Evansville IN to Tulsa OK

So I don't really remember much about the last three days we were walking except that we were so exhausted that our bodies could not go more than a half a mile without stopping. There was a man named Leeray who stopped to give us a ride to Lincoln State Park. He was a hoot! The next thing I remember is getting a ride to Evansville after barely making it down the road the next day. When we got to Evansville we got a message and it was from our brother Daniel Johnson, another guy, who like us, is walking across the country for Christ. He gave us a name and number of a contact he had in Evansville. We called them and they graciously came and picked us up and took us to their house. We were so grateful for them. They are a lovely fellowship of believers who have a coffee shop in downtown Evansville for believers to come and fellowship together. The coffee shop is called "The Refuge". We really enjoyed spending time with them and talking about like-minded things. They have felt a need to forsake a lot of the things Jeff and I feel strongly about forsaking. They do not have a traditional church fellowship, which was nice to see believers who are not caught up in the matters of a building and rules and regulations of a denomination. The first night we spent with David and Angie and their two children. Another family from their fellowship came over and we had dinner and told them our testimony. The next night we stayed with the other family, Jeff and Kara. The last three or four days Jeff and I were walking we were praying that the Lord would show us what to do about the winter months because we were just exhausted. We had both been thinking of going back to Oklahoma a lot. So for about three days we prayed about it and each day the feeling got stronger and stronger that that was God's will. The first morning we woke up in Evansville we both were 100% sure that the Lord was calling us to go back to Oklahoma. So after a couple days of getting to know the fellowship at the Refuge, and meeting several of the people in their fellowship we hopped on a bus and headed back to OK. The bus ride home was amazing. What was even more amazing is how if we would have left a day sooner, which we tried to do, what happened never would have happened.

We got on the bus at 1:30 Friday afternoon and had to change buses in St. Louis. We had about an hour layover there. While I was in the bus station Jeff stepped outside to get some fresh air and a few minutes later he was walking to the ticket desk with a woman. I was watching wondering what was going on other than the obvious, that he was buying this woman a ticket. After he payed for her ticket she walked down the hall and he went to the bathroom. I just sat there waiting for him to come back and tell me what was going on. He said this woman just came up to him and asked if he could help her. He asked her what she needed. She was obviously broken and was having a hard time even talking. She told him she needed to get home to her children and all she had was 11 dollars and her ticket was 35 dollars. So at this time, I am thinking, "where did she go, we got to go find her and pray for her!" So we walked up and down the hallway and she was nowhere to be found. As we were in line for the bus she came walking down the hall and picked up her bags and got on the bus we were waiting in line to get on. When I got on the bus, she was sitting on the second row and tears were just streaming down her face. I grabbed her and hugged her and told her she was going to be ok and Jesus loves her. She said, "I know he does, thank you." We sat down and prayed with her as everyone was loading on the bus. We did not even notice the people. It was like the Lord just had the three of us in a bubble and nobody could penetrate it. After we prayed for her she told me a little about herself and why she has to go to the veterans hospital in St. Louis. Then she just grabbed my hand and clutched it tight and laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep for the rest of her 2 hour bus ride home. She was very sweet and I am glad the Lord had us cross paths right when he did.

So about 9 hours later we pulled up to the Tulsa bus station and the bus driver said, "May Jesus Christ bless you all tonight!" I was really exited to hear that because many businesses these days won't let you get away with saying things like that. As soon as we got off the bus I ran over to the first Taxi I saw and hopped in and gave him the address to the house. It was 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning by this time and Peggy, Jeff's mom, had no idea that we were going to be at her front door in 10 minutes. When we got there Jeff just rang the door bell and lightly knocked on the door. The dogs started barking but no answer, so he called her and asked her if she was awake. We had obviously awakened her out of a dead sleep by the sound of her voice. She said, "yes I am awake, what's going on?" Jeff asked her if she was home. She said, "yes, why what is the matter? Someone is knocking on my door." Jeff and I yelled, "let us in it is getting cold out here." Peggy said, "Jeffrey is this some kind of joke? Someone is banging on my door, are you outside my house? If you are not I need to hang up and call the cops because there is someone outside my house." We just said, "LET US IN!!" She opened the door and almost immediately started crying and grabbed us and would not let us go! We stayed up for about an hour just in shock that we were actually sitting in mom's living room in Tulsa OK. Then we went to bed in the bed that I had been dreaming of sleeping in for the last few weeks. It was so amazing. We had not slept that well in months.

So we have been back in Oklahoma for 3 weeks now, and I cannot believe it has been that long. We are starting to see why the Lord wanted us to come back here. We have loved ones who need our help and being here is allowing us to see things in a totally different light than when we were here 6 months ago. It is challenging in many ways being back here because Jeff and I are totally changed people. We feel that this will definitely be a growing time and a time to process everything the Lord taught us on our journey. We do not have any plans. We are going to keep living a life of not making plans because the more we plan the less space the Lord has to work in our lives. We do not know for sure if we will be continuing the walk in the spring. We feel that we will be, but you never know what can happen in three months. We are just going to do what the Lord sets in front of us until he leads us to do something else. I will probably be writing some of the things the Lord has shown us and lessons we have learned from time to time so keep checking the blog whenever you get a chance and I will try to keep it updated as much as possible. We are so very grateful for everyone's prayers while we were on our journey. We think and pray for all our friends and brothers and sisters we met on the journey often. We are thankful that each person we met was able to be a part of our journey.

Peace and Blessings to you all!

~Kristin