“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.” -Psalm 126:5
It’s Christmas time! December has really snuck up on me this year. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We spent ours in sunny California with family. Since December started on Thanksgiving weekend this year, it seems like the first week of the month has flown by… at least for me. I slowly started getting out all of our Christmas decorations: first, the wreath on the front door, then the outdoor lights, the table cloth, now the tree and so on. It’s such a process. I normally get really excited to decorate, but this year I feel exhausted (I have been sick with a cough for over five weeks). The Christmas season is always so busy that I need extra energy to make the most of it. How are you feeling this year? Are you excited for Christmas? Do you enjoy decorating? I hope you are all feeling great! Even though it’s a lot of work, I always enjoy how beautiful my home looks after I get everything done. It’s such a pretty time of year. Jesus is reflected in all of the light and beauty. Let’s do more than just decorate our homes though. Let’s shine the light of God through us in how we love people this season. Look for opportunities to bless others and share the hope of salvation with them. Comfort the brokenhearted. Give generously. Demonstrate grace. Christmas should be more than just tradition. It has to be saturated in the presence of Jesus and his love. Let’s keep our eyes on him and allow him to express his love and generosity through us to others. It will be so rewarding. Lay down stress and don’t forget to spend time with Jesus, our Prince of Peace. As you decorate, shop, bake, wrap, travel/ host, and give, may you be filled with peace and joy in our savior.
As much as I wanted to be done with this writing project last month, it just wasn’t possible for me. However, the finish line is drawing near. Please enjoy the next three great states of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. Blessings to you all!
Missouri: is a melting pot in America. Then I heard, “Where there was tragedy, there will be peace. There will be healing.” I was surprised to see the French influence in Missouri. It wasn’t as strong as in Louisiana, but it was present in the place names and historic places. After we left Louisville, Kentucky and drove across the Southern parts of Indiana and Illinois, we crossed over the Mississippi River and came into Cape Girardeau. Gabe’s cousins live in Cape Girardeau and this was our first time visiting them at their home. Gabe’s cousin Phillip is an architect who owns his own firm, along with his wife Kim. We arrived in time for dinner with Phillip, Kim, their daughter Caroline and her friend. Kim made a phenomenal roast dinner with the best apple cake ever for dessert. After dinner we enjoyed playing the game Scotland Yard together. We had never heard of the game before and it required some strategic thinking and teamwork, but it was great fun. Phillip won! They graciously provided us a room for the night, so we didn’t have to sleep in our van. The next morning, Kim made us a gourmet egg scramble breakfast to order with fresh vegetables from their garden (I’m not going to lie, I had another piece of apple cake for breakfast as well). She also generously sent us with a goody bag for the road with fresh tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and a jar of homemade apple butter. Yum! We felt spoiled. As we left, we drove around the corner to see Kim’s father’s property where he grows fruit trees (such as the apples in the cake) and other vegetables. Then before we left town, we drove by to see their business in a pretty brick house with a wraparound front porch. Kim recommended that we stop by Ste. Genevieve, which she told us is the oldest town in Missouri, on our way up to St. Louis. We drove through the charming little town and noticed French style buildings and homes… one really old house looked hundreds of years old! It was a fun stop.
When we made it up to St. Louis, we went to see Gateway Arch National Park. The entrance to the arch is one of the scariest places we saw on the whole trip. To get to the parking area, you have to drive past these old abandoned factory buildings, which make you feel like you’ll be jumped and robbed at gunpoint any moment. When you get past this area, you have to drive on an old cobblestone road that has a steep slant down into the Mississippi River. It felt like the van would just roll sideways down into the river at any second. You can park anywhere on the slanted bank. What a crazy setup for such a major American monument! We both think they need to come up with a better and safer parking area and entrance to this national park. The arch itself is beautiful with the city just behind it and large grassy lawns around it. The material of the arch reminded me of the outside of an airplane, which was surprising. We were so excited to discover an underground museum built directly beneath the arch. The museum is so fascinating that we wished we had more time to spend there. It demonstrates the history of St. Louis, which was a major trading center for many different peoples and cultures. It contains Native American artifacts and even talks about the Oregon Trail. It is very well done and worth a visit. I highly recommend it! After our time at the arch, went drove further into downtown St. Louis and had lunch at a place called Sugarfire Smoke House. The staff was so friendly and helpful, and the food was delicious! I got a pulled pork sandwhich (they have several different kinds of BBQ sauce at the tables to try), hush puppies, beans, a vegetable side and sweet tea. After lunch, we drove around the city for a bit to look around. Kim had also recommended we go see the gorgeous homes near Forest Park, but she warned us not to go anywhere north of there because that area of the city is dangerous. We enjoyed looking at all of the fancy mansions with a variety of architectural styles, but after we drove past them, Gabe started driving in the wrong direction. I reminded him about what Kim said, but he decided to ignore it. This led to one of those ugly moments on the trip where we had a horrible argument. Remember, even though the trip was great in so many ways, we argued frequently… especially during the last month of the trip when we were really worn out from constant travel and living on the road. When he wouldn’t heed the warning, I jumped up and layed down on the couch in the back of the van and basically had an emotional meltdown. Gabe continued to drive through this very dangerous part of town and soon realized that Kim knew what she was talking about. Thankfully, God protected us just as he did throughout the whole trip. However, by the time we got to Overland and were in a safer part of town, we were a mess and had to cool down, work through what went wrong, decide to show grace, choose to trust each other and keep moving forward.
Gabe lived in Overland for a couple years when he was a little boy, so we just had to stop and see another one of his childhood homes. We pulled ourselves together and drove up to the adorable brick house where he lived. He had so many memories from this house (in fact, he had his very first memories while he lived here). We walked around this corner house and he showed me where his dog got hit by a car and where he had a bike accident which prevented him from going to the circus. I couldn’t help but realize that almost all of his memories from this house were sad ones, which was a strange coincidence since we were having a hard day. We snapped some pictures of the house and then went down the street to see the elementary school Gabe’s sister remembered going to. After that, we headed west on I-70 and drove to Owl Creek RV Park in Odessa for the night, which is just about 30 minutes from Independence.
The next morning, we drove over to Independence because it is the beginning of the Oregon Trail. We saw the grand Historic Truman Courthouse and learned that President Harry S. Truman had worked there as a judge. Then we walked around to find the Oregon Trail monument, where I thanked God for all those brave pioneers. It was a sunny day, but really windy. I noticed a Kansas City Chiefs flag on a brick building nearby blowing wildly in the wind, as if to parade the Chiefs’ recent victories to all who pass by. Independence is a classy little town and I was happy we were able to stop. From there, we drove into downtown Kansas City. The Chiefs happened to be playing in a home game while we were there and they won! Kansas City is interesting because it’s on the border between two states, so there is a Kansas City, Missouri and a Kansas City, Kansas. We were curious to see both sides of the city, so we drove through the Missouri side and crossed over into Kansas. We didn’t spend much time over there before coming back over into Missouri and going to the International House of Prayer (IHOP). As far as I know, this center has held 24/ 7 prayer with worship since 1999. You may have heard about the scandal concerning the founder Mike Bickle earlier this year. We were there before all that came out and we did not see him there. We walked into what looked like a church sanctuary and there was a band on the stage playing worship music. It was a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere where people were worshiping, praying and soaking in the presence of God. We sat down, prayed and worshiped for a while. It was a blessing to be able to see this famous prayer and worship house that has not stopped lifting up the name of Jesus in over 20 years. Kansas City is pioneering the kingdom. The prayer and worship movement they’ve started is greater than any one man’s failings and must continue to focus on the One perfect man as they move forward. God bless IHOP Kansas City! After our refreshing time in God’s presence, we drove back over to Kansas.
Kansas: The glory of the Lord is over Kansas! His glory is opening up. The people are moving as one in the wind of His Spirit. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend much time in Kansas. As I just mentioned, we drove over into Kansas City, Kansas from the Missouri side to explore the city. We immediately noticed how small this side of the city is compared to the Missouri side. As we drove around the downtown, we were shocked to see some of the buildings look so run-down. One very beautiful old brick church had all of its doors and windows boarded up with a chain link fence around it. We saw two other pretty sandy colored stone churches in good condition, as well as some older neighborhood houses. It definitely has the feel of a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. There was just not much to do or see over on this side of the city from what we could tell. It seems like a good opportunity for someone with a vision to revitalize it. It has so much potential! After a short time, we headed back over the border into Missouri to visit IHOP. When we left Missouri, we drove into Overland Park, Kansas. There was a glorious sunset in the sky with bright golden light breaking through the clouds as we drove across the area. From what we could tell, Overland Park is very new and nice. It seems like more of a major city than Kansas City, Kansas. We stopped quickly in Olathe for gas just before dark… then we were on the road again.
After sunset, there wasn’t much to see since we were on a small two-lane highway in a rural area for much of the drive. We passed smaller towns, but most of them were a ways away from us. The wind was really whipping that night across the landscape and against the side of the van. I really wish we could have seen the countryside during the day! We passed a historical marker for Vegetarian Creek, which I looked up and read the history. It was a sad story which didn’t end well for the people involved. We also hit our first animal on the road trip, which was a bummer. An oppossum ran right out in front of us at the wrong time. However, the real highlight of the drive through Kansas was the towns of Neodesha and Independence. They are adorable Old West towns with brick buildings. Neodesha has an incredibly gorgeous old Victorian home with a turret, and Independence has a fancy old four-way clock on a post. I would have loved to shop around Independence especially! My phone does not take great pictures at night, so most of my pictures from these towns are blurry (Gabe got a few good ones). This is one state I would like to visit again for a redo. We rushed through it too fast and didn’t get to see very much. I know there are all kinds of hidden gems there like these two towns. Hopefully, we can go back again in the future! After passing through Kansas, we crossed over into Oklahoma on our way to Tulsa.
Oklahoma: The phrase that came to me for this state is: “Those who have sown in tears will reap in joy,” which is a paraphrase of Psalm 126:5. The words “Stewardship… stewarding the land” also came to me. Then I was reminded of Matthew 13:12: “Whoever has will be given more.” These words and scriptures the Lord gave me for Oklahoma make sense in light of its history with the various Native American tribes who now live there. As you may know, the Cherokee people were forced to relocate here on a march from their original homeland, which is known as the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee Nation is now located in the northeastern part of the state, near Tulsa. The Cherokee were not the only natives to move to Oklahoma. Many other tribes now have their home in this state due to forced relocation by the U.S. government. I believe the Lord will redeem the sorrows and bless this state.
Our time here was short and sweet. We came down into Oklahoma from Kansas and drove into downtown Tulsa. I have been to Tulsa as a kid, so I was curious to see the area as an adult. We were so impressed with how clean, nice and safe the city is! Since it was nighttime, the city was lit up in pretty colors. We were also surprised not to see any homeless people. In the Northwest, where we live, there are homeless people and drug addicts everywhere. I don’t know how Tulsa has managed to accomplish this. It was pretty late at night and we still hadn’t eaten dinner, so we found an amazing Irish pub called Kilkenny’s that was still serving food. We had the most amazing server who made us feel right at home and well cared for. It has a cozy atmosphere and the food is hearty, rich and filling… perfect after a long day of driving. I had a boxty dish (Irish potato pancake) called The Mooncoin with salmon and veggies in a buttery lemon dill sauce. This is an amazing pub… I recommend it! After dinner, we had over a 30 minute drive to our KOA in Claremore. What a long day! The next morning, we drove through the serene countryside and small towns of the Cherokee Nation into Arkansas.
After spending time in Arkansas, we came back over into Oklahoma and drove through the Choctaw Nation. The landscape of the eastern side of this state has lush green hills and fields. We passed by the pier on Sardis Lake… what a gorgeous area! One thing I found interesting about driving through the tribal lands are their license plates. Each tribal nation has its own unique license plate, which looks nothing like the Oklahoma plate. It was fun to see the locals driving around in their own nations within a state. We enjoyed a pretty country drive and also passed through a small part of the Chickasaw Nation before crossing into Texas.
I’m curious if you’ve ever been to Missouri, Kansas or Oklahoma. If so, what did you think? Other than being short on time, I enjoyed exploring these new places. Thank you for reading along in the busy Christmas season! I’ll be posting more soon, so stay tuned!
The Overcomers 
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