Road Trip Lessons and Reminders

Well, we are back from a 2 week adventure. We loved our time with so many friends and family! We thought we would take a few minutes and share a few things we either learned or were reminded of during our trip.


Reminders:
1) 3,800 miles on the road is a VERY long time to be crammed in a car with two dogs and a spouse----but we were reminded how good road trips are for the soul! How often do we get to slow down, see the beautiful country and get hours upon hours to talk with your spouse and reflect on life?! I am so thankful for those many memories!

2) Wyoming is a big beautiful, and yes, boring state! Take note, if you ever find yourself driving in the middle of Wyoming, make sure to fill up your gas tank every time you see a gas station; they are few and far between! While the state has beautiful scenery, Mike is convinced that only three people live in the state---it is mostly wide open country :-).

3) We couldn't have wished for a more supportive group of family and friends. Our family and friends are the most loving, supportive and encouraging group of Godly people. We are so thankful to have each of you in our lives. Truly, we would not survive living and serving in ministry here in Idaho without each of you!

4) My husband is actually quite the funny guy! His sense of humor is what attracted him to me in the first place, but as many of you married folk know, the stresses of life hit and having fun with your spouse can often get kicked to the curb. On our trip Mike and I had fun together and I was reminded of how funny of a guy he is! I'm one lucky girl.


Lesson:
1) As many of you know, support raising has become quite difficult for us in recent months. To be honest, in the last month (before this trip) there were times where Mike and I looked at each other and asked the question, "Is this really where God wants us...". But God is faithful and he really used this trip to show us that YES this is where God wants us for this time of our life. While the support raising process is taking longer than we would have hoped....we do feel that this is God's direction for us and we are thankful to feel a peace about it ----even as funds are lacking.

2) Trusting on God is worth it all!


To those we saw, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to see us and hear how things are going. We love you all so much and miss you....but serving Him is worth it all! Truly.

Road Trip Beauty

18 or 19 hrs. and 1200 miles after leaving Idaho we made it to Omaha! The roads were clear and God's beautiful country was stunning. Even though driving that distance can feel LONG, exhausting, and not worth the time, I would encourage all of you to plan just one cross-country road trip in your lifetime. You will see such beautiful country, learn so much about your 'road trip buddy' and meet some incredible people along the way!

Our little Scouty girl on her first trip. She did better than expected...being that she is our wild child!

And she is daddy's little girl plus, an extra navigator.

(We do have our other dog, Bear, on the trip...but his photo shots didn't quite turn out!)

Thanks for all your prayers! It has been so good to see so many of you! We will keep you posted.

Omaha & Chicago bound

6 am on March 3rd is almost here and the excitement is consuming the Sharpmack home! As I type, laundry is in it's 3rd cycle (yep, I procrastinate!), the dogs have been to the groomers and look like beautiful dogs again (they were looking more like rats for a while), and I am making my chores and odds & ends list, to be done after blogging, of course.


Tomorrow we will hit the road; 17.5 hrs. of driving to be exact...and yes, we are bringing the puppies, so I guess we could round it up to 20 hr. of driving. Crazy! As we drive, we are optimistic and looking to arrive in Cheyenne, WY tomorrow night and arrive in Omaha Friday afternoon. We will be in Omaha from Friday- next Tue. and we will be in Chicago from Wed. the 9th-Sunday the 13th. We already have appointments and coffee dates scheduled with many of you, but if we haven't connected up with you....of course we would love to! Give us an email at ssharpmack@hotmail.com and we will make a date! Who knows how long it will be before our next trip east.


For those in the Omaha area, we will be showing a documentary this Sunday, 6:00pm, at Westside Church. This film captures the incredible journey of a group of cancer survivors that take a Youth Dynamics Adventures trip down the Owyhee river. This film is a professional, moving and inspiring film that everyone should see! Come join us...and we may have some food!
Here is a clip:
http://vimeo.com/7400308


With that said, we will see you all very soon!