Celebrating Christmas 2021

Dear friends and family,                                                                             December 15, 2021                                    

December 31, 2021 will mark 5 months since we decided to see people and places on the road across the country.  We will finish 2021 at La Hacienda RV Resort in Hudson Bend, TX, near Austin.  Our son John's family, as well as friends we have grown to love over the last 15 years, live in the greater Austin area.  We have been very blessed!

Recapping our travels, we highlight family legacy, friends, best places and the real meaning of Christmas.

Family Legacy

As far as legacy is concerned, we thought seeing relatives we haven't seen in many years would be nice but turns out it was a great highlight.   Spending time with numerous cousins, 2nd cousins, siblings, nieces and nephews, and friends from mulitple states energized us.  There were many stories of family legacy that need to be captured and passed on to the next generation.  It was phemonenal to hear stories of ancestors and their sacrifices in order to preserve the story of God working in their lives and the providence of God's hand in our family histories.  Linda was particularly thrilled to visit her cousin, a direct descendent of First Pioneers in the Chillicothe, OH.  Her ancester was an Indian Guide advisor to George Washington.  All-in-all we visited family in FL, VA, OH, MI, WI, and MO.

Long Time Friends

Being raised in Michigan, both Linda and I have deep roots there.  We, and our close friends grew up in the same church, married people from within the same youth group, so our stories and connections were wonderful.  The love for each other has not waivered over the years.  These folks have become more precious to us.   We sat around campfires, met in homes and restaurants and swapped stories for hours.

Highlights of Best Places

Our initial destination was Shulenburg, TX where we visted numerous 19th century churches built by Czech immigrants upon arrival to the new land.   This was a highlight since John's ancestry is Czech/German and Linda's is German.

Going through the south, Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC and Chillicothe, OH were particularly beautiful, as was Shipshawana, IN to visit the Amish and Mennonite Museum, there. 

Although we were raised in MI, we never fully appreciated the beauty of Upper Peninsula.  Wonderful sites included the Mackinaw Bridge (Big Mac), Mackinaw Island, Tahquamenon Falls, Lake Superior Pictured Rock National Lake Shore, Copper Harbor, in the Keewanaw Peninsula of the UP.  Also Calumet, in the same area was the most technologically advanced city place in the US as mined copper became widely used to make wire for electricity 120 years ago.

We didn't get to see Bond Falls in the Porcupine Mountains but family members we traveled with did and shared these in Michigan's UP.  It was as majestic as anything we've seen, reminding us of God's great hand in creation.   So many times people in the Upper Peninsula would say; "This is God's Country".  Shown here is our niece, Kim Murphy and her husband Mark, who guided us.

The wedding of our nephew Weston Thompson at the Lake Geneva Resort in Wisconsin was beautiful.  Great shows in Branson, grandkids in University and High School Marching Bands, loved ones and friends back in Texas roundout our year.   Shown below are Layla and Jacob Seefried, our oldest grandkids.  Over the course of these months, we also have had the opportunity to give over 100 Gideon New Testaments to people we have met all over the country.  A real blessing, indeed!

We find ourselves now meeting the friendliest full-time and seasonal RVer's who are "wintering" in the Austin area.  We are taking advantage of great movies, concerts with friends and lots of parties.  Maintenance and repairs on the truck and RV seems to part of our daily routine right now.  We plan on starting our travel again early March heading to Florida first. After Florida we will likely go West.

Celebrating  the Real Meaning of Christmas:

With Christmas only 10 days away, we celebrate the real story of Christmas.   We will be celebrating Christmas in Portland, Oregon with our daughter, Tricia and her family. A perfect and all-loving God allowing Himself to become a human to walk among us (Jesus the Messiah), to experience pain and suffering, in order to be the sacrifice for the sin of humanity and thus giving humans an eternal rescue, if each choses to accept that gift.   

We are currently watching The Chosen TV Series.  It is a multi-season, multi-episode drama about Jesus' first followers and how they were chosen and transformed.  It is extremely well done!  We encouarage you to watch as it demonstrates what the followers of Christ lives we like as they were transformed by the relationship with Christ.

With the bond of Christain love between us, we wish you rich blessings this Christmas as well as an opportunity to anticipate an even closer walk with God in the new year. Have a wonderful Christmas season with loved ones and friends and may God give us peace in the New Year!

Always at Home Wherever We Roam,

Love,

John and Linda