Maxwell Family Blog » Travel

Savannah, The Final Conference For This Trip

Sarah — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:36:14 +0000

As we drove into the church parking lot, our coordinator and her son came out with a “Welcome, Maxwell Family” sign. It was a true labor of love. How special! Set up went fast, since we had a lot of help. We were also grateful to have the bus back again.

Dinner was provided by the coordinator and two other ladies. The tables were decorated in an autumn theme. Baked ziti, salad, bread, and dessert—all were delicious.

We were also given several gifts: the coordinator’s family gave individual gift bags to each of us, including Nathan and Christopher’s family. The items included were so sweet! Another family gave us a “Columbia dinner in a box” (more on that later). The Australian family gifted us with two items from their country, and another family gave us an attractive jar of layered cookie ingredients. A young lady gave Anna, Mary, and I tatted bookmarks–so pretty. You all were very thoughtful.

Once again, it was the perfect size crowd for the facility the Lord gave us. This time, there were two families who drove more the the customary longest distance for each conference. We had a family from Australia and another from California, although they were both on trips, so they didn’t come directly from those places. To make it more interesting, the Australian family told the Californian family about the conference when they happened to meet in Williamsburg. The CA family had not been aware of our ministry before that. Friday night, there were three RVs in the lot: ours and the Australia and California families’.

The young ladies were an attentive group, and several of them gathered around Anna to talk to her after the first session. It was really sweet! Parents seemed especially engaged during the courtship session. I love hearing Dad talk–he shares in such a captivating and practical way.

A number of families had attended at least one other conference. A special joy for Mom was to meet one of her test moms for Sweet Journey.

We are grateful for each one of our coordinators who set up their conference and invested in it with their time. I think of Philippians 4:17. “Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.” The labor of love they have given bears eternal fruit in the lives of those who come.

Love,
Sarah

Set up.

Joseph and John

The contents of my bag.

Jesse and Mom Saturday morning. I love going into a church early, when all is quiet, and putting the finishing touches on set up. One thing I do is hang signs to direct people for where to go.

Eden and Gracie--sweet sisters!

Another set of sweet sisters! Thank y'all for letting me take your picture. We enjoyed seeing you again!

The Australian Family

The Californian Family

We had great pack out help! Thank you to all the young people who lent their aid.

Praying before we left the area.

“And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go” (1 Corinthians 16:6).

We’re Home

Sarah — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:35:57 +0000

We’re back, arriving before 8 p.m. We covered a lot of miles today, and we’re grateful for the safety.

More later!

Love,
Sarah

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1).

Several Hours from Home

Sarah — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:07:09 +0000

It has been a beautiful day for a drive. The autumn leaves are pretty, the temperatures pleasant, and the company in the bus delightful.

After we passed St. Louis, we saw a reader board that said there was an accident on the interstate we would soon be on, and the left lane was closed, west bound.

As traffic slowed to a crawl, we observed a helicopter, and we guessed it was Lifeflight. A little later, an ambulance went by with lights and sirens. We prayed for those affected by the accident. It looked to be a serious one.

We will be home about 8 p.m. tonight, unless we hit another slow down. Thank you for praying!

Love,
Sarah

“Man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?”
(Proverbs 20:24).

Driving

Sarah — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:37:20 +0000

We left about 8:15 EDT, and Lord willing, we are planning to be home tonight. It looks like we currently have 608 miles left.

We’re outside of Nashville at the moment.

Love,
Sarah

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalms 19:1).

Kansas Bound!

Sarah — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 02:12:35 +0000

It is a cool evening, and I’m in the back of the bus, typing this post as we drive. It’s dark, and there has been a fair amount of traffic, but we made it safely through Atlanta. We wanted to get several hours down the road tonight.

Our hearts are full of gratefulness to the Lord for all He has done these past four weeks. It has been a journey, but the fruit in the lives of families has been worth it.

We will likely be home, Lord willing, late Sunday evening.

Thank you all for praying for us. Truly, we have needed each of your prayers and have felt them too!

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the weekend, but we’ll do a full report later.

Love,
Sarah

Dinner Friday evening.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalms 100:4).

Pictures

Sarah — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:29:27 +0000

We arrived here in the Savannah area Wednesday afternoon. As we drove up from Florida, we could feel the temperatures were dropping. By the evening, it felt cool. Ahhh. Autumn weather again!

We parked at a family’s house, who had invited us to stay with them for a few days. It’s been a blessing to fellowship. The L. family has attended many conferences throughout the last few years, and it is a joy to see them each time. In addition, we have been able to catch up on things we’ve needed to do.

We are looking forward to our final conference for this trip: Savannah!

Blessings,
Sarah

Helping in the kitchen.

Bible time

Some of us exercised with their family.

We've had delicious meals and fellowship.

Joseph gave guitar lesson to several of the children.

Another family joined us last night for Bible time and s'mores.

Young and "old" alike enjoy s'mores.

“For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:5).

Palm Coast Report

Sarah — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:23:51 +0000

We arrived at the church around 5 p.m. The coordinator’s husband came early to help us get set up, and the church also had someone there, so it was easy! We felt welcome, and we enjoyed talking while we worked through details and set up sound and book tables. The group began arriving early, which is always nice as it helps when most are there at starting time. It seemed we had more younger children than normal, so that presented a few challenges, but we managed. I think the Hearts session was a little shocking to some, but they were grateful for it, as evidenced afterward through conversation with us. The issue of keeping children’s hearts is the most important subject parents will face, but yet so many just float along with what everyone else is doing.

Floating along with what is comfortable is easy, but I am forever grateful to my parents for those hard decisions they have made throughout the years–decisions that go against the “flow.”

Love,
Sarah

Without the bus, Mom came inside to do things on her computer.

“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (Luke 9:25).

Back “Home”

Sarah — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:17:02 +0000

In Uriah, that is! When we pulled up to the bus this morning, our hearts were full of gratefulness. There is truly no place like home, and I hadn’t realized how much Uriah felt like home until we were “on-the-road-away-from-him” for a week. Wow!

This morning, Joseph and John left the hotel at 6:45 to make it to the shop and unload the truck before we came. We left at 7:30, and as we neared Ocala, we found out that the shop was waiting on a final part (for those technically minded, it was the transmission fill tube) to arrive via UPS. Thus ensued an interesting time as we tried to flag down a UPS driver, who ended up not having the package, and then we found a UPS distribution center. Anyway, I’ll spare you the story. Good news? We ended up getting the package. Bad news? It was the wrong part. They sent the dipstick and not the fill tube. They were able to temporarily get the old fill tube to work (we will replace it once we get home), so a little after noon, we took the bus on a test drive. We were so grateful that it drove well. It now shifts so smooth we can hardly tell it is shifting.

We were excited to be on our way again! We are stopped at an RV park near Lake City, Florida. It was a short night last night, and we are looking forward to getting caught up on rest and being refreshed for the final conference in Savannah this weekend.

Love,
Sarah

We did an unload "blitz"--long story, but we had to unload quickly.

BTW - those aren't Jesse's pillows.

Because we had to do a quick unload, the cabin was quite full initially.

We had a delicious dinner of chicken fajitas tonight.

“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

Misc. Pictures

Sarah — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:32:41 +0000

We packed out of the river house yesterday morning. We were so grateful for the use of it this past week. What a blessing.

Last night’s conference went well. We’ll have a report later. We’re headed to Ocala now for the bus, praising the Lord that the transmission came in yesterday and looked really good. We’re also praying that as it’s finished this morning, everything will be running properly.

Love,
Sarah

When I was working on yesterday's blog post, two sets of manatees floated down the river, and I got distracted.

Temporarily back to the days of hotels and carts. It just creates an even greater appreciation for Uriah.

Mailing postcards.

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

Orlando’s Conference

Sarah — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:57:10 +0000

I am sitting at the dining room table in the river house marveling at all the Lord has done this past week. Only one week ago, we were motoring along the interstate, hitting heavy traffic, slow downs, and rain. The Lord used those tire alarms to get us off the busy interstate and direct us to the repair shop. The transmission is to arrive at the shop tomorrow (likely morning), and then we should be able to pick up the bus on Tuesday, Lord willing.

We spent the weekend in Orlando with the conference and came back to the river house last night.

We clearly saw the Lord’s hand working throughout the conference. Set up went just fine, considering the unloading process was different with the van and truck. A sweet widow from the church made us a delicious dinner of lasagna—and it was an extra special blessing since we’re without a “kitchen.” Friday night’s music and the Building a Vision session ran smoothly. A highlight for me was meeting Annie, a sweet young lady who gave me a bookmark she had cross-stitched. It was precious.

When the sessions were through and after we had talked with several families, we headed for our hotel. Since we were going back to the river house after the conference on Saturday, we had packed light in order to make it easier to load in and out of the hotel for just one night. We were grateful for God’s provision of the rooms.

When we began Friday evening, hearts didn’t seem too open. But as each session progressed, hearts were softened, and the Lord was doing a mighty work! It was exciting to see.

Young people also told us that they were blessed by their sessions. I think the newest one, A Necessary Skill for Life, is having a big impact in young people’s lives.

Lunch was catered in for only $5 per person by Chick-Fil-A and was very tasty. Eat mor chikin! Right?!

We truly are grateful for those of you who are standing by us in prayer. We need your prayers, and we feel them. Thank you!

We look forward to Palm Coast Monday night. Palm Coast is outside of St. Augustine.

Love,
Sarah

Practicing Friday afternoon.

The sweet ladies who made our dinner.

It was different preparing for the conference without the bus.

Annie and I.

At the hotel.

The guys

Talking after a session.

A little girl gave Anna a picture.

Talking.

Little two-year-old Anna helped with the pack out process.

Mom

Emily helped too.

“For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth forever. Praise ye the LORD.” Psalms 117:2