Walk Across Michigan: Update 3

The trip has been going very well!

Day 5.5
In the evening, Mike and I went to Howell and met up with Stephen Cottle at a coffee shop... no coffee for me though :-( ... We had an excellent conversation and it was very refreshing.

Day 6
After staying with Mike Carpenter, I left my bag with him. He works 3rd's in Lansing, so he drove my bag ahead of me. It was nice to not have to walk with it on for a day. My bag is sort of part of my "image" though; by that I mean I stand out with it on (it's huge). People ask me what I'm doing and I have the chance to start a conversation with them. Without the bag I had a mostly conversationless day, but nevertheless I was able to get in about 20 miles that day, so I'm grateful. When chatting with my friend Stephen Cottle, he suggested a pastor in Lansing that I should call to find a place to stay. He couldn't house me for the night, but he was able to hook me up with a person in his church (Jeff) that I stayed with. Jeff was really cool. We sat and talked while we watched the hockey game on tv.

Day 7
I left bright and early and took off for Grand Ledge. My dad told me that there was a prayer gathering of pastors going on at Grand Ledge Baptist. I called them up and asked if I could swing by. They even hooked me up with a great place to stay that night. The walk from Lansing to Grand Ledge was fairly uneventful. My time at the church with the Converge pastors was a great break. We spent some quality time in prayer and fellowship. It was very encouraging and just what I needed. I stayed with the pastor's father-in-law. We had a very nice conversation over another hockey game.

Day 8
Today has been pretty interesting. I took off from grand ledge in the morning after eating breakfast at the church with the pastors. I didn't get very far before I started a conversation with a man sweeping the sidewalk. I gave him one of my flyers and he gave me some money for the cause. After walking a ways, I stopped for a break in a mcDonalds. There was a group of people having breakfast and they asked me what I was doing with that backpack. I told them my story and gave them some flyers and they gave me around $40 for the cause. Later I was walking down the road and a lady stopped and asked if I needed a ride, so I told her my story and she gave me $6. Now I'm at the portland library to use the internet and my next stop is a house in Portland where I'm staying for the night (the church in Grand Ledge hooked me up again!)

Tomorrow night, Lord willing, I will be in Saranac staying with Sam from Lifeline.

Thank you all for your prayers! God keeps showing up in interesting ways.
As Jessica continues to remind me, Jesus is my strength and he is the reason I do the things I do. Grace and Peace be with you!
God bless