Kings of The Road
We are two friends who went on a road trip around the United States 20 years ago to serve churches. We kept a journal as we traveled and are reading through the journal and remembering our adventures. Listen and laugh with us as we go back in time and inspire others to go on an adventure.
Kings of The Road
52: Adventures on the Road to Tallahassee: Lost Pooper Tanks and Spiritual Tales
Can you handle the hilarity of losing what might just be the most essential RV component during a road trip? Join us as Andrew Gaer and Scott Hawkins recount the uproarious tale of their misadventures with a missing pooper tank on their journey to Tallahassee, Florida. As they navigate Walmart parking lots and draw amusing parallels with the notorious Dave Matthews Band incident, laughter becomes the constant companion. This episode captures the essence of camaraderie and the unexpected joys of life on the road, topped off with a heartwarming visit to a church linked to Andrew's mom, offering a true slice of the whimsical world of RV travel.
But it's not all laughs and giggles; we also dive into the profound with a conversation about the significance of baptism. Reflecting on a unique church service, we explore the meanings of repeated baptisms and how they resonate with faith and commitment. From the Lutheran view of baptism as an unrepeatable promise to alternative expressions of faith like foot washing, we invite listeners to ponder their spiritual paths. This episode promises more than just stories; it's a journey through belief, community, and the grounding power of open dialogue. Join us for a heartfelt exploration of faith, with insights that just might resonate with your own spiritual journey.
Well, thank you out there in listener land. Thank you for giving us 20 minutes of your time. Unless you're listening at one and a half speed, then it's probably like more, like 15 minutes, and we sound very, very fast. We are so glad to go with you on this road trip to talk about where we went and what we did serve in churches, sleep at a Walmart parking lot. You are with Andrew Gere, that's him, scott Hawkins, that's me, and we are continuing on the journey in the Lazy Days Motorhome, which now is minus one pooper tank.
Speaker 2:An essential component of a house.
Speaker 1:No one wants to drive away from Walmart parking lot and there's a little turd pile in the where the tube would have been. It's like oh, that doesn't work the same way as when you have the poop retainer to collect all of that.
Speaker 2:So uh, yeah, you said it. You said it well I mean, it wouldn't it wouldn't have been the first time, there was probably a little pile in the parking lot of a walmart no, no. And the fact that our, our turd pile did end up all over the road of the keys. It wouldn't have been the first time there was probably a little pile in the parking lot of a Walmart no, no.
Speaker 1:And the fact that our turd pile did end up all over the road of the Keys. That's a whole other part of that truth. But when you maybe we didn't say this, but when you would open the, you know it's one of those airplane like toilets or RV toilets I'm sure you've seen when you step on the thing that flushes and when you would step on that, right below you was road. That was all you had.
Speaker 2:it wasn't yeah, it was all gone, it was all. Yeah, you know you could see the road below you.
Speaker 1:Yes, there's the road and there was definitely conversation of like how much trouble would we be in if we just like slowly open as we go down the road because we still have the toilet there, and then all of a sudden, somewhere on the 10 freeway there's a little little turd pile, as we've already talked about.
Speaker 2:So no, no, we didn't do that we talked about it, but we never.
Speaker 1:We did we there? We did not number two, no no, there's a lot of I mean, that's all I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2:We did a lot of potential that you have there, so we did not pull a Dave Matthews band situation. Oh, this is a famous story. I don't know how long ago, but they were apparently. They were in a tour bus, yes, and they emptied their tank while on the go, and it was like on a bridge, no, and it went off the bridge and like onto a boat down below or something like that, yeah, it was Shut up, it was bad news. Onto a boat, oh gosh, yeah, yeah, I don't know if it was in Chicago, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:It was kind of a story that would definitely be a story Wow, yeah, we never did that. Well, you know they have that song where it goes. I ate too much.
Speaker 1:So okay, there it was. Yes, you do Sorry.
Speaker 2:Yes, you do Got to get rid of that. I'm going to look up Dave Matthews Band and you know what I'm not. Let's keep going. We don't want to. Okay, this is not the point of today to talk about that. Today is and the next few days we travel, we get back on the road and we head up to Tallahassee, florida.
Speaker 1:Which fun fact does everybody?
Speaker 2:know that Tallahassee is the capital of Florida?
Speaker 1:Now they do. Who would have thought right, remember, over our Florida state geography? Because we have been in Florida a long time, remember that the top half of Florida is the South. So when you are in the Panhandle or you're in Tallahassee, you are still in what feels very, very much like the South. Once you enter the peninsula part, that's where you start getting into the Midwest retired people or the Northeast retired people or just the Disney area. But when you're in that top half you're in the South. So we drove back up and we have basically succumbed to the fact that we are going to have to have places that have bathrooms or hotels along the way because we can't get the rv fixed. It's drivable, which is lucky, because I mean if it was the other end, who knows what would have happened. I guess maybe it was easier to fix the front because that would just be an engine and a mechanic maybe trying to take care of that.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's drivable and so we can go and be totally safe, but we just can't use it like it was meant to be used. So now we have a new plan. We already had this Tallahassee plan set up and we were going to go to this church. That, I believe, is connected to your mom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my mom worked at a dentist office and she had these patients and they, uh, were pastors, and so they moved out of california and went to tallahassee, I think, to plant a new church. So she kept in contact with them and uh like e23 or oh yeah Something.
Speaker 1:It was pretty hip name.
Speaker 2:Like it was. It was the whole thing, I don't. I don't remember much about it, except like the he's like pulpit thing. You know what do you call that? You call it the pulpit, yeah, yeah. Or the the lectern, the lectern, yeah, or the the lectern, the lectern. Yeah, it was like some cool like metal, which in 2004, like metal stuff was cool, kind of that industrial they probably had a bunch of pallets, because pallets were probably cool back then.
Speaker 1:A bunch of you know like sack, what's that? That brown sack? Oh, what's it called? The fabric I'm thinking of.
Speaker 2:A beanbag chair.
Speaker 1:No, not a beanbag chair, that like fabric that I told you, oh burlap, kind of Burlap, oh yeah yeah, yeah. Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2:I was like I don't know where you're going with that, but so anyhow. So that was our connection there. And then what turned out cool about that was, you know, we kind of explained the situation hey, we're coming to town but we don't really have, you know, the, the capabilities of the motor home that we once had.
Speaker 2:So they connected us with a family, the Monroe family, who had a farm, and this family was so gracious to say hey, why don't you come and park on our field behind our house and when you need to use the restroom, just come on into the house and use our restroom?
Speaker 1:But this was one of those examples again of oh look, how big the kingdom of God is, when you just start asking around and saying, hey, can someone help with this? Yes, they can. And I mean it was like a little slice of like paradise, right Like this farm felt like it was in the middle of like the forest and it had this really cool barn and this really cool house and it had a pool and they had a basketball court barn, this really cool house and had a pool and they had a basketball court and like all of this land and we're like this is the coolest place to live.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they had, I want to say, five kids, had a lot of kids, four or five kids, I think, and then some four or five kids, I think, and then some, like they were the type of family who was so generous to where, you know, they had all these kids. But they were also the type of people where, I think, there were always people coming through staying for a while. And so one of the things we did when we got there, so the first night we got there we had dinner with this family. So we met them. They had a big spread. I don't remember exactly.
Speaker 1:You probably remember the details of the food I wish I did, but it's gone. I would.
Speaker 2:But you're right, that's a good movie, I bet it was great and I believe there was lots of people involved, and so after dinner they had a barn in the back. So again, it's like there was the house and then right off the house was like basketball hoop and a pool, so they kind of had their backyard and then it was a big field and then there was a barn, and I think we have some pictures that we'll share of that, and so they were working on this barn. There was the loft, the second story, in this barn, yeah, and they were hanging drywall in it because they were actually going to turn it into an apartment.
Speaker 1:So some of their friends, or I don't think it was one of their kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Some friend, cousin, relative, somebody in the church was actually going to build it into an apartment so they could house people that were passing through or staying for a while in that apartment. So we got the chance to, uh, to help them hang some drywall and just it was just this incredible community, right.
Speaker 1:It was. It was and I think that was one of our first times, for me at least like hanging drywall, but I, it was fun, and there was a lot of like over our head, work. We were like putting it on the ceiling and, yeah, really felt like we were. We were a part of that and helping them and doing what we wanted to do, which was just be a part of the community and give our hands and our time to whoever needed it, and it was really cool. It was really cool. It was really cool and yeah, totally I mean felt welcomed immediately. No awkwardness, no, like you should be here, you shouldn't be here, just a part of what was going on. And that's the thing that happened. And they were so incredibly generous and kind and, yeah, I really think, something that we all could learn from and just have that kind of openness to wherever, whoever calls, whoever needs help.
Speaker 2:but really a cool thing yeah, so I just I just so this family um lloyd and and Melanie were their names. That's the mom and dad, yeah, lloyd and Melanie Monroe I believe he was a lawyer. Yes, that sounds right. And so one of the interesting things, that, as we were getting to know them and talking to them, they were preparing to actually leave Right, they were preparing to actually leave the US.
Speaker 1:And become missionaries in Guatemala.
Speaker 2:Wow, and so I still get their newsletter. Maybe I'll add a link to the newsletter. And I just got another newsletter from them 19 years.
Speaker 1:We should reach out to them. Why don't you reach out to them, andrew, like? Email them back. I'm positive they'll come on oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So this that would be great. That would be really cool to have them on and see what they're doing. So I get this newsletter. Yeah, there's picture. It's funny. It's like you see a picture of somebody that you haven't seen in 19 years and you're like, yep, that's them.
Speaker 2:That's them, and so they're out there just serving people in Guatemala yeah, I need to read more to see what they're doing, but just incredible people. You know, just incredible people. And even though we described they had this amazing setup where you know he's a lawyer in town, they've got these kids here. Yeah, they've got this great home and they just, you know, answered god's call and left it all and, yeah, and went to guatemala and I think it's one of those things that also they were doing what god was calling them there too.
Speaker 1:So if god hadn't called them to guatemala like he would have used them in tallahassee, so if God hadn't called them to Guatemala like he would have used them in Tallahassee, they just knew that God was calling them there. So I think I do think that as American Christians, we have to be a little bit cautious, to think OK, every time God's call is to take us to, you know, some foreign country. Guys, we live in a place that needs a whole lot of ministry, needs a whole lot of ministry. It needs a whole lot of outreach, and if you start to view your home and your neighborhood as a mission field, that would be huge. So once we hear, oh, they went and did this.
Speaker 1:Yes, because there are people who I know are searching after what God was calling them for. But God has called you to that neighborhood right now, guys, wherever you are, and are you seeing it as the mission field, are you aware of your neighbors and what they need and encouraging them in Christ? So, yeah, just I think there's that little thing we just have to be aware of. That's always like it doesn't have to pull you out of your neighborhood. But if there's a re ignition or relighting of the fire to love your neighbors, that would be awesome. Ignition or relighting of the fire to love your neighbors that would be awesome it's.
Speaker 2:It's funny because the the series at our church right now is about missions and our pastor, who's my brother-in-law, talked about that very thing recently. So we had different people come in from all over the world who are serving wherever they are. But he talked about when they first planted the church there in Buena Park. You know he was trying to understand where he was being called and you know he felt strongly that it was Buena Park and he's like but I grew up here in Buena Park, why would I do that? And then he started to look into the city and he's talking about when you plant a church, you look into all the things like the demographics, because that's what you do. And then he was like I realized that the world is here, People from all over the world have come here, is here, right? People from all over the world have come here. And just because I'm in buena park, california, doesn't mean that the people don't need that right.
Speaker 2:And so exactly what you said, scott, like just you don't, yeah I, I remember being in youth group and stuff and you think, oh, missions means go, and you read the great commission, right, and it and it's go out. And so you, just, you just think yeah it's easy to do, it's understandable here, but you absolutely can Cause your neighbor. You don't know what exactly believe, or?
Speaker 1:think or or need Right, like. So, yeah, absolutely think that that's good. So we did end up going to the church and, um, as going to the church and as Andrew and I were preparing, we talked, and he doesn't remember much about the church service. I have one particular memory that I actually use quite often for some different teaching, and we were there during a baptism service and the way that they do baptisms there was. They would have the person come forward and talk about their personal testimony, so why they're being baptized, what God has done, all of those wonderful things.
Speaker 1:Well, one of the young men who got up to talk, he was probably in his 20s, he started sharing and his story was basically well, I got baptized when I was 11. And I really felt, you know, the Holy Spirit. Then I started smoking some cigarettes and I did a little shoplifting. So I got baptized when I was 14. And really, you know, was repentant. And then I had sex with my girlfriend and so I got baptized when I was 17. And I'm pretty sure we were on his fifth baptism, that we were watching and I so you know, you guys know, I'm a Lutheran pastor and we believe in kind of one baptism as the idea that in baptism it's not our work but it's God's work to us, and God's work never fails right. So, although he and this is the teaching point I used although he felt like, oh, I need to recommit my life to Christ, so I'm going to use the waters of baptism to do that, I would argue that that's a misuse of the waters of baptism, because he is saying to God your promises didn't work, I need those promises again. There are different ways that we can recommit to Christ. I think that one of and this is a whole other lecture at some point, but I think one of the things we underuse in the church is foot washing. If he wants to be committed to serving the church, he should get down on his knees and wash the feet of the people in the congregation, and this is a sign of humility and service, not a okay, I gotta be baptized again so I can remake those promises. Well, god's promise hasn't failed. God hasn't given up on you. God hasn't been like well, since you had such a good girlfriend, guess what? You're out, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I worry that the danger in that kind of view of baptism is that our salvation becomes so like the stock market up and down, up and down, up and down, and then our feeling of security in our salvation goes up and down with it that way, whereas the fact of salvation, the fact of baptism, is that God's steadiness is there and his promises never fail. So I always use this illustration of in baptism, god is taking the child, the person, placing them in his hand, and his hand never lets go, whereas so many people see baptism as me choosing to hold on to hand of God. But because I'm a human and sinful, I slip and my hands slip and I fall, and that feels very tiring and insecure, whereas being placed in the hands of God is secure and safe, and so that's my little like use of that. So it's the reason I remember that that moment was for that one, and I think there were a couple of other people who got baptized on that day.
Speaker 1:So the service was like worship and baptism and I just remember watching that and going, oh, like, in a lot of ways, you know, I sit here and I wonder now, 20 years later, like how many more times has that guy been baptized? Yeah, and what kind of life has he had to lead where he's constantly feeling like, oh, I failed. God. I need again to prove to him how much I love him. Boy, that's a. That's to me a sad a sad relationship to God.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting. And if you're a listener who is listening because you just think we're the most entertaining people out there and you're really interested in the road trip aspect and we sprinkle some church talk in here, um, you know, if you're not sure what you believe, I guess I would say that's okay, you know, explore it, find out. You could, you could reach out to us. Scott's a pastor.
Speaker 2:He believes these things. I know maybe you've been to a church that believes something different. Maybe you um or has a different. Maybe you've been somebody who's baptized been baptized five times, maybe. Yeah, I think there is definitely um ways to. I don't want to say the wrong thing, like I'm not saying that Scott is right or wrong.
Speaker 2:I'm saying Scott probably is more right than I could be, cause you've studied this deeply. I think the point is like have a conversation, find out for yourself. I think there's it. It does also sort of showcase the um, like the, the humanity of us. All right, because I think a lot of people see baptism as like my commitment to you. This is a physical, public, outward act that I am doing to show that I have committed my life, and then that's why you get the people, because I worked on the camp, on a houseboat, so we were surrounded by water.
Speaker 2:Believe me, every week we had baptisms and every summer there was a couple of kids who were like, well, I was baptized last year and I was real feeling great about camp, and then I went home and then I, yeah, smoked some cigarettes did this stole some things had sex with my girl, whatever, and so. But now I'm feeling great again because I've been here for four days and so, but now I'm feeling great again because I've been here for four days and so. So, like well, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:And that that to me, and I think the thing that's most important is I I think that we don't consider very often like the natural outcomes of something that we believe back here. And so what breaks my heart for that kid or for that person who was baptized five times at the church, is their up and down relationship with Jesus. Yeah, because they don't think he is loving them in the midst of their sin Right.
Speaker 1:And so then they're like I failed him, my baptism didn't work, I'm a horrible person, yeah, oh, that's true. But God hasn't failed you, god hasn't given up on you. And so what I love about the Lutheran baptism, and that's the part.
Speaker 2:sorry to interrupt, but that's the part that people really have a hard time grasping is like my grace is sufficient for you, meaning like, even though you're going to screw up every day, you're gonna fall short every day, like right, he still loves you, he still has your back and you are still saved in spite of all this but, but we have a really hard time accepting that like a free gift. We're, we're taught we're. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Exactly, there is a free lunch, and is that good? Is that good?
Speaker 1:and that's the thing, and so it's so and it's so countercultural. It's so. Like you said, we are wired up as legalists, um, as as our, our wiring, just as humans, you know, we want to earn it, we want to prove it, we want to do enough, and the gospel comes in and just teaches us something radically different. And that's where it's like oh, I love for people to understand how secure in Christ they are and hope I was good enough, I hope I did enough, I hope I no, as brothers and sisters, which is something I think that we learned on the road trip, and we don't see a whole lot of today in regards to politics or even religion, where it's like we are allowed to disagree over things and still love each other. To disagree over things and still love each other. We're allowed to say, okay, I want to believe in believer's baptism, you want to believe in infant baptism, but we see a bitter world out there that needs to be loved. Let's work together to do that, but we like to isolate ourselves in the camps because it's how we're wired again as tribal people, and so we, I think, as believers.
Speaker 1:One of the things I learned on this trip is boy, the church is a lot bigger than the Lutheran church, and we can agree to disagree. We can have wonderful conversations and still go out and do good work together. So that'd be the thing that I would encourage whoever like. Yeah, if you think what I'm saying is yeah, great, or you know well, but what about this? Let's talk about it and let's still love each other at the end, because that's what we do here, different from the world, I hope. So, yeah, that's what I remember about that, so I do use that part.
Speaker 2:That's great, hey, let's. Let's end it here today and maybe we'll talk a little bit more about Tallahassee next time.
Speaker 1:but yeah, sincerely, reach out to us this is fascinating stuff, so Scott can talk about this all day long, so reach out if you want to have a conversation yes, before we get ourselves into the jacuzzi, seriously reach Monroe family, seriously reach out to them, see if they want to come up, talk to us okay, all right, bye guys, until next time, thank you.