For many months now, our family has been having a weekly prayer time on Sunday evenings. It usually takes an hour to go around the room as we pour our hearts out to the Lord. Recently, Mom began keeping a journal on her computer of what the prayer needs were. She reads whatever the requests had been the week before, and then we discuss what the answers are that we’ve seen. Then, we share new requests. Amazingly, week after week, we see answer after answer filling in. It has opened my eyes to how many things the Lord has answered, and how ungrateful I’ve been in the past!

Are you aware of all the Lord is doing in your life? If not, maybe you would be blessed to begin a family prayer journal! I remember one request heavy on all our hearts Sunday night, and the Lord answered it quickly. Praise the Lord!

We did have another stop just confirmed yesterday, Crawfordville, Florida, for Tuesday, September 21st. Crawfordville is about 30 minutes south of Tallahassee. We have another stop possibly pending as well.

And yes, what’s a blog post without pictures? Those middle-of-the-night driving-through-the-night, though, are the ones I can’t quite get a good picture. We had an old, dead tree fall over this morning, so Jesse and Joseph took care of it. It was Jesse’s first time with the chainsaw.

Sarah

“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. 90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth” (Psalms 119:89-90).

Jesse

Joseph

A powerful tool

Life is staying at a high-paced speed for us at the Maxwell house. As our trip-counter ticks down, again, we don’t need to consult the calendar to know it’s quickly approaching. The number of “trials” happening remind of us the unseen spiritual battle in progress. We would be very grateful for your prayers as we prepare for this next trip. May Jesus be glorified in everything!

On the bright side, we’ve continued to add new stops to the trip, with the latest new additions being–

• September 13th, Wichita Falls
• September 14th, Oklahoma City, OK
• October 7th, Dixon, Illinois

To view the whole trip, click here.

Here are a few pictures of this past week.

The generator was not cooling adequately when running the a/c's and driving. We need to try to improve that since we are heading south and it is still very warm there.

No, Dad's not painting the bus, rather, he's preparing it for a new windshield. Lots of dish soap to help the new windshield slide in better.

Very messy "painting" the soap.

We noticed the windshield on the driver's side was cracked earlier in the week, and it hadn't been that way while driving. It obviously happened after we were home. It's called a "stress" crack when the forces in the bus alone cause the crack.

Holding on to that windshield! Praise the Lord we are actually getting faster replacing them and we didn't break it putting it in. We did learn that the earlier ones we had trouble installing were defective as they were slightly larger than they were supposed to be.

Working with the dashboard. The year-old sun visors began having problems on the last trip and the replacements meant a change in wiring. We found the problem one week before the warranty expired. Thank You, Lord. Normally, it is one week after the warranty expired. (smile)

Sewing--oh yes! Lots and lots of sewing as Mom, Anna, and Mary work on bridesmaids dresses.

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” ( 1 Peter 1:7).

Now that we’re back home we have enjoyed seeing Nathan, Melanie, and the girls! Things are busy as we unpack, but we have found a few moments here and there to run over for some Abby and Bethany time! Bethany is so cute and of course everyone loves their turns holding her. Abigail is growing fast and is now a little chatterbox. She scampers here and there talking about the bus and going by-by or whatever else she finds interesting at that time. She is also very happy that we are home for a little while.

How sweet!

We really missed Abby!

Bethany and her Mommy!

Aunt Sarah and Bethany

Aunt Mary and Bethany

Snuggled close!

In Christ,
Anna

“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

It’s now 11 p.m., and we’re still driving . Dad felt led to continue on tonight, so that’s what we’re doing. John is sleeping so that he can drive when Dad get’s too tired. Having 2 drivers is very nice! We would appreciate prayer as we travel through the night, with an estimated arrival time back home around 7 a.m.

Sarah

“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler” (Psalms 91:4).

Anna, CathyJo, Sarah, and Mary

On Thursday, our friends took us to a little “city” up in the Owyhee Mountains. Dad and Christopher stayed behind (sadly, Dad would have enjoyed coming, but working on his sessions took top priority).

You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. The surrounding countryside, covered with trees (including aspen), the mountains, the crisp blue skies with puffy clouds were just like Colorado. Thank You, Lord!

An old abandoned house!

Taking a break on our way up to Silver City, and we did some photos. Here's a running shot.

Entering Silver City, Idaho

Part of the town

Anna and Mary

The little town has a working hotel, with no electricity .

An old barn.

A picture-perfect day (truly!)

Looking inside the drugstore, which is being worked on. The only two buildings open to the public are the hotel/restaurant and a small gift shop.

Signs of the past...

Picture time.

Because of how much snow they receive in the winter, the buildings are struggling.

Situated on a mountain side.

My other buddy photographer .

The school building

The guys had hiked up a little ways, and then they called down and asked if they were at the top yet. Mr. D. was calling back...

At one point, the guys had stopped, so with my zoom lens, I was able to take their picture.

Mrs. D. and I had fun with pictures (she loves to take them), so we did a little off-trail hiking for pictures while we waited for the guys to come back.

Three Maxwell Brothers

Our view on the way back down.

We’ll be reporting on the conference in the next day or two!

Sarah

“Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all” (1 Chronicles 29:11).

We drove through beautiful Wyoming today, up through Utah, and finally into Idaho. I requested a stop earlier this afternoon to be able to take pictures of the family, and Dad remembered we were close to a place we had stopped at about five years ago. We had walked to the top of a hill, which was very scenic.

The drive has gone well yesterday and today. We did stay the night in Cheyenne, and we woke up to mist/fog. We began our driving around 7, with an estimated arrival in the Boise area around 7 tonight. Wednesday afternoon, Dad has a radio interview in Boise about the conference, and we’ll be staying at a family’s house in the meantime.

Thank you for praying for us .

Sarah

The guys raced up the hill (twice), and we took pictures at the top.

Taking pictures.

Running!

Jesse

The Girls

Jesse doing an "in air" pushup--not an easy thing.

Anna

The soon-to-be groom

Another guy photo.

Sarah

Joseph

“O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth” (Psalms 96:9).

Bethany

Abby was first introduced to Bethany Saturday morning during a video chat. Abby heard Bethany before they brought the baby into view on the screen.

Wonder... Amazement... The Baby is Here!

Aunt Mary and Abby made a welcome sign, and here Abby's posing with it. She was anxiously awaiting Daddy and Mommy's arrival.

The top most thing on Abby's mind was holding Bethany, and hold her she did.

Grandpa

Grandma

Uncle Christopher

Aunt Sarah

Uncle Joseph

Uncle John

Aunt Anna

Uncle Jesse

Aunt Mary

Sarah for the rest

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children” (Psalms 103:17).

The bus work has been in full swing this week.

A big job has been the lock on the door. We’ve been having great trouble with it, so much so that you literally had to slam yourself against the door to apply pressure and then lock it. I was always glad when a strong brother was round to help! Dad’s been praying about a good solution, as it wasn’t as easy as “1-2-3 install a new lock”! Here it is in varying stages.

Working on the door.

Dad

Working with lock.

It's almost done!

John persevered through many challenges with the bus this week, and everything is put back together, and the bus is running well! Good job, John!

Joseph worked on several finishing projects inside the bus, including a tile backsplash on the counter.

Helping Joseph with the backsplash.

Sarah for the rest of the Maxwells