Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and shared concern for our soon-to-be-born grandson, Charles Louis (Louie for short).  We do not know what the future holds but we know who holds the future and we trust in the power and sovereignty of our Creator God.  Please follow Emma and Justin Brown via social media in the coming weeks for updates and to hear the news surrounding his arrival sometime next week via c-section!  God is good...all the time.

 

 A lot has been written about new beginnings.  We know as people of faith that God is always up to something new.  Change is not always easy but it is necessary.  God, thank goodness, remains the same, but He surely does not want us to stay stagnantly in one place.  He wants us growing and changing!

One fun aspect about change for us is purging, packing, and then unpacking in a new space.  We have a beautiful, truly lovely, new home.  We decided to get creative when we moved in six weeks ago and turn a formal dining room into a home office for Steve.  I envisioned it as a room with lots of light (it has a big window that lets in lots of natural sunshine); a peaceful place for reflection, reading and music.  We found (ok, I found) some unique guitar hangers which I purchased as a gift for Steven when we moved in and today we got them installed.  What do you think?

 The room, like us, is still a work in progress. We will post more photos as we progress...

 What area of your life are working on currently?  We all get what we create; building good lifestyle disciplines yields positive results, typically.  Eat healthy, exercise, reading, time in daily prayer and Bible reading, etc.  Putting time and energy into relationships.  All the truly important aspects of life.

In this week's message Steve urged us to take a step of faith in a new direction and to leave behind an old, unhealthy (yes, sinful) habit or practice.  I was challenged yet again to go deeper - what can I do as my own work in progress to continue to be created by Him?  How about you?

A lot has changed since we, the Gruvers, began our blog journey.  Two years later and our family has grown exponentially - we have gained new grandkids and in-laws.  Our faith has grown even more as we have moved through some really hard times, with Jesus leading every step of the way.  These experiences have called us to take up our cross and die to self even more but through it all He has been faithful.  Our marriage has experienced healthy growing pains too, and we are deeper in love with one another and growing as a couple in ways we both never thought possible.

We have moved again!  We are settling in to a new church and a new season of ministry for Steven.  We are now residents of the Weather Capital of the World - Punxsutawney, PA.  We have met Punxsy's most famous resident (from a distance) Phil and stood in Gobblers Knob.  We have a beautiful house we get to call home and are nestled amongst rolling foothills of the Allegheny Mountains.  We love the Amish farmland that surrounds us and most of all, the people we are meeting.

We are striving to not only survive but thrive amidst our first pandemic; finding new ways to do life and ministry.and make new connections and stay close to those we hold dearest in this crazy season of life!

We await the birth of our precious grandbaby Louie in early November (thanks for the birthday present, Browns!).  We have experienced the heights and depths of emotion surrounding sweet little Lou - doctors discovering some serious genetic issues at almost 20 weeks, being told he probably wouldn't survive, to where we are today - he appears to still face some significant challenges but heart and brain look good and they now believe he will live and be our little miracle fighter (our hope and prayer).  The expression, "I do not know what the future holds but I know who holds the future" has never resonated more.  Please keep Louie and his family in your prayers with our thanks!

We believe even more in our saying that "You Get What You Create".  We will explain more as we go along so stay tuned!

Blessings Along the Journey,

Elizabeth and Steven

The Past Few Days

 Wednesday was a really hard ride day for me (Elizabeth).  It was REALLY cold again and I was a bit worn out from it, plus I was fighting off the start of a cold.  We had to fully gear up (wear pretty much everything we brought along), and while I was miserable but trying to NOT be, Steve was in the 'zone'.  He was feeling rested and upbeat which made it harder for me to slog along and try to not be the downer of the group.  He felt confident and light in spirits all day long - HOORAY!!  It was much needed nourishment for my weary husband.  We rode a total of 350 miles through Tennessee and into Arkansas.  We went through the heart of Memphis on the 50th anniversary of MLK's assassination, a sobering thought for us.  We passed the famed St. Jude's Research Hospital and Danny Thomas Parkway and crossed over the mighty Mississippi River which was amazing to see again.  As we pressed into Arkansas the green landscape and rolling hills and farms of Tennessee gave way to Arkansas swamp land and open fields.  We crossed miles upon MILES of swamp land.  We also enjoyed passing a massive Popscicle / Klondike factory in the middle of nowhere, it seemed.  We have noticed the further south we have ridden the pace of life has seemed to slow just a bit and the people we encounter have grown friendlier.  We have also seen more churches, more enormous churches, as we have journeyed.  At a gas station in the afternoon outside the outskirts of Little Rock a gentleman struck up a lengthy conversation with Steve about motorcycles and told us we should be thankful with the cooler temps as they were keeping the gnats at bay.  Apparently on any other day we would have had gnats flying all around us, even up under our helmets and shields.  That was a blessing.

We pressed on in our travels into Hot Springs on the other side of Little Rock, boyhood home of a former president.  We stopped to explore and stretch our legs near bathhouse row.  The center of Hot Springs is the oldest federal reserve in the US, today preserved as Hot Springs National Park. The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess medicinal properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes. There were eight historic bathhouses to view and numerous grand old hotels and buildings.  It was fun to both walk and drive around.  We visited a geo-thermal filling station and indeed, the water is quite warm we learned as we let the hot water course over our hands.  

The day was dwindling away and Steve wanted a few more miles before stopping for the night so we continued the journey before we finally called it quits for the night in Glenwood, Arkansas, at an interesting Mom and Pop hotel called the Ouichita Mountain Inn.  We splurged on the garden tub room - I would hate to have seen what just a standard room was like - lol.  But it was clean and warm.  We walked down the hill from our hotel and enjoyed some Mexican style food before retiring for the night's rest.

God's goodness is all around us and we are so thankful for time in nature and with one another as we explore and rejuvenate.  Thanks for the continued prayers and well wishes!

Tuesday was another crazy weather day!  After enjoying great coffee with my parents and Dini's birthday breakfast, we fully geared up and headed south,  but as the day progressed, we found ourselves removing layer after layer.  Even though the weatherman called for no rain, we hit intermittent showers so we made a brief stop in Perrysville to add our rain pants.  Steve talked with a man at the convenience store we used as our stop and he knew one of his best friends!

It was another very scenic drive through gorgeous Kentucky hill and horse country.  We saw a truck with a tree growing around it, a wagon wheel fence on a back road and an enormous monument to Jefferson Davis that seemed to rise out of nowhere in the middle of nowhere.  It was similar in design to the Washington Monument.

Our travels today took us through Kentucky and Tennessee.  I consider Steve an amazing storm dodger.  There were spotty showers and as the afternoon wore on we began to hear of sporadic tornadoes in the region in which we were traveling.  As it appeared to become more ominous, we decided to stop for the night in Union City, TN and made it indoors literally minutes before the skies opened up in downpour.  We watched minute by minute tornado sightings via the news, all around us.  Whew!!  The crazy weather is attributed to cold and hot air mixtures - it went from 40's to 80's across a span of a few hours on this day.

Unfortunately I started feeling a cold coming on so we ordered take in and relaxed.  Steve went and got me cold meds and Emergenc-C to help.  They are calling for sun and cold weather tomorrow - hoping they are wrong.  I am ready to NOT be chilled through for a day. 

Steve calls days like our first two travel days, MDU's, when we have to travel mostly interstates.  He says interstates on a motorcycle are mileage disposal units, so we are now referring to our first two days as MDUD's - mileage disposal days!!  I am so thankful for today's scenic highways and for my amazing husband!  He is awesome and I am blessed more than I can express in words.

More soon -

Elizabeth and Steve

Riding South

The past three days have been a little CA-RA-ZEEEEE!  We have had a wonderful time already, however, despite some wild weather.  We left Sunday following beautiful Easter services.  It was a glorious morning spent amongst our new church family.  I told Steve, “This feels like home!”  It was also a little bit of fun being that it was April Fool’s Day as well.  But it is no joke – we celebrated a risen Savior and Lord during two worship services.

As we pulled out of Pittsburgh it was unseasonably cold and dreary, weather wise (we still had warm hearts and joyful spirits).  We headed south and dropped into West Virginia and as we did so, temps continued to plummet.  We felt like we were sort of slogging along.  I was wearing three long sleeve shirts, a thermal hooded sweatshirt, a fully lined motorcycle jacket and protective rain gear for an added layer of warmth, plus long underwear and pants.  We also used hand and foot warmers and tried to strategically place them on our coldest body parts.  It was funny – I told Steve at the day’s completion that parts of my body I sort of take for granted and don’t think about were screaming at me how cold they were!

After several stops to try and warm up we finally called it quits in Flatwood, WV for the evening.  I drank McDonald’s coffee and Steve ate a cheeseburger for our Easter meal.  We loved it even though we were chilly.  We found a hotel overlooking the glorious mountains that surrounded us.  It had a comfortable bed and hot showers and we were super happy!  This will remain a crazy, hilarious albeit cold memory for us!  Our total, first day miles were 158.

On Monday morning we set off, again (do over I guess), towards Kentucky and Wilmore to stop in and visit family.  The day was again very cold.  In fact, on this day Steve said after being off the bike for five hours he touched my hip and it was still freezing!  We took our time covering the distance (rode approximately 270 miles) and got in just in time to celebrate Dini’s birthday at a hibachi grill in the Lexington area.  It was yummy and entertaining!  She is such a joyful and happy girl so it warmed us doubly to spend time with her and also my parents and sister.  Steve and I laughed a lot on this day despite the again cold temps.  I wore the exact same layers plus I placed socks on my hands that already had two pairs of gloves on!  We listened to music and talked back and forth and Steve rocked out to Sheryl Crowe (‘All I Wanna Do IS Have Some Fun’) at one point mid-day which cracked me up!  I am sure people were staring at us from their nice warm cars.  We have the benefit of a great blue tooth audio system in our helmets.  We get great sound quality – we can talk, listen to the same music and even answer the phone if needed!

The scenery was majestic mountain peaks – fog sat in pockets along the drive and blanketed lower areas.  It was really pretty.  As we came into Kentucky the land slowly flattened out more into rolling fields that sprawled for miles of hilly Kentucky bluegrass.  We passed miles upon miles of horse fencing – more wide open feeling and with its own splendor and beauty.  Steve said the further south we rode it felt more and more like you could breathe deeper.  Even though we love our new home’s location, he is truly a country boy at heart.

More later - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.      Psalm 19:1                      

Southern States 2018

Welcome to our blog!  We are preparing to head out on a GREAT southern motorcycle adventure tomorrow!  We are so, so, so excited.  Like giddy almost (at least Elizabeth is... )  But, we have been looking forward to a get away for months!  So we are excited - you get the picture.  :)

It's been a crazy, wild past nine months with a new home, new community, moving from the country to the city, new church, new family.... a lot of NEW.  We have not taken much time to breathe and this trip is a bit past due.  We need to stop the day to day pace and spend uninterrupted time with one another - and God.

This trip, we hope and pray, will be a time of rejuvenation, reflection, and adventure as we explore many southern states.

Hope we don't bore you too much as we share highlights along the journey!

Blessings,

Steve and Elizabeth