(Fort Parker State Park - Mexia, Texas - Day 1)
OK Lord, where should we go this trip? We are always before for the Lord in where and what direction He would have us to go. This trip we decided to head to Mexia, Texas. Our daughter’s husband has family that lives there, so we made the decision to go and spend some time with them. I started taking a look at my trip planning tools to find a campground in that area; well, Fort Parker State Park rose to the surface, so we made plans to head that way. It is always our desire to be used of God at every location that we go, and He has always been faithful. It was about a 3 and a half hour ride from San Antonio; the trip was uneventful, other than the GPS taking us a bit of a “shortcut” route, that we later learned we could have easily avoided. When you are driving a 42 foot coach, straight shots work better than “shortcuts”. We pulled into the park entrance and I went in the office to get checked in; I had called the park earlier and they informed me that we didn’t need reservations because the park was not full.
When we checked in, we decided to purchase a State Park Pass to save money over the course of the year with future State Park visits. The park wasn’t full, but they only had a couple of spots available that could accommodate a rig of our size, so they assigned us to campsite #12; they said that there would be “plenty” of space. Well, after driving very slowly down a winding road, and avoiding low hanging branches, we made our way to our campsite; “plenty of space”, not really. As I pulled into the space, I almost hit a tree on the driver’s side; “just inches away”. One of our neighbors (Larry) saw that we were having a challenge getting into our space; he came over to give us a hand. He was guiding me on the left, and Adriene was guiding me on the right. After lots of maneuvering, we finally got the rig into place; we leveled the coach and shut it down. That is when God showed us that we were in the right place.
I saw that another neighbor was watching from his site, so I went over to say hello and introduce myself. It was then that I met Tim, we began to get acquainted. As we always do, we find the opportunity to share that we are a campground ministry. Tim began to share his spiritual journey and his need for a renewed relationship with the Lord. Praise God, it was then that I had the opportunity to lead Tim in his rededication the Lord Jesus Christ. We had not even setup our campsite yet, and God showed up. The angels in Heaven were celebrating over a newborn soul; “Welcome to the family Tim”.
After we got our campsite setup, we made contact with Vilver and Edna Ruiz; our son-in-law’s parents. It wasn’t too long, and they came over for a visit. We greeted each other and celebrated our reunion. Friday is a church night for them, so they invited us to join them for dinner and their Friday Night Church Service; we said absolutely - Yes. While enroute, Edna told us that we were in for a surprise. As we arrived and went inside the Mexican restaurant (Montes Burritos); there stood our surprise, it was Rosa, their daughter who had just started working there a couple days prior. Rosa led us to our table and served us as our waitress. While eating, God opened up two more opportunities to share of his goodness. The first occasion, there was another family in the restaurant; the husband came to our table and asked, “Who is the Pastor? – I know that one of you is a Pastor”. Adriene pointed me out and I took him aside and found out that he had been called to preach, but wasn’t preaching; I shared a word of encouragement with him and told him that I would be praying for him and his family. Later, a young man came in the restaurant asking for money; I didn’t give him any money, but I noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross. His demeanor didn’t come across to me as a Christian, so the Lord led me to ask him what the cross meant to him. He didn’t have a personal relationship with Christ, so I took the opportunity to share Jesus with him. I knew for sure that God had led us to the right place.
After dinner, we were on our way to our very first “Spanish Speaking” church service at Mision Pentecostal Church. When we arrived, Vilver informed the Pastor that we were there, and he graciously added a little “English” in his lesson on the “Full Armor of God”; just for us … Thank you Pastor Mora. After service, we headed to the Ruiz’s home for a time of fellowship with their son Peter and his wife Liz; she even blessed us with a beautifully rendered song – Wow, Adriene and I will be trying to learn that one, and share it down the road. The hour was later than we realized; Vilver and Edna took us back to our campsite and we called it a night … Thank you Lord, you are so faithful.
OK Lord, where should we go this trip? We are always before for the Lord in where and what direction He would have us to go. This trip we decided to head to Mexia, Texas. Our daughter’s husband has family that lives there, so we made the decision to go and spend some time with them. I started taking a look at my trip planning tools to find a campground in that area; well, Fort Parker State Park rose to the surface, so we made plans to head that way. It is always our desire to be used of God at every location that we go, and He has always been faithful. It was about a 3 and a half hour ride from San Antonio; the trip was uneventful, other than the GPS taking us a bit of a “shortcut” route, that we later learned we could have easily avoided. When you are driving a 42 foot coach, straight shots work better than “shortcuts”. We pulled into the park entrance and I went in the office to get checked in; I had called the park earlier and they informed me that we didn’t need reservations because the park was not full.
When we checked in, we decided to purchase a State Park Pass to save money over the course of the year with future State Park visits. The park wasn’t full, but they only had a couple of spots available that could accommodate a rig of our size, so they assigned us to campsite #12; they said that there would be “plenty” of space. Well, after driving very slowly down a winding road, and avoiding low hanging branches, we made our way to our campsite; “plenty of space”, not really. As I pulled into the space, I almost hit a tree on the driver’s side; “just inches away”. One of our neighbors (Larry) saw that we were having a challenge getting into our space; he came over to give us a hand. He was guiding me on the left, and Adriene was guiding me on the right. After lots of maneuvering, we finally got the rig into place; we leveled the coach and shut it down. That is when God showed us that we were in the right place.
I saw that another neighbor was watching from his site, so I went over to say hello and introduce myself. It was then that I met Tim, we began to get acquainted. As we always do, we find the opportunity to share that we are a campground ministry. Tim began to share his spiritual journey and his need for a renewed relationship with the Lord. Praise God, it was then that I had the opportunity to lead Tim in his rededication the Lord Jesus Christ. We had not even setup our campsite yet, and God showed up. The angels in Heaven were celebrating over a newborn soul; “Welcome to the family Tim”.
After we got our campsite setup, we made contact with Vilver and Edna Ruiz; our son-in-law’s parents. It wasn’t too long, and they came over for a visit. We greeted each other and celebrated our reunion. Friday is a church night for them, so they invited us to join them for dinner and their Friday Night Church Service; we said absolutely - Yes. While enroute, Edna told us that we were in for a surprise. As we arrived and went inside the Mexican restaurant (Montes Burritos); there stood our surprise, it was Rosa, their daughter who had just started working there a couple days prior. Rosa led us to our table and served us as our waitress. While eating, God opened up two more opportunities to share of his goodness. The first occasion, there was another family in the restaurant; the husband came to our table and asked, “Who is the Pastor? – I know that one of you is a Pastor”. Adriene pointed me out and I took him aside and found out that he had been called to preach, but wasn’t preaching; I shared a word of encouragement with him and told him that I would be praying for him and his family. Later, a young man came in the restaurant asking for money; I didn’t give him any money, but I noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross. His demeanor didn’t come across to me as a Christian, so the Lord led me to ask him what the cross meant to him. He didn’t have a personal relationship with Christ, so I took the opportunity to share Jesus with him. I knew for sure that God had led us to the right place.
After dinner, we were on our way to our very first “Spanish Speaking” church service at Mision Pentecostal Church. When we arrived, Vilver informed the Pastor that we were there, and he graciously added a little “English” in his lesson on the “Full Armor of God”; just for us … Thank you Pastor Mora. After service, we headed to the Ruiz’s home for a time of fellowship with their son Peter and his wife Liz; she even blessed us with a beautifully rendered song – Wow, Adriene and I will be trying to learn that one, and share it down the road. The hour was later than we realized; Vilver and Edna took us back to our campsite and we called it a night … Thank you Lord, you are so faithful.
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