tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51116182009-02-20T21:59:57.765-08:00Susan's Road Trip to California--ContinuedThis is probably the longest road trip EVER. Before it ends back in Texas next year sometime I will have experienced many things from ecstatic spiritual highs to deep humility and pain. In the end I will come out stronger and knowing more than ever. My TX pastor said it best--I have a great CAPACITY to grow spiritually. If only it weren't so hard to do. If only you could fail alone.
Susannoreply@blogger.comBlogger377125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1074203059965437902004-01-15T13:44:00.000-08:002004-07-19T22:14:16.233-07:00the end.
Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1074203018841283592004-01-15T13:43:00.000-08:002004-07-19T22:14:46.046-07:00It was the road trip that lasted almost a year. On March 7, 2003 I left Tyler, Texas with my car packed to the brim, headed to California for a road trip adventure.
I had no clue what was to come.
The road trip took nine months. In that time, I have seen a new life spring forth—with great labor pains, to be certain.
I have said a lot in this blog, but there is much I have NOT said, and now Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1073716291739603752004-01-09T22:31:00.000-08:002004-07-19T22:29:45.516-07:001/9/04--One thing that amazed me is how one minute everything is so me, and the next it is so God. What He did today is utterly astounding to the fleshly part of me, and yet I know even greater His grace and mercy.
Love. It is all about love now. And I don’t think I will ever escape it again.
Sometimes the test of true deliverance comes when faced with the next great crisis. Two weeks after ISusannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1073451552315236982004-01-06T20:59:00.000-08:002004-07-19T22:28:04.206-07:00I am hanging out on the couch in Robin’s living room. I was so cold today I could hardly stand to breathe in air. It was around 20 degrees this morning and climbed all the way to the 30s. Ow! But even though it is utterly miserable, I LOVE it.
Work was fine—a couple boring meetings but not much else. I left in the early afternoon and went to a Super Wal-Mart to buy stuff to make dinner for Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1073360339620481322004-01-05T19:38:00.000-08:002004-07-19T22:30:06.726-07:00In Quitman today the temperature is topping out at about 40 degrees; tonight it will be 22 or less. Yikes I am COLD! I forgot how miserable cold can be as I started work today in college-land. Oh, how delightful to be treated as a PROFESSIONAL. Okay, yeah, I had an in-service schedule—but no one cared if I went to any meetings. I did not see a sign in sheet all the glorious day. I attended only Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1073303626148902642004-01-05T03:53:00.000-08:002004-01-05T03:55:24.543-08:00When the things you used to think were nuts start to happen to you, you know the Spirit has come upon you in a new way.
Double major wow!!!!!Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1073273464035041142004-01-04T19:31:00.000-08:002004-01-04T19:38:20.543-08:00The Lord worked a miracle in me tonight. I experienced a mighty anointing as Robin prayed (so did she--even moreso!). And the heavens opened. Literally, I think.
Major WOW!Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1073261297219411862004-01-04T16:08:00.000-08:002004-01-04T16:09:54.793-08:00I don’t blog much these days. the reason for that is twofold: One is because I am at Robin’s still and if I am home I am often out talking to her, not blogging. Duh—like there is a choice. Two is that I am almost done anyway—currently I am working on the last blog entry. I have written about a page of it, but it is hard to write, hard to express. It may take me a while—especially since my life isSusannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072845254972483542003-12-30T20:34:00.000-08:002003-12-30T20:35:45.856-08:00I realized just a minute ago that this blog really is almost done. I have said that I was finishing it before, but it wasn’t in my heart—it was formulaic. But the season is over. I am not sure exactly WHEN I will finish it. But I know it is about done. I guess one thing I have to do is write down the last revelation—the greatest one of all. Literally, it is the greatest. I am not up to that yet—ISusannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072666834072925092003-12-28T19:00:00.000-08:002003-12-28T19:02:02.700-08:00I went back to church today and felt like I never left. If not for Pastor Jerry welcoming me back publicly I would hardly have thought I was away for a semester. It was wonderful.
It was also neat because both the Sunday school and church messages were confirmations of where I am and what God has been doing. In church there I was again with a flag in my hand, dancing around in worship. I was Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072589134663085242003-12-27T21:25:00.000-08:002003-12-27T21:27:38.513-08:00Excerpts from a couple letters to Terry today:
Robin says I am antsy! In fact I am driving her crazy because I can’t sit still. Bless her heart, I was talking to her and she was trying to tell me something and she stopped mid sentence--I was driving her crazy because my head was bobbing back and forth. I could not even sit still—she said she has never seen this way before! It was hysterical. SheSusannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072589096894364622003-12-27T21:24:00.000-08:002003-12-27T21:26:24.000-08:00Excerpts from a copuple letters to Terry today:
Robin says I am antsy! In fact I am driving her crazy because I can’t sit still. Bless her heart, I was talking to her and she was trying to tell me something and she stopped mid sentence--I was driving her crazy because my head was bobbing back and forth. I could not even sit still—she said she has never seen this way before! It was hysterical. Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072508027368286732003-12-26T22:53:00.000-08:002003-12-26T22:55:12.810-08:00Friday December 26, 2003
Today was the perfect day. They don’t happen often but they sure are great then they do. Robin and I went shopping in Dallas. We had a perfect time, laughing gabbing, being together. It has been a very long time since we had this much time together to relax and have fun. I hope it is not that long til next time. We had a delicious dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy at Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072401845310030812003-12-25T17:24:00.000-08:002003-12-25T17:25:29.560-08:00I have not blogged much lately. It is hard. I am living at Robin’s and my full sized computer is on a hardwood floor. Thus, I either have to sit or lay on the floor which is cold, and besides that my ribs are very sore from being bruised, so it is simply uncomfortable to blog. I expect to purchase my new laptop tomorrow at which point blogging can be done from in bed.
Christmas was nice. The Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072156795387658902003-12-22T23:14:00.000-08:002003-12-25T17:25:51.123-08:00A whole semester I lived in Los Angeles and not once felt an earthquake. There were a few mild ones, but I never felt one. I thought of that as I left town, thinking it was astounding to have NOT felt one in the time I was there.
Today a big quake struck near where I grew up. It was felt from San Francisco to Los Angeles. James called Beverly while I was over to ask if it was near where I had Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1072066205959124432003-12-21T20:10:00.000-08:002003-12-21T20:11:25.340-08:00Sunday December 21, 2003
Amarillo, Texas, 5:29 a.m. local time. Red Roof Inn.
Yes, folks, I am in Texas. Of course, the ironic part is that before I get home I will cross into Oklahoma and then back down into Texas again. Still, I am in my state. Am I crazy or did I notice a difference on the other side of the state line? The sky is bigger; the stars are brighter. The night is filled with a Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071850794995037672003-12-19T08:19:00.000-08:002003-12-19T08:21:11.030-08:00Thursday December 18, 2003
I am hoping to post this before I get on the road tomorrow but that is not a definite. Sometimes you know you are beating the enemy by the things he pulls on you—when he can’t get at the emotions and stuff that deep, he goes for the stuff—This is why today I have a big new scratch on my car and a broken modem on my laptop the day before a road trip. It is pretty Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071730540526010272003-12-17T22:55:00.000-08:002003-12-18T10:08:46.826-08:00I left my legacy at North Hollywood First Assembly—it is stuck under the first pew, second seat—between Terry and Cindy, where I sat every week…
Saying good bye was hard. I don’t mean saying good bye to people. I only had a few personal good byes tonight and I will be back in a month, for Pete’s sake! But saying good bye to the church was VERY hard. I worshipped up a storm, ended up on my faceSusannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071696895534286112003-12-17T13:34:00.000-08:002003-12-17T13:49:12.360-08:00I think I have decided to drive I-40 going home. It came to me this morning and checked the weather. It will be VERY cold but no precipitation is predicted along the whole route. It is hilly, but not that bad. It is prettier and nicer. There is even better cell service along that way. But the most important reason is spiritual.
When I started this blog I began my road trip to California on Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071639786079758692003-12-16T21:43:00.000-08:002003-12-17T13:39:08.560-08:00I am on vacation.
That is how it is now—being with people, eating fast food every day, being too busy to stop and think, even the morning bagel off the freeway onramp says vacation. And Friday the trip ends.
You know what? It was never home . It feels like a vacation—in many ways it was a BAD vacation for a while but it was never home. And now I am leaving. And tonight Terry and I stood in theSusannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071466326288586052003-12-14T21:32:00.000-08:002003-12-17T13:40:57.653-08:00There is no feeling as great as when you know you are consumed by the Spirit—no worship is better, no prayer means more, no sermon comes more alive. Diana commented that she watched me as I danced today I “had some moves.” Any move I had was the Spirit in me. What anointing is in that worship anyway, but when you are under the anointing yourself, it is awesome.
When will I play a tambourine on Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071381309441672962003-12-13T21:55:00.000-08:002003-12-17T13:42:45.420-08:00I am moved out now. It is Saturday night and the only thing remaining in my apartment on California Boulevard in Pasadena is my vacuum cleaner. I will get that Monday when I check my mail and turn in the key. The scary part is not that; it is that I have a lot of stuff despite getting rid of so much. When you are a reader and English teacher, you acquire things that take up space—books, papers, Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071299437629898302003-12-12T23:10:00.000-08:002003-12-13T21:54:36.606-08:00I came home from work to find my electricity turned off. Oh yeah, it is Friday. I guess I thought David, the renter, would probably have turned it on, but I was wrong. Thus I was in the dark. No computer, no light. UGH! I frantically called Terry--who I had plans with in a while-to see if I could sleep at her place. Belma was not home and I had just told her I would be there tomorrow. So here I Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071178796945986752003-12-11T13:39:00.000-08:002003-12-11T13:41:02.340-08:00This is simply a copy of the letter I sent all the people praying and people back "home."
Finally the verdict—8 days before I pull out of California! Some of you may know none of this, some know parts of the story and a few know it all. Those who know it all know that in the end this California adventure was more exciting than Disney’s theme park of the same name with as many ups and downs asSusannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111618.post-1071124414649778872003-12-10T22:33:00.000-08:002003-12-11T08:34:36.000-08:00Just got home from church and ate dinner—the rest of my El Pollo Loco. My apartment is rather bare. I pilfered through a storage container to find an old oatmeal raisin granola bar for dessert to dissipate the salsa remains. I had a GREAT time at church—I danced a LOT! That is, of course, notable because yesterday I could not generally complete a paragraph without coughing. Yes, there is the Susannoreply@blogger.com