Travelogue: Fort Pierce, Florida – week 3

November 13-19, 2022

Week three came and went with a plethora of activities… I checked out two new churches, joined a local Wednesday night bible study group, explored more of Fort Pierce, and had a chance to reconnect with my dear friend, Lynn Stuhr, who was visiting family nearby in St. Augustine.

I am continuing to explore the surrounding area on foot, walking several miles a day at a leisurely pace, taking in the sights and sounds. I love the morning sunrises; the quiet lays on me like a soothing blanket. The solitude is relaxing, and the quiet “hello” and “good morning” exchanges from other early risers is welcoming.

I was going to try to start running again, but my knees just don’t appreciate running on the concrete, and a brisk walk suits me better. After all, anyone who knows me understands that I only believe in running when it is AWAY from serial killers and TOWARDS ice cream.

But once again, I’ve digressed… back to talking about walking…

I am generally up between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. and try to be out and moving as early as 6:30 a.m.

I’ll stroll around downtown and then circle back to the marina to meet the ladies if we’re walking together (more on them in a minute), or I’ll leave the marina and stroll through downtown and then wander wherever strikes my fancy (if I am alone). Either way, I walk about 3-5 miles a day, sometimes more, and I’m glad for the consistent exercise.

Now- about the two ladies I just mentioned: Two ladies have invited me to go walking with them in the morning. Anita (S/V Tiki Hai) & Monica (S/V Breathe) also have their boats moored on ‘A’ dock. They go walking together around 7:00 a.m. for just over an hour Monday-Friday. Their morning route usually involves walking across the causeway bridge. This is a big deal for me because every time I walk this route with them, it means I must confront my moderate (and sometimes severe) fear of heights.

Here’s my strategy: It’s a narrow walkway on the bridge, so I tend to trail behind when we’re walking, letting them walk together ahead of me. This allows me to fix my gaze on their backs as a point of reference. Over time, I have worked my way up to glancing around, including down at the water on occasion.

My stomach still cartwheels, and I have to focus on keeping my breathing steady, my anxiety in check and my panic buried, but it doesn’t rival the trauma I still carry from walking down the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon in 2017. (I *think* that was the trail we took.)

I guess that means I’m making progress. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Along with increasing my physical endurance, I’m also working to build & strengthen my faith. After my experience last week, I referred back to the list of churches I had made and realized there were only two that:

Piqued my interest, and
Were within reasonable walking distance of the marina.

So I decided to attend both on Sunday. That was my way of trying to expedite finding a ‘home’ church during my time here.

The first church, Common Ground Vineyard Church, had a relatively strong online presence with a website, a Facebook page and a Youtube Channel. I liked everything I read about their mission and philosophy.

The second church I found was Fuel Church, and I could only find a Facebook page for them. I am not even sure how I I found them, but something obviously drew me there.

I decided to visit both on November 13th.

On Sunday, I got up, went up to the marina showers to take a long shower and scrub off any grime that accumulated over the prior few days. I even put on a sundress (yes, me- a dress!) and took the time to carefully tame my frizzy hair (that the humidity as wreaking havoc with).

Taking only my journal, my phone and my purse, I walked to church. I wasn’t quite sure where it was since I hadn’t explored that area yet, but it was easy to find and a much closer walk than I had expected, so I arrived about 10-15 minutes early.

From the minute I walked in the door, I felt welcomed and wanted. A lovely woman named Tina greeted me, and walked me back to their little cafe area, where she offered me donuts, a fruit cup, coffee, juice, water and even a smoothie!

Okay, I don’t want it to sound like I lead with my stomach, but I immediately thought “Yes, These are my people!” 🍩

I passed on everything but orange juice (yes, I really turned down donuts), and hung out in their lounge/snack area as people came and went. Tina, who had stepped quickly behind the counter to start serving others as they arrived, chatted with me as she served. She explained that the church was open to serve the whole community. She said that I might see some homeless people come through, adding that they were more than welcome there- regardless of whether they came for coffee and donuts or chose to stay for worship.

She extended an offer to come to Wednesday night bible study and worship, and told me that I could come however I felt most comfortable- that I didn’t need to dress up or wear a dress if I didn’t feel like it. All these things were music to my ears, but this is what really fed my spirit: she shared that at one point, she had been homeless and addicted and that this church has been a catalyst for helping to change her life. At those words, my heart for her, Common Ground Church and its ministry grew even more. What’s not to Love about what she said? Her faith in God and how he had brought her here was evident in how she talked, how she served others and how she carried herself. ♥️ 🙏🏽

Eventually, I left the little cafe area and wandered out to where worship would be held. Chairs were lined up, but there were also several round tables near the rear, and several couches were against the back walls. I sat in a chair at the back for worship, and enjoyed the whole experience. At the end, I realized that people had remained sitting at the tables and even lounging on the couches for worship. It really brought home the idea that genuine worship was about being comfortable with God, and showing up as we as we truly are, without pretenses.

I left worship with the Common Ground folks and walked back to the marina, my spirits lighter.

It was only a quick 15 minute walk back to the marina, but when I looked at my watch and double checked what time services started for Fuel Church, I realized that I only had about 30-45 minutes before I would need to leave in order to walk to their worship services. Nonetheless, it gave me enough time to process the experience at Common Ground. I enjoyed the worship experience so much that I decided that I would not only go back next week but that I would also participate in their weekly Wednesday bible study, (from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m., and then stick around for their mid-week worship and praise (from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.)

After 30 minutes back at the boat on the marina, I realized I needed to get my butt moving and start walking if I was goign to make it to church on time. I couldn’t remember where this church was located, so I had to do a quick google search.

(Sheli pauses, mortified, then shakes her head)

How did I miss that Fuel Church was located at the same address I had just left? It seemed that Fuel Church rents from Common Ground Church, making it a quick and familiar route back to church.

Since I had already been there earlier in the day, I was much more comfortable stepping into the church for this service. What I hadn’t counted on was such a markedly different experience. I had forgotten that when I had been looking into different churches, I had chosen to visit Fuel Church because I saw that they had a guest speaker that Sunday, Prophet Aaron McCray. I’ve heard of modern day prophets, but had never been to a worship series where one spoke. The guest speaker had been the impetus for why I chose to visit that church on that day.

The experience was not quite what I had expected, though to be fair, I didn’t know what to expect, really.

I was greeted, but felt pretty quickly dismissed, so I found a seat (same spot as the first service), and sat down, waiting for services to start.

Here’s where I really struggled – the VOLUME. The music was so loud that I could literally feel my ears ringing while I was there. Maybe it’s part of my faith journey but its hard for me to worship and praise when I feel like my ears are about to start bleeding.

I so badly wanted to get up and leave just because the volume made me so uncomfortable, but I also REALLY wanted to participate in worship and hear the prophet speak. I struggled to be engaged through most of the first part of the service because I couldn’t get past how painfully loud the music was. Anytime there was music (and there was a LOT of worship music), it was so loud that I was literally cringing from the volume. I felt like I would be disrespectful to go ask someone to turn the volume down, and I wondered how badly my hearing, and the hearing of everyone there, was being damaged in the spirit of praise and worship. Rather than focusing on worship, I was thinking about how much a sound level meter costs and what it would register in decibels.

One we got past the music and into the sermon, I was much more engaged. The volume was much more tolerable, and the pastor focused on Jeremiah 18:1-4.

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

I took a fair number of notes from this sermon, working to internalize the message and content, (I still refer back to them on occasion). But finally, the reason I had chosen that church began, the prophet got up to speak. He sometime spoke in generalities, but also called out specific people with messages specifically for them. It was fascinating to watch people be touched by this man, then fall to the ground, which is apparently not uncommon in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. It is not my intention to be disrespectful; I just don’t quite know how to rationalize what I saw. I mean, I understand that it is the effect of being overcome with the Holy Spirit, but I suppose my need to rationalize things is a part of my faith journey and something I still need to work through.

Regardless of all that, I stayed through the entire service and was stunned when the prophet spoke directly to me with a message. 😮

When the service was over, I left, bemused and uncertain about what had just happened. I was so taken aback by the experience that within a few minutes of him speaking to me, I had no recollection of what had been said to me. I had to seek out the sermon on YouTube and watch it later online to write down what was said to me. And I am still contemplating it now. In short, he said that waiting was a part of the process I had to go through, and while it doesn’t make sense now, it will later. 🤷🏽‍♀️

The rest of the week was nondescript until Friday, when I had a chance to visit with my friend Lynn. While the sunshine and warmth is lovely, I really miss friends from home, so it was lovely to end the week with a familiar face from home.  My friend and former colleague, Lynn Stuhr, happened to be on the Eastern coast of Florida visiting her cousins Rick and Julie. They graciously detoured on their road trip to stop in Fort Pierce to have a late lunch with us and visit near the end of the week. 

We all met up for a late lunch on Friday (11/18) at Cobbs, each swapping stories about our respective adventures. Lynn was happy to escape the chill of Alaska and soak up some warmth and sunshine, and together, the three of them had been celebrating her cousin Rick’s birthday.

 I enjoyed hearing about their experiences driving up and down the eastern coast of Florida, and her cousin Julie, who lives in S. Augustine, shared her experiences of dealing with the devastating effects of Hurricane Nicole in her neighborhood (and home). She showed us pictures of the knee-high water on her street.

After lunch, we walked a block back to the marina and gave them a tour of the boat, then lounged around, soaking up some sun and enjoying good company and conversation.