We met incredible people on the way. Most people stopped thinking we had broken down and might need help-so we were able to share what we were doing. A vendor at a hotel, the only one we stayed in, was very interested gave us an extremely good rate and pledged to donate. ( We stayed in a hotel close to the end just to sit in a refreshing pool and sleep a little longer one morning) One person found out we were having lunch at her United Methodist Church and now wants to volunteer with us. I even saw our Command Sergeant Major-CSM Roy Aultman twice along the way…that was way cool. Then there were the youth from Selma and Dothan who plugged in with us during the middle weekend as we walked the Edmund Pettus Bridge and worked in Selma-not to mention my friends, Jason and Meredith, who drove over from Auburn to help us on the Saturday work day.

What did I learn? There were many times while walking that we would pray for the counties we passed through and think about what was happening in their community. There was George in Union Town who helped us scrape a historic post office to prep it for painting. He was so willing to work but talked about there being no jobs in his community. Later that day we saw him working on a roof…it’s really easy to comment on people sitting on their front porch but what else do you do when there are no jobs and you don’t run your AC? The cheese factory in that little town puts out such a horrific smell, it is difficult to be out there-it literally stinks…so what does that say to the people in that little community caught in the fringes?

I so much enjoyed two weeks of fun converation along the roads. Sometimes it was funny-like commenting on some cow or John Deere tractor, or it had significant depth as we discussed insights, our faith, growing up and so much more. I learned so much about my mom and just enjoyed that time. As people joined along the way like Sally and Glenn Granberry who launched with us in Tuskegee, Brad who walked for two days straight until Montgomery, Dave and Sherry who picked up in Selma, and then Emily who joined us near Union Town-I learned more and more and shared stories and thoughts. I am so grateful to our support team Don and Janet who pulled a camper trailer for two weeks. Janet sits in a wheelchair and must use oxygen and Don cheerfully takes care of her. So, it wasn’t a cup cake trip as they dealt with the stop and go travel, living in a camper for two weeks, and the intense heat that climbed into the 100’s daily. And yeah, it only rained two times-only one time were we walking-which meant it was really hot. We are also grateful to our other support driver, Carla, who got roped into this one week prior to the trip. She is one of our Livingston construction coordinators but since they did not have a work team in-I asked her to drive. But, she did so much more as she walked along, shared her vision for what God is calling her to, and took turns driving with my mom.

And then-I can’t forget the churches who fed us or allowed us to stay with them: Tuskegee UMC, Bradford’s Chapel UMC in Shorter, Megan Burritt from Frazer UMC, FUMC Montgomery, Benton UMC, United Methodist Children’s Home, Church Street UMC -Selma, West Highland UMC-Selma, Barrett Road UMC-Selma, Memorial UMC-Selma, Marion UMC, Demopolis UMC, and Livingston UMC. Such a special thanks to all of them.

As this closes up-I must also express my deep thanks to a planning team that spent several months putting this all together: Andi, Marcia, Becky, Dave, Heath, Craig, Beth Ann, and Danielle. What a wonderful bunch who put so much work into making this happen. So what is next? Well, I don’t think we will do this type of walk for awhile-but I will say that the young adult staff is putting together a 4 Day bike tour across Alabama next summer that is the same principle. Our working title is “Cycle of Service” and the tag is ”To End the Cycle of Poverty” You’ll be hearing details in the next few months. I’ll be posting up more pictures of the walk in the next few days-thanks again to everyone!!!!!

God Bless You All- I loved the Walk!!!!

lisa

Our pace was really good and we had 10 miles in by lunch. We stopped at a resteraunt that wasn’t open and had a picnic lunch there. It was nice to sit in a rocking chair and enjoy lunch. The most difficult part of the journey came when we crossed the bridge from Demopolis into Sumter County. We stopped today at 18 miles. I also got a nice surprise when part of the Livingston staff drove by us while we were on the bridge on their way to Wal Mart.

We were able to hand out many brochures today and some wanted to give donations. I am grateful at the people we were able to share with today and the things we learned.

Email has been difficutlt but hopefully we’ll share a bit tomorrow.

Blessings!

On Saturday, we met up with our staff from Livingston and began an extensive landscaping job for a woman who has been in a nursing home for over a year and has not had enough money to pay to have any keep up her three old antebellum home which has been in her family for years. It was described as a jungle. We were delayed by a serious thunderstorm but then continued on in a light rain. We cut down trees, pulled out vines, and uncovered the shell of what once was a beautiful yard. We only made a dent but it was well worth the effort. We had some fun swinging from old vines, karate chopping beat up trellis forms, and just having fun while working. Although dirty and soaked-it meant the world to us.

This morning we attended worship at Church Street UMC in Selma and listened to a sermon on the “The Trek to the Promised Land”. Most the hymns were about walking or standing…how appropriate for us. Our walk started again after lunch but then nearly was ended as a torrential downpour hit. We were able to wait it out and continue on finishing just in time to make it to dinner.

We are grateful to the UMC churches and United Methodist Children’s home for all of their support! Tomorrow, it is on to Union Town!

Thanks-check out more pics on Twitter and those being uploaded to the site!

Enjoying the walk!

lisa

I would like to say thank you to all of those that are walking.  All of  you are doing a wonderful job.  Bring It!

Heath

We started at a good trot and made great time for about the first two hours and seemed to be ahead of schedule. But then, the sun, a bit of fatigue, and sore feet kicked in. By lunch we realized it was going to take a bit longer. We crossed several bridges, listened to the birds, and compared houses. Some were really nice…really big. Others had missing shingles, broken windows, and needed lots of TLC. It made us realize what families sometimes go through.

Heath Spurlock, our webmaster, saw us on  HWY 80 from the Interstate, honked several times and then waited for us at our next rest stop. He has been so instrumental in making this web site run, teaching me about Twitter and so much more. We are are grateful to have him so it was good to see him along the route.

After lunch, we trudged along…and trudged…and trudged. We finally made it to Frazer around 4:30..navigating traffic on the Atlanta HWY was a chore and slowed us down-but I think the heat was a main factor. It was wonderful having Brad along but his destination ended with our finish in Montgomery. His wife, Michelle, helped out with our snack bar which by the way has profited about $1300 so far. Way to go!!!! Tomorrow we get to speak at Annual Conference for a few minutes at 9:00 AM and then launch.

A big thank you to Mrs. Megan Burritt and family for hosting us tonight. The Burritt’s are members of Frazer and also the grandparents of Lee Jones, an old friend from Auburn Wesley Foundation. We are all family here. I look forward to a great day tomorrow! Very proud of my mom. She hung in for the entire 13 miles today! Way to go!

Thanks to you all and we’ll see you along HWY 80!

A part of the group peeled off so four of us walked the rest of the day. I am so grateful to our support crew of Don and his wife Janet, and our staff person Carla. They are a wonderful blessing and so needed! We stopped to rest about every hour, refilling water bottles, eating a snack and resting our feet. Lunch was picnic style under a small China Berry tree.

We finished in great time-basically seven hours to walk 20 miles. Our feet are sore and I have a bit of heat rash on my legs-plus the calf high grass sometimes doesn’t help much. But, I think of why we do this. Poverty is hard. Families struggle and half to deal with conditions that are never ideal. As my feet scream at me to stop-it helps me understand for just a moment the “pain” many families may face.

I look forward to another day as we stop at Frazer Memorial tomorrow during Annual Conference. We only do 13 miles so not as hard a day. Thank you for the prayers and the twitters and the text messages. We’ll keep posting them.

Blessings!