samgamgee

i love the folks that call new hope church home.  so many amazing hearts willing to engage in so many good things.  i mentioned on this past sunday during the service that many good things had come about in the prep for my participation in the Present:Hope Tour…training, fundraising, getting my own bike and even the trip home from the end of it all at Catalyst in Atlanta.  One small piece was missing…getting to springfield, mo to leave (small point).  and then immediately after the first service, Jim Gribble came up and said…”the stories you shared convinced me that I should be your ride to Springfield”.  So fast forward to yesterday morning and at 5:59am est Jim knocks at our side door and we load up and off we go.  here’s some video of our 12.5 hr drive west.

Once we got here we were able to meet up with another new hoper, Todd Morris (the world is really a small place)  for an incredible meal together.  Todd currently is a sales representative for a welding wire company and MO is part of his territory.  Lots of great stories and it was fun to settle into the beginning of this adventure to leverage awareness for the rebuilding of Joplin and Tuscaloosa with folks from home.

I’m not sure how much posting i’ll get to do…i hope daily to journal our exploits, but a couple things you can be praying for beyond the Present:Hope Tour itself…as we got in last night, Jim got a phone call from his bride Jeannie saying that his brother had been admitted to the hospital for chest pains.  Jim left early this morning for the 12.5 hr return trip and is concerned.  I talk to my bride (of 32 years!) melinda and she and our emmah are home sick this morning.

had a short conversation with a mother and her son, here at the hotel from the UK after breakfast, the son is considering attending a local university…but in the conversation she mentioned…”life is really about the journey,  is it not?” yep…heard that before.

i’m headed off here in about an hour to connect with the rest of the team.  several are en route via airplanes and will be on the ground after lunch…then we start training.  grateful for your following and investing more later.