living FREE

Little Lake Bryant, Ocala National Forest

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Anyone who knows us knows we LOVE to camp and so our last week in Florida we were excited to head into the great outdoors. Over many years of camping on a budget we have learned that you can always camp within National Forest's for free and coming off of WR budget, we decided to add a 'challenge' to our journey by finding a place to live for FREE. Some people might say homeless. Though we felt the convertible was still quite a cushy form of being 'homeless', so we preferred to call it living FREE. Without walls or boundaries without financial necessity, away from electricity, technology, comfort. Surrounded by God's beautiful creation. FREE. To call 'home' for the night wherever we placed our tent or parked our car. So we drove north to meet with our fellow racer Sarah who was driving down from South Carolina to meet in the most logical place in Florida to meet of course, the Ocala National Forest.

Grey Egret

We had chosen a primitive camping area at Little Lake Bryant, which was a pristine, motor FREE lake a short walk from our campsite. We quickly discovered that by living FREE we met many others who had also chosen to live FREE within this forest, FREE as a bird :)

Sunday we ventured out of the forest to go to church in Ocala. We went to a fellow racer's church there: Trevor who by the grace and mercy of God is 100% again, after a life threatening experience with malaria and a ruptured spleen back in Ukraine. It was so good to see how God had healed Trevor!

That afternoon we decided to have a picnic in the town square where we discovered was also the place to hang out during the day for FREE by a lot of locals that came there from the Salvation Army nearby. We met Dolly Parton's cousin who was bi-polar. He sang us some beautiful songs unashamed after we vowed not to make fun of him. He had money. He was not a bum. He told us he was the 'black sheep' of his family. Another soul that had been outcast and forgotten. FREEly traveling and searching for LOVE. He had quite the story and we had all the TIME in the world that afternoon to just sit and listen. We met other friends who were all part of a FREE community that seamed to be family to each other after being abandoned by their own.

Spoonbill

I don't believe they were homeless, just lost. Sure by society's standards they didn't have the homes of their own, but they had a community that took them in when it got too cold. They were friendly, happy to to meet new comers, helpful, yet society would cast these folks as homeless bums. Forgotten people with tremendous amounts of pain they were carrying from their burdened pasts.

Something I grew to appreciate about the people we met who were living FREE was their ability to be completely RAW from the moment you meet them. 'Take me as I am, this is how you'll find me 24/7' was one of their introductory comments. No skimming past the surface conversation, it was straight to the core. They shared things with us in the first 5 minutes of meeting them that many people may never share in a lifetime. Brutal honesty that was at times uncomfortable and difficult to hear, but all they wanted was for someone to care enough to listen. Not shoo them away. LOVE them just the way they are, right where they are at. It's amazing how just listening can show them that kind of LOVE.

Wood Stork

Back at the 'camp' we met another traveling soul. It blew me away the tears that were flowing from all of our eyes as we sat around a campfire and just listened. Not in a hurry to go anywhere or move along to another agenda. We had time. Something that is very precious in life. At last we had all the time in the world to listen to this precious LIFE tell his story.

We headed South to West Palm Beach to meet up with Ellen & Michael on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and had the opportunity to serve in ministry with them for the afternoon doing food prep with them for a homeless dinner that they do every Monday. It was so much FUN in the kitchen and there were about 60 people that showed up for a very delicious meal! We got to meet Ellen's family and enjoy shelter, dinner and a HOT shower! Thanks for the blessings friends!

We ended our journey through Florida in the Everglades National Park where there were gators galore and amazing birds everywhere! Our last night was spent with Brian's grandparent's in Naples, which was a special treat to see them for the second time after spending Thanksgiving with them in Ohio. They're 'snow birds' that had just arrived to spend the cold winter months there for their 31st year. They'll be 90 on their shared birthday, January 30th!

Gator, Everglades National Park