On The Road Again Newsletter November 2014

Odie's On The Road Again newsletter should go out in the mail Friday. Here is a scan of it. You should be able to click on it and make it big enough to read. I have never figured out how to post or link to a PDF.

Pray For the Martin Family

I mentioned a couple days ago that our friends the Martins are in desperate need of prayer. Sis. Martin has been very sick for some time and has recently received a very disappointing diagnosis from the doctors. In fact they have not received much good news at all since the whole ordeal began.

They are trusting God to do His will and work in their lives and they are asking Him for a miracle. They are updating their website every few days and you can keep up with that HERE.

This is part of the post that they put up November 14th.

Thank you for all the prayers and support you have shown towards our family while we are awaiting the miracle God has yet ahead for us. All the texts, comments, calls, visits, and physical blessings have been a source of great strength to our family. We are so thankful for our precious friends now more than ever.

From the human side of things, there have been more bleak results, but as Mom has said several times, God has put us in a bubble of protection that has been so precious and real. We know it is because so many are standing with us in prayer that God is carrying us through this hard time. Honestly, the pain is so deep that it is hard to share, but we KNOW that God has brought us to this place not on accident and thus we can trust that He has everything in control.

After a consultation with the Doctor on Thursday, we were given more news and percentages that were quite disheartening to our human minds. The doctors, according to all results, see any form of treatment as just a way to buy us a little more time. However, God has put us in contact with doctors that do believe in Divine healing thus they have been willing to admit their weakness in changing the situation, but God’s power in giving the final say. The medical plan is to begin a 5 day radiation regimen today. They will target the multiple masses on her mid and lower spine since that is a big concern as to her future mobility. They are not able to give her the strongest dosage of radiation due to the fragility of her spine. If they did give her the full dosage, it could result in a complete deterioration of her spine. Even with the radiation treatment, there is still only a 40 % chance that she will ever be able to have mobility. They are planning to begin radiation treatments today at 2 p.m. One thing I want you to keep in mind is that all these results are subject to change during a moment of being in God’s presence!

That melts my heart, folks. Will you join us and thousands of others in praying for Sis. Martin and the whole Martin Family? We know that God is able to give this precious family a miracle of healing that nobody can deny. As I said you can read the updates that followed the one above HERE.

We are having great services each night at Avenal. Thanks for praying for us.

Davy

A Beautiful Drive, Big Trees and Tacos!

Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park

After a very late night visiting with friends after church Thursday night we decided that an early start was not a good idea for Friday morning. By the time we rested and then finished everything we needed to do at home we rolled out of Riverdale in the Green Machine late in the morning. Odie decided to have a day to herself at home so Kelly Jo and I ventured out into the world on our own.

We decided to take a drive that we had taken as a family in the Cheap Jeep on Memorial Day 2009. We were preaching the first revival in the new Riverdale Assembly building that week and they had several community activities planned for the holiday. Since we were not having church we took of for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Friday Kelly Jo and I duplicated that drive in the Green Machine. It was an awesome day. We started out going through Hanford and then into the entrance of Sequoia National Park. We made our way through the park and out the Kings Canyon exit and then a stop at Tacos Tijuana in Fresno before going south toward the BoggsMobile.

It was a little over 200 mile drive and we took 8 hours to do it. Like I said it was an awesome day.

The drive into Sequoia is absolutely beautiful. It was some what cool as we started and the fog was rolling in most of the day. The higher we went the cooler it became.

The road used to go right under this rock formation appropriately named Tunnel Rock.

WE thought it was just begging to be climbed. It does not look to high from the ground but it looks a lot different from the top.

And there was not a level spot to stand on Tunnel Rock either.

As the elevation changed and we entered the Sequoia forests the fog became heavier, the air became cooler and we found ourselves going even slower to try and take it all in.

There is no way to see the "bigness" of the trees without something thrown in for scale. Here is the Green Machine with some of the smaller trees.

Here is Kelly Jo with a medium tree.

The next two pictures have General Sherman in the back ground. They point it out from there so you can see the whole of the tree and try to take in just how big it is as you walk closer.

Here it is up close.

The grove around General Sherman is beautiful and filled with huge trees.

It was plum cold in the General Sherman forest. KJ was wishing for a heavier coat and I was wishing for some ear muffs and socks!

It began to get dark as we made our way north through Kings Canyon National Park toward Fresno. Kelly Jo snapped some great pictures from the road.

Since Kelly Jo and Odie took Regan Morris to see General Grant a few weeks ago and took some great pictures we bypassed him and his buddies this time. It was too dark to see much any way.

We pressed on toward the absolutely beautiful sight of Tacos Tijuana in Fresno. Wow! That place is so good!

That pretty much wraps up the report on our wonderful day driving through Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We had an absolute blast. I wish you all could enjoy some of this with us. Every few minutes when enjoying a day like this we mention friends and family that we would love to bring to see some of this. Are y'all bored living in one spot yet?

Thanks for reading.

Davy