Greetings to All of our Friends, Family and Fellow Hikers,
Well the title of this blog post says it all. We are taking on a new adventure for the Summer and Fall of this year. We as a family are moving to the high mountains of Colorado. We will be living at 8500 feet on the border of Colorado and New Mexico. We will be living in the Sangre De Cristo mountains.
We will be working on a private ranch that ranges from 8000' to above 14,000'. We will be taking out guided hikes through the alpine forests, taking out trail rides on horseback, cooking wild game, jeep tours, elk hunts, fishing trips, farming and putting up hay and lots of hospitality, good food and making memories.We are excited about the new challenges and the new adventures before us.
On Katlyn's Lyme's disease, we already have Katlyn lined up with Lyme's doctors. She will be starting a natural treatment of herbs and vitamins and immune boosters. Please continue to pray for her and of course all of our family.We will be posting weekly updates and stories of what we have been doing.We hope that we will be a witness to all we meet. This is new territory for us and we can not wait for this adventure to start. Please stay tuned and watch for updates and photos of this upcoming part of backpacking believers.
Please continue to pray for our family. If you want to learn more about where we are going or what we are doing please call or email us.
We love you All,
Jennifer "GentleFir"
Backpacking Believers
Lyme's and Loved Ones...Our Katlyn; Backpacking KatyDid
It has been hard watching
our daughter who has always been active and smiling go through the harsh
struggles of Lyme’s Disease. When she was 8 years old and we were in the
mission field working at SIFAT in Alabama, she was bitten by a tick then and was
very sick. Then doctors in Alabama said there was no such thing as Lyme’s Disease
in our area and that she had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which is another
form of tick disease. We now have learned that she may have contracted Lyme’s
then and was misdiagnosed. We have been to many doctors since Katlyn was bitten
in Ohio on our walk across America, in July of 2014 during another mission
trip. It seems as though when people are trying to step out on faith and spread
the words of the Lord to others, satan is there ready and waiting to attack, to
destroy and even to try to break you and stop you. Our family and our daughter
have overcome his attacks and it has only strengthened our faith in God. We
will not be stopped or defeated.
I have watched our
daughter go from waking up singing to waking up crying some days. I have
watched her walk 25 miles up and over mountains and conquer them to some days
not being able to walk around a ¼ mile track in the park without having to sit on
a park bench and rest. This breaks my heart and it makes me feel helpless. Anyone
who is a parent can relate to how this feels. We are working hard at trying to
find the answers and the right treatments for, Katlyn. This for now is our new
walk, a walk for a cure for Katlyn.
We have been to the best
hospitals in Texas and have seen great doctors but no results. Katlyn has been
in and out of the E.R. every month since completing our mission walk. She has
had tons of lab work, x rays, EKG, echo cardio grams, fluids, spinal tap/
lumbar puncture, soon physical therapy, antibiotic therapy and much more. All
of this and much more only to find out that insurance will not cover the
treatments that the Infectious Disease Specialist says she needs next.
Insurance will not pay for Lyme’s Treatments of any kind, anywhere in the
world. We have been researching different states and even different countries
for a cure. We need your prayers and your support for Katlyn.
She had dreams of hiking
a Grand Slam, this is when you hike all of the major trails. She wanted to hike
the A.T., P.C.T., C.D.T. and the one we just finished. Only a handful of people
have ever done this. She is currently the youngest in the world to have
completed the America Discovery Trail. I believe in our daughter, she has hopes
and dreams and I believe that this is a way and if it is God’s will she will
complete her dream. Katlyn is an inspiration to so many people young and old.
Her smile lights up the world and brightens the faces of the hurt and the lost.
She is a mighty warrior of our Lord, Jesus Christ. She is strong and bright.
She is our heart and love. She is a child of God.
Lyme’s Disease is devastating
to all who have it and to the ones that love them. Lyme’s Disease is still
that, just a disease. We believe in Jesus and we have faith that He will find a
cure and that He is the cure for all sickness. We will not let satan break us
down. Katlyn; when she found out she got Lyme’s, she continued her walk in
Love. Katlyn was strong and said that she was not going to let a little
parasitic tick stop her from sharing the Love of Jesus to everyone. So, she
didn’t, she made it and won and she will again.
We together will beat this disease. We will
win for Katlyn! We will win for others just like Katlyn. We need your prayers
and support as we go forward with this race and walk in our future. We will be
posting updates on treatments and even expenses needed and so on. We will be
posting education and Lyme’s information for all of you so you can protect
yourselves and your family form this disease. Katlyn is still strong, beautiful
and a light to the world and to all she meets.
Thank you for your prayers
and support for our daughter; Katlyn, Backpacking KatyDid.
We love you ALL!
His Servant,
Jennifer
From A Wilderness Serenity to A Concrete Jungle......
It has been some time
since we have written an update on where we are and what we have been up to
since completing our walk in Love. We are sorry that we have been so busy that
we have not kept everyone up to date. So here is why we have been so busy.
A couple of weeks before
we completed our Walk in Love across America we spoke with a dear friend of
ours on the phone and was informed they had stage 4 cancer and would be going
to Houston, Texas for treatments. This was a hard thing to receive, as it would
be for anyone hearing this news about someone they know or care about. We
continued our walk in love and continued to pray for the Lord’s guidance. When
we completed our walk in Denver, Colorado, we drove to Nebraska to spend time
with our family and to regroup with reality and life off the trail. What a
large adjustment our lives were getting ready to go through. Wow, How quickly life
changes!
One would think that one would be excited to be back in a warm or cool house with a bed and running water at the touch of your fingers. One would think that sleeping in with no plans for the day would be wonderful, but is it really? Life for us has been a hard adjustment. When you are out on a long walk, long trail or mission trip it changes you in many ways. On the walk we would wake up and pack up our entire house and move each day. We would see new places and meet new people daily and we had to rely completely on God for guidance and the strength to just walk. In life now you live going through the motions of a work routine or daily schedule, same routine different day. You do not have to have a strong faith just to make another step up a mountain. You need faith to get through the day but not like the kind of sold out faith where all you have is God to help you make another step, to guide you with His word to tell someone that does not know Him the right scriptures to lead them. Here in this life we are in now we get up, make breakfast, dishes, routine, work, children, school etc.Our life then was grab a cold Cliff bar with no taste and eat for survival, hot water with no ice, and walk to an unknown new place and talk to strangers along the way and pray and talk to God for direction, complete direction in your life. We walked in all weather conditions, no matter what. We had God and each other and HE cared for us daily. We did not care for ourselves daily, God cared for us and met our needs.
One would think that one would be excited to be back in a warm or cool house with a bed and running water at the touch of your fingers. One would think that sleeping in with no plans for the day would be wonderful, but is it really? Life for us has been a hard adjustment. When you are out on a long walk, long trail or mission trip it changes you in many ways. On the walk we would wake up and pack up our entire house and move each day. We would see new places and meet new people daily and we had to rely completely on God for guidance and the strength to just walk. In life now you live going through the motions of a work routine or daily schedule, same routine different day. You do not have to have a strong faith just to make another step up a mountain. You need faith to get through the day but not like the kind of sold out faith where all you have is God to help you make another step, to guide you with His word to tell someone that does not know Him the right scriptures to lead them. Here in this life we are in now we get up, make breakfast, dishes, routine, work, children, school etc.Our life then was grab a cold Cliff bar with no taste and eat for survival, hot water with no ice, and walk to an unknown new place and talk to strangers along the way and pray and talk to God for direction, complete direction in your life. We walked in all weather conditions, no matter what. We had God and each other and HE cared for us daily. We did not care for ourselves daily, God cared for us and met our needs.
We are now in Houston,
Texas taking care of our friend with cancer, I mentioned early. We have gone
from the serenity quietness of the wilderness to a concrete jungle. We have moved
to the middle of 6.5 million people whom are all in a huge hurry blowing their
horns and have no patience. You have to wait in lines at the grocery stores
just to look at the lettuce for a salad. It has been a stressful change on our
family and we have learned even more about our own relationship with God and
people. We are here cooking for our friend and going back and forth to chemo
treatments and on the side we are talking to all of the homeless here .and all
of the different kinds of people .We are biking around 20 miles a day for exercise
through this concrete jungle while trying not to get run over by a car. We are
still sharing the Love of Jesus with all we meet, homeless or not, cancer
patients or not, impatient people and friendly people. It has been difficult
adjusting for us to “NORMAL” life but we miss the “NOT SO NORMAL” life daily.
Our walk in the wilderness of NOT knowing what is next around the corner.
Please continue to pray
for us and we are continuing to pray for ALL of you and Thank you ALL for your
help along our walk. We have had our own setbacks lately and have been dealing
with those as they come. Katlyn and her Lyme’s Disease has been a huge issue in
her life and ours. She needs everyone’s prayers and help for her treatments. Encouraging
words and thoughtful calls and prayers would be greatly received. The Lyme’s
has taken a hard toll on her physically and emotionally. It is hard for us to
watch the youngest in the World to walk across America on the ADT and now be in
pain and fight sickness from a little tick. We will post more about her
treatments and updates on her health. As well as on Lyme’s disease itself and
what we are doing in the future.
Please keep us ALL in your
thoughts and prayers. We love you ALL dearly.
In Christian Love,
Jennifer “GentleFir”
Backpacking Believers
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