DAY 33 

Reba at sunrise, ready for her harness, wagon is packed and ready to roll towards the town of Burdick. I had gotten up at 4am, listened to God till 5am, then went to work in camp. I thought it was interesting how the dew came down about 6:30am and then froze!

House in the tiny town of Burdick, KS.

MORE BROKEN WAGON GUSSETS, so I stopped at this repair shop in downtown Burdick KS. My previous welds did not break, but when I left the town of Wilsey, I noticed that the gussets on the cross-member that supports the evener on my wagon were broken up bad, like in 8 different places! In hindsight, I realized that, on the night before, with 10 kids, 2 adults, and 1 dog in the wagon, it was loaded with close to 1,200lbs! That’s a lot of weight, and a testament to the modification work I did to the frame and box work, but the gussets on the shafts were destroyed. So it was squirrely business driving to Burdick, but I made it, and the owner of the repair shop there, whose name is Jim, let me use his arc-welder, and would not accept any money, even for materials when I tried to give him some. And I should add, he didn’t know I was coming. In fact I don’t think anyone I met in Burdick knew I was coming, and that’s why I kind of keep people in the dark about where I am going. People, very kind people, have offered to set me up in the towns to come, but I gratefully declined because I do not want to take the spontaneity out of this thing, or better put, I roll into town not knowing where or what, and God already has it all lined out and it is incredible the way people come out of the blue, not knowing me, but when I tell them the basics of what I’m about, they want to help out. Thank you Jim!

Jim has an antique dealership across from his shop. Also while in Jim’s shop, a friend of Jim, also named Jim (that’s three Jim's in one shop, ha ha), came by and I gave him a card and told him what I was about, and he left but returned shortly saying I could use the shower at the church if I liked. Thank you Jim! Also, Jim’s mother (the first Jim with the repair shop) came by and I gave her one of my booklets, and also a man who was 90 years old came by and I spoke with him and he told me that he still lived in the house he was born in! Jim, the first Jim, came up with a grill I could use in the park, and the second Jim took it to the park for me in his pickup truck. Also, Gary who owns the meat market up the street told me I could camp in City Park (just across from his house) and that there was a water hydrant there and the restrooms were open. Thank you Gary! Note: A fellow I met in Council Grove said that Gary’s meat market had the best beef-jerky around, so I’m going to try some!

Reba in Burdick City Park, I was just preparing to set up camp when a lady named Nanette came in her pickup truck and said that she and her husband had an extra house in town and I was welcome to stay there if I liked. Since I already had Reba unhooked, I almost declined gratefully, but fortunately Nanette said we could at least go and look at it, and it was perfect with good grass for Reba, and a great windbreak for Reba which is getting more important now, and electricity for me, with running water, and a washer and dryer! So I hooked Reba up to the wagon, drove there, put the wagon in the car port, and had a place to stay that was out of the weather, and that was a good thing because it was getting cold! Thank you so much Nanette!

This is not about me, but the Lord is using me to show that He knows exactly what we need if we will just step out and take a chance on Him; I seriously needed the welder and the grill, the windbreak, grass, protection from the cold… and He had it all taken care of! Thank you people of Burdick!