Day 30-21 mile walk from Shorter, Alabama to Midtown Montgomery!

Got up today around 5:00 am. Packed the cart...stopped in the lobby and had bananas and coffee.

I started my walk at 6:30 am and at 6:32 or so a car stopped across from me and the gentleman got out and said...I was looking for you. He was a friend of the gentleman that I met the day before that donated to my walk and he wanted to donate also. He retired and was moving back to Shorter from Basking Ridge, New Jersey. New Jersey is where I grew up. Thank you Lonnie and Gale for the blessing. God bless you for your donation.

A little ways down the road, I stopped to talk to a gentleman dropping his children off for the school bus. I gave him one of my cards and he said he saw me on the news. It was nice talking with you today sir. Blessings to you!

As I got to the east end of Montgomery a car pulled on the shoulder and it was a couple who made a donation to me to buy something to eat. Thank you so much for the blessing, God bless you both!

I am so grateful to have met all the wonderful people God has put in my path on this journey so far. It is amazing and overwelming what God has done for me thus far. And what a blessing from God for me to be able to do this walk.

Tonight I am in a motel with my wife. She drove down from Tennessee to spend some time with me. We haven't seen each other for a month now. So I may just take a few days off from the walk. I'll post at you all later. Blessings to you all!

Day 29-26 miles. What a Wonderful Walk Today!

Left out from the motel at 7:00 am. I was 7 miles east of Tuskegee on route 80. The walk was really quite...not much traffic and the roads were not hard to navigate with such little traffic. It gave me the solitude to pray and think as I walked. I pretty much prayed for my family, the wonderful people I have met so far, for my safety on the trip and everyone else's safety. And I gave thanks for all the blessings God had given me so far on my journey.

About 15 miles out on my trip I heard a car slowing down. It came to a stop next to me. It was a woman and her family on their way to church. She said didn't I see you in Columbus the other day? I said probably I went through there a few days ago. I gave her a card and told her what a blessing the trip has been so far. We said our goodbyes and she turned around and went back the other way. About 3 minutes down the road I here another car slowing down...it was her again. She stopped to give me some money to buy some drinks and said she would say a prayer for me in Church. God bless you and thank you!

About 6 miles down the road a truck turned around and parked up the road from where I was walking. As I approached he rolled down his window and asked about my walk. I gave him one of my cards and told him all about it. He gave me some cash for the road and I thanked him for it with a blessing. Between those two blessings I was able to buy my dinner minus a penny. What a blessing.

I also had another man stop to see if I needed a ride and asked me about the walk. I told him where I started and where I was going and for what reason. Of course I gave him a card also. He gave me his blessings and said he would pray for my journey. God bless you...and thank you!

Umm..someone fell asleep...lol!

Day number 28

I guess today was a little tiring for me. I woke up this morning and packed everything to get started around 6:30. As I sat down to put my shoes on..I looked down and saw the tire I had fixed from a previous time was flat again.
The blessing was...I was right across the street from a convenients store that had air and a patch kit. After buying the kit and walking out to the cart I heard someone say..I thought you looked familiar....I saw you on the news. After fixing the tire getting the air...a cup of coffee, off I went. The road started out narrow but opened up fairly nice later. Probably 12 or so miles into the journey the cart seemed harder to push. As I looked around at the tires I noticed the front tire had now gone flat. I haven't been able to buy a pump yet anywhere so I could not fix it on my own this time. I pushed down on the handle to bring the cart up on it's rear wheels and pushed it like that. After about a mile or so I saw a sod farm about a 1/4 mile down a side road...thinking to myself..surely they have an air compressor as I walked down and knocked..no answer...so I left. As I was going back towards the main road I noticed some men working in a field. I walked over to them and told them who I was and what I was doing. Explained to them about my flat and asked if they had a pump or compressor to fix it. They said yes, so I wheeled the cart down to their garage. One of them also said...didn't I see you on the news. Well, let me tell you..they just took over...took the wheel off repaired it and put it back on for me ready to go. The blessing...finding and talking with such a great group of people. They even prayed for me and my journey...I felt like family they where so nice and kind to me. God bless you Steve senior,  Steve Junior, Marshall, Steve seniors brother and Joe the two brothers father. What an amazing family to run into. Thank you all so much...a true blessing from God!

As I ventured down the road about a mile from where I got the tire repaired I heard a womans voice yelling hey...I turned around and saw a women calling me. I turned the cart around and went back to her...she said..aren't you the one on the news. Her name was Judith and she shared her story of anxiety and deppression she had battled for years. Thankfully she is doing better now. I tell you..it is truely hard to suffer like that and just as hard not to have those close to you understand how you really feel. You have to experience it to really understand how one could feel going through a mental illness. What a brave woman to share her story with me and allow me to tell it. Thank you Judith.

As I ventuted further down the road I came upon a young woman mowing her lawn. As I approached I waived like I always do. She stopped her mower..got off and said..I knew that was you as you were coming towards me. I saw you on a facebook post. She shared her story about her sister who suffers from a post traumatic stress disorder. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your story with me..and I am happy to say her sister is now getting the help she needs. What a Blessing to meet all these super Nice people.

I stopped at Walter's Gas and Grill at the Hill for lunch in Society Hill, Alabama. I got me a hamburger and double fries...and yes they were delicious. They were kind enough to find the number and call the motel I am at now. I never would have known it was here if Judith hadn't told me about it. Thank you Judith and thank you Walter's for calling for me. Yes..that was another blessing. So after 27 miles of walking I finally got to the motel for the night.

What a great and blessed day. And thank you Adam for those words keep going....I heard them in my mind on several of the hills today. Prayers to all I have met so far!

I also met Silberio Espinoza..a truck driver who was stopped on the side of the road. He asked about my walked and we talked for a while and he gave me a donation for my journey before I parted. It was a blessing to meet and talk with you sir! 

I JUST FEEL THE URGE TO WALK!

Double states throwdown time!

Okay everyone. I have made it through two states so I challange you to a double throw down.

Challange number one: spend some time with your children individually if you have children of course, and really listen to what they are saying and feeling and give them confidence in the fact that they know you care and are there for them and are felt loved. Trust me..it won't hurt to put down the cell phone for a 1/2 or so to do this.
Unless your reading my blog...now that was a joke...lol!

Challenge number two: visit an elderly person..a relative..a neighbor..someone in a nursing  home just to let them know someone cares about them. Let me tell you..even a passing smile can mean the world to someone.

I want to thank God for everyone who is following my blog and am grateful for all the help and blessings I have had from everyone. And if you feel it in your heart you can also do challange number one again. Support Mental Health and Suicide Awareness in any manner you can.
You can donate or volunteer for an event or do one of their fundraisers like a walk or run. God bless you all!

What an Amazing and Inspiring Day!

Let me tell you..first of all I got up and walked 1.8 miles..then I realized things were looking familiar. Yes I walked the wrong way. Not a problem..I just turned around and went the right way. As I got into Phenix City and started walking out of town I found it almost impossible to walk on the road. There was absolutely no room and although it was dual lanes each way..the cars would not move over. It was a struggle to push the cart through the grass and sandy soil up and down hills so I got on the road when I could. It was very tiring to say the least. It was like that for about 9 mile or so. Then finally the road opened a little with a small shoulder making it a little easier to manage.

After all that struggling, The blessing came. I was tired and walking up a hill giving it all I had, so I thought. I saw a pickup make a left turn up at the top of the hill. Then I saw it turn around and sitting at the stop sign. It took me a while to get up the hill and that truck just sat there waiting. I finally made it to the side road where the pick up was. Out came a young man maybe 17-18 years old. He handed me some cash and shook my hand and said keep going. That just touched my heart and gave me the push I needed to keep going the rest of the way. That young man later shared a story with me by message that just touched my heart and made today's struggle well worth it. It was a true blessing to meet that young man, thank you sir for your inspiration that kept me going. I would love to hear from you again sometime. God Bless you!

Here are a few pics from today on my walk from Columbus, Ga. To Crawford, Alabama where I am for the night. The Crawford Motor Inn.

Lake Pines RV and Campground to Phenix City, Alabama!

I went with Debi (from the campground) to Bible Study last night and had a great time. She took me to Wal-Mart afterwards and bought me some food for my trip. After bringing me back to my site she gave me another blessing and said a prayer for me and my journey.

The next morning she had gone to work at a Christian Radio Station so I did not see her before I left. As I walked along I got a text from her that some reporters might stop me on the road for an interview. They did find and stop me and did do an Interview...of course I got all tongue tied partly from being overwelmed by so many blessings God had for me from Debi and having this be the first time doing an interview like that.I actually had to tell them to give me a minute because I was welling up with tears and could not talk...I was just feeling so blessed that I was that overwelmed. They were very kind and patient with me. Thank you Jenyne and WTVM for taking an interest and for doing the story on mental health and suicide awareness! http://m.wktvm.com/wtvm/db/330870/cont

I passed Debi while downtown. I think she was going from the radio station to the campground. She honked and waved as she went by.

I stopped and had lunch at a Denny's..burger and fries. From there I continued on through down town Columbus heading toward the river. I passed the Columbus Museum which looked very nice from the outside.  The river walk area was very nice looking and I crossed a new looking pedestrian bridge that crosses over to Phenix City, Alabama. Yes...I made it to Alabama...that is two states under my belt. The only thing is I am back in Georgia for the night because that's where the closest motels were.

Oh yeah, just before reaching the bridge I got another text from Debi...I had left my devotional and Bible in her car from last night. I am telling you....she has been a blessing over and over again. She drove out across the river to Alabama and brought them to me. Again, God bless you Debi and thank you very much.

I am checked in at Days Inn back in Georgia. Tomorrow I will cross the bridge again and continue the next part of my journey through Alabama.

Junction City to the outskirts of Columbus, Georgia

Left out of Junction City at 6:45 am after being put up for the night at Gateway. A work based drug rehab center. Everyone there was very nice and very respectful towards each other and I had a clean bed for the night and a restroom. Thank you Gateway for allowing me shelter for the night. God bless you all.

I found a little country diner in Geneva, Ga. A five mile walk from Junction City and stopped and got a cup of coffee. The girl at the counter said didn't I see you in Dublin..that was like 100 miles ago.
Apparently she had passed me going the other way and recognized me when I walk in. At least I am leaving a lasting impression, lol!

It was a continual up and down rolling road today. Some of the hills were a mile long. It was a pretty much a walking day again. No one really to talk to. But when I did see someone, I gave them one of my cards and told them what I was doing.

I had a gentleman driving a truck turn around...go to the next turnaround...just to give me a donation. How great is that. God has been so good to me. Thank you Sir if you are reading this and God bless you.

And just when I was running out of steam I keep saying God please let me find a motel. But instead I came across a sign for this campground. It was maybe one block or so from the highway. What an Oasis it was to me. Naturally I got a site and put the tent up..got in the pool..took a shower...got dressed and now I'm blogging.

Okay...here's the kicker. The girl from the office came from Manchester, Tn. My home state. She has worked with various mental health organizations because of personal reason she shared with me..I like to keep those stories private out of respect to those that tell them, and she had started one of her own. Now what are the odds of that. Now you know why when I asked God please let there be a motel...I was given this campground instead. God knows what he is doing and what he wants me to do. Amen, and praise Jesus! She is going to a bible study in Columbus and invited me along, so I will go. She even offered to take me to get something to eat first. Again...Amen!