“Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” -Isaiah 35:6
Happy Thanksgiving Overcomers! Can you believe it’s that time already? Thanksgiving is a holiday I have always loved. I love gathering together with family, making and eating special foods, playing games and reflecting on all of life’s blessings with a grateful heart. It’s not all roses every year though. Some years are more fun and relaxing than others, but it’s still a special time I look forward to. How about you? Do you enjoy Thanksgiving? I know it’s an American holiday, but I invite my friends around the world to join us in a season of giving God thanks for all his wonderful gifts. I know the holidays can be painful for some as well. Loss of a loved one or estranged relationships can cause us to have a heavy heart during the holiday season. Let’s care for one another this year the way Jesus does. Take a moment to acknowledge the losses. Give a hug or lend an ear to someone who is hurting. We can also be thankful in the midst of pain and loss. Let’s stretch ourselves to cultivate a grateful heart even in spite of the pain. I challenge you to make a list of 10 things in your life you are thankful for. I bet you’ll be smiling by the time you finish the list. I want to take a moment to say “thank you” to all of my family, friends and followers who are following along on this blog. Without you, this would just be a conversation between me and Jesus. I am grateful to share a piece of my heart with you and I hope you are thankful to receive it. Our adventures and insights from the great states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky are below. Blessings and many thanks to you all!
Mississippi: is “walking with a limp.” When I heard this phrase, I was reminded of Isaiah 35 (particularly verse 6), which says: “Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” Even though this word made me feel sad for the people, the scripture God brought to mind came with a hopeful promise. How beautiful! Our time in this state was brief, but enjoyable. After having dinner in Mobile, Alabama, we crossed over into Mississippi late at night and drove up to our KOA in Gulfport. This KOA is brand-new and really nice, but Gabe was really nervous about the open door design of the bathrooms being right next to a pond where there could be alligators. So funny! The next day, we drove into downtown Gulfport, which had pretty and well-maintained buildings. It was a beautiful sunny day, and as we turned onto W Beach Boulevard, we started to notice some brightly colored old cars and trucks along the road. Then we saw some RVs and people sitting out in camping chairs lining the street. We realized, once again, that we somehow accidentally ended up in a car show! What are the odds? The drive along the Gulf was so refreshing and the white sand was so inviting. We pulled over, walked on the beach and waded into the warm, shallow water. The water didn’t look super clean, so we didn’t swim, but it was still a relaxing time.
We continued making our way along the Gulf, passing so many beautiful beach houses and mansions. Most of the houses are multiple stories high and are built on concrete or brick columns (I’m guessing this is a protection from hurricane storm surge). We crossed over the Bay St Louis Bridge into the city of Bay St Louis and turned onto N Beach Boulevard, driving along the water. As we made our way into downtown, the traffic was crazy! The car show was in full swing and we ended up in the heart of it. People probably thought we intended to be in the show with our United Hive Dodge camper van. Hilarious! My very favorite vehicle we saw was the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine! Scooby Doo was my favorite cartoon when I was younger and this van was painted to look exactly like the one in the show. All the doors were open, so you could see all their Scooby Doo décor and memorabilia inside. The kind couple who owned it waved at us when we drove by. The woman actually scanned the QR code on the back of our van and downloaded the United Hive app. She messaged Gabe on the app, saying she was a Christian and the owner of The Mystery Machine… she really liked the app! What a fun connection! We drove all the way down to the Garfield Ladner Pier, where we turned inland and headed up to I-10. Crossing over the Pearl River, we left Mississippi and went into Louisiana.
After spending a couple days in Louisiana, we made our way back into Mississippi. When we stopped at a rest area along I-59, it was the first time I felt a chill in the air… I could finally tell it was fall. We drove north on the 59 until we reached our KOA in Toomsuba in the Meridian area that evening. We didn’t have time for any sightseeing (unless you count the junkyard just around the corner from the KOA). Instead, we spent some time mapping out the rest of the trip. The next morning we left on I-20 east and headed back to Alabama.
Louisiana: is a “harvest field.” Even though we have been to Louisiana before, we had never visited New Orleans or anywhere south of the city. It is truly another world down there! With the strong French and African influences on the culture and the swampy terrain with water everywhere, I almost felt like I was in another country. We definitely experienced some level of culture shock. With that said, I actually really loved this part of the country because it is so unique and I would love to go back again in the future. When we entered Louisiana, we crossed Lake Pontchartrain on the I-10 bridge and drove into downtown New Orleans. I immediately noticed a lot of graffiti on the buildings and small, colorful Old World style houses with shutters. We drove through the French Quarter, which was so impressive with the multi-storied balconies that wrap around its colorful buildings. The fancy and ornate wrought iron railings border each story’s balcony. We drove around for a bit before we found a side street we could park the van on. As we walked around the French Quarter, I noticed this area of the city has so many of the features I love about Charleston and Savannah. I could see real fire lanterns and trailing plants hanging from the sides of the buildings. As we found our way to the charming Jackson Square with the elegant St. Louis Cathedral in the background, we saw horse-drawn carriages lining Decatur Street. The Mississippi River weaves through the city just beyond the square, so we strolled over to see an iconic steamboat docked there. The famous Cafe Du Monde is nearby on Decatur Street, and since our friend Eric highly recommended it, we stopped in for some puffy and powdery beignets (which are similar to donuts). These beignets are incredible, but they are heaping with powdered sugar that floats all over everything. Even though it was a hot day in the mid-80s with high humidity, we couldn’t resist ordering some hot coffee alongside to offset all the sweetness. As we ate, we enjoyed live music from a street musician nearby. In fact, since New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz music, you can find live music all over the city. After our time at the cafe, we explored the French Quarter a bit more. I saw many Mardi Gras beads, shirts and porcelain masks. We strolled down Royal Street, which was clean and pretty with shops and restaurants. We also walked down Bourbon Street, which is lined with bars and live music venues. The street itself was dirty and had a party atmosphere, even in the offseason. That area wasn’t my favorite. Since it was approaching dinner time, we left the city to meet up with our friend Eric and meet his wonderful wife Rachel with their two sweet kids.
Our friends were waiting for us at a local restaurant called The Shack in Houma. We tried some favorites like char-grilled oysters and gator bites. This was our first time ever eating alligator, which tastes similar to dark meat chicken. The food was fresh and yummy. Eric and Rachel hosted us for a couple nights at their home in Bourg, and we had a fun and encouraging time together. The next day, while our friends were at work, Gabe and I drove up to see the Oak Alley Plantation. I have always wanted to see a plantation home. I love the grandeur of these beautiful historic homes, but they’re also a sobering reminder of the sad days of slavery in our nation. Visiting one is a great opportunity to learn about our history with an open mind. We had been looking for a plantation home to visit on the trip, but we just never had time to fit one in until we got to Louisiana. I was excited to find out Oak Alley was just over an hour drive from Bourg. On our way up to the plantation, we got a real taste of everyday life in this part of the state. One interesting thing that stood out to me were the canals of water everywhere. On one section of the road, there were canals on either side without any shoulders; just water without barriers. It’s a good thing we didn’t need to pull over there. Some other unusual sights were the large stone or cement statues in people’s front yards. I saw many of Mary, the angels and the occasional Jesus. I have never seen so many statues like this anywhere else. Many of the homes were made of brick and almost all the windows had shutters on them. We also passed through tall sugarcane fields, which was a first for me as well. When we finally arrived at Oak Alley, it was hot and humid, so we each grabbed a mint julep and toured the large home. The mansion was tastefully preserved and also contained some original furnishings. Our tour guide did a wonderful job giving information about the estate and the family who lived there, but because he had such a thick French Creole accent, I could only understand about 70 percent of what he said (Gabe understood even less). It was a fascinating experience. After the official tour, we walked around the property admiring the impressive old oak trees lining the pathway from the Mississippi River to the house, as well as exploring the old slave cabins. The cabins were furnished and contained valuable information about the actual people who lived there and worked on the plantation. They did a beautiful job of honoring by name the many people who were enslaved there. I highly recommend visiting Oak Alley Plantation if you are ever in the New Orleans area. After our visit, we drove back down to Bourg to meet up with Eric and Rachel. Two crazy things happened on our drive back. For one, I saw my first ever alligator in the wild! I had been wanting to see one all of last year, so I was extremely excited to see a medium-sized gator lying on the roadside ahead of us. It slid right into the water as we approached it in the van. Next, we suddenly came up on a stopped school bus and Gabe had to brake quickly. He wanted to give the bus a little more room, so he started backing the van up a few feet when we heard a crunch. We unfortunately discovered a car was right behind us that we didn’t see. We were so bummed to be in our first (and thankfully only) fender bender on the whole trip! Our van didn’t have any visible damage, but we bent the hood on the man’s car. Fortunately, we were able to settle it with him quickly. It’s crazy stuff… all in a day’s travels!
When we arrived at Eric and Rachel’s, we then all drove together into downtown New Orleans. The four of us walked into the French Quarter and found a lovely traditional Cajun and Creole restaurant on Royal Street called Pere Antoine, where I enjoyed some tasty jambalaya. Then we were hoping to hear some live jazz music (we love jazz), so we all wandered down Bourbon Street in search of a great venue. A lot of people were out walking around and we passed plenty of bars where employees were inviting us in. I was startled when I walked by a street performer holding a huge live snake and I got way too close to it for comfort. Yikes! We finally landed at a really cool place called The Jazz Playhouse inside The Royal Sonesta hotel. The jazz room had low lighting and cozy chairs, and even though we were still full from dinner, we ordered some chocolate cake so we could claim some seats. The six-man jazz band was absolutely phenomenal! Their music was lively, upbeat and soulful. Rachel, who is an incredible musician herself, confirmed that these guys were the best of the best. I highly recommend this venue for some top-notch jazz music!
My description of New Orleans would not be complete without mentioning the prolific amount of witchcraft and idols. I am from the Pacific Northwest, so I am familiar with seeing witchcraft everywhere, but this was on another level. I have never seen witchcraft so commercialized before. Voodoo and fortune tellers are everywhere in downtown. The fortune tellers set up little tables in the streets for people to come and sit at in broad daylight. This got me all riled up and I wanted to confront these street fortune tellers like Elijah battling the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel… it’s probably good I didn’t though. As I was looking to God about this, I suddenly saw something prophetically that was strange. I saw that New Orleans has a large principality sitting on the city. It is a fat, dark octopus with fat lips and its arms and tentacles are spread out across the city. I think its name is Mombo. It has a tall, round gold crown just offset on its head. I believe this principality is fed by all the sin and witchcraft in the city. I encourage all the prayer warriors and intercessors to pray about this and see what the Lord will reveal. It’s time to throw down the evil powers over this beautiful city and release the kingdom of God here. In spite of this dark side of the city, there is so much beauty there. It’s worthy of redemption. Let’s redeem it for the glory of God!
After a wonderful night out with food, music and conversation, we said our goodbyes to Eric and Rachel and went to sleep. The next morning we got some groceries, headed back across Lake Pontchartrain and got on I-59 north to Mississippi. We had such a great time in Louisiana and I look forward to hopefully being a part of what God will do there in the future.
Kentucky: is “wild and free.” It’s the “land of promise.” There is something freeing about the rolling hills of Kentucky. From driving through the state, I now understand why this is Horse Country. It’s a place where you could ride endlessly as one hill leads to another. After we left Tennessee, we drove up through Bowling Green and around to Richmond, which is just south of Lexington. Our friends Dane and Nicole moved to Richmond from Oregon a few years ago, so it was such a blessing to reconnect with them on the trip and visit their beautiful home. We arrived at their house near dinner time, so they made us burgers and we enjoyed a great discussion about the Bible and caught up on life. We’ve been friends with Dane since high school, so we had fun reminiscing about old memories. They were wonderful hosts and we were glad to get to spend some time together. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there is a life-size replica of Noah’s Ark that was recently built in Williamstown, Kentucky. Gabe was really excited to see it and since none of us had ever been, we all made a plan to see it the following day.
The Ark Encounter is just over an hour drive from Richmond, and oh my, was it worth it! The ark is enormous! The museum inside the ark has three levels of elaborate exhibits. The excellent craftsmanship is evident and it almost feels like a theme park. There is so much information inside making the case for the worldwide flood, the ark and the biblical account of Noah, that you could spend hours reading it all. The information is presented both scientifically and directly from the Bible. The exhibits are built to demonstrate what the ark might have actually looked like, with many cages that have all different types of animal figures in them, sound effects, food and supplies. There are also gift shops and snacks inside at different points. My favorite exhibit was of Noah and his family in their living quarters. It recreates what their everyday life and culture may have looked like while staying on the ark. I was also intrigued by all of the written accounts of a great flood that were told by ancient civilizations around the world. So interesting! The most surprising aspect of the ark was all the dinosaurs! I always believed the dinosaurs were wiped out in the flood and that they would have been too large to fit on the ark. The Ark Encounter makes the case that Noah would have brought a great variety of dinosaurs onto the ark, but they would have been smaller and not full grown. This makes the ark extra fascinating! There is also a zoo outside with a small variety of animals. It has a petting zoo with kangaroos, but unfortunately, it had just closed before we got there. Sloths, ring-tailed lemurs, a camel, donkeys, a zebra, a zonkey and a zorse are some of the fun animals we saw. We had a delightful time together! If you are ever able to visit the Ark Encounter, I recommend giving yourself a whole day to see it to get the full experience. You will not be disappointed! After we said goodbye to our friends, we headed to our KOA south of Louisville for the night.
The next day, we drove into downtown Louisville to explore the city. We first stopped at the famous Churchill Downs horse racing track where the Kentucky Derby is held to snap some pictures. We didn’t go inside, but it would be so fun to dress up and go to a horse race there someday. As we were driving around the beautiful downtown and looking at all the historic buildings, we realized the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory was there. We were so excited because Gabe grew up playing baseball and I played softball as a kid. This was one of those special stops we didn’t even know about ahead of time, but God had it planned for us. There wasn’t enough time to see the museum, but we stopped in at the gift shop to look around. One of Gabe’s favorite hobbies growing up was collecting baseball and other sports cards, so I encouraged him to buy some packs and he opened them with joy. It’s always a surprise to see which cards are inside. I love a good moment of childlike joy! After this fun stop, we drove past several bourbon distilleries, crossed over the Ohio River and headed into Indiana.
Thank you for reading about our amazing time in Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky! I hope you learned something interesting you didn’t know before. Enjoy your time with friends and family. I will be posting more soon!
The Overcomers 
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