Thoughts from Sue

We have been surprised over and over by unexpected kindness shown to us. There have been numerous gestures of friendship extended from surprising places.

• Suggestions of beautiful rides


• Unexpected help with a down bike (Tim says "don't ask")


• Exclusive Harley parking in front of our hotel


• Supplies for a motorcycle wash


• Constant offers from strangers to take our photographs - every where from a national park to Dairy Queen to the side of the road


• Locals stopping in the middle of a 4 lane highway so I could take a picture


• A couple from California who now live in Kansas offered us their map (I like Dairy Queen!)


• Strangers calling the Department of Transportation for us to check for alternate routes because of road closures due to accidents


• A Gold Wing motorcyclist (Harleys & Gold Wings don't always get along) offering us a cold bottle of water from his refridgerated travel trailer (Tim now wants a Gold Wing)

We are enjoying the many people we are meeting along the way. Complete strangers who are initiating kindness to us.

Sue

PS. Please read about staff Sumie Oh because she shows kindness to everyone she meets with her gentle spirit. We are blessed to have Rod Carrido now serving our children through worship. Don't miss getting to know Rod on our website. And last, please read about Steve Cooper who because of God's kindness shown to him now shows that same kindness to others.

Avoiding a SHOCKING experience

This post will be shorter, been told the other posts are bit too long winded. Yet, this will still be longer than either a txt or a tweet :-)

What a day! ABSOLUTE BEST yet...spectacular displays of lighting bolts, PHENOMENAL riding on 89A from Prescott to Flagstaff, AZ and gracious hosts, thanks again, Pete and Jan.

We diverted a bit...over lunch an incredible thunderstorm was bearing down on us, so we headed over to Willams and went up to Grand Canyon from there. The ride to the Grand Canyon isn't anything to get too excited about...except for the anticipation that was building in my gut to see something that up until today seemed surreal. And then as soon as we were at the park entrance, a good sized thunderstorm dumped on us, so we bailed and checked into our hotel.

We went to the IMAX Grand Canyon experience, if you're ever in this area, I'd recommend it. However after seeing that well produced movie adventure, I HAD to make my way to the rim. So we hopped onto our Harley and away we went. WOW, AWESOME, SUPER, AMAZING...words don't do it justice. We can't wait to get back there tomorrow and soak as much of it in as humanly possible.

Until then...this is from the Park Newspaper...on how to avoid a lighting strike, "Lighting strikes are common on the South Rim during summer thunderstorms. Hair standing on end is a warning that an electrical charge is building near you and a warning that lighting may strike. If this occurs (hair standing on end), move away from the rim immediately!" I guess I'm out of luck, no "natural" warning system on this body any longer, oh well.

For those of you who have hair to stand on end...count your blessings, okay!!!

Twisting, turning and possibly frying :-)...from the road,

Tim

P.S. We're stoked you're enjoying the Volunteer hero and Life change stories. Today, meet Shane Costa who serves in our Student Ministry and read all how God has made a difference in Amy Snyder. Lorrie Osuna is the BOMB in our children's ministry.

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Video Update of Day 2 from Prescott

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Hotter than...

Hot, hot, hot...yes, I'm talking about Sue, but it's not what you think. I thought she was going to defect to the multi-million dollar 60ft RV we passed in Palm Desert. The blasted thing probably had a private chef, washer & dryer, 4 king size beds with 32 pop outs or something, but none of those were the draw. It had AC and LOTS of it!!!

But hey, I'm a smart guy, I told her I had a solution to the heat...we'll just get up early before the sunrises, after all Sue loves sunrises. They're so romantic. So I was killing the proverbial two birds with one stone...I was being a Don Juan of a husband, sunrising romance just oozing from my pores and it'd be cooler. Awesome huh, we'll stay married and we won't be trading in the Harley for RV with the AC.

My plan worked until, Blythe, CA. Yep, the sunrise was SPECTACULAR (check out the twitpic post). But by Blythe, it was already like 145 degrees or something, at 8 a.m. so I promised her we'd stop for lovely "break"fast at Chef Micky D's...where I proceed to drop the key in the parking lot or at least I thought I did so we did a U-turn two exits later went back and it was in the back topcase the entire time. Senility is setting in at 50!

Hey we're having a blast, Wickenburg, AZ is a pretty cool place. Did you know they have Arizona's largest feed and tack store? I had to check it out; saddles (check out the twitpic post), ropes, cowboy hats & boots, life size portraits of Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood (I just made that last part up), but I was in heaven. The place is called Double D.

The best part of the day was riding up to Prescott, AZ on Route 89. So flippin awesome!!! Twisty roads, pine trees EVERYWHERE, big rocks, boulders, and the temp dropped about 20 degrees.

We met our hosts, Pete and Jan Wendorf. They've been INCREDIBLE...made us dinner, let me wash our Harley...Thank you, Laidlaws, for making the connection for us. We sure appreciate it.

God has been so GOOD to us. We love our church and we love the opportunity to share our journey with you. Thanks for reading.

A bit cooler...from the road,

Tim

P.S. Don't forget to check out Susan Moore's life change story. God has a done a PHENOMENAL work in her in many ways. She rocked the house in the Women's Retreat this year. Oh yah, then there's Shaun McCarthy who serves in Kidzone. This guy is so faithful. He's rock solid. He loves kids, his own and the kids of The Crossing. Thank you Shaun for ALL you do!!! Last, but not least is Terrilee Stevenson, she supports me, which is a handful, by the way...and does it all VERY well...make sure you take time to read all about them!!!

A Picture is Worth a THOUSANDS words!

Yesterday was SO much fun. Check out the twitpics...what's so awesome about this Roadtrip is the people.

First and foremost it is about the most incredibly awesome person in my life, my BABE and she is a BABE. And yes a pastor can say that about his wife, she IS hot, okay!

Second, the people we're going to meet or spend time with along the way. Yesterday, Daryl and Sam Heinly (check out the twitpic post) rode with us and had lunch in Anza. They're a BIG part of The Crossing. They believe intensely that people matter to God and show in many, many ways. Thanks Sam and Daryl for being a part of our lives. We had dinner with a former staff member and church attenders who now live in Palm Desert, Larry and Dawn Kasper (check out the twitpic post). Larry is the US Director, hitting home runs with Enlace one of our Global Ministry partners in El Salvador. Dawn has a cool business painting pillows. She even did one for me, thank you Larry and Dawn.

Third, are the people who are housing us at our various stops. We sure appreciate it. When we walked into our place yesterday afternoon...waiting for us was a can filled with CHOCOLATE, yes...God's favorite food and the AC already running. Now that's hospitality! Thank you Martha.

Fourth, is YOU! The Crossing, you ROCK. I am so priviledged to be your pastor. I'm the luckiest guy around. This Roadtrip has already given me large amounts of time to pray for YOU! Thanks for being a part of our lives.

Today, when you encounter someone, smile at them. Pray for them. Say hi to them. Remember, each person matters to God!

Grateful for people...from the Road,

Tim

P.S. Check out Angela Pruitt, she loves numbers and she loves the mission of The Crossing. Thank you Melody for unselfishly serving at The Crossing and Denise it's so cool to see how God has changed your life.

Those "bags" are oh so SMALL

What an awesome day!!!

First: I woke up early this morning still mega-pumped from the Beach Baptisms. WOW! God is so good. Moms, Dads came up to me with tears in their eyes, yet with enthusiastic faces...telling me they've been praying for their now adult kids for years and years and years to let Jesus into their lives. Well, yesterday, we celebrated 120 people who've had their worlds' rocked by Jesus! I was pumped and I still am! DO NOT miss this weekend as we show a baptism recap video. After watching it, you'll want to stand up and shout, "Yea GOD!"

Second: Yep, we're on the road, left going along the foggy PCH coastline (temp 68) and ended up in a blast furnace called Palm Desert (temp 105), but it's a dry heat, right? It's actually quite enjoyable to have a hairdryer going full force pointed 1/8 of inch from your face, quite lovely...really.

Many have asked, "How do you pack for a trip like that?" Answer, you don't, you just go to Walmart everyday...jk. Okay, really now, see those two bags, they're IT, nothing more. The top case contains possibly the most crucial stuff, rain gear, computer, cell phones, oh ya, and it houses our helmets when we stop. Yes, we do stop, every 400 miles or so :-)...not this trip, we're stopping when we feel like stopping, tomorrow we're heading toward the Grand Canyon. I've gone past that sucker around 7 or so times, never stopped (remember I'm a destination guy), but this time, I'm enjoying the journey.

Last thing, before you leave this webpage, make sure you meet Randy Moraitis...the guy knocks it out of the park in our Lifelines and Care ministry. Pray for him will you, this week he leaves for one of our Global ministry partners in Vietnam to do leadership training. Take some time to see how God has worked in Carmelia's life and a BIG thank you to Guest Service volunteers, Eric and Debi.

From the road and still pumped!

Tim

Tim's Leaving...

I am so stoked about what happened at the beach yesterday. Over 120 people baptized!! What an incredible celebration of NEW life in Jesus. All heaven was rejoicing. Check out this short video of what it looked like at the beach:



Sue and I are heading out this morning on our Road Trip 2009 (with our cat Fluffy). You can follow our trip daily on our website: Tim & Sue's Road Trip

There is SO much to take