Well, friends, it’s been a year. One year of crazy-driving, blogging, speaking, couch-crashing, hobo fun. When I started this ministry a year ago, I figured that I’d live out of my car for a month or two before settling down. But the longer I do this, the more I feel like this might be a long-term thing. The Lord doesn’t seem to like it when I plan, so I have no idea what “long term” means, but…well, a while.
So what have I done this year?
- Taken up permanent residence in my car
- Started a Facebook page and a Twitter account
- Gotten a cell phone
- Visited 37 states (should be up to at least 44 by the end of the summer–New England, here I come!)
- Spoken in 14 states
- Put 30,000 miles on my car
- Spoken to thousands of people from age 3 to 97
- Done one-on-one ministry with dozens of people
- Written 128 blog posts
- Had 215,000 page views
- Racked up 500 likes on my Facebook page
- Done a whole lot of discerning
- Stayed with dozens of friends and strangers who became friends
- Taken a break to help my sister with her million babies
- Ignored trolls
- Persevered through a lot of boring prayer
- Walked in both (American) oceans and the Gulf of Mexico
- Gone from the Redwood forest to the Gulf Sea waters
- Had more than my fair share of car trouble
- Been shocked by the generosity of God’s people
- Learned to accept generosity
- Given plenty of talks that were so Spirit-led I wanted to stop and ask someone to record them just so I could listen and learn later
- Fallen flat and remembered that it’s not about me
- Made people cry
- Made people angry
- Begun to realize that whatever I might believe about myself, nobody else thinks I’m needy and self-obsessed
- Felt absolutely wanted
- Felt completely disregarded
- Been terrified but hopeful1
- Made plans 6 months in advance
- Given a talk with 10 seconds notice
- Changed the topic of my talk five minutes in
- Been recognized by a stranger
- Been on the radio
- Been nominated for an award
- Driven 12-hour-days without batting an eye
- Experienced Providence at work every single day–in crazy ways
- Spent January in Virginia, Georgia, Hawaii, and Florida
- Spent February in Indiana and northern Ohio
- Seen snow in May
- Almost passed out from heat exhaustion a week later
- Gotten 3 new nieces
- Had so much work to do I’m exhausted
- Had so little work to do I’m bored out of my mind
- Tried and tried and tried to trust and let Him lead
Thank you to everyone who’s invited me to speak or shared my blog or commented or liked a post or followed me on Facebook or slipped some money into my hand or thanked me for speaking or shared your heart with me or prayed for me or prayed with me for others or loved and supported me in any way. If I didn’t have y’all supporting me, I couldn’t do anything. God is using you and your openness and kindness and generosity to do (I hope) good work in this world. Thank you.
And now, a little slide show of highlights from this year:
And a million other things I forgot to take pictures of. Keep on praying for me, friends!
- For those who are wondering, John’s out of the ICU and in a neurological rehab facility. His parents are optimistic and there have been plenty of miracles but not (yet) the miracle of a full recovery–or even of speech. Please keep praying. [↩]
The comments section ate my former post about New England so I will just say first, congratulations and second I grew up in RI and MA so let me know when you are headed east and I will give you rejigious abd hospitality contacts if you want or need….
What a fun-tastic year!! I’ve enjoyed traveling the country vicariously through you!
Rabia @ TheLiebers recently posted…Five Minute Friday: Imagine
It makes you wonder why we ever try to plan in the first place. Looks like God did a great job 😉
Jenna@CallHerHappy recently posted…7QT: If you can’t tell I’m a SAHM after this…
I really enjoy reading what you are doing. I like when people support their beliefs in a nice way and not a let’s shove it down your throat you are going to hell if you don’t believe way.
I also like that you feel moved to keep doing this (it sounds quite fun actually) if for no other reason than I hope you make it back to Sin City 🙂
Dy-Anne recently posted…Answers from an Atheist Part 3
Happy Anniversary! What a year you’ve had! I really enjoyed your talk when you were here at Ft. Leavenworth. Hopefully God keeps you on this ministry so I can get a chance to hear you speak again.
Congratulations, and happy anniversary! So thrilled to be along with you for the journey.
Congratulations! May God bless you as you continue to touch lives! Thanks for sharing with us at Joint Base Lewis McChord. You truly have touched many lives!