Knoxville BaconBratCakes II

Our next part of the journey toward Perth Australia landed us in Knoxville Tennessee. Knoxville is not only the home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers, but it is also also the home of our dear friends Garland and Tamani Pope. We came to know Garland and Tamani through their time spent worshiping in Appleton Wisconsin a few years back. Through weekly bible studies, many o’ cup of premium blended Garbucks coffee, and earth shattering rock that was sounded forth from my upstairs landing in Wrightstown Wi, our families formed a great friendship.  Garland is one of the most God fearing men I know. He and Tamani have encouraged Melissa and I so much in service, faith, and obedience to God since our friendship began. We were extremely exited to spend time with them, and for our visit, Garland secured a cabin in the Smoky Mountains. This thing was beautiful! A complete 360 degrees in design, the cabin was unique in every way. It harnessed a spiral staircase that led to a landing overlooking the breadth of the cabin. Garland and I determined that this would be the best place for the ROcK to be sent forth to the rest of the cabin community that weekend. In packing for the trip, I just happened to include my guitar, amp, and microphone in the suburban. Funny how things like that make it in for the trip! Coincidentally, Garland managed to pack his quite portable electronic drum kit in his already family packed Honda Odyssey, so it was proverbially ON.  The visit in Knoxville though had many highlights outside of the cranked up beats, distortion filled guitar riffs, and soul wrenching vocals (Note: Tamani and Melissa, and the girls I might add, may describe the last events as clanging cymbal and loud thumps, angry and slightly out of tune guitar noise, and mumble bumble microphone blabber). 

BaconBratCakes II: The Remix commenced the first morning of the visit, which was epic to say the very least. Friday evening we were able to obtain some tickets to Cirque de Chine; a Chinese themed version of Cirque de Soul, in which graceful acrobats, contortionists, and plate spinners (that’s for you Tamani) wowed us with their world renown talents.  We were all very impressed by the show, and our children performed beautifully in their performance of watching quietly as well.  The girls, and their overall performance that weekend, was also a highlight to this portion of the trip. Big E, Little e, and Madilyn played extremely well over the weekend together, and Garand and Tamani’s son Isaac even got into the action at times.  Times that any one of the lively and playful girls fell down the death trapped spiral staircase: zero.  Times that any one of the kids had a complete meltdown: zero. In one hundred and seventy two times up and down the staircase and each night letting the girls ramble until 11pm, I am quite puzzled how either of these did not happen at least once.  

Saturday we attended the blustery Orange and White game at Neyland stadium, in which our starting quarterback this year, Tyler Bray, went 5- for -30. Not encouraging to say the least. We did enjoy the visit to Neyland despite the lacking performance and cool conditions, and the girls even got to scream GO VOLS with their orange and white pom poms. Success!

 We worshipped Sunday with a congregation on the outskirts of Pigeon Forge that Garland was familiar with, and it was absolutely great. The bible study that morning centered around Jesus’ words on forgiveness and repentance, and many members of that local church body had really good comments and scripture references for discussion. Our afternoon was spent eating Tex-Mex and traversing through the tight nit traffic in Sevierville from the car show that was being hosted there. That afternoon, we were able to manage a “short” walk around the cabins that ended with Little e and I winning the race up the final hill leading to our cabin. That evening was spent playing some board games and telling embarrassing stories from our upbringings in Tennessee, in which there were many.  I am not sure if the quantity of stories were due to all of us growing up in Tennessee, as it was the common denominator between us, or if it were just happenstance of our unique families. Between gut wrenching family photos, unreal stocking stuffers, and first car mishaps, we had the cabin overflowing with stories and laughter.  I will not submit those stories in this venue, as they must be lively animated and wavers signed to keep silence of the history being revealed.  If you are interested, please let me know, and I will forward you a waiver.

Our last day was spent completing a laxidasial pack and finishing one last coffee infused jam session, in which the floorboards of the landing were shaking loose and skylight from the top of the cabin was cracked from the rock that was being brought forth. Honestly, my embellishments of the music coming from the amplifiers and drumsticks really are a shield of mediocrity that lies at the heart of our abilities. That is what I love about music though; you can be as good as your love for music. Whether its playing air guitar and singing to your dashboard, or pickin’ with buddies the three songs you know how to play, music allows you to be Eric Clapton in your own mind. If not Eric Clapton, place the name of your favorite musician here: _______________.  The goodbye was bittersweet. As we have experienced along the way thus far, the visits have been extremely great, but we have to begun to seriously entertain in our minds that we will not see these faces as often any longer. This perplexing idea is comforted with the visits we are having, as well as the anticipation to be in Perth to start serving God with the brethren there. This time spent with Garland and Tamani was as good as we have ever had and especially good for the recharge of our family battery, but unfortunately our departure signals the rock will be on mute for a while. So it looks like its air guitar and singing to the dashboard for the near future.

So that’s what we are doin’! Crankin it up and singing away to the next part of the trip: Mobile, Alabama.  Barbeque, Nanny and Pappy, and a much needed and anticipated visit with Melissa’s brother Brian.

BBCII: The Remix

The light that shone on our ROcK

Jam Session Station

Anticipation for BBCII

Rocky Top

1 out 3 looking aint bad

Cirque de Chine

My friend that turned to stone

This guy about chopped me in half 

Gettin Smoky!

It is GREAT--to Be- a- Tennessee VOL!

Volunteering..... to wear some glasses!

The wood is good

My sweet Melissa

Farewell Knoxville.....Thank you for the recharge!

Hoosier Land

The first leg of the trip has been FANTASTIC!

We left extremely late on Monday afternoon in order to escape the deathtrap that is Chicago rush hour traffic. Although now that I think about it, maybe that is just was my subconscious mind coming to the rescue in order to cover up the mass hysteria that ensued Monday morning in the cleaning and packing the remainder of our home before our showing at 12pm. This “forced “ us to leave later than desired! Yeah…. that’s the ticket!

 Due to the late departure, our arrival time into Warsaw Indiana was a triple espresso induced 1:30am, and I suppose the trip to the Apple store in Milwaukee did not get us there any quicker! HA! In any respect, we were in HOOSIER land! The majority of all of my relatives from my mother’s side of our family reside in this town, and every time I return, some strange new memory seems to creep its way out from the Bermuda Triangle section of my brain.  Case in point: In visiting with my 3 cousins, Jim, Tom, and Mike, it was brought to my memory an event in which, while spending my summer in Warsaw fishing on Chapman Lake, I hooked my cousin in the abdomen with a fairly decent size lure. Blood was present at this event, and although it was not specifically mentioned in the tale that was being told, I am sure there were some blood curdling screams had as well by my poor, helpless, hooked cousin Tom.  Here is what boggles me: You would think this sort of event would not escape from the retaining wall of your mind. You would think that event like hooking someone with an extremely sharp set of hooks would forever be “there” with you in memory. I have had a lot of fishing conversations since then, but for whatever reason I misplaced this fishing story. I do suppose though it was a much more traumatic event for Tom than I, as he was the one being yanked around the pontoon boat by the stomach. On Tuesday evening, the coffee and laughter filled stories shared between us were excellent, and the food was classic Warsaw grub; Sloppy Joes, chips, dip, and POP. The night capped God centered conversation and prayer with my Aunt Leanne really highlighted this portion of the trip though. She and I both had an inward look at “soul matters”, and with family members, which whom you rarely are around and “comfortable” with, it can sometimes be intimidating. Not so in this case. The barrier, if there ever was one, was broken down almost instantaneously, and throughout our conversation that evening, we had a serious look on how and what was pleasing to God. We talked about how our lives were matching up with His word, and what we could do with His help to be more effective in our service to Him. It is simply amazing how God can make certain times and situations so conducive to really focus and meditate on Him and His will with others. This was that time, and it was quite heart warming. Leanne and I capped the night off with some great prayer, and we bid our farewell that evening as she and her husband were both leaving early in the morning. 

After this. we headed to Fort Wayne to visit my Aunt Kathy, who is possibly the hippest and best home decorator in the Northern Hemisphere. I am convinced her DNA possesses a hypersensitive feng shui strand, which is clearly seen in her wonderfully laid out domicile. We introduced her to Chik fil A breakfast biscuits, where in her reply was ”I never knew one could eat Fried chicken for breakfast!”. Yes you can Aunt Kathy…yes you can.  We then headed down to Wapakoneta Ohio to visit my G&G Rosengarten and my Uncle Tom.  My grandfather is currently in the hospital, and frankly is not doing very well. From what my grandmother said, he was having a pretty good day while we visited. He remembered Madilyn right off the bat and played with her, as he was able.  The nurses said that he had been talking about his time in Okinawa Japan during his physical therapy session that afternoon. He had been giving them a little grief, which seemed to be a good thing in their eyes! He is having a rough time, so please pray for his comfort. Giant hugs from my Grandmother is always at the top of my list, and plenty of hugs were dished out during our visit. She is a huggin lady, and I dig it.

We left to go see my Uncle Tom, who recently just got a new scooter and cell phone to match. The story that I got from his visiting attendant was that Tom is required to take the cell phone, wherever and whenever he goes “cruising”, so that if he gets lost or runs out of juice he can call to be picked up.  Needless to say, Tom is “jacked” to have his scooter and cell phone, and he is using it to it’s full potential. Uncle Tom is one of the most inspirational people I know.

Madilyn has been absolutely incredible on the trip! We have been putting her through the ringer, and she is really showing how lovely a little girl she is.

The road to Perth is becoming more real everyday, and the anticipation to be there is building right up along with it. Melissa and I have been praying so much for the group there over the past few months, and through the last few days she and I have had some incredible focused conversations around evangelism ideas, young children’s needs, and just settling in with everyone there to see where we can be of service. It has been great. Love that woman.

Knoxville is the next journey on the trip, and lets just say there was enough ROCK and baconbratcakes to go around for whoever wanted it! New updates to come…

Again, Mel and I hope you can get some encouragement and laughs out of our trip. Please feel free to comment or request posts you may be interested in discussing.

Here are some pictures of the Indiana/Ohio Visit:

                               This is the Winona Lake Shops and Eatery in Warsaw Indiana:

Some guys I found to jam with in Warsaw...

My lovely girls enjoying the sunshine!!

Madilyn diggin her ice cream!

Ice Cream Shop

Zachary boys from left to right: Mike, Tom (aka my twin), and Jim

NOTE: Tom's stomach seems to have healed just fine from our fishing incident

Big Wally burgers and Tenderloins....please wait while I wipe up my drool.

Melissa getting a Granny Rosengarten hug.....LUCKY!

                                                                              

Uncle Tom about to hit the town!

Our little trooper...on the road again!

On the Road Again....

Like the Willie Nelson song states:

On the road again

Goin' places that I've never been

Seein' things that I may never see again

And I can't wait to get on the road again

Our lives at this point are "on the road again". 

The Departure:

The first part of our journey toward Perth Australia has been amazingly exciting, strenuous, insightful, and heart wrenching. The beginning of our travels began with the unanticipated farewell of our first home. The welcoming, charming, and steeply staired home that resides in Wrightstown Wisconsin, has experienced its fair share of new beginnings and was now about to experience a farewell. This quaint home witnessed the love of two souls’ and their marriage in its infancy, the feet of many amazing and soon to be missed brethren coming over for Bible studies, prayer, as well as the occasional game of Settlers of Catan, and the amazing addition to our family of our daugthter Madilyn Elizabeth. As Melissa and I sat watching, a now two year old Madilyn, run never ending circles around where her bed once was constructed, we took the opportunity to open our eyes to the reality of our presently vacant home, and we took shelter in each others arms for the Noah’s Ark sized flood of memories that were about to rush through our heads. To be completely honest with you, it hit me much harder than I expected. As I had fumbled with words to describe how much this “home” had done for our family at a church potluck a few weeks back, I am confident I will do the same again here. But here it goes…

It’s more than a home. It is more than siding and shingles. It is a place where God blessed us tremendously with innumerable opportunities to serve Him. This is a place that God gave us an incredible environment for us to put our faith into action. It is a place where forgiveness was truly experienced. It is a place where my incredible wife and I laid the foundation for our marriage with God being at the very center of it. It is the place where coffee was to be had over long spiritual conversations early Tuesday mornings. It is place that, by its original design, was intended to be a safe haven for those needing a place to “be”. Welcome was the floor mats name, and if you didn’t mind a little dog hair, the couch was a nice place to sleep. This “place” was more than siding and shingles; it was a fresh start. It was a clean slate. The home embodied everything that we have experienced through real Christian love over the last 5 years. The home encompassed unselfish friendships, growing pains, hours of laughter, painful goodbye’s, and an honest inward look at our relationship with God our Father and His son Jesus Christ. As Melissa and I sat in our empty upstairs under the waves of incredible memories now flooding our home, we realized this house was a representation of all of this. It was more than siding and shingles.

At this point you might be asking yourself “Why then are you On the Road Again? Why are you …Going places that you’ve never been?”

As hard as it is to leave these wonderful memories for uncertainty and new challenges, the simple answer is this: God.

Just as He has done in our home the last five years, He now has presented and made it possible for our family to spend time in His service in different way/ways. Melissa and I’s desire is to spread His word as much as we can: The gospel of His son Jesus Christ, which is Him crucified for the sin that separates us from God the Father. This has been a constant prayer in our lives for some time, and this move allows us more time at this or at least the chance at it. With prayer, our family has made the decision that this chance is worth taking, even if it means giving up what is comfortable and familiar. God deserves thanks and glory for this.

So that’s where we are! We bid farewell to the siding and shingles, but we agreed as a family that the memories the house embodied were going to be granted permanent residency in our minds. They will be stored there in lock-tight safekeeping, in which we are able to visit them at our beckon call. Agreed? Agreed.

We are “on the road again” visiting family and friends before we leave, and thus far it has been AWESOME! So many hilarious happenings have transpired in the first five days that have left us speechless and utterly full (chik-fil a 3 times in 3 days and zaxby’s for the winner chicken dinner).

We would like to exchange them here with you (My deepest apologies for the horrible pun on our lacking blog title. (****Additional note to readers****: The blog title is subject to change weekly). So we hope you are able stay tuned to hear about our adventures moving forward, and feel free to  grab any available encouragement and laughs from this.  

The Rosengartens