When I first saw that our last state was going to be Oklahoma, I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed. But yet again, God showed me that HIS ways are much much better than my ways. Oklahoma was the perfect place to end because we were able to celebrate with so many wonderful people!
We enjoyed our hosts very much! We played board games as often as our schedule and energy levels would allow us to. This was refreshing for all four of us involved. On the night that we all didn't have energy to play a game, we had an amazing discussion about various deep topics. If we lived near each other, you better believe we would be having regular game nights together. :D There definitely was a special connection amongst us that no one could deny. (I must add here that if we lived near many of our hosts, we would spend time with them more often than we can with the distance that separates us...)
I have been a part of an amazing Facebook group community called 30 Days of Hustle (started by Jon Acuff) for the past two years. Throughout our time on the road we have stayed with a few of the people that I met through there. In Tulsa we had the special chance to meet up with a group of people from 30 Days of Hustle for their monthly morning breakfast! It required walking up at 4am and driving two hours each way, but was entirely worth the effort. To complete our trip in a state where all of these people could rejoice with us was incredible!!! They loved that Oklahoma was our 50th state so they could celebrate with us. Our time with the Tulsa 5 Club (as they've dubbed themselves) was such a great gift to us.
THEN we also had the opportunity to meet up with my grandpa's cousin since he was in the same city we were staying in! We met up at Golden Corral which was surprisingly extremely tasty! Our dinner was his treat. Such a sign of God's provision. He was so excited that we had taken the time to meet up with him. We had a time of special, treasured conversation. At the closure of our time, we were able to meet his mother at her nursing home (she's over 90!) for a few minutes of conversation and encouragement. It was an evening that Alyssa and I were unsure how it would go...and it turned into a treasured memory for all of us.
These people made Oklahoma a special state to mark our 50th state! God, in His perfect wisdom, knew what a refreshment and joy these connections would provide and orchestrated our trip in His perfect way.
Although we were exhausted by this point, we did do a little bit of sightseeing. Being 30 minutes from Oklahoma City made visiting the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial a must see. I didn't know much about the story before arriving, but by the end was moved to tears by both the loss/tragedy and the overcomer spirit present in that place. The symbolism in the memorial as well as the haunting similarities to the 9/11 memorial took our breath away. It was such a peaceful memorial made from a time that was anything but peaceful.
On our way back from the memorial we wanted to explore a little bit of the nature nearby. We found a lake that was a state park. There was not a distinct trail, so we made our own path along the edge of the lake. We took many opportunities to sit and simply watch the water lap against the sand. It was beautiful and calming. Alyssa even took off her shoes to feel the sand!
Since we were in the same city as the university that my friend who lives in Arkansas graduated from, we had to stop by at least for a little bit. We wandered around the campus...and then found some places to sit down and write post cards/plan the final stage of our trip.
Our final stop on our way out of Oklahoma was Lexington, my grandpa's birth place. His cousin had mentioned it to us at dinner, and I really wanted to go. It was bittersweet being there without being able to tell my grandpa where I was. At the same time, I was grateful to be able to honor his memory.
Oklahoma forever will hold fond memories in my heart as I think of the abundant blessing we received during our time in this 50th state.
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