all of the community children went to for warm food and safety and she offered safety to us. We have been so blessed by the little things in life along our walk. God uses the simple to confound the wise. So, I want to challenge you all to take a look at the little things in life and see what you can do that will make a difference in someone else's life. You will be amazed at all the little things you can do that might make a huge impact on others. God's blessings are always available you may receive them if you give them.
When I was hungry, you gave me meat.....When I was thirsty, you gave me drink...... When I was needing shelter, you let me in......
These are the little things in life that change lives.....Yours,Theirs, ours and others......
So,go out and look for the little things in life and make a difference.
Lord Bless You and I love You,
GentleFir
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Healthy Environment or Not ???
Hello Friends, Family and Fellow Hikers,
It has been a while since I last wrote anything. I have had alot of stories on my mind for blogging but being out on the trail it is hard to compose them all. This post though is one I have been thinking on since the first week out on the trail. It is about health.
We as a society seem to always be focused on Healthy Living....but what is truly Healthy Living? Is our green life style in today's society healthy? Is the latest green flooring and counter tops healthy? The foods that are marketed to us in pretty wrappers that say " Organic", Healthy? I would have to say NO, to all of the above. I would like to have considered myself to be a healthier, health conscience person but after leaving our Natural Farm and walking on the trail, I have decided I was not " Healthy".
You see, This is what I mean and this is being frank and may disgust you but it is the honest truth and from actual self walking research. Our family have been walking now for over a month and have walked 600 miles in from snow and ice to now sunny, humid weather. I have been observing my families health while on this trail. The things our bodies have gone through is amazing. You can not buy this kind of Natural Detox in a bottle, nor can you get a fancy prescription for it either. This kind of detox takes alot of sweat and miles. I must say it truly has been a neat yet gross thing to watch.
I am a cancer survivor and have been through chemo and radiation and have a compromised lymph system. My husband has psoriatic arthritis and takes a biologic and our daughter has asthma, as well as myself. I have always used natural cleaners in our home and thought this was healthy. Well, it is better on you but you are still toxic and do not know it. We were very toxic at home and did not know it. Since the first week on our walk, we began to notice things, smells, colors, vision differences...... the list grows longer.
Our first day on the trail we hiked 18.5 miles and we average 18+ now a day and our longest day has been 28 miles for a day. We walked at home 10 miles or so a day and this detoxing stuff never happened. I have come to realize that we were recontaminating ourselves in our home. This is what I mean, I began to sweat and my sweat started changing colors. My undershirts began to stain black, yes, black. This I feel was detoxing mold from our bodies. Our bodily fluids were orange for a while,urine of course. Then as time went on it began to improve. Our vision became clearer and sharper. Our hearing enhanced, my husband whom has had several operation on his ears began to hear things in God's creation like a dog panting from a far distance. This has been amazing!
We noticed after a hotel stay or two, we would have blurred vision or like a film on our eyes and we would sweat, smelly sweat, not normal sweat and we would have lingering headaches and swollen feet. This has been an experiment and now I am writing about it. Our bodies have gone through a cycle of getting rid of all kinds of toxic waste we never knew we had and now we are feeling better. We are becoming I think how God meant for us to be. HE gave us dominion over the animals.....How can we be over them if we can not hear them? Smell them coming? See them??
Now when we are walking on a trail we smell flowers before we are near them. We smell water before we see it and we can smell animals whether reptile or mammal and tell the difference between them. We have always heard that the military feeds their people what the enemy eats so they would not be recognized and that was always foreign to me but not anymore. Humans have a smell and it is not really a bad odor but a natural smell of salty sweat but in the beginning it was an awful smell. You can not imagine what you smell like right now. We are living outside in God's creation and walking everyday in HIS creation and we are becoming HIS creation again.
I feel like we need to eat from the gardens again and eat local not foreign foods and eat seasonal foods and work and exercise hard daily and we may become HEALTHIER, maybe not 100% but better. We are not at 100% yet either but, we are getting healthier I can not imagine what we will be like in 4000 more miles. I hope this does not gross you out but will make you think more about your living environment and question it. Is it truly a Healthy environment or not, probably not. A friend of ours wrote a book called The Land that Calls Me Home...by: Hughey Reynolds and it is about natural farms and God and I highly support this book for all who is interested in Healthy. I really think God wanted us to eat from the fruits and veggies and meats that are local and fresh not imported. I want to eat more from this season and then whatever is fresh next season and so on and see how Healthy we become. I pray you will be encouraged to do something about your own health and see what happens to your life. Get out in God's creation and explore a truly healthy way of living physically and spiritually and enjoy living.
God Bless You and I love you ALL,
GentleFir
It has been a while since I last wrote anything. I have had alot of stories on my mind for blogging but being out on the trail it is hard to compose them all. This post though is one I have been thinking on since the first week out on the trail. It is about health.
We as a society seem to always be focused on Healthy Living....but what is truly Healthy Living? Is our green life style in today's society healthy? Is the latest green flooring and counter tops healthy? The foods that are marketed to us in pretty wrappers that say " Organic", Healthy? I would have to say NO, to all of the above. I would like to have considered myself to be a healthier, health conscience person but after leaving our Natural Farm and walking on the trail, I have decided I was not " Healthy".
You see, This is what I mean and this is being frank and may disgust you but it is the honest truth and from actual self walking research. Our family have been walking now for over a month and have walked 600 miles in from snow and ice to now sunny, humid weather. I have been observing my families health while on this trail. The things our bodies have gone through is amazing. You can not buy this kind of Natural Detox in a bottle, nor can you get a fancy prescription for it either. This kind of detox takes alot of sweat and miles. I must say it truly has been a neat yet gross thing to watch.
I am a cancer survivor and have been through chemo and radiation and have a compromised lymph system. My husband has psoriatic arthritis and takes a biologic and our daughter has asthma, as well as myself. I have always used natural cleaners in our home and thought this was healthy. Well, it is better on you but you are still toxic and do not know it. We were very toxic at home and did not know it. Since the first week on our walk, we began to notice things, smells, colors, vision differences...... the list grows longer.
Our first day on the trail we hiked 18.5 miles and we average 18+ now a day and our longest day has been 28 miles for a day. We walked at home 10 miles or so a day and this detoxing stuff never happened. I have come to realize that we were recontaminating ourselves in our home. This is what I mean, I began to sweat and my sweat started changing colors. My undershirts began to stain black, yes, black. This I feel was detoxing mold from our bodies. Our bodily fluids were orange for a while,urine of course. Then as time went on it began to improve. Our vision became clearer and sharper. Our hearing enhanced, my husband whom has had several operation on his ears began to hear things in God's creation like a dog panting from a far distance. This has been amazing!
We noticed after a hotel stay or two, we would have blurred vision or like a film on our eyes and we would sweat, smelly sweat, not normal sweat and we would have lingering headaches and swollen feet. This has been an experiment and now I am writing about it. Our bodies have gone through a cycle of getting rid of all kinds of toxic waste we never knew we had and now we are feeling better. We are becoming I think how God meant for us to be. HE gave us dominion over the animals.....How can we be over them if we can not hear them? Smell them coming? See them??
Now when we are walking on a trail we smell flowers before we are near them. We smell water before we see it and we can smell animals whether reptile or mammal and tell the difference between them. We have always heard that the military feeds their people what the enemy eats so they would not be recognized and that was always foreign to me but not anymore. Humans have a smell and it is not really a bad odor but a natural smell of salty sweat but in the beginning it was an awful smell. You can not imagine what you smell like right now. We are living outside in God's creation and walking everyday in HIS creation and we are becoming HIS creation again.
I feel like we need to eat from the gardens again and eat local not foreign foods and eat seasonal foods and work and exercise hard daily and we may become HEALTHIER, maybe not 100% but better. We are not at 100% yet either but, we are getting healthier I can not imagine what we will be like in 4000 more miles. I hope this does not gross you out but will make you think more about your living environment and question it. Is it truly a Healthy environment or not, probably not. A friend of ours wrote a book called The Land that Calls Me Home...by: Hughey Reynolds and it is about natural farms and God and I highly support this book for all who is interested in Healthy. I really think God wanted us to eat from the fruits and veggies and meats that are local and fresh not imported. I want to eat more from this season and then whatever is fresh next season and so on and see how Healthy we become. I pray you will be encouraged to do something about your own health and see what happens to your life. Get out in God's creation and explore a truly healthy way of living physically and spiritually and enjoy living.
God Bless You and I love you ALL,
GentleFir
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Calling on God in the Mountains and the Valleys........
Hello Friends, Family and Fellow Hikers,
I have been thinking alot lately on what my new post would be on and this is what I have been dealing with lately. We have been hiking in West Virginia for a while now and the mountains have been a daily ordeal in my life. Every day has been a physical challenge for me and yet it has been spiritually encouraging. I know this may sound contradictory but it is the truth. I have had to physically push myself to the limits to get up and over these mountains each day and then decend down into the valleys and back up and over again and again. I have found though with each daily physical challenge that has been before me, I have prayed for strength and will power and comfort of God. I have sang praises in the storms, I have just quoted scripture that has had to do with the mountain or valley before me and HE has met my need. Every day has been a new day, my beautiful surroundings, my physical struggles, my spiritual walk, my song on my heart and much more. This walk of love has not only blessed others we have met but has blessed myself more. What I mean is my walk with God has been truly blessed, I have not had a day that I have not had to totally rely on God for help to complete the task before me, the mountains and the valleys. I have found that the mountains are hard to push up and the valleys are just as hard sometimes harder on the knee pain. Yet, God has given me the strength that I have needed just when needed. He has never let me down. So, if you are on a mountain in WV or somewhere else praise God for all of your pains and joys. If you are in the valleys of dispair, praise God for He cares and will give you the strenghth physical as well as spiritual that you need. I have grown alot spiritual and have alot more growing to do but in all of the physical pain it has been more than worth it spiritually. I pray that whom ever reads this will think about talking to God and truly seeking Him in every situation in your life for I know HE hears and cares for you. So, praise HIM on the mountains and in the valleys always and He will carry you up and over each one. I hope you will continue to pray for strength and protection over myself and my family as we Walk in Love across our Nation.
Lord Bless You All and I love You,
GentleFir
Backpacking Believers
I have been thinking alot lately on what my new post would be on and this is what I have been dealing with lately. We have been hiking in West Virginia for a while now and the mountains have been a daily ordeal in my life. Every day has been a physical challenge for me and yet it has been spiritually encouraging. I know this may sound contradictory but it is the truth. I have had to physically push myself to the limits to get up and over these mountains each day and then decend down into the valleys and back up and over again and again. I have found though with each daily physical challenge that has been before me, I have prayed for strength and will power and comfort of God. I have sang praises in the storms, I have just quoted scripture that has had to do with the mountain or valley before me and HE has met my need. Every day has been a new day, my beautiful surroundings, my physical struggles, my spiritual walk, my song on my heart and much more. This walk of love has not only blessed others we have met but has blessed myself more. What I mean is my walk with God has been truly blessed, I have not had a day that I have not had to totally rely on God for help to complete the task before me, the mountains and the valleys. I have found that the mountains are hard to push up and the valleys are just as hard sometimes harder on the knee pain. Yet, God has given me the strength that I have needed just when needed. He has never let me down. So, if you are on a mountain in WV or somewhere else praise God for all of your pains and joys. If you are in the valleys of dispair, praise God for He cares and will give you the strenghth physical as well as spiritual that you need. I have grown alot spiritual and have alot more growing to do but in all of the physical pain it has been more than worth it spiritually. I pray that whom ever reads this will think about talking to God and truly seeking Him in every situation in your life for I know HE hears and cares for you. So, praise HIM on the mountains and in the valleys always and He will carry you up and over each one. I hope you will continue to pray for strength and protection over myself and my family as we Walk in Love across our Nation.
Lord Bless You All and I love You,
GentleFir
Backpacking Believers
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Who is your Neighbor ???? Do you Love them ????
Greetings in Jesus Name to All who read this,
I have a lot on my mind these days about neighbors and loving them as thyself. Since being out on the trail, we have met a lot of people from many different backgrounds, cultures, social standings and beliefs. What has my interests and focus though, has been the common ground of LOVE. The glue or ties that bind people together.
We have been shown unconditional love on the trail. We have had people open their homes, loan us cars, open their hearts, feed us when we were hungry, give us something to drink, a place to lay our heads........! We are walking across America to show this kind of Love to ALL we meet and the Lord is blessing us with the same kind of LOVE in return. There are several messages in God's word, that relate to what we have been shown on the trail.
God's word says, you reap what you sow......
Love thy Neighbor as thyself.......
Love your enemies.......
Love the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, mind and soul.......
So, we started this mission to take the LOVE of Jesus to every elevation across our Nation, and this is what we felt was needed in our Nation, The Love of Jesus! You see, without true love, unconditional love, how can the hurting be found? If one is not shown the LOVE of Jesus, how can he know the true way? We have been walking now for over 300 miles and have talked to hundreds of people from all walks of life and all kinds of countries and they have all asked us questions about what we are doing. We have been able to share the Love of Jesus with many non-believers, as well as people with different faiths. This has all been through Love. Jesus walked with and ate with and prayed with the lost, broken hearted, and so many more.... So why can't we??
We have experienced on our short mission thus far, the True Love of Jesus! If you show unconditional CHRIST kind of LOVE, you will receive it in return. How many of you today, would just open your home to a complete stranger, or give them your nicest car to drive, or have them sit down and share a meal with?
This is what it means to truly LOVE thy neighbor as thyself. The material things in this world like cars, homes, china and much more, are just that NOTHING. We are to show the LOVE of Jesus and nothing else should matter to us in this world but to do just that. ALL these others things will pass away but Jesus will remain forever in some ones life. Eternity matters! We, You, and I can make a difference in some ones life by living Jesus and showing HIS true LOVE to everyone we meet daily.
We; as people, are the ones who complicate God's word and HIS plan. We; as people, want to add to or take away, to rate , or to judge another by doctrines or by beliefs, but this should not be this way. We should only want to take the LOVE of Jesus to everyone in this world. This is our mission on this walk is to show LOVE of Jesus and not divisions.
We have been truly blessed thus far and it has changed our family tremendously and we can not wait to be back on the trail to see what God has in store for us up ahead. The walking at times has been difficult and painful but the blessings have surpassed any pain we have endured. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, endured much more pain than any one of us in this world could ever know and HE did it in LOVE! So, I ask you to go out and show some one unconditional LOVE today and see how it changes people and yourself and your relationships with Jesus and others.
Please continue to keep us surrounded in your prayers. We will be hiking again in the morning, Lord Willing. It may be a while before we can post again.
Many Blessings and Love of Jesus to ALL of YOU,
GentleFir
Backpacking Believers
I have a lot on my mind these days about neighbors and loving them as thyself. Since being out on the trail, we have met a lot of people from many different backgrounds, cultures, social standings and beliefs. What has my interests and focus though, has been the common ground of LOVE. The glue or ties that bind people together.
We have been shown unconditional love on the trail. We have had people open their homes, loan us cars, open their hearts, feed us when we were hungry, give us something to drink, a place to lay our heads........! We are walking across America to show this kind of Love to ALL we meet and the Lord is blessing us with the same kind of LOVE in return. There are several messages in God's word, that relate to what we have been shown on the trail.
God's word says, you reap what you sow......
Love thy Neighbor as thyself.......
Love your enemies.......
Love the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, mind and soul.......
So, we started this mission to take the LOVE of Jesus to every elevation across our Nation, and this is what we felt was needed in our Nation, The Love of Jesus! You see, without true love, unconditional love, how can the hurting be found? If one is not shown the LOVE of Jesus, how can he know the true way? We have been walking now for over 300 miles and have talked to hundreds of people from all walks of life and all kinds of countries and they have all asked us questions about what we are doing. We have been able to share the Love of Jesus with many non-believers, as well as people with different faiths. This has all been through Love. Jesus walked with and ate with and prayed with the lost, broken hearted, and so many more.... So why can't we??
We have experienced on our short mission thus far, the True Love of Jesus! If you show unconditional CHRIST kind of LOVE, you will receive it in return. How many of you today, would just open your home to a complete stranger, or give them your nicest car to drive, or have them sit down and share a meal with?
This is what it means to truly LOVE thy neighbor as thyself. The material things in this world like cars, homes, china and much more, are just that NOTHING. We are to show the LOVE of Jesus and nothing else should matter to us in this world but to do just that. ALL these others things will pass away but Jesus will remain forever in some ones life. Eternity matters! We, You, and I can make a difference in some ones life by living Jesus and showing HIS true LOVE to everyone we meet daily.
We; as people, are the ones who complicate God's word and HIS plan. We; as people, want to add to or take away, to rate , or to judge another by doctrines or by beliefs, but this should not be this way. We should only want to take the LOVE of Jesus to everyone in this world. This is our mission on this walk is to show LOVE of Jesus and not divisions.
We have been truly blessed thus far and it has changed our family tremendously and we can not wait to be back on the trail to see what God has in store for us up ahead. The walking at times has been difficult and painful but the blessings have surpassed any pain we have endured. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, endured much more pain than any one of us in this world could ever know and HE did it in LOVE! So, I ask you to go out and show some one unconditional LOVE today and see how it changes people and yourself and your relationships with Jesus and others.
Please continue to keep us surrounded in your prayers. We will be hiking again in the morning, Lord Willing. It may be a while before we can post again.
Many Blessings and Love of Jesus to ALL of YOU,
GentleFir
Backpacking Believers
Monday, April 14, 2014
Trying to find Beauty in a Port O John OutHouse in the wilderness..........
Hello Friends,
It has been a while since posting.....We have been out on the trail.
The title of my post says it all. Trying to find BEAUTY in a PORT O JOHN in the wilderness. Before coming to the trail the thought of using a port o john was not very inviting. I would not use on of these disgusting, vile, stinky things. I also had almost a PHOBIA of getting in one and having it dump over with me in it and having yuck and the blue stuff all over me. I know this is hilarious, even to me, but still true.
Since being on the C & O National Canal my view of the stinky, vile port o john has changed. I have found humility in a port o john now. I know that too sounds strange. We have only had these disgusting things to get dressed in and to find some way of looking presentable on the trail now for nearly 60 + miles. Most of you know that our hair is very long and we wear long skirts and we are female..... we like to look pretty. It is hard let me tell you to look pretty or to feel pretty in a Port O John in the wilderness. You get dressed in a HURRY, you get out as QUICKLY as possible and you pray you do NOT smell like that yucky blue stuff. This is hilarious, I know but still true life for us ladies these days. Now, when we are tired and have been walking 5 to 10 miles on the trail in the wide open and we see the white roof shining in the HOT sun, we see relief. How ironic; we now find relief, when we see one of these once disgusting, vile, stinky green buildings. You see there is not a town or public clean nice smelling restroom out here on the canal. This is it and they too, are far and few between. It is like a dream when you find a handicapped size one or a newly cleaned one to use. My what we take for granted some times.
This has been truly a humbling experience in deed. We have been told by people we met that they can not believe, we have been sleeping in tents and in the rain and dirt, so I guess we have been able to find...... BEAUTY in a PORT O JOHN in the wilderness.
I hope that God continues to use the VILE things we once did not like to change us and to mold us into better Christians and better people, while we out here on this journey.
I hope you enjoyed this hilarious but truly humbling experience of our walk.
May God use you today to be a light.
GentleFir
It has been a while since posting.....We have been out on the trail.
The title of my post says it all. Trying to find BEAUTY in a PORT O JOHN in the wilderness. Before coming to the trail the thought of using a port o john was not very inviting. I would not use on of these disgusting, vile, stinky things. I also had almost a PHOBIA of getting in one and having it dump over with me in it and having yuck and the blue stuff all over me. I know this is hilarious, even to me, but still true.
Since being on the C & O National Canal my view of the stinky, vile port o john has changed. I have found humility in a port o john now. I know that too sounds strange. We have only had these disgusting things to get dressed in and to find some way of looking presentable on the trail now for nearly 60 + miles. Most of you know that our hair is very long and we wear long skirts and we are female..... we like to look pretty. It is hard let me tell you to look pretty or to feel pretty in a Port O John in the wilderness. You get dressed in a HURRY, you get out as QUICKLY as possible and you pray you do NOT smell like that yucky blue stuff. This is hilarious, I know but still true life for us ladies these days. Now, when we are tired and have been walking 5 to 10 miles on the trail in the wide open and we see the white roof shining in the HOT sun, we see relief. How ironic; we now find relief, when we see one of these once disgusting, vile, stinky green buildings. You see there is not a town or public clean nice smelling restroom out here on the canal. This is it and they too, are far and few between. It is like a dream when you find a handicapped size one or a newly cleaned one to use. My what we take for granted some times.
This has been truly a humbling experience in deed. We have been told by people we met that they can not believe, we have been sleeping in tents and in the rain and dirt, so I guess we have been able to find...... BEAUTY in a PORT O JOHN in the wilderness.
I hope that God continues to use the VILE things we once did not like to change us and to mold us into better Christians and better people, while we out here on this journey.
I hope you enjoyed this hilarious but truly humbling experience of our walk.
May God use you today to be a light.
GentleFir
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