2 Corin. 4:6,7 6) For it is the GOD who commanded light to shine out of darkness, Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of GOD in the face of JESUS Christ. 7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of GOD and not of us.
Wednesday 06/23/10 Rain all night and in the morning out comes the sun and it is hot. Today USA plays Algeria so Terry and I go off to a restaurant where we know they will show the game on the television. The game is amazing and America comes back in the last two minutes of injury time for a win and we yelled at the top of our lungs - we see justice served. There have been two very bad calls on the USA during this World Cup series and both were completely wrong and I believe we got some divine intervention both times. Off to Newport, R.I. and we drive over the R.I. Verrazano bridge and park at Easton City beach where we take a very different walk. A path runs for about 2.5 miles alongside the ocean – the Cliff Walk - and on the other side are the biggest mansions we have ever seen (see photo), in fact too extravagant. If someone had 100 people in their family there would still be a spare room for a less fortunate person - they actually look more like castles. The grounds are gorgeous though, I love the open spaces with the beautiful flowers of all colors. The air is fresh the sea is calm and blue and we walk and walk in paradise again. Terry and I are always looking to see what the LORD has so we say ‘hello’ to passer’s by noticing the difference in friendliness in all the states, although people are basically the same wherever we travel some having good days and some not - some having JESUS and some not. These people are not easy to befriend. We end our wonderful walk and decide to take a break and go for a swim. We notice that the lovely blue ocean we have just been looking at is spewing up a lot of red seaweed which makes the surf look a rusty color - we go for a swim anyway and when we come out we have this red seaweed all over us, along with everyone else. It is late afternoon and very, very hot so we take a drive back over the bridge to another very exclusive part of Newport called ‘Bellevue’ Ave and Ocean Drive. Small coves big mansions (beyond description) gorgeous gardens and we are back with Angela Lansbury in Cabot Cove - but a lot more exclusive. Again the evening is drawing in so we do all the necessary things and head back to our campsite and eat at home outside our fortress. I have been praying for the people in the next tent and asking JESUS for HIS power. Life is amazing and we are very, very thankful to our LORD for all HE provides.
Thursday 06/24/10 The birds and the sun are up early, hence, so are we. We head out to ‘Cape Cod’ a long drive but the only time we can get to see it. We pass Providence, R.I. a city which Ann Hutchinson founded after splitting off from the puritans (not quite sure about her religious slant). We notice a statue of her in Falmouth, Mass. and my history teacher (Terry) tells me that this is where she preached. We have now left R.I. and are in Mass. Welcome to Cape Cod (a sign reads) as we drive onto Cape Cod soil - it is busy. Churches sounding their bells at a certain hour, houses with amazingly large Hydranga’s in blues and pinks adorning the white picket fences, inlets with sailboats docked and some out on the water, people walking, people riding bikes, people walking doggies, people, people and even more people. We stop to get gas and an elderly lady is talking an Asian Indian guy behind the counter and she is saying that she caught him talking to himself and she offered an idea to talk to ? I offered a better idea and said ‘Why not talk to JESUS” They never know what to make of me but I speak HIS Name one more time which falls on (seemingly) deaf ears. We drive north up the peninsula, the ocean on our right and everything else on our left. When we left R.I. this morning it was looking like showers were on the horizon, but of course here we are in Cape Cod in very hot sunshine. We stop for a cup of java and it is quiet all but a disabled worker and an elderly lady sitting by herself. We say hello and the disabled person responds quickly and abruptly the other lady looks very tormented / troubled and shuns me as I smile. Terry goes off to get ice and she walks past me a couple of times looking at my computer so I smile and look at her and say ‘Hello’ she quickly sits back in her seat and smiles abruptly and sarcastically, I sense the enemy so I just put something on her table as I walk out and it says “Somebody Loves you’ and gives the story of the blood on the cross, pray for these people the LORD knows them. We arrive at Cape Cod National Seashore and take a hike, and as soon as we started walking out came the mosquitoes and were attacking violently. We had walked quite a way but decided to turn back, man those things are vicious. The beach is the best place to go when we are being attacked by mosquitoes so we take a short drive to ‘Nauset Lighthouse’ in Eastham and stroll along the beach. It is gorgeous with sandy colored soft sand and in some areas there are small pebbles nearer the sea. The waves in some areas are a little bigger and surfers are standing by trying to catch one. We walk a long way and find a little further down the beach it is shallow and the tide seems further out which makes me want to go in and swim which we did but the water was 58% and my feet felt as if I was putting them in our cooler with ice in it. Terry made sure I felt it by pulling me in further, I am a little timid in the ocean. We stay on the beach a few hours and realize that we are certainly in paradise again, and only 100 miles outside of Boston. A tough place to witness a lot of attitude around these parts but once you get them talking they are like everyone else. We return to our campsite after watching the sunset at Port Judith (see photo). Another glorious day has come to an end and we are so very thankful to our LORD and Savior.
Friday 06/25/10 The symphony orchestra this morning is a full one, every instrument imaginable playing and every song imaginable being sung, and along with the entertainment came the very hot sun, early. It took us less than 10 minutes to take down the fortress – by the end of this journey we will count how many times we have put her up and taken her down and time ourselves in both. We get an early start heading towards the big city of Boston today but we have a lot of stops before we get there. We go to Miles Standish State Park - Miles Standish, an English soldier who was on board the Mayflower and was instrumental in the success of the little ship making it onto the American shores. We took a 3 mile hike around a lake which was filled with white lily pads that had yellow buds springing up through the pads, seemingly, these yellow buds bloom and become the white lilies that we see and so we walk along this narrow path enjoying the hot early afternoon sun. Our next stop is a drive to the Plymouth Rock area which as you may know is where the Pilgrims landed the Mayflower (see photo) in 1620 and set foot for the first time on new soil. As we drive through the area we see amazing waterfront houses with gorgeous gardens filled with flowers of amazing colors. It reminds me a lot of England but probably more like Ireland. There are many very old buildings and churches that are absolutely gorgeous, and there are many dilapidated buildings that are old and un-kept just like in the Old Country. We arrive at the waterfront and park the car then walk over to see the replica of the Mayflower (a surprisingly small ship) and the Plymouth Rock, apparently authentic. William Bradford and John Winslow two men that lead the Pilgrims say that they used that rock to tie their small boat to when they docked. The rock is about 6 feet long and not too high and the date of 1620 has now been imprinted on it. It is a wonderful feeling to be here and to try to visualize exactly 390 years ago how these first English settlers felt as they looked upon pure wilderness having to look for their food, weather the tough storms and to just try to survive and on top of all that they had the native Indians (who were so shocked to see these different looking people) to contend with - pretty scary. We thank these men and women for having the courage to leave England and start the New World. Our next stop is on the out skirts of Boston and we walk along the busy streets to visit the John Adams house in the town of Quincy. John Adams, America’s second president was born in 1722 and lived in this house with his family for part of his life. The house was so much like the houses that I remember in England for instance carpet going up the stairs accompanied by banisters with knobs at the ends, the old bath tub, the paneled doors with low door knobs so much that seemed so familiar to me and obviously built English style. We begin our walk back and stop to chat with a girl and her dog, she is Colleen from Florida and her dog is Galaxy. After chatting about her stay here in Boston and about her dog I told her why we were traveling the states and asked her if she ever considers JESUS and HIS return? She said ‘no’ that she was raised Catholic and believes that we all make it eventually, that we all get there (get where)? I ask her what JESUS say’s about getting there? There is no answer but no interest in knowing anything about what JESUS says. When I asked her if I could share some information with her she said ‘no’ so we parted ways as I told her that I would pray for her, please help us pray for Colleen, maybe her sister (who she mentioned is born again) can be instrumental here and of course we leave the rest to the LORD Who does the real changing. We are definitely in a part of the country where the people are stuck in tradition or like Colleen have been fooled into thinking that she will make it, Paul in the Bible tells us to “Work out our salvation with fear and trembling’ so it isn’t just a matter of everyone making. Earlier I had spoken to a young man at McD’s about the LORD and the response was quite dull - like dead man’s bones. Eventually we enter Boston city and it is busy, we find out hotel downtown and stay in the hotel for the evening. We are deep in the heart of downtown Boston with a skateboarding show across the street at the stadium where the local ‘Celtics’ play. The day is over and the moon is full and we are also full of thanks to our LORD for all HE does we want to honor HIM.
Saturday 06/26/10 Happy birthday dear Jimmy. A little different sound this morning instead of the beautiful bird choir we are awakened by a loud clanging noise of trash men slinging trash cans and yelling at the top of their lungs – and here we are in the big city of Boston (see photo). At breakfast we sit with Whitney who lives in L.A. and is here for the ‘Snow Boarding’ show across the street, she is so very friendly and we chat a while. After breakfast Terry and I take off to the streets to see what JESUS has for us. We decide to take the ‘Freedom Trail’ which the local people dedicate to Samuel Adams as he was the one who organized the revolution and fought against the English for independence. The city of Boston has had a red stripe painted on the streets of the city so tourists know where to walk on this trail, it is about a 3 to 4 mile walk. To get to the start of the trail we take the metro 3 stops then start walking back. The city is full of tourists all doing what we are doing – following the ‘red stripe’. Among the points of interest are over thirty historic houses, churches. ships, monuments, museums, burial grounds and other sites like Paul Revere’s house and an engraving, which he did, of Boston in 1768. Christ Church – known today as “Old North Church” – from which Revere’s two lanterns shone to warn against the British. The old State House and Fanueil Hall are among the historic sites – tons of history. Not to mention the many universities that are here in Boston with familiar names like Harvard, Dartmouth, Radcliffe, M.I.T, Tufts to name a few. It is very hard to make eye contact with people again as they are otherwise engaged and it is a pity to see many of the young people these days plug up their ears with earphones to shut the world out – knock, knock is anyone there? We visit a number of church’s and Moira at the reception of one of them began to tell me that on Palm Sunday the church had a small procession outside of the church, which would have been Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, and she said that the public booed and shouted obscenities and even threw things at them – if we mention HIS name it will always cause a disturbance. We finish our trail and head back to the hotel to watch USA and Ghana play which we wish we hadn’t now as you all know the outcome was not good for the USA. Then we head back into the city to finish the trail and we went to Bunker Hill where the British landed and fought the first Colonial battle. The residential streets of Boston are so much like London. We say hello to many but no-one is willing to stop and chat. Our day was coming to a close and we relax in the hotel and again praise the LORD for HIS bountiful mercies that HE provides daily.
Sunday 06/27/10 We are heading to Maine today and will be camping for the next week so we say farewell to the luxury of a hotel and city life and head out. Our condolences to England who lost to Germany in soccer today – shame would have loved to see England win and we all know that 2nd goal scored by England was a ligit. At breakfast we sit with a lovely (big) family from Ohio who have just come back from where we are headed they are a really friendly bunch. As we drive toward Maine we notice it becomes cooler and looks like rain. We leave Mass. and enter Maine the scenery remains the same at first and then it becomes distinctly ‘Maine’ with lots of lakes and small towns like Rockport that have gorgeous quaint shops. It is beginning to look like Canada with the large pine trees along the side of the roads, and we notice a sign that says ‘Moose Crossing’. We find our campground which is on the outskirts of a little town called ‘Camden’ so we put up our fortress and are happy to be back among nature with the birds welcoming us back. We head into town and get a cup of java talk to a few people and walk along the streets in this wonderful quaint town (very new age). What was the score of the Mexico / Argentina game today? We go into a little bar and ask two men who tell us the score. We end up chatting for an hour or so. The older man is Terry who comes from North Maine with a French lineage and Patrick a young man of Scottish lineage from Mass. originally. Terry speaks three different dialects of French and has traveled to France in the past. Through all of Terry’s conversation we speak about JESUS and Who HE is. Terry was raised Catholic and was not happy with the way the nuns treated him at school so we said “keep your eyes on JESUS, and learn of HIM take your eyes off of what people do as most do not represent JESUS, HE doesn’t treat you as humans do”. We prayed and prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to intervene and touch these hearts for HIM. Patrick did take our information but Terry doesn’t get on the computer, we may never hear from them but please keep them both in prayer they are wonderful people who are not yet under grace. We stand at the boat docks and chat with Rita and her husband from Mass. (we fall in love with their English Bulldog ‘Archie’) we ask for prayer for Rita’s migraines she gets them so bad that she takes medication, I prayed for her and we went on our way. This afternoon is in the mid 70’s but the sun is weak yet there are people standing at the dock waiting to get on a sail boat which will take them cruising along the bay. They are used to this kind of weather with only approximately 3.5 months of summer and this is summer for them (think we’ll stay in southern Cal.). We go about our business and get dinner at the local deli, drive to an overlook and eat dinner overlooking one of the most gorgeous sceneries in America. We are high up and looking down on an array of islands and at the shore line we see the little town of Camden (see photo) with its church steeple and sail boat’s - most docked and some out in the water - a beautiful sight to behold and the sun would make it even brighter and more colorful but it is hiding. Back at the campground we meet John an English Professor and we discuss many things. Back in the sixties John was part of what was known as the ‘Freedom Riders’ which means he was involved in the ‘Civil Rights’ movement. John and his wife may want to move to our area as their daughter is a doing an apprenticeship with a law firm in West Covina. We mentioned Christianity numerous times but failed to come right out and ask John his views on JESUS and the conversation always seem to go onto another subject. I gave him our website and I believe he will make contact with us. Please pray for us as it is harder to talk to people in this eastern (intellectual) part of the states. I can still hear the LORD saying to us “If it all gets harder will you still walk with ME?” and the answer is “Yes LORD, Yes, but give us YOUR words of love from YOUR Holy Spirit” and HE replies “Love them, Encourage them, tell them about ME”.
Monday 06/28/10 Happy birthday dear Dell. O.K. we now know what it is like to be in a fortress surrounded by a moat. It absolutely poured, as in monsoon pour, all night so this morning we were out and packed (in the rain) by 8:30am – and before heading for brighter skies we took a walk in the rain to air out our rain suits. We arrive in Acadia National Park (Bar Harbor) to find the skies are much the same only it has stopped raining so without further ado we put up the soaking wet fortress with puddles on the inside (which we dried with towels). Although the forecast says heavy rain all day it never rains again but is cold and very misty (we are 88 miles from the Canadian border- no wonder). Spend much of the day drying out our sleeping bags, blankets and pillows at the laundra-mat while watching Brazil beat Chile. We meet Amber and her young son ‘Ocean’ (that is his name). We discuss JESUS and Amber say’s that she is a Christian and as we talk she seems to be more determined to bring Ocean up in the LORD, please pray that she does and that Ocean has a fair chance to accept the LORD or not. We said farewell to all the people that we chatted to and went to get the (anointed) car oil checked - may as well as the day is cold and damp. We meet Charlene in Wal - Mart and she is purchasing a something electronic and tells me that she now owes $900.00 bucks. So we started to chat and I asked her if she had ever invited JESUS into her heart and she said she had. She said that her husband always hangs out with his buddies and they are not a good influence.. Terry told Charlene that she must be the light in the darkness and that because she is filled with the Holy Spirit her light must always reflect JESUS. That it is no good if she gets pulled in to what her husband is doing that she should set an example, and she knows as well as us that only the Holy Spirit can do the changing. Charlene told me that she rarely remembers a person’s name but she said to me “ I remember yours” ( that’s the LORD) and when I told her that I would love to see her in heaven she said that she believes that she will be there because of what JESUS has done not what she can ever do. Charlene is one of those ‘diamonds in the rough’ please help us pray for her and that she puts JESUS before her husband so that she ( along with the Holy Spirit) can lead him out of the ditch. At the cash register we talk to Tiffany who is checking out our goods and we discuss my dark chocolate. She is young and says she wishes that she could eat chocolate and remain slim and we talk about discipline. Then I tell Tiffany that the word discipline comes from disciple and I get to JESUS and she says that she is ‘born again’. We have wonderful fellowship and I know that the LORD is encouraging Terry and I to keep going and keep mentioning HIS Name and asking people if they have received HIM. We go about our business and I believe that the sun will show his face tomorrow. As the evening draws near we can see a hint of blues skies and even some red sky in the distance ‘Red sky at night, shepherds delight’.
Tuesday 06/29/10 Not sunny yet but we believe that the LORD will send the sun later today. I chat with Joan ( a school teacher) in the bathroom and we talk backgrounds and grandparents (Irish) that both our names are similar i.e. mine (maiden) being Kealy hers Healy -no bites on the line for catching people so we say farewell. Our first hike is absolutely gorgeous we walk along the cliff at sand beach. The beach leads to a trail so we go across the sandy beach and take the trail up hill and at the top we look down on the most gorgeous scenery (see photo) with waves crashing against the rocks while seagulls fly in and out of the waves looking for breakfast We are looking at a completely different kind of landscape a more wintery, misty, rugged kind of paradise. We can see the ocean below and hear the wind chime of the buoy out in the ocean to warn the ships of rocks as they draw closer to the shore and the mist is beginning to lift. We take a second walk at ‘Ocean Walk’ which is a path that goes around part of the ocean and at times we stop and watch the waves crashing against the rocks and looking down we see the wonderful ocean scenery (see photo). The wild flowers either side of the path flourish in this ocean mist their colors are bright and many – blue, purple, orange, yellow, pink and white all of which looks spectacular. Our third hike is up on Cadillac Mountain and we are really beginning to see the sun it is getting warmer and warmer. Terry points out a seagull and when I look up to see it the gull has snatched a big sandwich off of someone’s picnic rock and he is chomping away at it fast. I’m in fits of laughter as the little boy says real calm to his mum ‘The seagull just ate your sandwich” and she calmly says “Well go get what is left” (we are told not to feed the wildlife) as you can imagine there was nothing left. Joan calls out to me as we walk up the mountain we chat with the family a while and say farewell once more. Life is good and up on Cadillac Mountain with the mist lifting rapidly and the sun shining we can now begin to see why many people flock to this ‘Acadia National Park’ it is a breathtaking view. Terry and I sit and watch the mist dissipate from one side yet get thicker on the other. We watch a boat in a cove and suddenly the boat is gone the mist comes and hides it. The scenery is vast and green yet nothing like what we have been seeing in the Carolina’s, Kentucky and those places now the green mountains are filled with pine trees and are low and long- 1500 feet above sea level. We are seeing many inlets and coves carved into the base of the mountains much more of the Canadian look as I begin to remember what I saw years ago. I recognize an Italian accent and stop and talk a while with a mother and her son, they are from Naples and have been traveling the northeast. Our last hike today is Jordan Pond (see photo) and again it is breathtaking with clean, clean glassy fresh pond water, rugged rocks, flowers of all colors and trees galore. We notice the sun is weak at times and gets a little chilly, we just know that tomorrow will bring a hotter sun. We go to bed thanking our LORD for protecting us and anointing us and our car to go and tell about HIM, we ask for HIS anointed words to be in our mouths, and for us to honor HIM in all we do.