​(Fort Parker State Park - Mexia, Texas - Day 3)
 
Edna came to pick us up around 9 a.m. to go to Sunday School and Church Service at Mision Pentecostal.  Unbeknownst to us, Pastor Mora and the Ruiz family made plans to make the Sunday Service bilingual; just for us.  They knew that we would be there, and they did that just to make us feel welcomed … now, that is hospitality!  During Sunday School, Peter sat behind us and translated for us.  The class was an open forum, allowing the attendees to provide input, so it afforded me the opportunity to “raise my hand” and contribute to the class.  I spoke slowly, and Peter translated to the congregation for me.  It was a great class on “Forgiveness”.
 
As Sunday School ended, we immediately transitioned into the Church Service with praise and worship.  Peter, Liz (his wife), and Rosa served as the band as the praise and worship leader went forth.  After praise and worship service, Peter informed me that Pastor Mora was going to give me an opportunity to address the congregation to introduce ourselves, and share the vision of Altar to Altar Ministries.  That was the first time that I spoke to a congregation with an interpreter; it was new for me, but a great experience.  I had to make sure that my excitement left time for interpretation … I was also asked later, to pray over the offering … Liz was the main speaker, and you guessed it; Peter interpreted for us from the stage.  Thanks Peter, you were great. 
 
After church service, we took a few group photos with the Pastor and family, and we soon headed out for lunch at (Taqueria Mexicano Grille), an “Authentic” Mexican restaurant.  That place was amazing, I could only eat half of my order; of course, I took a carry-out tray for later consumption. :)  We headed over to the family home so that everyone could change from their “church clothes”, before we all headed back to the park to relax and enjoy the rest of the day.  Vilver had to leave and drive out of town for work on Monday.  We had a great time experiencing the park; even spending time on the playground, “acting like kids” again.  As the sun was beginning to set, we started back towards the campsite to get a campfire started.  Yes, we were able to enjoy a campfire, using the wood that Tim blessed us with the day prior; thank you Lord …
 
As the campfire began to grow, Adriene kicked into “Children’s Church Mode”.   We enjoyed watching the kids as they sang praises to the Lord and learned new hand motions to accompany the songs.  “Kidz of Destiny” is the Children’s Ministry of Altar to Altar Ministries; Adriene and I were seeing our vison for campground children’s ministry coming to fruition.  The evening was far spent and the kids needed to go and prepare for school in the morning; Peter closed out the evening with prayer; with plenty of hugs and goodbyes, they were on their way home.  We enjoyed the campfire for a while longer with Edna, Rosa, and Yire, but the time soon came that they needed to leave as well.  We knew that we would be leaving in the morning, so we expressed plenty of gratitude for all that they did for us over the weekend.  Prayerfully, we were a blessing to them as well.  They too, headed home for the evening.  I put the fire out, and we called it a night.

​(Fort Parker State Park - Mexia, Texas - Day 2)
 
We got up and out early so that we could catch the sunrise; as the campground host had told me the day prior, it was a beautiful sight to see.  As we often do, we took the early morning walk as our opportunity to pray for all of the families in the campground, and pray that God would continue to use us for His glory.
 
During our morning “Prayer Walk”, we came across a group of young boys that were staying in tents.  I approached the leaders and found out that they were a group of “Royal Rangers”; a Boy Scout-type organization associated with the Assemblies of God.  They were spending the weekend in nature with the boys.  It was great to see the men investing in those young boys; the leaders took the opportunity to share their mission with me as they were preparing breakfast.
 
We took a few pictures of the sunrise to capture the moment.  It is times like this when you can see the magnificence of God, and hear as He speaks through His creation.  As Adriene and I made our way back to our campsite; we noticed that Tim was out and about at his campsite.  He came over to greet us and we could see that he had had an encounter with God; it was great to witness his overnight conversion.  He told me that he and his wife had visited our website the night prior; it was then that I headed to our storage bay to give him the new Bible to take with him.  Our Christmas Bible Drive was timely; we were able to give Tim a Bible of his own.
 
Tim told us that he and his wife (Dana), would be leaving soon and heading back home.  We had not yet met Dana, so I asked him to come over before they left so that we could meet her.  He also offered to give us some firewood and fire starters that they didn’t use during their stay.  I didn’t accept it at first, but then I was reminded by God (and Adriene), that He would provide for our every need and it was time for us to be on the receiving end.  We graciously accepted Tim’s offer and before they hooked up their trailer, he backed up his pickup truck to our fire pit area and told us to take whatever we needed; thanks Tim, you were a blessing to us.  It wasn’t too long and Tim came over to let us know that he and Dana were about to head out; we met Dana and found out that Dana was a school administrator and had a passion for children; Adriene and Dana hit it off immediately.  We took the opportunity to exchange contact information, go over and take a group photo, and pray for them before their departure.  With handshakes and hugs, they were on their way.  It was then that we “Built an Altar”, celebrating what Christ had done in their lives.
 
Around noon, the Ruiz family came over with a car full of food; they blessed us with lunch.  We made our way over to our campsite picnic table and had a great time of fellowship and “breaking bread” with them.  Edna is an amazing cook, after lunch we all went for a walk through the park; that was fun showing them what Fort Parker State Park has to offer.  We later took a short tour of the City of Mexia; it’s not a big city, but it was great to see all of the landmarks.  With Edna behind the wheel, we headed back to the campground; they dropped us off and we made plans for a campfire later in the evening … Umm, that didn’t happen; we were all too tired by that time and postponed it until the next day.  I still went out and got some photos of the sunset while Adriene rested; all I can say about that experience is WOW … We serve an awesome God!

​(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.

​We’re back to the “home base” after bringing in the New Year in the Texas Hill Country; this year is going to be our best year yet.  By the way, I’d like to introduce you to “Isaiah”.  Isaiah is our travel mascot that has traveled with us since we lived and traveled in Alaska.  We named Isaiah as a reminder of one of God’s promises to us:
 
Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.
 
Isaiah has a “birds eye” view, sitting on the front dash of the coach as we traverse the “highway and byways”.  I’m sure you will see Isaiah make an appearance from time to time … Blessings in the New Year everyone.