Hebrews 4:12 12) F or the word of GOD is living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Wednesday 07/14/10 Yes, we had beautiful sunshine yesterday so payment is due - and all night the rain pounds on the fortress - and continues and continues through the day. What do we do? We go for a cup of coffee and talk to Claudia who is from Germany and now lives here with her husband and dog. She lived in Ireland and Scotland for 8 years and said that this side of Canada is the same on a much bigger scale, exactly what I have been saying. Claudia’s dog (called Jake) has cancer and is only 7yrs old. I told Claudia that we would ask JESUS to help her with dealing with everything and we touched Jake and prayed quietly that the LORD would give him a longer life. Pray for Claudia as there is no interest in Christianity oh! and pray that the LORD extends Jakes life and that the LORD makes it known to Claudia that it is HE who does the miracles and that HE gets all the glory. It is about noon by the time we go on our first hike and the rain isn’t too bad. The hike ‘Corney Brook’ is 5.2 miles and leads to a beautiful waterfall. We watch the water cascade down the rocks reaching the bottom to then rush down-stream - an incredible fairyland full of beauty. The rain isn’t giving up in fact it is getting worse, but troopers that we are on go our rain suits and we go off on another beautiful trail for 6 miles or so. The hike would have been absolutely beautiful in the sun but as it was we are now in a monsoon and the rain is dripping off of our hair (well my hair - Terry has none) and noses. It is quite late when we get back and we are wet and hungry so we go to Tim Hortens (a coffee/food chain in Canada) and the busiest place in town, it seems that this is the meeting place for these Acadiens and the place is bubbling with laughter, I tell you these people have something in their food or coffee they are so happy all the time and in this weather. I ask a man behind me how they all stay so happy and he tells me that a couple from Ontario just asked him the same question and he told them it is because “We don’t give a hoot, we just take life the way it comes with no striving”. So I said “Oh, that is interesting ‘cause the way I keep my joy is to surrender all to JESUS as HE does it all better than I can and then I strive not” – and he said “Yes, it’s the same kind of thing”. But it isn’t one way it is our strength that we do it in and my way is the LORDS strength. A long wet day but we are Blessed and very thankful for all the JESUS is doing. We retire in the rain and pray for sunshine tomorrow – the weather forecast says partly cloudy and 20% chance of rain. We are praying and believing for sunshine.
Thursday 07/15/10 It is still dull and rainy when we awake and take much longer to get ourselves together but by the time we do the sun is trying to show its head and there is blue sky up above – yes we knew HE would do it. After breakfast we stop at Tim Hortens before we go on a hike and we meet Madaleine and Jean Claude who are our age and riding on a motorcycle they are great fun and from New Brunswick. Madaleine is a distributor of Usana a preventive medicine organic product and I gave my information ‘Billly Grahams piece on Left Behind, and Madelaine did remark that she had read the ‘Left Behind series. We also discussed JESUS and it seems that the cross around her neck has sentimental value with regard to a death in the family. We hope to chat with them further so please keep them both in prayer. Oh the sun is shining very brightly and we are so very thankful so we go off on a hike. We stop at ‘Fisherman’s Cove’ and just as we begin the hike Terry says to me ‘Carole, come back’ and as I look I am standing next to a dead moose and I run away crying. Terry said that it hadn’t been dead long and had been eaten to the ribs he said it was a female moose, and that it was the Coyote Wolves who stalked the poor baby moose and killed her, ‘oh LORD come back soon’ I cry out to HIM. These are very different to our Coyotes in California in that they are a mix of both Wolf and Coyote and are very big. Terry and I saw one briefly run into the bushes while on a trail in this area. In fact Terry read before we left that a folk singer here was out on her own hiking and she got killed by them it was on the news here and all over, it was right here in Cape Breton that it happened. I asked JESUS to come back soon and make things right so we can live where the lion will lay down with the lamb and child play with the cobra. I know that the enemy is under HIS feet and I prayed and cried as all I could see was the moose being chased down by these vicious predators and how she must have been so scared. It was tough for me to get it out of my mind so I kept thinking of when JESUS returns and how HE will make all things new. We don’t take this hike instead we drive on along this incredible scenic route, blue skies brings a blue gulf and a panoramic view (see photo) as we drive along the mountain roads and each turn is more beautiful than the last. Again we see where the rolling green mountains meet the red sandstone beaches and where the sand meets the Gulf (see photo) creating the white surf the gulls playground. A cobbled rock stream displaying its pink and gray cobbled rocks are being washed continually with the water that falls over them, a beautiful sight to behold. All day we take short hikes and drive the scenic route (which is in the book of most scenic roads along with PCH in California, and Oregon and Washington). The last hike today is ‘Benjie’s Lake’ and again a divine hike, the Canadians sure know how to make these hikes easier while exquisitely gorgeous. It is a 2 mile hike and we walk in the evening ‘hot’ sun along a tall grass and wild flower haven until we reach the lake, it is beautiful, quiet and serene and we take a break as we feast our eyes on GODs handiwork before we head back to the fortress. On our drive home we are descending down a hilly highway along the mountain the gulf is below us and suddenly a black bear begins to cross the road veeeery slowly he is coming from our right and going over to our left, keep in mind this is a highway. I yell for Terry to stop and he does (thank the LORD there are no other cars) and this beautiful bear goes to the other side of the road and then turns and starts walking down the highway and I lose it and tell Terry that I will have to call 911 (same as in USA) I was so upset that the bear would get hurt, and right then he turned back (as I prayed out loud to JESUS) and he looked straight at us and went into a ditch along the grass on the left hand side. Terry reassured me that the bear would climb back up the mountain and be safe, by now the traffic is stopping behind us but miraculously no traffic ever came up on the other side. I prayed all evening that JESUS would keep him safe and he would get back to his family. Tough day on the animal scene today but I believe that the LORD watches over them.
Friday 07/16/10 Beautiful sunshine this morning and we drive by where we saw the lovely bear and he is gone, no sign of anything bad and in our hearts we know that the LORD directed him back to his family. Relieved we drive on to Neil’s landing’ where we walk down a narrow green fern path that leads us into the forest and out to where the Atlantic Ocean meets the red sandy beach and a beautiful lighthouse that stands high on a cliff. We walk away from all of this beauty reluctantly and go to finish the hike. We are happy we did as the trail opens up again to the Atlantic only this time it is a wide open beach with those large cobble pink, and gray rocks and those rugged red cliffs that reach down into the Atlantic (see photo) and Terry and I just sit a while and take it all in, this is as much as we can do - to take it all in - it is all so magnificent. The drive is one of the beautiful scenic coastal routes with rivers and bays at every turn all running to and from the Atlantic and our next hike is another divine one and, in a sense, more divine that usual. Middle Fork by ‘Keltic Lodge’ a steep hike to begin with that takes us up and along a grassy path with breath taking incredible views of the Atlantic beneath, (see photo) and evergreen trees sitting on large craggy rocks that reach far down to the ocean surf, red beaded flowers and blue bonnets and the ever preset thistles - all spectacular, all divine. An incredible view of the blue ocean that spreads far and wide until it reaches the shoreline, wide open spaces filled with majestic beauty, and I sit on a bench trying to absorb this beauty and I ask the LORD for HIS power and (Terry hears me) I ask if HE may give us someone to pray with at this particular place today someone who knows HIM and someone that we can praise HIS Name with - and then we walk on. At the crux of the trail we sit on large rocks and watch the many seagulls with their young fluffy chicks, a sight to behold, GODS creatures great and small. The wide open Ocean with its waves crashing against the rocks the open blue sky with a clean soft breeze and the wild flowers all around taking in all that ‘photo synthesis’ that they get very little of during the course of a year- we breath in GODS air that fills us with HIS power and thank HIM for this magnificent earth that HE created for us to enjoy. We had briefly said ‘hello’ to a couple from Colorado (Terry spoke to them the day before) as we passed them along the way and on our way back we catch up with them again. Bill and Gloria (see photo with Carole at end of narrative) live in Grand Junction, Colorado ( I love Colorado) and we tell them that we know that beautiful area and that we will there in September (GOD Willing) I will be speaking in Grand Junction on 9/9/10. Gloria asks what I am going to be speaking on, and I said “JESUS” and how HE changes a life and cleans us up and gives us the free gift of eternal life”. Bill responds with “ I am a retired Pastor and a fellow believer” and we all fellowship and talk for a while enjoying each other’s company, in the Spirit. Bill then said “Hey let’s walk and talk as we go down together’. We walked and discussed JESUS along the way and then the LORD put it in my mind to pray together with this wonderful couple, and then just a bit further down I see that bench that I sat on not an hour before and asked JESUS for HIS power and for someone that Terry and I may pray and fellowship with. – isn’t HE amazing? We all hold hands and each one prays, Terry, Bill, Gloria and me and we asked for a healing for Gretchen, Gloria’s daughter who has kidney failure, I believe that JESUS will heal her as this is where HE showed me HIS power by doing exactly what I asked for and now we are asking for a healing for Gretchen and also for Jenny Bill and Gloria’s other daughter. We pray for salvation for all of Gloria and Bills family and we ask that they turn their eyes towards JESUS and see that HE is the true Messiah, and we ask you all out there for prayer also for this wonderful couple and their family. Gloria and Bill also prayed for our family that they would be sold out for Christ that HE would be first in their lives, and that Angie and Jeremy would be Blessed through their commitment in this upcoming wedding. What a Blessing. Now the rest of the evening I didn’t want to mention but Terry tells me I have to so here we go. All was wonderful we booked in at a lovely hotel in Sydney after checking the time that the ferry leaves tomorrow - we are going to Newfoundland by ferry in the morning. Now you all know we are on hikes constantly and the fear of ticks is forever present – we both have a lot of bites on us and most are from the ‘Black Flies’ anyway I had a bad bite on my abdomen and when I awoke during the night I happened to notice it had a red ring around it which is normally an indication that it could very possibly be a tick. However, I did not see the tick and Terry assured me that it probably isn’t but we were both concerned because, as the story goes, if you do not get them treated immediately you could contract Lyme disease very quickly and many have, and it is a terrible disease. In some cases fatal, but living with the disease brings a total lack of energy, for some, sight loss and more. Needless to say I am now ‘PARANOID’. So what do we do? Do we pray? YES we did and we believed but doubt crept in and to cut a long story short we take off for the local hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning in this quiet town of Sydney. Did the LORD want us here? I think HE did. I spoke to the admittance nurse who is Jennelle - a young Christian (a Pastors kid) she is concerned about her young (14yr old) brother Ben, he is very against any idea of becoming a Christian – please pray for him and that he realizes that he has been taught the truth all along and JESUS is LORD – pray that Ben receives JESUS. Jenelle and I talk a lot and we discuss true salvation and the grace of GOD. I leave her with our website and newsletter information, I think the LORD wanted us to meet as well as a nurse there. All in all the Doctor was English and he said that he couldn’t be sure if it was a tick bite but said typically one would find the tick as it attaches itself to your body (we have found two before, one on Terry and one on me) and that he would give me antibiotics to make sure that if it may have been a tick this will kill the disease, apparently you have to get it early enough to stop it. Bottom line - we paid an incredible sum of money for this little bite (Socialized Medicine and American Insurance don’t mix too well) which is probably a ‘Horse Fly’ bite (it left a little hole in my abdomen). Please pray that JESUS will heal anything that is not of HIM and that we get some of this money back from Terry’s insurance when we return – thanks. We returned to the hotel at 4am and told the guy on the front desk that we have a wake-up call for 6am - hee hee we could give him a wake-up call. We have a six hour ferry ride to Newfoundland. We did sleep for almost 2 hours. There is a verse in the Bible that I thought I lived by (paraphrase) Jesus says “If HIS own get bitten by anything poisonous it will not harm them” Was I lacking faith? I ask JESUS for forgiveness and that HE will make it all right in the end as HE always does as ALL things come together for good for those who love GOD and are called according to HIS purpose – Romans 8:28.
Saturday 07/17/10 We are very early for the ferry but so are most other people and we wait 2 hours to board. At 9:30am we drive on the ferry behind all the tractor trailers. The ferry is packed and we find a seat in the café area plug in the computer and we are on a 6 hour trip across the Atlantic for 120 miles destination being Newfoundland. Terry and I are awake then half asleep then awake then… We meet many people but three in particular are on our mind and we ask for prayer for them. Jordan 28, Janna 23 and David 33 a group of kids doing their own thing which is ok as we were here once, but these guys are on the rough side, Jenna has some words tattooed on her knuckles that elude to punching people and Jordan, although he works, panhandles for money while traveling and David cannot get back in the States as he was deported for carrying drugs in his car, and it seems obvious that they are pretty much in the drug scene. We talked a lot about traveling and their beautiful country and what is was like when we traveled Canada back in 1974. I have my Bible with me and I talk about JESUS but there is a very big barrier that comes up from Jordan and Jenna, David says nothing anyway. We say that JESUS was always eating and drinking with the sinners but HE was perfect and showed sick people how they could become healthy and inherit eternal life. We made a point of telling them that JESUS was not a fan of the religious and haughty and proud people that thought that they were better than anyone else and we tell them what HE had done for them on the cross and how much HE loves them, however, when I was leaving and suggested to Jordan to get to know HIM because HE is beautiful Jordan said “He should get to know me cause I am also beautiful”, I told him that JESUS does know of him – I sense an arrogant pride here that comes straight from the enemy and I know in my spirit that they are pagans and probably worship the other one. They mention that they have a dog and have spent a lot of money on his shots more than what they spend on themselves so as we leave we feel led to give them some $’s they then hug us and we say ‘Don’t thank us it was JESUS that put it in our hearts to give it to you - for your dog” They thank us and one more time I implore them again doing my bidding for JESUS and we say our farewells. By the way we heard from Madeleine and Jean Claude whom we have been praying for (we mentioned them this past Thursday in our notes). Madeleine said that she sensed our prayers as the LORD had given the most Blessed journey more Blessed than she could expre3ss, thank YOU LORD JESUS. We drive off of the ferry at 3:30pm but have now lost another 30 minutes - Newfoundland is 30 minutes ahead of the rest of the Maritime’s. Our hotel is not far so we book in and get our errands done and retire (very tired) for the evening in luxury and a very sweet sleep ensued. Thank YOU LORD.
Sunday 07/18/10 We leave the hotel and it is misty but the mist is lifting by the time we get a few minutes down the road. We drive along the road watching the great expanse of Humber River and Deer Lake reach to the mountains on either side, and as we drive we put on a classical c.d. and dream as our audio and visual senses are filled to the brim and in my mind’s eye I see the birds dancing across the expanse of the Lake alongside the craggy rocks all in time with the music. We arrive at Corner Brook and go down town - we are looking for a short trail that Terry thought we might do and right by it is a gorgeous church and a coffee shop. We have missed church service unfortunately so we spend time in the coffee shop as Terry is fixing his camera and I am praying to JESUS to fix it, which HE did – thank YOU LORD. We park outside the Church and go on a short walk and we meet Tom Dunn and we stop a while and chat and Tom is in martial arts and is thinking of going to Hollywood to maybe be a stunt person. He said that he was a Christian but did not elaborate we would ask for prayer for Tom that he may know the true and living GOD. As we drive on we are reminded of the Delaware Water Gap because of the high green mountains and the river that separates them, these are the biggest mountains that we have seen in Eastern Canada – beautiful. A quick shower comes and goes and the sun is very hot the lake looks like glass as it reflects the trees just like a mirror –we are on our way to ‘Gros Morne’ (Big Mound) which actually is only 2600 feet high, our mountains where we live in California are 5 to 7000 feet. We arrive at our destination and it is gorgeous, a large national park and Gros Morne is a 2600 foot mountain that is rather bald looking like we see in California, we will hike this tomorrow GOD Willing. After pitching our fortress we take a drive down to Rocky Harbor to get some groceries and we notice a Gospel Church that has a drive in (like the old drive in movies) and the preacher is outside on his ‘soap box’ giving the Gospel. To encourage him Terry and I park the car and walk over and listen to his preaching and we stand there while everyone is in their cars (only about 6 cars) and it starts to rain. Terry puts up our colorful beach umbrella and we continue to stand and listen. A nearby van door opens and a lady says “Come on in” (so friendly) we jump in the van and meet Margaret (about my age) her son Chad his wife Bessie and little ‘Rain’ who will be one in October. Wonderful people and we are so thankful for their hospitality. We finished listening to the Preacher preach the Gospel and then chat with some others there. Lewis an elderly man begins to chat with us and gets into an interesting conversation with regard to the different translations of the Bible he being in favor of the KJV only. He asked us to come home with him and get some information and we did that. Lewis lives right along the ocean at Rocky Harbor. Lewis’ wife passed on ten years ago ,but he has his family in the area. His son runs his craft store across the street and lives in a trailer next to Lewis. Lewis wants us to stay but we say that we would be back on Tuesday and bring him some pie and ice cream and he can share more on the matter of the Bible translations. What a wonderful end to our day as we go and eat something before we retire. Oh LORD GOD YOU have been so good to us we are so very thankful.
Monday 07/19/10 A dull beginning but again the blue sky is right here and moving in on the dull clouds –thank YOU LORD. Today we are going to climb ‘Gros Morne’(Big Mound) the largest cliff’s in the area and quite a climb estimated to take 6-8 hours. So after chatting with many people we start up the mountain. It is a very very steep climb but it is early and we feel great. We are quicker than some of the other people half our age but we pass it off as we go climbing past (stopping to chat briefly). It is all good and we climb and climb it tends to get steeper as we go up but the view as we look down is amazingly breathtaking (see photo) and worth every ‘strenuous’ minute – that is what we are saying now. We continue scrambling up on all fours, which I found was easy, I felt like ‘cat woman’ and then eventually we reach the top - phew!!! We sit a while with others at the top and notice we have a looooong walk across the summit a gorgeous meadowland with flowers all over and a lovely mother ‘Ptarmigan and her chicks she has a red beak and the most amazing herringbone pattern feathers. We walk for a long time wondering when we descend but it just seems to gradually go down, and very slowly but the last portion is grueling, as we have to climb down very steep rocks for, it seemed like, forever. Our whole trip was 6 hours exactly we arrived back at 5:47pm after left at 11:45am. In essence we did it a lot quicker than many others as we are such ‘Hardy Hikers’ now hee hee (see photo of Carole on trail at end of narrative). We stopped to talked to a number of people along the way but no-one wanted to hear about JESUS and didn’t respond to anything we said of HIM. By the time we reached the bottom Terry and I wobble across the parking lot to our car and fall in it and sit in the hot sun with our mouths open and feet throbbing – help! We finally get ourselves together and drive to the little village ‘Rocky Harbor’ and get a cup of coffee and talk to the ladies there. One lady is telling me that she sees ghosts in this little village that she sees them so clear that she describes what they are wearing, they all agreed that they have heard one or two. We discussed how some people are more sensitive to this kind of thing and that I can tell many stories of seeing many things but that was before I became a Christian and since then the LORD gives me knowledge and some understanding and sometimes prophecies, I told her to give it all to JESUS and seek HIS face and see what HE does with her gift, she seemed to understand and accept the notion. Terry and I take our coffee over to a bench on the ocean and watch the boats come and go while we sip our coffee and thank JESUS for all HE gives us. After our dinner at the campsite we drive back to ‘Rocky Harbor’ and go on the most amazing walk the ‘Coastal Trail’. It is about 7:15 pm and the sun is hot and the sky is amazing. People are fly-fishing in the river that runs fast over large pebble rocks creating white surf as the water hits them. The sun is beginning to slowly descend in the sky and as we pass the fisherman (and fisher-ladies) and walk along the grassy path we see the gulls congregating in one area it is the end of a busy beautiful day for them also and as the last one or two fly in to the coop we notice part of a rainbow like a prism in evening sky – HE is here and watching over all creation. The grassy trail that is carved alongside the ocean brings us to patches of blue Iris’s they are drinking in their last dose of sun for the day while the white daisies begin to turn their heads downward getting ready for the cooler night air. A beautiful fishing village where turquoise blue, red and green fishing huts sit on the harbor it is much like Norse Land with the fishing boats and sleepy harbor and blue glassy ocean (see photo). Terry and I drive across to the other side of the bay and while Terry is waiting for the sun to set to get a photo to show you all we witness an incredible sunset – there is fire in the sky (see photo at end of narrative). We put on a classical c.d, it is dusk and as we sit in the car by the ocean watching the evening sun once again dance on the calm, peaceful water and the gulls on this side of bay are still taking their last bite of supper as they fly in rhythm to the music adding their voices to the sound effects -- spectacular. A beautiful day comes to an end and we are more than thankful to our GOD who made all of this for you and me.
Tuesday 07/20/10 We awake with light rain tapping on the fortress but this cannot stop us as we have a boat trip planned for today. We go down to Rocky Harbor (see photo at end of narrative) to buy the tickets for the trip and the forecast is rain but I am saying it will clear, my cup always being half full to overflowing. It is a 1.5 mile walk through the open bog land to get to the ferry and we walk under what we believe is blue sky it is creeping in behind us pushing the dark clouds away – yes! When we arrive at the ferry dock it is rather crowded and surprisingly over 100 people get on the boat. They canceled the 10am boat due to very stormy weather and three hours later the sun is finally showing up. The ferry starts up and plods across the pond, we are on the topless deck upstairs sitting with many others chatting and listening to the history of ‘Western Brook Pond’. A fresh water pond 500+ feet deep and as clean and clear as you can imagine. It does not conduct electricity and has no minerals in it so the plant life is nil and no fish live in this pond, hence, no food for eagles or other large birds. The pond carves its way through very large tree filled cliffs (see photo) and we look up about 2000feet to see the many waterfalls carving their way down the craggy rocks, some bigger than others. The waterfalls are many in the spring and during summer they dry up so daily this landscape changes. The trip lasts about 2 hours and we meet many all are wonderful friendly fun loving people with no interest in JESUS at all. By the time we walked back to our car it is at least 4:30pm and the sun is shining brightly so we take another couple of short hikes to the beach and it is beautiful, a lady was picking the local berry that they eat here and she gives us some as we pass by, so friendly. We’ve promised to go and see Lewis Shears tonight so after we eat we pick up some berry pie and ice cream and we go to Lewis’ house in Rocky Harbor. We spend the night with Lewis talking and listening to some information on the translations of the Bible which I am going to be doing some research on. Just before 11am we say farewell to lovely Lewis and tell him that we will keep in contact he is a great companion. Our day is over once again and we are so very thankful for all that the LORD does for us and in and through us, we pray for all that we meet and we ask to be used for HIS Glory.
