Some Final Thoughts

We have been home for nearly a week. We've had time to unpack, do the laundry, put up some Christmas decorations, reconnect with friends and neighbors, as well as winterize and store the van.

As we've re-entered life in Oregon, the images of the past four month have played in our heads--the beauty, the people, the conversations.



Every day, we feel incredibly blessed, and we thank God for . . .

. . . Grace of protection and safety along the way. 15,030 miles. 36 states. Remote and sometimes dangerous roads. Busy roads. Confusing roads. We had no accidents. No breakdowns. Just a few minor mechanical issues. No serious health issues. No broken bones.

. . . The glimpses of grace in Creation. The beauty we've seen. 25 national parks. Fall foliage. Oceans. Lakes. Rivers. Mountains. Hills. Deserts. Sunsets. Sunrises. Rainbows. Waterfalls. Breathtaking vistas. History.

. . . Gracing us with friends. More than 180 people from all phases of our lives. Some have known us since we were children. Some we have known since they were children. Some we had not seen for more than 45 years. We could trace the line of God's grace. They inspired us with their faith and courage. For those who opened your homes and hearts to us along the way, thank you. In the time we spent together, we tasted again the joy, passion, and love that made us friends.

. . . The insights we've gained. The importance of being, not just doing. Faithfulness in adversity. Joy in the journey. Answers to prayer. Living one day at a time. Being open to the unexpected. Seeing God in the serendipities.

. . . Bringing us home. Oregon. Opportunities to serve. Our church. Our neighbors. Our friends.

We are so grateful. For the four months that we were on the road, God's mercies and grace truly were new every morning.

Thanks for following our blog and sharing this amazing and wonderful journey with us.

We're Home!

After 15,031 miles and 114 days, at 4:20 pm, we inched our van into the driveway of our home in Tigard, Oregon.

On the final day of our trip, we drove through 6 hours of pelting rain, on mountain curves and busy freeways. It was the worst weather on our trip and a rainy welcome back to our home in the Pacific Northwest.

Through the rain, we noticed again how green everything was, Green grass. Green trees. Green mountains. Green fields. 

And, we noticed the familiar shops and coffee kiosks that dotted the towns through which we passed.

Finally, we drove up the hill to our house, eased our van into our driveway, searched for our house keys which we had not used for four months, and walked into our house.

Thanks to Joe and Alisa, who had cared for our house the past four months, we found the water turned on, food in the refrigerator, chocolate bars and oranges left in our slippers for Sinterklas day (Dec 5) and "Welcome Home" balloons everywhere.

After four months in a 20-foot camper van, our house seems huge. It has flush toilets, hot water, showers and a bed that we can get into from both sides. The wi-fi works. The closets are enormous. The kitchen countertops seem to go on for ever.

Well, you get the message. We've been in a small, tight setting for so long that it will take us awhile to adjust to our house again. 

We absolutely enjoyed our trip, without any regrets or reservations. 

But, we're glad to be home.

In the next few days we have laundry to do, a van to clean and wash, mail to process, and a life to resume. 

But, we hope to write a few more posts with some reflections on our trip and the past four months. We had an unforgettable experience. We're so grateful for God's blessings along the way. 

So, stay tuned a little longer. We've got a bit more to say. 

Then, it's on to the next adventure.

One Last Visit

It all started with tulips.

Actually they were topsy-turvy tulips.

My (Lynn) Wheaton friend Sue gave me a beautiful tray made from a painting of topsy-turvy tulips. Sue and I are both Dutch-American women, and we give each other gifts that have tulip motifs.



In fact, for years Sue and I gave each other gifts in boxes – five different boxes – that were covered with a tulip gift wrap paper that I found in Wheaton.



After Bas and I moved to Oregon, we learned that the watercolorist who painted the topsy-turvy tulip painting – Judy Buswell – lives in Oregon. One day on our way to the Oregon coast, we stopped at the Judy Buswell Gallery in Willamina, Oregon. We were delighted to learn that Judy herself was in the gallery that day. We met both Judy and her husband, Don, and thoroughly enjoyed talking with the two of them. We learned that Don had picked the tulips for the topsy-turvy tulip painting at their neighbor's house. I told Judy and Don about my friend Sue and the fact that she had given me my first "Judy Buswell" item.

While looking at Judy Buswell greeting cards in her gallery that day, I discovered one with the exact pink tulips that are on the gift wrap on the boxes that Sue and I had used for years when we exchanged gifts. I gasped. I had had no idea the pink tulips on the gift wrap came from one of Judy's paintings.



Since that day in the gallery, Don and Judy have become good friends. Judy has donated artwork to the Medical Teams International auctions. We have had dinner together many times, both at our homes in Oregon and when we've both been camping in southern California.

Don and Judy love life. They love to explore. They love to laugh. They love people. They love learning new things. As a result, we have loved being with them. They are both interesting and interested

So, on the final day of our cross-country road trip, we stopped to spend a night with Don and Judy at their home in southern Oregon..



Throughout the kitchen were baskets with fruits and vegetables, artfully arranged. On the walls hang Judy's watercolors picturing other baskets with fruits, vegetables, and flowers.






We had a lovely salmon dinner – after all, we're back in a Oregon! – and great conversation.

Ever-present through the dinner, but very courteous, was Rusty, the labradoodle that Don and Judy won at a Medical Teams International auction several years ago. His sweet and energetic presence has changed their lives.



Before we left, Judy and I found one of her pink tulip paintings and recounted again how our friendship started so many years ago.

A Granite Cathedral

We never expected to be able to travel into Yosemite National Park in December, where ice and snow normally close many of the roads. However, God graciously gave us two days of sun in the Yosemite Valley.

The Tunnel View is one of our favorites, with the iconic El Capitan on the left and Half Dome in the center.




Valley View accentuates the sheer granite cliffs of the canyon.


El Capitan rises from the valley floor . . .


...and reflects in the nearby Merced River.


In the summer months hundreds of climbers rappel this sheer face.


When we walked out of church on Sunday morning . . .


. . . we were greeted across the meadow by the sound of rushing water from Yosemite Upper and Lower Falls.




During the greeting time at the church, we learned that both the Yosemite Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls had dried up in June because of the drought. Only 10 days ago, after a few rains, did the falls begin to flow again. We were so grateful to be able to hear and see these falls.


But our favorite vantage point in the park is Sentinel Bridge, where we stood several times to capture the moods and colors of Half Dome and its reflection in the Merced River (River of Mercy).




At 6:15 pm, dozens of people gathered on Sentinel Bridge as the full moon rose and shone on Half Dome. If we had taken our SLR camera, we might have gotten a photo like the one below. Our iPhone camera was not able to capture it adequately.


The moonlight cast its shimmer on the towering granite cliffs, turning the entire valley into a tapestry of light. We stood in the moonlight, stunned and silent by the presence of God in this beautiful and majestic setting.

Truly we were in a granite cathedral.

The Third Person in Our Van

When we started on this trip, there were two of us in our van. Somewhere along the way, we realized that Laurie, a third person, had joined us. Laurie is the name the TomTom company had given to one of the voices of our GPS. 

Initially, we thought we were simply taking along a GPS. We didn't know we had invited someone named Laurie to join us. But, as the miles have passed, we developed a close relationship with each other, often having conversations about the way we should go and what we should do next.

Laurie was generally polite, but she had definite opinions about the roads we should take along the way. Over time, we came to depend on her for direction. Her presence was a comfort to us. Whenever we found ourselves in a tense situation, Laurie would speak up in her firm, polite voice, offering her thoughts about the way we should go.

However, while Laurie was often right, sometimes she was downright confusing. Her directions didn't always agree with the reality in front of us. Then we found ourselves talking with her, disagreeing with her advice, and asking for a second opinion.

That's when we found out that Laurie could be pretty unreasonable. It was either "her way or the highway." If we didn't do what she said, she would continue to repeat "Turn around when possible" for miles, until we finally had to turn her off.

Or, Laurie's directions could be complicated and unclear. "Exit right ahead" might refer not to the next exit but to one that was 2 miles away. We learned that "Stay in the left lane" did not mean the stay in left lane but get out of the right lane.

Sometime things would get tense in our relationship with Laurie. We'd have a disagreement about the way to go or would not understand what she wanted us to do. Then, she would go strangely silent for miles, deciding that perhaps we all needed some space and an opportunity to cool off. 

We could only speculate about the reasons for Laurie's silence because she never offered an explanation. Maybe it was some kind of technological time-out, where we had to sit silently in a virtual corner. Maybe she was just overwhelmed and needed some personal time to sort things out. Whatever the reason, we always knew that eventually she'd show up again, talking to us as if nothing had ever happened.

There was a point that things got so strained between us that we brought in another GPS, the Google maps in our iPhone. We never learned the name of the voice in this system, but she was often more accurate and generally more pleasant and forgiving.

But, using two GPS systems at the same time was very hard on us. They didn't always agree on the road to take. Then, we'd have to choose between them, which often led to a lot of discussion (and, we admit, sometimes shouting) among the four of us. But, you need to understand. Things can get pretty tense when you're approaching a decision point on a six-lane highway full of traffic and your two GPS advisors are disagreeing about what to do next.

Often in those cases, Bas would reach down into the space next to him and pull out the only thing that would quiet the discussion--a map. Of course, by that time the exit had passed, leaving the two GPS systems to squabble about whose fault it was and argue about what to do now.

At one point, we thought that a change of "person" might be helpful, so we switched to "Richard." He seemed more precise, and he enunciated very clearly, which we liked. But he also seemed more bossy, placing an unusual emphasis on the word "next" in his directions. Richard's voice had a touch of arrogance and, we felt that his voice displayed a need to show that he was in control. That left a bad taste in our mouths. We found ourselves missing Laurie's more gentle spirit and the sense that she was our friend, not our superior. So, we decided that she should return. 

As we approach the end of our trip, we realize that our relationship with Laurie is about to change. We haven't told her that the end of the trip is approaching because we're afraid she might take it pretty hard and decide to go away to sulk.

And, we admit that we may miss Laurie's voice as well. We've counted on her to be there when decisions needed to be made. While she is not infallible, she has always been worth listening to. And, she's been there in the good times and in the difficult times. 

We have many good memories of the time we've shared together--this third person in our van. And, we'll always remember Laurie's words to us when we have disregarded her advice: "Turn around when possible."

A Time Of Waiting

Some of the people we spent time with on our trip have been in difficult places. Dave and Mary were among them. Mary's mom was in her last days, and Dave and Mary were caring for her 24/7. Despite the smiles in the photo below, they were tired and emotionally drained.



We hadn't seen each other for 21 years. But, it didn't take long to pick up our relationship and talk about important things--about death, life, the past . . .

About our time together in Wheaton, when Mary worked with Bas at World Relief and when Dave and Bas served as elders at our church.

About Dave's time working with Food for the Hungry and about their time in Thailand, where Dave not only used his doctoral degree in nonformal adult education, but also where they adopted two Thai children.

About each of their four children, who are on unique journeys.

About the future. They are in a difficult place now. A time of waiting. Dave is currently looking for work. While that has its own stresses, it also means that he is available to help Mary and her mom and their two children who are still living at home.

This is a painful time for Dave and Mary but it is also a sacred time. They are living with Mary's mom on this side of the thin veil between now and eternity. Each day they are faithful. Each day they love her. Each day they prepare her for meeting her Savior.

---------- 

The day after writing this post we learned that Mary's mom left this earth and is now in the presence of the Lord she loved. She is waiting no more. 

Among the Giants

When we left Arizona, we spent a few days relaxing in mineral pools in a California desert oasis. After  traveling nearly 14,000 miles, it was good to soak in the heat of the hot springs.

We then drove north, through olive and citrus groves, where the fruit hung heavy on the trees. 

The road wound up into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, until at 6500 feet we found the giants. 

The Giant Sequoias of Sequoia National Park. Walking among these giants, we realized that many of them were seedlings before Jesus was born.

The people who are barely visible in the lower-left corner of this photo give perspective of the sequoia's size.

The General Sherman tree is said to be the world's largest tree by weight and by volume--1385 tons and 52,500 cubic feet. This iPhone panorama shot doesn't begin to capture its size.

From Sequoia National Park, we drove into Kings Canyon National Park, where we saw another of the world's largest trees, the General Grant tree, which is 40 feet in diameter. 

One of the fallen sequoias was large enough to walk through.

Photos and words are not adequate to describe the size and impact of these enormous trees. They truly are giants, whose size and age point to the power and majesty of the One who created them.

Changeless and Changed

Faithful. Persistent. Loyal. Caring. Pray-er. Friend. Competent. Compassionate. Trustworthy. 

These are some of characteristics that I (Bas) saw in Cathy when we worked together at World Relief. She was focused and determined. Whatever happened, I always knew I could count on Cathy.

We recently spent a weekend with Cathy at her lovely home in Surprise, Arizona, where she lives with Tia, her energetic Pomeranian. Cathy moved to Arizona more than a decade ago in order to take care of her mother and two aging aunts, who have since died. During the time Cathy was caring for her relatives, she also worked for another Christian humanitarian aid organization. 

Cathy is now retired and volunteers at a number of places, including the local hospital, where her compassion and care for others encourages families in distress. 

It was good to catch up on our lives since we were last together 17 years ago. When Cathy asked about all of her former World Relief colleagues, we could show her the photos we took of many of them during our recent visits. 

She introduced us (via photos and websites) to her niece and nephew, Marci and Jimmy, who own a vineyard, winery, farm, and farm store on the shores of Lake Michigan. For a number of years Cathy has spent several months on the farm, being with her family and helping out in various ways. 

Those who know Cathy know how much she loves White Castle sliders. We thought these sliders were unavailable in Arizona because there are no White Castle restaurants west of the Mississippi. However, Cathy has found a local grocery store in the Phoenix area that carries her beloved White Castle sliders in their frozen-food case. In fact, she told us that she had just enjoyed some White Castle sliders for lunch before our visit.

Those who know Cathy also know that she has very definite tastes in food. So, we were surprised when she proposed that we go out for dinner to a Thai restaurant, where she ordered one of her favorite dishes, Pad Thai with shrimp.

And, those who know Cathy were probably surprised to see how little she has changed. To us, she looked just like she did when we last saw her 17 years ago.

Finally, those who know Cathy would be surprised to see that she agreed to let us takes her picture. She was still reluctant, but when we reminded her that her former World Relief colleagues would love her photo (as she had seen our photos of them), she agreed. Just for you--you know who you are.

In the important ways, Cathy has not changed--in her values, her prayerfulness, her faith, her compassion for others. But, in other ways, she has changed. 

We liked the things about Cathy that had not changed...and those things that had. 

Living Out Your Commitments

Jim and I (Bas) roomed together for half of our time in college--as sophomores in the dorms and again as seniors in a house with four other guys.

Jim was most comfortable in the science classes that were part of his pre-med requirements, but to his credit, he also took classes in literature, art, and philosophy to balance out his scientific studies. Jim was a very serious, well-organized student. When he read a textbook, he highlighted large portions of the text with a wide variety of colored magic markers and special symbols in colored ink. I used to kid him that the few passages in the text that weren't highlighted were perhaps the most important. Jim loved classical music and was serious about his devotional life and his faith. When Jim said he'd do something, you could absolutely count on him to do it.

Jim and Lois met in college. Like Lynn and me, shortly after graduation, Jim and Lois got married. Then they headed for the University of Michigan, where Jim had been accepted into the medical school.



While we stayed in touch over the years, our paths rarely crossed. After Jim completed his medical studies in Michigan and his residency in internal medicine in Denver, Lois and Jim moved to Phoenix, where they would be free of snow and freezing weather.

Jim's career in medicine has reflected many of the dramatic changes that have characterized health care in the U.S. In the past 30 years. Jim worked as a physician with a practice in internal medicine, at an urgent care center, on the staff of a hospice organization, and most recently as a professor in a training program for physician assistants. Along the way, he obtained graduate training in family therapy and worked for a number of years as a family therapist.

Lois is an accomplished water colorist who has received a number of awards in the Phoenix area for her water colors. While we loved her florals and a stunning painting of the Grand Haven Lighthouse, we were amused by one of her more whimsical paintings titled "Triple Sow Cow."



On the back of the painting is this limerick Lois wrote about the painting:



Lois also studies voice and sings in a number of classical musical groups as well as the choir in her church, which she loves and where she has many good friends. Kathy, one of their daughters, is a very accomplished soloist as well. We watched a DVD of her singing a Mozart aria at a recent recital.

When Jim and I roomed together in college, we had no idea that he'd wind up in Phoenix and that I'd wind up in Portland. Jim could not have anticipated all of the changes in medicine and health care financing that have shaped his career as a physician. 

Despite the turbulence he has faced in his profession and the challenges of raising three children, Jim looks almost the same as he did when we were college roommates more than 45 years ago. 

When we were in college, I admired Jim for his faith, his values, his integrity, and his seriousness of purpose. Forty-five years later, these commitments, like Jim's physical appearance, have not changed.

It's easy to make promises about commitments in college. It's another thing to live them out after graduation. Today, I admire Jim not for what he said he would do many years ago, but for living a life consistent with these commitments for more than 45 years.

A Woman Whose God Is Enough

For most of their adult lives, Jack and Cynthia have been involved in Christian ministry. While trained as a veterinarian, Jack has been a chaplain to military personnel and to professional sports teams. He has discipled hundreds of men. Cynthia speaks to women's groups around the world and writes, primarily Bible studies.



I (Lynn) first knew Cynthia when we worked together on two books she published with Tyndale House: Maybe God Is Right after All and Uncommon Beauty. Our relationship was blessed with instant synergy. I respect her honesty, her humility, her insights, and her deep relationship with God.

Thirty years ago she wrote her first Bible study, Becoming a Woman of Excellence. Her publisher for that study (and the subsequent Becoming a Woman of ... Simplicity ... Prayer ... Purpose ... Strength ... Freedom ... Grace ... Whose God Is Enough...) is releasing a thirtieth-anniversary edition of Becoming a Woman of Excellence next year.

Covers of those and many others of her books hang on the walls of Cynthia's office.



She is quick to deflect the credit for those books back to God. "God had me write those studies because He knew I needed them. He knew I needed to learn more about Him, more about surrender to Him. The fact that the studies bless other women says more about Him than about me."

Bas and I recently spent a few days around Thanksgiving in their Tucson home. Cynthia and I took up where we had left off--with good conversation and many pots of tea.



We shared stories, laughed, prayed, and cried. We met their friends. We tasted local treats: turkey and cranberry sage tamales; Hatch green chile jelly; and lemons, limes, and oranges from their patio. We drank more tea.





Before we left for Phoenix the final morning, Jack and Cynthia took us into nearby Sabino canyon, where we rode the tram up the canyon. The enormous Saquaro cacti stood sentinel on the sides of the mountains. A beautiful, magnificent place.



Jack and Cynthia love the Lord, and they love people. Their life focus is helping people draw close to Christ. This quote sums up their desire:



It was precious to spend time with Cynthia in her home. I found her to be a woman of excellence, of simplicity, of prayer, of purpose, of strength, of freedom, of grace. She is a woman whose God is enough.