Happy Christmas

happy_Christmas from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

Stephanie and I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Here is the best take we had singing Happy xmas, by John Lennon. We will also be posting an outtake video as well... should be quite funny.

God bless you all during the Holidays!

Jingle Bells

Here's Sterling and Elle wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Jingle_bells from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

The road doesn't stop here...

Once we got back from our road trip, we found out a few days later that we needed to move. We had been renting from some friends that were selling their house while we were living there and knew that it was temporary. We prayed about what to do next. About a week later, Brandon's parents graciously invited us to stay in 2 of their bedrooms for a few months until we can transition into what is next.
So, here we are for the next little while and Brandon got a little bit of stone work (which he used to do when we first got married).

That has been a blessing. And shortly after we got back from our trip we also had to give back the van we were borrowing. It wasn't a big deal since we are staying with Brandon's family because they have let us borrow their car if we needed anything. But a few weeks ago, we were praying....and Brandon said he felt like we should be praying about a car because he felt like someone was going to give us one. Crazy right....someone just giving us a car!

Well, 2 weeks later we were asked to come to a church to be a part of a service and share some testimonies of our life. After it was over the church had a car that was donated to them and they gave it to us that morning! Wow! This was so amazing and even better that Brandon was hearing from God just weeks before. It's times like this that we are so thankful for God confirming that we are hearing His voice. I mean we could have just got the car but this was just an extra!

Keep the faith.

Elmo's Song

We still can't get our original video we made of Texas to be published. There is some kind of glitch. But we do have tons of other silly things we recorded and such. Here's one of us in Texas waiting for Brandon in a parking lot. Sterling kept singing the Elmo song over and over, and she really doesn't even watch Sesame Street. But I guess this is just one of those crazy tunes that gets stuck in your head! I can't believe I'm actually going to post this, but it's pretty funny. Elle is so funny. She just listens to all of our craziness most of the time. I couldn't even get her to smile. Hope you enjoy our silliness.

Elmo's song from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

Mississippi

After 4 hours to Houston, we then left my uncle's place around 10:30pm and drove another 4 hours to go as far as we could. It was rough for all of us. So, the money that was given was well used for the closest hotel we could find at that point (somewhere in Lousiana).

We then got up the next morning and drove to Leland, Mississippi (northwest). There I got to meet up with my aunt which is my mom's older sister. This was great for me because I hadn't seen her since I was about 6. The only thing I remember about that trip was that she bought me my first pair of Nike sneakers. My grandma still has a picture in her kitchen of our trip and we were all huddled together on this same fireplace. I would see this picture for years, with the only memory I had of my aunt, uncle, and cousins. So, in honor of that memory we took another picture on the fireplace.

Our time was kind of short there as well because my aunt had to work and such, but I left satisfied that I just got to see her and talk a little. We hope to see her again at some point. And definitely not 30 years later.

We were so blessed to experience the reuniting of so many people in our lives on this trip. We hope you are encouraged, that God is interested in the connecting with others. Even if it sometimes means you going the extra mile, literally.

Houston, TX

As we headed out of Texas, we drove down south a bit to visit my uncle in Houston. This is my mom's older brother that I haven't seen since I was about 15 or so. My family is distant, as many are, and it was great to see him....even if just for a few hours. He tried to convince us to go to Mexico (just 4 hrs away) before we went home, which was quite tempting but we had to take a rain check. If we head out through Texas again, this will be on our list of things to do.

I'm so glad I got to reconnect with family.

Reuniting....

After visiting with our friends in Euless, Texas we headed to Allen, Texas (about 30 mins from Dallas) to stay with Brandon's cousin and family. It has been almost 20 years since they have connected, so this was a real treat. It was so great to stay with them a few nights. The girls got to play with their kids a bit, we went to the park, ate together, Brandon played them a song and just talked a bit. It's always wonderful to reunite with family on any level. It was cool to share a bit of history together. Afterall we share the same last name.

We are so glad that this was part of our trip, and hope to stay in contact with them for sure.

Here are the cousins....second cousins that is, but nonetheless still cousins.

And here is one of the outtakes trying to set the timer. I just really liked this one cuz I like candid pictures, and the lighting kind of gives a cool effect.

So, as we were leaving, Brandon's cousin handed him $15 (which was all he had in his wallet at the time) and said if we ever need anything that they would be there for us. We appreciate this Walden family opening their home to us.

PS. We did get to hear Heidi Baker (in Dallas) at a place called Christ For The Nations for free! Much better than $100 per family deal.

Long Time Friends and a Cool Exchange

After Fort Worth we were invited to dinner at the Campbell's home in Euless, Texas (north of Dallas). They are long time friends of Brandon's family and he was a mentor to Brandon. We haven't seen them in about 10 years so it was nice to reconnect. We had a nice dinner and then some tea as we talked a bit to catch up. It was such an encouragement to hang out with this couple and just listen to things they have gone through and their perspective. Later that evening they encouraged us on our journey and passed on a check of $300, telling us they wanted to plant a seed in our lives. That in itself was a wonderful gift that was definitely needed and used for us to get back home. But the story doesn't stop there. As we were heading out the door, we were stopped at their hall closet and Ron began to talk to Brandon about a guitar someone had given him a few years back. He proceeded to open the case to show us, saying he doesn't know how to play and doesn't really have a use for it.

So, I will stop here to say, two days before we left on our trip I sold my guitar on craigslist. It was bitter sweet. I was willing to part with it, so that we could go where we felt led on this trip because we needed some extra money. Just feeling like it was one of those things I was willing to let go. After all, most things are replaceable, right?! Well, here is a picture of the guitar I sold.

And you guessed it. He handed me the guitar and said he felt like I should have his! Not knowing I sold it for our trip or the real story behind it. And to make it even more sweet....It is the same guitar (literally....style, name and all) except for the color.

So, I have a guitar again and this one actually sounds a little better than the one I had a few weeks ago. Just another wonderful confirmation of God knowing every detail and taking care of every detail. This was another great time we had in Texas. And thanks to God, we got to stop by for a bit with the Campbell family. It was truly an encouraging time for us.

Next stop was Brandon's cousin's house to spend the night.

Ps. This is the second guitar that has been given to me and I was given a piano this year as well. Hmmm....I wonder if God is trying to tell me something?!

Catching Up...

We have officially been back in South Carolina as of two nights ago. We were working on a video for the past few days, but it got stuck on our computer and we couldn't post it. We will show it later. Until then, we will add some more entries to share the remainder of our trip.

Headed to Euless, TX

So, as we said goodbye to the families in Fort Worth, TX they gave us $60. And I must note, we have not asked for money at any of these places. Nor have we mentioned how much money we have or do not have. It has just happened this way.

God has continually provided for us daily in every way. Whether it is something we need, our concern with a health issue, where we should go next....it has all worked out. We are learning to rest in the day by day still. We are so blessed to be able to see God's hand directing us on this journey.

Fort Worth, TX

We made our way to Fort Worth, TX...which is funny how we got this connection. The night before we were leaving Kansas City we were at a home group and we met a guy that night. As we were talking about where we were headed next we mentioned wanting to go hear Heidi Baker at a church in Fort Worth. This guy says he knows a family there that would probably let us stay with them. So, as we were leaving YWAM in Tyler, TX we found out that the church in Fort Worth was charging about $100 for us to come as a family. That was out. But we still went to stay with the nice family (the Fabel's and the newly wed couple, the Miller's). This couple had only been married for a month and they were staying with her parent's for a bit. (She went through YWAM New Zealand with our friend we met in Kansas City) Is this getting confusing yet?! Anyway, her parents said we could stay with them 2 nights, and the newly weds let us have their room and they slept on an air mattress.

We got to relax and have fun with activities like: swimming in their pool (it's still very hot here), playing with Mr. Potato Head, painting and eating waffles they made from their new waffle iron as a wedding gift.

Tyler, Texas

Here's Sterling at some folks house that had us over for dinner. Her and one of their boys had fun dressing up in costumes...and then they stuffed their suits with pillows.

So, alot has happened in the past week. While we were staying at the YWAM base in Tyler, TX Sterling woke up and couldn't go to the bathroom. She was in pain and my immediate response was, she must have a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). After a few hours of still not going and crying we went to a pharmacy that diagnosed it as a yeast infection instead. The only reason I'm giving the details to this story is just to show once again how God takes care of us. You see, we are not only all the way out here, away from our original doctors, but we also do not have insurance or medicaid. And at the moment we had about $280 left to get home. So, a doctor's visit plus medicine would be expensive...not to mention the fact that we would be a new patient and all of that. So, going to the pharmacy first and getting some advise from a nice lady, only cost us about $7 for some ointment. And now she is fine! What a relief.

After that we stayed an extra day. We were able to stay in an apartment there on the base for $15 a night which was really nice. We got to be a part of the community night where everyone comes together for a service. And we ate with a few couples there on different occasions. It was great meeting a diverse group of people.

We then headed to Fort Worth, only a 2 hr drive away, which we have another video to share for another post.

what comes around goes around ...

We have enjoyed our time here in Tyler, Tx. at the YWAM base. There are a lot of great people here that we have met so far. I just wanted to share a quick story about something cool and funny that happened.

On the way here Stephanie and I had been discussing things we were believing for on this trip. We had some small things, some larger and some very specific. We'll maybe share some of the others in a later post. This one just happened, so I wanted to share it while it was fresh. Stephanie told me she felt like we'd meet someone who would cut her hair while we were in Texas. The cool thing is...it could have been anywhere...but, she felt like it would be Texas.

So, the first day we get to Tyler, one of the staff at the YWAM base mentions that his friend's wife cuts hair at a celebrity level. (meaning, she's really good) Sounded pricey, but he mentioned that she does it for donations and cuts the students hair at the YWAM base. (YWAM students have no money, so this was our kind of haircut) He set it up for her and her husband to be at lunch the next day at his brother's house for her to cut both of our hair.

Here is the series of events in chronological order:

1) The girl cut both of our hair. (She said she'd do it for free.)

2) Our lunch host gave me some money to cover some gas for our trip. (Some money rolled up that I never looked at...just stuffed in my pocket) He said it was not much, but it was all he had in his wallet.

3) The hair cutters' husband needed a ride back to the YWAM base after lunch.

4) Stephanie said for me to give him the money, which I did. (still not knowing how much it was) We told him to give it to his wife.

5) We got back to the YWAM base and he gave it back to us (again, without looking at it either) saying that they both wanted to contribute some money to our trip.

6) That night was community night at YWAM...there was an offering taken up for the base...you can guess what money ended up in the offering that night out of my pocket.

It is funny what happens when you try and become a giver....often you give and get back...often you give, get back and then give it away somewhere else. We just thought this was a funny story to share of people giving to each other. (YWAMer's do this a lot!) God is the giver of good gifts...ours pail in comparison...but, it doesn't stop us from still giving.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

As we passed through Oklahoma, we were invited to stay with the Mullican family. They are a sweet couple that have two kids (11...i think and one that is almost 2) and our girls really enjoyed playing with the youngest. It's great to see how people have opened their homes to perfect strangers.

We were blessed yet again, in several ways. Although we are unsure of what our trip is really all supposed to be about, it seems that maybe it's just another venture in our lives to see God showing up and giving us our daily instructions. As we arrived in Oklahoma, for some reason our grocery card could not be used in this state (weird since it was usable in TN and MO), so that was a little bit of unexpected money that was used on some food. We were a little bummed about that because our money is limited for gas pretty much, and so far we have tried to bless the people we were staying with by getting them some groceries to help out with food. But, this time all we could do was replace a new box of Cheerios for them. All that to say, as we were leaving, our host handed us some money and said, "Here, this is to help with your traveling.". So, this was yet another family giving us $100! But just to let you know, they had (and still have) no idea about our food card situation, or even how much money we have or don't have.

As Brandon and I were discussing our next stop in Texas just last night, we were a little discouraged as we still were unsure of our next contact. I must say, it's easy to feel a little concerned about the unknown with a family of four. Life is different when you are responsible for little ones as well as yourself. And all the thoughts flood our minds of, is this right? where will we stay? etc. So, it's funny how this morning (still not hearing word from our contact yet) we felt encouraged continuing this journey because God put it on these people's hearts to give us some money. It was not necessarily about the money, but to us it was God showing us to continue on as we were reimbursed for the little we spent and then some. So, we left for Texas, and a little over half way there we got connected with the right people.

We will see what's next.

Goodbye Kansas City

After an extended stay in Kansas City, Missouri we've headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in KC. We met lots of nice people, got to be a part of some church gatherings and got a feel for some community living that we haven't experienced in a long while. The Boiler Room we mentioned before was a wonderful, artsy, raw, mix of people that come together as a church (shown in the video) and we appreciated the warmth and sincerity of that place.

goodbye_kansas_city from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

We are so grateful for meeting the Riggs and how they opened up their house to us again as we figured out the next place to go. Brandon got to paint their bathroom as a small token of our gratitude.



We also visited International House of Prayer (IHOP) a couple of times, as we just stayed for 3-4 hours at a time soaking in the atmosphere of a prayer room that is designated for 24/7 prayer and worship. There were times when all I could do was cry as we felt saturated by God's presence. You know those moments when you are in the middle of a worship song or a prayer meeting, etc. with a gathering of people and you really sense the presence of God with you? Well, this was like that time and time again. We both felt like we didn't want to leave either time. When you find a place that is nonstop focusing on God's heart and you are on His time, you just don't want to leave.



So, our visit has been great and as we stop through Oklahoma for a 2 night rest (at another family's home that we have never met before), we will then continue to head south to Texas. Hopefully, we will get more interesting videos and pictures as we continue to go along. We are not used to snapping all the great moments on camera. So, we hope you enjoy a few bits of this one.

Go with the flow....

So, tentatively our plan was to leave today (monday) and head for Dallas, Texas. However, we have been unsuccessful in our communication with the people we were supposed to stay with. So, our new friends, The Riggs, said we could stay at their place again. And now they have some guests staying in their extra bedroom, so they have offered us their living room! They are really gracious to say the least, giving up their space for all of us (especially considering we just met them friday evening). So, as the day went on we settled into the idea of just staying an extra night. But this afternoon we finally received word from our friends in Texas that there phone was broken and actually now is not the best time for us to visit! Brandon and I both figured this might be a set up....that maybe our plan is really just to see where God will lead us. So, we have an extended stay here in Kansas City, MO from some wonderful people that are truly living out community through Christ's love.

We have been praying/thinking about what next and how long do we stay here. A few more days possibly, but how funny is it that our host happens to be a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) guy (for about 7 yrs) and has lots of connections throughout Texas of other YWAM families where we could stay. And for those of you that don't know about YWAM...let's just say they are definitely familiar with community living and going with the flow.

On another note, yesterday we were driving down the road and saw a young hippie girl with her dog and a sign that said something like, "broke, hungry, need a ride". So, we don't have much but we had some waters and we offered her some. She said she was hungry, so we bought her something from McDonald's and left a note telling her we know how it is to not have money sometimes, so we hoped our little bit of support could bring her hope. I kept thinking about Keith Green singing about the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:32-46)...Jesus saying "For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in' (v. 35)..."The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' "(v.40) So, as we got to give a little to her, we left feeling so thankful that we at least have a car and have some food.

Then, this afternoon, we were given $100 from a family that felt blessed by our lives! Our plans may be day by day and sometimes changing from what we orginally thought, but God has shown us over and over that He is with us. We hope that as we continue to journal the ways God directs and takes care of us, you will find hope as well as we are.

unexpected blessing...

God is so good. A friend of our family that used to live in KC booked us this hotel so we could stay through the weekend. She was trying to coordinate for us to stay with some of her friends, but was unable to do so. She called us and asked us to check our email.



Subject: Accomadations for Saturday and Sunday night.



It was an unexpected blessing. We had no idea she was doing this...but, it was right on time.







The hotel had this super cool water park in and throughout the hotel. Here is the link to the hotel, just in case you are ever in KC and want a cool place to stay.

http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/kansas-city/mkcwa/hoteldetail

We have thoroughly enjoyed time in KC. We're looking forward to IHOP tonight and some more time today with our friends, the Riggs.

Until next time....

Kansas City, Mo.

We were welcomed to Kansas City, Mo. by the Rigg's family. (pictured below) Our dear friends, the McKay's in Andserson, SC. have known them for years and hooked us all up. How cool is that? The Rigg's were generous host and were a delight to meet and get to know. They are part of a ministry called www.24-7prayer.com that has a home base in Kansas City. In addition they are also part of a local community of believers called the Boiler Room (www.kcboilerroom.com) We're going there tonight.

We will be staying with them again Monday night. We decided to extend our stay here in KC in order to check out IHOP on Monday. Some of our favorite IHOP worship leaders are going to be leading tomorrow night. (Misty Edwards, Matt Gilman, Cory Asbury)

We have really enjoyed our time here. We drove through downtown KC this afternoon. What a cool place. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures tomorrow from downtown.

We're off to the Boiler room....

Kids entertainment...13hrs on the road

Kids entertainment... 13hrs on the road from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

music by Sterling & Elle, song "bwah bwah bwah"

lots of driving

So, as we headed out of Tennessee we had a 13 hr drive ahead of us. Next stop was Kansas City, Missouri. On our way through Nashville we took a picture of the batman building. Do you see batman? And as we passed through St. Louis we took a picture of the Gateway Arch. I'm sure it would have been alot nicer to look at minus the fog, but it's still a pretty fascinating monument.

And we would have posted some pictures of Kentucky as well, but all we saw was corn. No offense Kentucky, but we did listen to a little Bluegrass (Alison Krauss) in your honor.

Onward and upward we go.

The girls did awesome, with a total of 15 hrs in the car.

Tennesse

We are "free to be ourselves". It seems that God has given us children for many wonderful reasons, but definitely to remind us how to be carefree and not put all those worries on ourselves that we tend to do as grown-ups. Here is Elle enjoying some time at a cool park that was based on the Chronicles of Narnia. They had "the wardrobe" with fur coats and everything. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Tennessee. Our hosts were wonderful, with good times of relaxing, kids playing, sharing, and laughter through funny old stories.

A big thank you to the Alford family for being so inviting and sweet to us!

Road Trip: First stop Tennessee from waldenfamily on Vimeo

music by Stephen Delopoulos, "The Seventh Trumpet"

Here's a little bit of our drive to Tennessee. This song is one of Sterling and Elle's favorites to listen to in the car. They ask for it all the time....well, really just Sterling, but if Elle could talk she would too. Making these videos are so fun! Hope you enjoy.

More to come later.

best laid plans...

Well, here it is... 10:15am...still haven't left as of yet. Isn't that how it always is? Stephanie and I were up until 1:30am this morning...packing...thinking...talking...packing...and, packing. There is a lot to take with two girls in tow.

In any case, we're about to hit the road...realistically within the hour. So much for 8am right? Being blown by the wind means just that...you gotta go with the flow...you gotta be flexible...you gotta not get bent out of shape when things don't go according to plan. So, here we are...way behind a schedule that only we are forcing on ourselves.

We'll be leaving soon... I hope.

;)

last minute provision(s) . . .

Today we met with some folks to share our story... we did not expect this gift to be presented by one of those listening. Pretty incredible how God moves on others hearts when you least expect it. This gift was the beginning of a great day!

In addition to this gift above there was another for the same amount from a dear friend. In her own words, "I don't do this...so, this must be God". It is so cool to have friends that do what God tells them. In addition, she spent this evening with us helping fold and address letters about the upcoming children's music CD we're planning to record later this year. (more to come in a later post I'm sure)

As if that was not enough...the queen sized mattress we were trying to sell, sold tonight. The lady who came by our home to check it out was a sweet lady that is going through seperation/divorce with her husband of 3yrs. She has a child from before they were married. Stephanie and I felt led to pray for her while we waited on my dad to come by with his truck. It just didn't seem right to let her leave without blessing her in some way...we can only hope we did.

Lastly... (for today, at least) Someone came by with two packs of diapers for our trip. It was one of those things you just know you're gonna need while out on the road for a few weeks...but, nothing in you wants to break down and spend the money.

Today was a day filled with blessings...provision...and hope shared and received. It's 12.20am. We're leaving in 8hrs after breakfast with my folks...and, last I checked we're not down packing!

Nite.

a picture of our life

Tonight Stephanie and I made our first video! There will surely be more to come...and hopefully they will get better as the days go on.

picture of our life: 1 from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

song is "where I belong" by cory asbury from "holy" with matt gilman

preparing

I know most people don't like to talk about money, but if we are going to journal, it's best that we not leave out the details....that way you can get the full story. Plus, we have had all of these wonderful testimonies of God taking care of us, so we feel like we shouldn't keep them to ourselves.

We are planning to leave Wednesday to stay with some friends in Tennessee to start our trip going west, but I'm going to let you know where we are starting from.

Currently we have a van that was loaned to us in June and we have it until mid October. This is what we are able to use on our trip thanks to some very sweet friends. We have a card for groceries that was also given to us that will take care of our food. So, God had taken care of vehicle, food and some places to sleep. Now, all we needed was a little money for gas and extras (like diapers, etc) to go along the way. At the beginning of this weekend we had about $50. Brandon cut some grass and we went to the flea market to sell some items, as well as craigslist, so we now have $415. It's challenging to sell things, especially if you like them, but if God gives you a chance to follow Him sometimes he gives a bit but we have to give a little too. We have seen Him challenge us to see if we are really wanting to follow, because following Christ is costly (sometimes tangible, sometimes not).

So, we might not have enough to date to do this trip comfortably at the moment, but we are going, as the door is opened. Plus, who knows who we may run into that may need something we have. But we know, somehow God gives us what we need.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

And we are off....

So, here we are .....our family of four (Brandon, Stephanie, Sterling and Elle). We are a family that wants God in our lives 365 days a yr. We have prayed that we would really have a relationship with God 365 days a yr, not just on Sundays or Wednesdays. We have opened ourselves to Him and asked "what does He want us to do?" 365 days a yr.

And so, in asking that, our lives have not been the norm. We always wanted to live as free as the wind blows, but found ourselves at times saying, "We can't do that right now.". But over 2 yrs ago my husband lost a family owned company, which put him (as well as his dad and brother) out of a job. At that point God was directing Brandon to start something new on his own. Little did we know this was the beginning of following Him as "free as the wind blows". This has led us to where we are now, living in the unknown, sometimes only seeing as far as a week in advance.

We have a journal (on paper) filled with dates of God's provision, God's answered prayers, God's faithfulness, and God's confirmation of direction. We are now heading on a road trip from South Carolina to Texas and back. We figured now is a good time to keep a journal online so that other's could read and see the wonderful testimonies of God's love and guidance as we choose to follow Him 365 days a yr, even when our decisions are not popular or understood.

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." 1 Corinthians 1:27

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways", says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways. And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

So, some things we may not be able to fully explain to you, as far as why or how this works. We only know that we are following what He says to do. We are not perfect. We actually fall short quite a bit, but our hearts are bent towards God and we are malleable to fit in His plans. And so we hope that if you are reading this, you will be encouraged and strengthened to believe that whatever God may be telling you to do, you can do it as well, and He will take care of you.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil." Proverbs 3:5-7

On with the journey....