Odie’s Travel Day 2/2/23

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting from my Ohio Beach Cottage. Thanks for joining me for a moment of your day! It is a pleasure to have you in our corner of the world.

My rides across the sky went well yesterday. Thanks for the prayers and the comments and text checking on me. Our prayers were answered.

The travel day went off without a hitch. My flights arrived early at each location. There were not any delays! I did not even have a gate change! Praise God my wheelchair made it on each flight!

I had three smooth flights. The flights were not long, time wise. It did make for a long day, from start to finish and I was thrilled when the wheels touched down in Cincinnati!

Here are a handful of pictures from my travel day.

This is an early morning selfie with Mom before saying goodbye for now.

Ready for flight number two. Houston, Texas, was my next stop. I was ready for a nap here.

Houston was cold and raining. 

In Houston, I had time to grab a snack and prepare for the day's final flight. I was anxious to head home.

Then we took flight. Here are a few shots from the window. I love the views from the sky!
 




Cincinnati was in view!

An Apple AirTag helped give me peace of mind. I had one in my wheelchair. I could track its location and make sure it was traveling with me. I have heard too many stories of mobility devices being left behind! I always have a fear that mine will be lost in transit!

My Gran and Papaw met me at the airport! It is wonderful to see them! I thank them for spending their day coming to get me!

We grabbed a great meal on the way home!

Then it was time for home sweet home! Gran and Papaw helped me get settled. Then my bed was screaming my name!

That wraps up this travel report. Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

Odie

Tunnel Vision Travel

I thought about skipping today's post and letting yesterday's Mile Marker remain as the top post in case some of you missed it. The post was lengthy but I wrote it from my heart and tried to answer all of the questions you might be asking.

It might explain things if you read it. You will find yesterday's post HERE.

We appreciate all of the calls, texts emails and comments letting us know you are praying for us. There are some calls I could not answer because driving, breathing and talking at the same time was a little beyond my skill set at times, but we appreciate your kindness much!

Among the encouraging communications we received Monday, were a few more invitations to park the BoggsMobile in a few more places while I heal. May God bless all of them for the offers of kindness and hospitality.

Travel

When we left Sweeny, Texas Thursday morning we expected to land at our next revival about 280 miles later. We drove 142 miles Thursday and thought we were halfway there.

After a very bad night and worse morning, we sought counsel and made the decision, after much deliberation, to slowly move toward the southeast. We drove Friday, Saturday and Monday, for a total of 660 miles since we left Sweeny.

I could not figure out why I was weak and weary Monday afternoon until I counted up the miles and hours. Duh! No wonder I felt like I was under the bus instead of in the bus.😍😎

Maybe I should have driven halfway and rested a week there. I guess my tunnel vision is showing. Once the decision was made, I could not see anything but reaching our goal, even though we were traveling slower than usual.

I suppose you live and learn. At least you should live and learn.

Thank you again for praying for us. We truly appreciate it. Thank you for reading today.

Davy

What To Say?

What to say? How much to say? 

These are questions we ask often and we are never really satisfied completely with the answer to our own questions. We post here daily and have for over thirteen years and less often for many years before that. To quote our own words right here on Mile Markers,

Mile Markers are a good way to describe our updates from the road. They keep track of our progress as we move across the country. We post about the grace of God, great churches, Pastors, people, revivals, music, family, food, fellowship, fun, our travels and who knows what else.

Yet, there are so many things we say little to nothing about. Although we are public about much, we are considerably private about much more of our lives, because they are ...well...private.

One of the many things I learned from these many years of meeting with you here is that we do have a good number of regular readers that will pray sincerely when they know there is a need. You proved it in 2020 and again in 2021 and 2022.

We average 600 to 1000 people stopping by here each day according to statistics we are given by Blogger/Google. Those numbers are not impressive in comparison to big corners of the internet, but we are not here to be impressive.

There is no competition between us versus anyone. Mile Markers describes a family ministry posting about ministry things along the road. Oh, and lots of pictures! We compile the pictures and information in one place for ourselves and for our friends. Several hundred of you have become our friends in the process.

We have come to understand profoundly that many of you are praying for us daily. That is pretty cool and comforting. Several hundred people praying for us every single day is encouraging.

We will take that! We believe God answers prayer and we need God to help us. That is why we have decided to say what I am going to say here today.

What To Say? This!

I posted a prayer request on January 20 and an update Friday and you responded by praying. Thank you for that from the bottom of my heart. I am asking you to continue to ask God to help. I need His help.

Without being overly dramatic, I must tell you that I was in severe distress with my lungs within 36 hours of finishing the strong round of medicine to help me breathe. By Thursday evening I was struggling mightily to breathe and that lasted into late Friday morning.

I have had absolutely no congestion in my lungs that I know of. I have pressure in my lungs, I struggle to get my breath and my oxygen level goes down too.

Later Friday, I took a dose of medicine and that helped. I have taken a little each day to keep from going into distress. I could take even more medicine, but it is literally killing me in other ways.

There is no way I could preach revival in Texas this week. I hated to do it, but I had to cancel. Pastor RC Betz was completely compassionate and understanding. He sincerely invited us to finish the trip to his church and park there as long as we needed to and allow them to help us in any way they could. May God bless him and his people!

At first, I was hoping we could take one week off and be good, but after consulting others, including Pastors, spiritual mentors, friends and medical professionals, we came to the conclusion the only chance I have of recovering is to take a few weeks off and rest my lungs.

A miracle could absolutely change that and we are seeking that every single moment. Until then, we have regretfully and sorrowfully cleared our schedule for four full weeks. I will not sing or preach for four weeks while we pray and my lungs heal.

Where to go? Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky or Ohio? 

At least nine Pastors and another friend invited us to park the BoggsMobile at their churches as long as necessary. Most of them offered to help in any way possible including help gaining access to whatever medical assistance I might need.

We were completely overwhelmed by these kind propositions within hours and we were at a loss for which way to go. In addition, we always have the option of going home.

Here is a glimpse into our reasoning and conclusion.

1. I had an aversion to going into the extreme cold if I could avoid it.

2. IF we are able to resume our schedule after four weeks, our next eight obligations are in the southeast so it made sense to us to be in that area.

3. I did not look forward to driving the bus at all. Why drive the BoggsMobile over 1000 miles home and then over 800 miles back into the south four weeks later, The 500 miles from Texas to the southeast seemed insurmountable Friday, so 1000 miles of bus driving was out of the question.

4. Some of the churches that extended invitations were 500 or fewer miles, but then we would have been a lot further from our next revivals.

5. Some of the invitations to park at churches came from the southeast, so that is the direction we have been slowly driving since Friday afternoon. 

We have a good handle on where we will park the bus, but we really have no firm grasp on what the next four weeks will look like. Odie may go home and KJo and I may get out of the bus for a few days or whatever.

We will definitely be attending church, maybe even visiting different churches, including some we do not normally get to attend. However, we will go with the understanding that we should not be put on the spot to sing or preach. I have to do my best to allow my lungs to heal.

Here is a question we are receiving. Do you have any needs? Yes, we need God to help us and we are counting on God's people to sincerely and fervently pray for us without ceasing. That is our desperate need and that is what we greatly desire. Please pray for my lungs or whatever the problem is.

The next question we receive is "what about finances?" The inquirer always acknowledges the personal nature of the question, but I understand the simple and authentic motive behind it. I have asked the question of others in similar situations. I do not want to see friends do without when I have the power to help.

Please understand that we are not asking for finances. Yes, we must absorb four weeks with no regular income, but we have an emergency fund. I think this qualifies for use. IF we need, more, I am sure God will be aware and He will supply through His people as He guides. 

We have never asked you for money for our own needs and we are not going to begin now. Honestly, we are fine.

The final question is this. Is there anything at all we can do besides pray? My honest answer. If I knew there was something you could do to help me heal besides pray, I would immediately ask you to do it.

Now, let me tell you one more important thing. The Lord came to me sweetly and powerfully at 7:00 AM Friday morning while I was struggling for every breath. He visited me again at 8:15 AM. I can not describe the feeling. If you know what I mean then you know! He did not calm my breathing, but He calmed me. Hallelujah!

He has been near me since and I can make it like that.

Programming Notes: 

Odie will be posting quite a lot more than normal the next few weeks so please show up for her. I am not sure about A Word For Wednesday yet. We may have to take that week by week. Thank you for understanding.

And thank you for stopping by today. May God bless you.

Davy

The Weekend Dispatch 1/24/23

 This was a terrific weekend!

After a super great final service Friday night several men helped us load up the sound equipment and we said our goodbyes to our friends in Bernice, Louisiana. We made our way toward the bed as quickly as we could so that we would be able to hit the road Saturday morning.

Here is the BoggsMobile ready to go at 7:40 AM Saturday morning.

As soon as we turned on the highway, KJo handed sunglasses to me. Yes, it was so sunny before 8:00 AM that sunglasses were required equipment. That was a welcome change. Thankfully, we drove in sunshine for about three hours. It was wonderful.

The clouds moved in for hour number four and then the rain followed the clouds. It rained most of the rest of the trip, but we had no rain while driving through Houston. That was a huge plus!

We had an interesting fuel stop at Love's in Angleton, Texas, south of Houston.

The BoggsMobile needed 165+ gallons to reach full capacity. That is our largest fillup on record by volume, although we have had numerous 158-162 gallon fillups in the past. The interesting and frustrating part was the time. The pump took 32 minutes to pump in 165+ gallons of diesel.

The second truck to pull in next to me took on 300 gallons in just over 10 minutes. I must have had the slowest pump in the history of Texas! Wow! 32 minutes seemed even longer with the rain and cool wind.

The BoggsMobile pulled into Full Gospel Lighthouse Saturday at 3:55 PM after 391 miles and a little over eight hours including the loooooong fuel stop.

Pastor Larry Lamb met us at the church and we rolled in equipment and set up later in the evening. 

Sunday morning in Ohio was cold with lots of snow. We are super glad to be in Texas.

Both Services Sunday in Sweeny were fantastic and they served a meal after both services too. It really was a super great Sunday!

We are so glad to be with Bro. Lamb and his congregation. We have been coming here since the early 1990s and is a joy to be back with them. Revival is scheduled to go through Friday, but Bro. Lamb has given me permission to close Wednesday if I think I need to. I will make that decision later.

Thank you for joining us.

Davy

Pictures From 2014-Twenty Years of Continuous Evangelism

I recently published a Mile Marker celebrating twenty years of continuous evangelism. I appreciate all of the good feedback in that post. Thank you.

It included links to compilations of pictures from the first ten years and a bunch of pictures from our eleventh year, 2013. Today I have assembled a gaggle of pictures from 2014. 

I am so happy we have thousands of pictures on Mile Markers. It has been a joy going through them the last few days. I hope you enjoy the pictures. If you ever desire to seem more, they are all archived here on Mile Markers.

Thank you for stopping by.

Davy

Celebrating Ten Years of Evangelism

Pictures from 2003 and 2004

Pictures From 2005 and 2006

Pictures From 2007 and 2008

Pictures From 2009 and 2010

Pictures From 2011 and 2012

Pictures from 2014