I never gave much thought to what Oregon was like. I honestly had no clue what to expect. I found out that Oregon was a place where the trees glitter and dance, where blackberries grow like crazy, where tears are shed, where goodbyes are hard, and where new beginnings start.
We woke up early in the morning and headed for Bend, Oregon. We decided to take a short detour on the way and stop at Crater Lake National Park for a quick look. It was definitely worth it!
Then it was back in the van and on the road again. As we drive out of the park, the wind begins to blow, and I notice the trees are beautiful here. There are trees that have round little leaves that twirl in the wind, making the trees shake with movement. Add the shining sun bouncing off the glossy side of the leaves, and they look like a glittery dancing tree. I couldn’t help think about 1 Chronicles 16:33 that says;
Let the trees of the forrest rustle with praise, for the Lord is coming to judge the earth.
Seeing God through creation has been an incredible part of this journey for me. It bring verses, like the one above, to life in a new way. It’s like the Lord allows my eyes to see his scriptures and I’m getting to know Him is a deeper way. (Sidenote: We happened to get a glimpse of a bald eagle flying across the sky too, which is exciting since I had never seen one before.)
We arrive at our host’s home in Bend, Oregon and settle in alongside the other team. It’s crazy how loud things get when there are 15 people in one house. We had just acquired 3 new teammates with one more about to join us a few days later. We spent the next days catching up and getting to know our new teammates, before choosing new teams.
We also celebrated the 4th of July in Bend. We had planned to grill out burgers and watch fireworks that night. Everyone went to the park to play capture the flag, while Amber and I stayed back to make dessert. As the dessert is cooling, our team returns but the look on their faces tells us that something has happened.
Apparently during the game, a couple of people nearby were playing fetch with their dog. They threw the ball into the area where the team was playing, but Ben didn’t see the dog. Both he and the dog were running full speed and ran into each other. Ben flew in the air and landed hard on the ground. He had kicked the dog and it had broken his leg. He was taken away by ambulance to the nearby hospital, where he had to have surgery on his leg.
Over the next few days, our time was spent shuffling back and forth from the hospital. It wasn’t long before we knew that Ben would not be continuing this race with us. With his injury and the risk of blood clots while traveling, the best thing for him to do was to return home to North Carolina. Though nothing could prepare us for the day when the time came to say goodbye.
We drove to the hotel where Ben and his mom were after he was released from the hospital. As the minutes tick by, we all know that we had to say our goodbyes. We were leaving Bend, heading for Portland, and had to get going. As we pray for him and hug him goodbye, we all are trying to choke back tears. Ben had become like a little brother to us. As we drove away from the hotel, we listen to “Spirit Lead Me” (a song Ben loved and lived out) and cried. Its moments like that that show me how much this group has become like family out here. It was hard knowing a part of our heart was headed a different direction.
During the time in between July 4th and us leaving Bend, we chose our new teams for this next leg of the race. My team is the co-ed team and consists of 3 men and 4 women: Dosson, Zach, Justin, Alex, Amber, Lynna, and me. My new team is called team Revive. We chose to pick team names so its easier for people to see that there are 2 teams doing different things in different places. That way its easier to tell on social media which team is where. So if you want to follow my team specifically follow #teamrevive on instagram. During my international race my squad was only women, so to being on a co-ed team is something I truly appreciate. We had the option to go wherever we wanted for a week and felt like we should go towards Portland, so we reached out and found a place to stay right outside of Portland with the Callaway’s.
We arrive and you can just feel how peaceful this home is. Typically we are the large group that comes into a home, but this time it was reversed. There were more people already there than we were bringing in. There were 12 people who lived there. There was Lillian, Keith Senior, Melissa, and her 2 girls, Hannah, her 2 girls, Eric, Grandma, Keith Junior, and Caleb. Then we added our 7 and while we were there 2 other World Race alumni end up staying there as well. So there was no lack of entertainment during our time there. We were welcomed in like family immediately and felt so loved by this family.
During our time there we did many different things. We went into downtown Portland and joined with a local ministry that worked with the homeless community. I had the opportunity to help serve at a foot washing station that allowed people to have their feet washed in warm water and gave them clean sock to put on after. We cleaned the cob webs off of the roof of Grandma’s house for her, washed her windows, and weeded her garden. We had an alumni meetup in Portland, but the thing that stands out most to me was the yard work we did.
We heard from Lillian and Keith Sr. that there was a family in town that needed some blackberry bushes cleared from their yard. The woman had a car accident a year ago and had complications that kept her from being able to do the upkeep needed to get rid of the blackberry bushes in her yard. We agreed that we all felt like we should definitely make time to do that while we were in town.
We wake up, load up everything we will need, and head on over to the house. We arrive and begin to gather what has already been cut down into one big pile. Once that is done, we begin to attack the fence line where the bushes are so thick that you can’t see the fence behind them. It took us 2 days but we were able to finish the entire fence line and transform the yard. The family wasn’t there when we finished so we left them a note in their door and headed home. Later that day we receive a text from Randy.
Just got this from randy
“OH MY WORD!!! we just got home and my wife and I are blown away with what you were able to do!! TOTAL TRANSFORMATION!!! The Lord pointed out to us that we have just experienced a resurrection of our backyard (from dead and buried in thorns to free and alive) All of that acts as a tangible proof of the healing God can and will do for our family.
Then I opened the card you wrote us and read it to my wife and she burst into tears as your blessings just poured out on us.
I know it can seem that you just did “grunt work” in our yard but in reality you were the hands and feet of Christ and your act of love ushered in the very presence of Christ and chased away our clouds of despair. Know that the ministry you had to us we will carry with us as we minister to others and your acts of service will be multiplied many times over. May God bless you the way that you have blessed us because the road to greatness in God’s kingdom is by doing the dirty work of a servant because then it is the Lord himself who elevates us . We are praying for you that you will continue taking one step closer to Christ”
It was just confirmation that we were exactly where the Lord wanted us to be.
That is a pretty good summary of what it looks like for the short time we were in Oregon. I am now in Snohomish, Washington and have been enjoying our time here. In a couple days I will head off again, this time headed to Yellowstone National Park. I can’t wait to see what else the Lord has for us here in Washington and what’s to come in Yellowstone.
I am still fundraising and my deadline is swiftly approaching. I must be fully funded by September 1st. I currently need a little less than $2,500 to be fully funded and about 5 weeks to get there. I ask that you prayerfully consider making a donation to help me towards that goal. Any amount helps! If everyone who is subscribed to my blog were to donate $25.00 I would be able to reach that goal. Thank you for your support and I will keep updating you guys as we go along! Until next time…
