Thoreau Flood

 Yesterday, monsoon season continued as expected, but what came after has not happened this bad in over 10 years... The Great Thoreau Flood.  Our backyard and drive way turned into a literal river.  I had to rescue our dog Nikida back onto the porch.  The rain had stopped and she had gone out to relieve herself, but in the 2 minuets she was out... the flood hit.  Robby had just walked from the front window to the back, and back to the porch...and it hit between leaving the back window and the front porch.

 We had to wait till our driveway stopped being a river to get over to the church. The church got hit too.  Our back field, which last week we used for a cowboy church service, was "Thoreau Lake" yesterday.  We were blessed with sandbags from the Fire Department, and bagged every door of the church to keep it from leaking through the doors, more than it had at least.  We had pizza and fellowship after cleaning up the church.

Even more unbelievable was the flooding out of the train tracks.  These tracks have been used since the 1890's by first the Mitchel's lines and now the Amtrak and Santa Fe Railroad.  Trains were waiting till about 9 till 10 pm for the water to go down and the tracks to be cleared off enough for the trains to pass.  At 6 pm when I took the pictures, the tracks were still flooded out... It was totally and unbelievable sight!

~ Traveller Gal, out!

29 years and counting...

 Thinking Back....

Twenty-nine years, that is a long time to walk the earth.  There have been alot of ups and alot of downs on this journey, both of the heart and of the soul.  In my first six months, I had 3 mothers: birth, foster, adopted.  In my first 3 years of life I had at least 4 homes.  At four I surrendered my life to God.  At seven I was called to missions... and the rest is history!

At 15 I went on my first mission trip, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico.  At 16 I was called to the Navajo.  Just after that, still in my 16th year, I became very ill and was bedridden most of the time till late in my 17th year.  At 18 I went on my second missions trip, New Orleans, LA, USA.  At 19 I began doing online ministry to the subcultures and at-risk teens.  At 23, I went on my third mission trip, to Charlotte, NC, USA.  At 24, I sought to start a safe house for at risk youth, but never totally got it up off the ground.  Later that year, at almost 25, I married my beloved Rob Nickles.

At  25, I went for the first time on a mission trip to Navajo Nation, as Rob had done off and on since 1995.  Then that same year we moved to Chicago, and remained for 14 months.  Then it was off to Kentucky, Kansas, and Arizona, before moving to Thoreau NM.  What joys, what trials, and what blessings lie between!  Such a life I have lead, out here on the open road... God has been good even in the hard times.  I am blessed.


~ Traveller Gal, out!

Casa Rosa

Rob and I live in a little checkerboard community called Thoreau in northeastern New Mexico.  Surrounding us on most sides is the Navajo Reservation.  Thoreau is a typical rez community: small, not much to do, and alot of people to meet.

For us, we did not expect to move to Thoreau.  We were just looking for a place close to the rez where we could live near the missions field and maybe rent to own some land.  Little did we expect to find an older mobel home with an acre of land on a street called Rose.  The place is a fixer upper, but what missionary home isn't?

We have a nice living room/dining room, a kitchen, a den, Rob's office/man cave, my office, the guest bedroom, guest bathroom, and our master bed and bath.  We will have a pantry, after the leaky roof is fixed. ^_^

For me, Casa Rosa, while really to large for just us, is perfect for the work we do.  With mentoring, discipleship, and relational missions as our focuses, a large place like ours means plenty of room to have people over. 

Now we just have to get that leaky roof fixed!!! LOL!

~ Traveller Gal, out!