West Coast Tour & Returning to Colorado

After staying in Colorado with Mark and Janelle until mid-January, I took a big trip out to the West Coast using the final segments of my Around the World Ticket . . .

My friend Kay and her husband John let me park my car at their house in Denver and she took  me to the airport to catch my flight.  That was a HUGE blessing - and it turned out to be God's amazing fore-sight provision for me.  

Originally I was only going for a few weeks - to visit my friend Amy (from the Baby House in Mozambique), who was getting her Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy at Seattle Pacific University (and see if I wanted to get my Master's in that as well).  Then I was taking a train down to Redding, California, to visit my dear Norwegian friend and sister, Eldrid (whom I met when I lived in Gunnison, CO, for four months before my trip) who was attending a ministry school at Bethel Church (Bill Johnson is the pastor), and see if I wanted to go there for ministry training, and to attend a writing conference they were hosting.   And then visit my cousin, Rachelle, and her husband in Seattle, before flying back to Denver.  

Well, there was a mudslide in Oregon, so the Amtrak train was canceled from Washington to California.  Instead, I had to take the Greyhound (my first experience on Greyhound - but I figured I was a seasoned traveler, so it would be fine.  It was, and there were a lot of interesting folk on the bus).  But it turned out that the bus ticket was more expensive, and I didn't have enough money to buy it.  So I had to call my dad to see if I could get a loan from them for the ticket.  My dad totally surprised me by saying that he and mom would give me a loan of $1000.  At first I didn't want to accept it, b/c I didn't want to go in debt, but then I thought, this is a gift from God and my parents.  So I used some of the money from this loan to buy my bus ticket.  Well, then, b/c I had the money, I decided to make a whole "West Coast Tour" and see all of my mom's side of the family (her siblings and their kids - my aunts/uncles, cousins) who lived out there.  We don't see them too much, so this could be a huge blessing if it worked.  A one-person family reunion, where I come to visit you!!!  :)  God opened up some amazing doors to be able to see and visit with all of them.  And they were all so great about welcoming me on my one month "tour".

After Redding, I took the Greyhound down to SanFransisco, where my aunt Emily and cousin Anne live in Alameda.  We had fun hanging out, they treated me out to eat!, and we caught up on what was going on in our lives.  Then we drove across the bay to SanFransisco to visit my cousin David and his wife Laura and their two kids.  They are a great family and we had fun eating Mexican take-out and sharing stories.  Then my aunt Emily sponsored me (a HUGE blessing and surprise gift that I was SO thankful for) to fly to Orange County, in Southern California, to visit my uncle Jon and his wife Pam, and my cousins Michelle, and her brother Paul and his wife Jolene and their two little kids.  We had a great time - taking walks, spending late nights talking, laughing, sharing about my trip and what God taught me, and just being with them!  I got a really fun hat in S.California with my aunt Pam.  She is a fun lady.  Then Emily sponsored me again to fly up to Pullman, Washington, to visit my cousin Julie and her husband Rob and their two kids.  Julie was recovering from breast cancer, and was doing awesome!!!  It was so great to see her and hear her laugh and tell stories.  And great to be with Rob's family who lived nearby.  On the way back to the airport, which was in Spokane, I remembered I had 2 other cousins, on my dad's side, Patty & Sue Grandos, and their families, who all lived in Spokane.  I got their phone numbers, and it amazingly worked out to see them for a day before my flight!!  I had lots of fun visiting Patty's school (where she teaches English as a second language) and ice skating and building castles with toy blocks w/ Aleiah, her daughter.  We had some good conversations about travel and faith and family.  Then, back to San Fransisco, where I traveled back up to Portland, Oregon, to visit a high school friend, Brianna Showell, and her husband Michael.  They were great hosts and we had a wonderful time catching up and sharing stories and talking about God and our faith in Him.   

Then I took a train up to Vancouver, British Columbia, and stayed in a hostel, and went around the city and crossed the water to hike in a park w/ a big hanging bridge, and then went snow boarding (I'm learning!) on Grouse Mountain.  Then back across the border to the US and Seattle, where a really nice lady offered to take me to my cousin Rachelle's house - that was a provision from the Lord!!  (I didn't have to pay a cab!)  Rachelle showed me her dental office (she's a root canal surgeon!) and then the house that she and her husband were renovating beautifully on the Puget Sound.  It is going to be gorgeous.  I suggested we have our next Regnier family reunion there.  :)  We saw the solar eclipse over the Seattle skyline and Puget Sound and ate at a wonderful Turkish restaurant.  It was great to see them!  And they were expecting a baby!!!  So the next time I see them, I'll get to see my new cousin.

And finally, back to Denver, and then, on to INDIANAPOLIS.  So, it turned out to be an amazing provision from the Lord that Kay let me keep my car at her house in Denver, rather than paying $5/day at the airport... eek, that would have been super expensive.  I ended up traveling the West Coast from Jan 20 - Feb 20, and then flew home to surprise my mom for her birthday, and stayed there for a month until Easter.  The surprise for my mom was great.  She had no idea I was coming.  She thought I was still out on the West Coast.  My friend Kelly picked me up at the Chicago airport, and then we drove down to Indy together (she was also visiting her family in Indy), and dropped me off at my parent's house.  I was praying and hoping my observant mother wouldn't see me come up the driveway.  I snuck in the back door and crept through the kitchen where I heard her talking to Craig (who had also surprised her by coming home for her birthday) and his girlfriend and her mom.  They were a great distraction.  I poked my head around the corner, and my mom stopped mid-sentence.  Her jaw dropped and she said, "Ericka?"  "Ericka?"  Like she couldn't believe it was me in the doorway.  She had to touch me to believe I was real.  It was a good shocker!!!  And then I got smothered in hugs.  I was happy.  I was so glad I got to come home and surprise her and be with her for her birthday.  In 2007, she had turned 60, and I was traveling, so I missed that one.  We had a great time together, and I ended up staying a month in Indianapolis, visiting friends, unpacking from my trip, organizing my stuff, and getting ready to move out to Colorado with Ryan and Sabrina (my youngest brother and his wife).  They had invited me to come out and live with them in Gypsum, Colorado, which is right on I-70, 2 hours west of Denver, and 40 min west of Vail.  

I didn't know if I wanted to go out to Colorado or use my final ticket to Chile, to finish my trip.  I prayed about it a lot, asking God for wisdom and direction, to see if He had a preference.  My older brother Craig called one night and asked me if I had decided where I was going to go.  No, not yet.  "What would you do in Chile?"  "Write about my trip, maybe work as a waitress, and learn Spanish."  (I had wanted to live in a Spanish-speaking country for 3 months and really learn the language.)  "What would you do if you moved to Colorado?"  "Write and work a little."  "What do you fear about moving out to Colorado?"  What kind of question was that??  What do I fear?!  Well, when I thought about it, it really was a good question.  

I was fearing settling.  I didn't want to settle and put down roots and then not be able to go and do whatever God wanted me to go and do (go to India, work in an orphanage; go to Egypt, help coach volleyball/work w/ girls).  I was free - I didn't have anything hindering me (no house, no husband, no kids, no roots to pull up - they were already up!, and my momentum was still moving after my year of traveling).  How could I just "settle" in America, the land of plenty, when there were so many needs around the world?  What if I got stuck there and then I would have a hard time leaving, if God did want me to move on.  I'm ready, now, God!  

Well, the next morning, I wanted to read from my Bible, so I grabbed it and opened it.  It flipped open to Jeremiah, kind of in the middle of the Bible, and I just started reading where I opened to.  "Go, [don't be afraid] settle in the land I am taking you to.  Plant gardens, build relationships, build houses.  Pray for the blessing of the land, so you too will be blessed.  Don't be deceived by false teaching.  At the end of my time for you in that land, I will bring you out of it again.... For I know the plans I have for you, to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future."  (That is my paraphrase of Jeremiah 29:4-11)  

When I first read it, I didn't realize what it was saying.  Then I thought, wait a minute, and I went back and read it again.  Was God telling me not to be afraid to go out to Colorado and settle in the land with Ryan and Sabrina for a time?  And then was He promising to bring me out when my time there was complete?  That was amazing to me.  It hit all aspects of where I had fear.  That I would be stuck - He said He would bring me out again.  And that I would be missing out of a "mission" in Egypt or India... if He was saying to "Go, settle" then I wouldn't be missing out on anything, would I?  I prayed about it some more, and then took that word from Jeremiah to be from Him for me and Colorado.

I've been out here since mid-March, and it has been an amazing blessing.  I have been writing and compiling stories from my trip, working part time at a local restaurant, and volunteering for a local rancher.  I have been riding horses over the Colorado mountains, loving the blue skies and beautiful flowers that wash over the landscape, and being a "cow girl"!  I have also really enjoyed getting to know my sister-in-law, Sabrina, well.  It has been a blessing to me from my brother and Sabrina, and from God, for me to be here with them.  

I just accepted a 6th grade science teaching position here in Gypsum, and will start at the end of this coming August; and I will also get to coach the 7th grade volleyball team.  I have had a two year "retirement" from teaching, so we'll see how it will be going back... The school is great; they have a wonderful staff, a really nice principal, and it's in a small community.   The kids seem really nice; the racial mix is 50% white and 50% Hispanic.  (I will miss my African American kids that I used to teach!!!)  Middle school will also be a new adjustment.  But a lot of people have told me they really love 6th graders because they have so much enthusiasm. 

 I'm looking forward to the coming year.

2008 is a year of new beginnings, new things! 

My last big hurrah of the summer will be a 2 1/2 week trip to Norway.  My dear Norwegian friend/sister is getting married to a great guy, and God provided me with the money to buy a ticket!  It was impossible, except by Him.  I prayed, asking if it would be ok for me to go, could He find a way to make some new money for me (I didn't want to borrow more from my parents).  And I had no idea how that would be possible.  Well, a few weeks later, I got an email from the school district out here saying that because I was a science teacher, they were giving me a one-time $1000 signing bonus!!!!  I was overwhelmed.  God did bring in new money that I had no idea about.  And a week later, my mom sent me a check from the US gov't with $310 in it, for a tax refund!!  So I had my money for a ticket, and  just needed a few more hundred dollars and the whole trip would be paid for.  God absolutely amazes me.  Nothing is too difficult for Him.

May we keep trusting Him, calling out for Him, searching for Him, like the most precious hidden treasure.

And may we recognize Him when He answers our prayers and shows us who He is

and allow Him to draw us to His heart - to repentance and love and magnificent submission to Him.

He is the King of All Kings.  

And He will return.

May He find us ready and expectant for Him, obeying and following Him,

with all of our hearts and souls and mind and strength,

and loving our neighbor as ourself.

God, only through your enabling can you make that possible.  Only by the presence of Your Spirit in our lives.  Only when our sins and yuckies have been washed clean by your precious, priceless blood on the cross.  Only when we truly believe You, all of You, all of what You said, and we obey... then we can truly enter into your rest.  (Hebrews 4,5)

God bless you, fellow travelers!  May you be encouraged in your hope and faith in the God of the whole universe, the God over every tribe and nation and tongue... who is so gracious and wonderful, faithful and true.  May you find Him as you seek for Him with all of your heart.

And may you love Him.

Amen.