Sacramento - visiting our supporting churches

On the road again

This past weekend our family drove up from Los Angeles area to Sacramento area to visit two more of our supporting churches.  It was about a six hour drive, but with three little boys we easily made it an eight hour drive.  Funny how a "quick stop" can easily take an hour... just when we are ready to buckle everyone back in their car seats, somehow there seems to be one more diaper to change.  Here's a map of the route we took.

Going up the 5 freeway you get to drive through the grapevine.  Do you have a story that you repeat and retell every time you pass a certain location?  One of the stories I like to repeat and tell over and over to Allan is when we pass the foothills of the grapevine on the north side (pictured below).  My grandfather (on my mom's side) was born and raised in Canada.  When he first moved to the States he worked in a gas station on the north side of the grapevine, and I have always pictured it to be in this general area.  Everytime we hit this part of the grapevine I start my story, "Hey Allan, did you know a that...." Allan has heard my story so many times he often tells me my own story.

There were some good moments and some tense moments.  But we made it just fine.  Jakob and Trevor enjoyed their first ring pop.  At the time it seemed like a fun snack, until I realized that the babywipes were packed in the back of the car.  Oops!  Trevor didn't seem to mind the blue sticky chin for half the trip.

 

Allan decided he would hit two birds with one stone and study for his ordination exam on the way up.  So when the boys were out napping, Allan got to listen to a couple systematic theology lectures he had downloaded onto his phone.

For only being 3 months old, Noah did a great job!  But his limit was 1 hour short of our actual drive time.  So for the last hour of our drive he cried practically non-stop.  I thought I'd try to calm him down by taking a video of myself "talking" to him and then hanging my phone over his car seat and playing it for him to see.  It only worked for a few seconds.

Blessings of host homes

When we travel out of town to visit churches we often get the privledge of staying at the home of one of the church members.  Being hosted by one of the families from the church is one of the things I enjoy most in visiting our supporting churches.  It allows us to get to know at least one of the families from the church more intimately.  And it is extra special when we get to stay at the same house on a return visit to the church, which we got to do for part of this trip.

As we stay in these homes we get the unique privledge of receiving the hospitality of others.  One specific detail that a couple host homes did for us is put out a small empty laundry basket.  I thought the size of the laundry basket was cute.  It was an extra detail I had never thought of myself in terms of hospitality but I found it very help.  It is definitely something I am going to remember myself once I get to open my home to guests.

Grace Bible Church of Roseville

Allan preached on Sunday morning at Grace Bible Church of Roseville. I asked Allan what stands out to him the most about this church.  He said that the people seem very relational and he enjoys that very much.  The two times we visited this church we got to stay with the same host family.  And both times that family invited other families from the church over to share a meal.  We enjoying meeting the members of the church in a casual setting outside of a regular church gathering.

Here is Allan with some of the leaders from the church.  Their pastor, Rod Santiago, is on the bottom row, left of Allan.

Gold Country Baptist Church

After preaching in the morning in Roseville, we headed up to Shingle Springs (about 45 minutes to 1 hour away) for Allan to preaching in the evening at Gold Country Baptist Church.  Each time we come to this church we are shocked and humbled at how they treat us like royalty, going above and beyond.

A fun tidbit about this church is that their pastor, Phil Layton, grew up in the Philippines as a missionary kid.  Pastor Phil and Allan went to the same seminary and their time there overlapped a little.  The picture below is Allan with Pastor Phil Layton and his father, Jerry Layton.  All three of the men are wearing the formal wear of the Philippines, called a barong tagalog.  It is very lightweight and worn untucked over an undershirt.

This is the part of the blog where I like to close my post with something witty or thought provoking.  But it is late and my mind is tired.  The rest of the family are fast asleep so I think I will do the same.