Since we arrived home around noon, we had plenty of time to unload and settle in. Our hearts are still full of gratefulness to the Lord for the fruit He brought forth over these last three weeks. We are all settling back into life again, with each person having various projects and tasks to accomplish.

Notice how one has to step aside to let another pass? Normal life in the bus!

It depends on the person on how one wants to carry all one's things from the bus. You can either take it in armloads, find yourself a plastic tub, grab a laundry basket, or be creative!

Anna unloading the fridge.

Dad collecting up things from his area.

Mary is one who uses her luggage bag to bring everything in. Ah, the days where we carted everything into hotels via our bags!

You can guess Jesse's preferred method.

I opted for a laundry basket to bring a load of food in.

Carter and Tyler--see all those bugs on the bus again? Jesse will wish for your help when he washes it this weekend.

Taking sheets off beds.

Anna sorting the mail.

Sarah for the rest

“Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds” (Psalms 36:5).

It’s been an uneventful driving day, with sunny, blue skies, pretty scenery, and a nice breeze blowing through the bus. But, by 2:30, it was time to turn on the air conditioners, as inside the bus was becoming quite warm. After stopping for diesel somewhere in Ohio, we motored along again. But, we heard a strange noise coming from one of the air conditioners. Joseph and Jesse began investigating, pulling down the vent to see if anything was visibly caught. They saw nothing, so it was possibly some slight piece of plastic from the manufacturing process that wasn’t removed. But, now, it’s quiet. Nice.

You never know what might happen!

Sarah

“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him” (2 Samuel 22:31).

We were able to spend a little over twenty-four hours at a dear family’s house! We first met them when they attended one of our weekend conferences in Colorado as they were traveling from California back home to New Hampshire. During our time with them on this trip, our friends blessed us greatly through their loving care of us. We are refreshed for our weekend of ministry. We also got the bus washed, laundry done, exercising, and a grocery shopping trip squeezed in. We had very sweet fellowship with our friends. Here is a little glimpse into our time with them.

Christopher and Tyler

Tyler and Carter washing Uriah with Jesse.

Friends

Laundry

The girls–plus one little boy!

Dad enjoyed showing little Parker the bus.

Look at that smile!

Meal time!

“For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother” (Philemon 1:7).

The Lord provided us a beautiful, quiet place to park tonight! As we pulled into the town of Delafield, with the original intention to park at the Wal-Mart, we saw a pretty lake, and we thought it’d be a good place to take a walk. Instead of finding that lake, we ended up at a lush-green park.

We pulled into the tree-lined park with caution, and John and Jesse gave the “all-clear” as Dad slowly drove through a row of  low trees.

It was decided we would stay here (after we did some shopping) for the night. The park ranger helped us find a place to park, and we’re excited about this great place the Lord provided for us. We’ll be headed to the Wisconsin CHEA convention tomorrow afternoon for set up!

Good ole' Uriah!

Sarah for the rest

“And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:12).

Abigail really likes ducks (and geese). We thought of her when we saw a family of geese at the New Jersey convention parking lot!

The family of geese were waddling across the parking lot. One little guy was lagging behind a bit.

The reason he was lagging behind? He had an itch. And every now and then he stopped to scratch. I missed the ideal moment on the scratch, but was close.

As they crossed a grassy area the goslings became excited.

They had caught sight of a puddle...

They all took drinks, and some even got in the water for a little swim.

After the swim was finished they got out of the water to look for bugs in the grass. Dad was moving Uriah from the loading area to the parking area at that time.

After a few minutes they waddled back across the parking lot. Some young boys came out to chase them, but wisely stopped moments before the parent geese charged them. The geese then went off into the trees where there were some waterways.

Christopher

“Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings” (Psalms 17:8).

Our driving day went well yesterday–it was mostly overcast, but we stayed ahead of the storm. A little after 4, we thought we’d stop for the night so we had time for exercise/dinner/Bible time/projects. It was a rather full, small Wal-Mart parking lot, and Dad decided we’d move on around 6:30. So, we drove another hour, and this time we came to a scenic Wal-Mart on the top of the hill with a pretty view (very nice, a room with a view).

We had a good night’s rest, and we were off around 8. Set up for the convention will be this afternoon, and we’re looking forward to what the Lord has in store this weekend at the ENOCH convention!

Sarah

One thing we noticed in parts of Ohio and then into Pennsylvania, was spring was just starting! See the brown clearly visible in the trees?

Anna made us a delicious beef stroganoff with rice for dinner. It smelled good all afternoon!

We saw a man walking his German Shepherd in the first W-M parking lot, and after chatting, we found out he had three. Here's John with the mama dog: she's due in about 6 days! Abby, you'll enjoy this picture!

“Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope” (Acts 2:26).

We’re on our next-to-last post on the unposted pictures. I marvel as I look back over the pictures and all the Lord brought us through. Several things that I want to praise the Lord for:

• The Lord’s protection over the bus. We have to get into some very tight, tight areas, and never has the bus become stuck or Daddy not been able to get the bus out of an area.
• The “small” answered prayers. We were supposed to park the bus at a family’s home near Federal Way, but as we approached the driveway, we could see there was no way the bus could manage the driveway with the low tree branches. We had been looking forward to spending time at this family’s home, and one small detail was going to be catching up on laundry! The gracious family also offered us their Suburban to use if we needed it. It ended up that we drove back to the church to park (with the church’s permission), and then the next morning, Dad dropped part of the family off at a laundromat, and the rest of us went to run a needed errand.
• We made it semi-uneventfully through the border! It had been a busy week, and I was still working on our border paperwork as we drove to the border late that Thursday evening. Jesse put on a head lamp and very kindly helped work through it, and with the curvy roads and the late night, my stomach wasn’t feeling well, so it was such a blessing to have his help! Even though the bus was given a thorough search (sorry, no pictures of that!), my paperwork went through great, and we were on our way around 3 a.m.–one tired bunch of Maxwells!
• Our time in Canada was so blessed. Hearts were very open and receptive to what was shared, and from what we’ve heard, lives will never be the same again. Praise the Lord! We felt very welcome there!
• Mary became sick with the flu that Sunday, and our minds drifted to what would happen if we all came down with it. Truly, it was a miracle, and thank YOU all for praying–no one else got it! And, you know in the small, enclosed space we’re in, that REALLY was a miracle.
• A family in Canada let us park our bus at their house, and it was delightful to have internet access, laundry, and a beautiful view!
• As a special treat, the Lord allowed us to see the dolphins on our ferry ride back. Yes, our Lord cares about even the small details.

We've gone down some steep grades, but we were shocked to see a grade that said 15% right near the church we spoke at in Port Orchard. We thought about driving down the hill, but we decided not to.

Beautiful.

Transferring boxes from the Suburban to the bus. We had boxes shipped ahead to the family's house we ended up not being able to park at.

We generally can go about three days between water fill ups. Here's how the water process work. John hooks up a hose to a faucet.

And hooks the other end into the tank!

We see lots of moms with their little ones in front packs or strollers...

Jesse does a wonderful job at the door, directing people where to go!

Late-night work on border papers...

The church where our conference was held in Abbotsford, BC.

Jesse and Anna doing the book tables.

On the island...

At the church we sang at that Sunday evening, they had some of the names of God on their stage; it was beautiful.

Half of the family went hiking Monday morning in Sydney, and from the pictures and their descriptions, it was gorgeous!

Pondering?

Mom was always our great navigator on the trip!

The fairgrounds, where our Monday evening conference was held.

This was a picture from the ferry the morning we left to cross back to the mainland.

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalms 8:3-4).

Sundays come fast, and thus it’s time for week #3 in unposted pictures.

Several blessings from that week:

• Although we were in the midst of heavy, heavy rain, we had no major leaks. The bays where all the books were stayed dry, and the inside of the bus, except for a door leak, also stayed dry. We didn’t experience the high winds that had been forecasted, which was a blessing.
• We did our first Wednesday evening service, with only a day’s notice, and it was incredible. What a joy to share that way!
• We were able to make it to Sacramento over the Grapevine! I remember standing at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and hearing from Mom that the pass was closed. How we were going to make it, was the question? The Lord has proven Himself faithful time and time again, so it was only a matter of “how” not “if”. Sure enough, we were able to make it over the pass that evening, and shortly after that, it was closed again.
• We crossed another mountain range going to Carson City with no problems through the famous Donner Pass. Even though up to 3 inches of snow had been predicted for Carson City Monday night, there was no measurable amount, and people came despite the predictions. Another “praise the Lord”!

Dad, on that Wednesday evening service.

Our great banjo player!

This picture doesn't do the view justice, as we drove up to the library, but even with the rain, the lush green valleys were gorgeous.

One interesting thing: as we drove up the winding road to the library, on each side of the road, were these signs about each different president, along with the years they served.

At one point, we looked outside of the library, and we could see Uriah. You'll want to click into the picture to see it bigger, but can you spot him?

We all enjoyed the tour of Air Force One.

Three of my brothers.

Mary and I

Talking...

Young ladies who enjoy the Moody books.

Chatting...

I saw this truck when we were leaving the place we parked after coming out of the Grapevinew. Must be a ton of carrots!

"Jesse, my boy, do you need some help bringing things in?"

"Okay, Jesse, I'll help. You can ride."

Setting up for the Sacramento conference.

Singing Friday evening.

Anna, Jesse, and Mary do a great job running the book tables. Sometimes it can get hectic, but they are wonderful at keeping up.

Christopher sharing with the young people and children.

Mom sharing with the ladies.

Driving to Carson City.

Going to tune up!

This is actually a unique shot. We are facing reflective glass, which looked like a mirror, at the back of the sanctuary. This time, I was able to be in the photo!

Mom

“For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me” (Psalms 31:3).