Sooo.. Highway 2 is Pretty Long.

June 26 - Day 42
Kalispell, MT
Written By Viking

I inherited from my father a healthy appreciation for the philosophical thinking of John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes. Well, Calvin and Hobbes, to be more exact. In one of my favorite strips Calvin is looking at the starry night sky and, looking up, screams, "I'M SIGNIFICANT!" He then looks forward and mutters, "..said the tiny little speck."

Driving through the landscape of the past few days, it can definitely create that feeling in you. Especially if you're on a scooter. However, despite our minute, ever-so temporary existence on earth, God is still mindful of us. And he loves us. Whether you've received him as your savior or not, God loves you.
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31

God continues to provide for us. I try to think of all the ways he is providing for us that I take for granted. The northern states have been saturated in rain. We haven't had rain since Alabama. We have scooters that run. We have been exposed to a myriad of unique bacteria across our journey, yet we remain healthy. I was briefly threatened with tonsillitis but a Grand Canyon hike sweat that out of me very effectively. His provision has served to strengthen and deepen our faith and trust in him, and to be even more bold in our ideas and plans and endeavors for the future. Hold on to your seat, mom, the Marine Corps barely scratched the surface of God's adventures for my life.

On Friday afternoon we rolled into a Honda dealer called Spokane Motorsports. It's in Spokane. We have two spare belts for our scooters, and we were thinking it may be about time for them to be replaced. We've lost some top speed over the weeks, so we were hoping it may bring that back up. The labor costs would have made the belt replacement $40 each, and we didn't think that was wise stewardship of our funds. We could do it ourselves, but we don't carry an impact wrench in our back pocket. We lingered around the dealer, debating some other purchases. In a little bit a salesman approached me and told me that he saw that what we were doing was from God, and he would be paying for our belt replacements. God is constantly humbling us and making us in awe of his clear provision for our daily bread. Even the needs of our scooters. We were also given replacement bolts that had rattled out of our fender. Small, but still very thoughtful and encouraging. We also ended up buying warmer gloves and rain gear, and we were given a discount on that, as well. Thank you for your support, Spokane Motorsports. We were blessed by your kindness, and help, even though we made some of you stay late.

Just as we were leaving the Honda dealer, we discovered that Harriet was unpleased with the new belt, and seemed to be an incompatible host. She refused to go above 30mph. We had planned to go another 40 miles that day, but we decided to grab a bite to eat and pray about what our options were. We decided to stay in Spokane, return to the dealer Saturday morning, and if it was a bigger problem, we would maybe split up to make sure that our church opportunity in Montana was not lost. We made our way to a state park that we discovered to be full. However.. a funny thing happened on the way. Slowly, Harriet began to regain her strength. At one point she was very near 40mph. We found an rv park 10 miles up the road and decided to check it out. We arrived to find it far mor expensive than we thought was justified just to put some stakes in grass.

So, with Harriet seemingly close to her old reliable self, we donned our new warming layers and continued on into the night. Mothers, our new rain gear has reflective gear built in to it, so we were very, very visible. We were also very comfortable, and very pleased with our purchases. It was a thrill to enthusiastically hurl our ragged old rain suits into the trash, as well.

A brief aside... When Harriet was running poorly, I was ready for Brady to snap. I thought he was going to be furious, and it would have been a natural reaction for most people. However, with the God-send of having our belt replacement paid for, we knew this was from God, and I was encouraged and uplifted by Brady's example of having a great attitude about it. Actually, I would say that our spirits were at their highest of the day when Harriet gave us trouble. Praise the Lord for trials. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

We stayed at a nice little family-owned campground right on a lake south of Newport, WA on Friday night. The weather dipped down to a balmy 40 degrees, so we discovered that you can still curl up into a very tight fetal position in a sleeping bag.

With our new warming layers we bravely faced the cold winds in the morning, heading out before 7am. We had our first dual-state day since the four corners as we passed from Washington through the Idaho panhandle and into Montana. It's hard to explain, but Montana's sky really does seem to be bigger. It also has bald eagles that majestically soar through the big sky.

Kalispell, MT was our destination, as my father again heroically contacted a church, and they were graciously willing to allow us to share our ministry with them. As we rolled into Kalispell, I realized that this town has the most beautiful view of any town we've seen on the trip. The Rocky Mountains are literally out the back door.

We arrived here Saturday afternoon. We have had some much needed time of rest. This morning we were able to share briefly in services, as well as speaking with the youth group. It was a warm and welcoming church who were very interested in our minstry. I'm not sure who's more blessed at these churches, as they express gratitude for our visit, but we are thrilled to fellowship with believers and overjoyed to gain a listening ear to share God's heart for the oppressed. It's a nice give-and-take.

We toyed with the idea of continuing on this afternoon, but I fell asleep a few seconds after laying down this afternoon, so we will be setting out tomorrow morning with the goal of Fargo, ND by next Sunday. We have some exciting plans for the beginning of the week, and then we will be fighting mind-numbing boredom as we will be on the same road for 5 days. Good ol' highway 2.

Incidentally, Rev's birthday is tomorrow. I'm not sure how you can reach him aside from our Facebook or email, but as he's away from family and loved ones and stuck with me, he could probably use some encouragement. We plan to celebrate by glorying in God's creation, eating two meals, and riding scooters. We pull out all the stops in our birthday celebrations. Happy birthday to anyone else who may have a birthday tomorrow, as well!

"O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures." Psalm 104:24
Read all of Psalm 104 when you have opportunity. God is an all-sufficient, ever-providing God.