Probably the most popular Allman Brothers tune is the song “Ramblin' Man”. There is a lyric in the song that states, “I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus, rolling down Highway 41”. That didn't exactly happen with Jedidiah, but his birth story ended in a way very similar. Jill and I had been on the road August through November 2011 for our 7th U.S. tour. Thanksgiving Day and after we spent some quality time with the California family (Jill's side), but decided it was time to pack up and leave soon since Jedidiah's due date was just less than a month away. We had some people we wanted to see in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and we wanted to get back to Arkansas in plenty of time to have the baby with our midwife. After playing one last show/musical worship night at Carpinteria Community Church, we decided to head out and get to Carlsbad, New Mexico. Since it was on the way, we had always heard about the White Sands of New Mexico so we decided to stop there first. Once we arrived at the White Sands National Monument we stayed there all day with the RV off, and decided to start the Sea Turtle back up around 5pm (The Sea Turtle is our turquoise RV which can be viewed on the music video “We Carry On” at our YouTube page.) When I went to flip our batteries back on, in order to start the engine, the switch to the engine battery had somehow malfunctioned and would not click back on. For one hour I tried clicking this switch with not one successful attempt. I took the entire switch box apart to examine and clean the switch internally, but still had no success. At this point we would have liked to have called our Roadside assistance with Good Sams, but we had weak cell phone service. The park ranger came by asking us to leave and we told him we couldn't, but that we were fine for the night because we had propane and plenty of gas to run the generator. He agreed to let us spend the night there and to check back with us in the morning. Before all of this I had probably tried clicking the switch to the engine battery about 250 times. It was the night of December 3rd, and our friends in Carlsbad were expecting us December 4th. Blessedly we weren't far from Carlsbad. We spent the night in the beautiful White Sands of New Mexico.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I all of a sudden felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to read Psalm 1. GOD had been talking to me for sometime about memorizing Psalm 1, and it happened to be a great time to do it. I noticed one verse standing out in particular as I read over the Psalm. It just rung out in my heart over and over, “In whatsoever I do I will prosper.” I felt the Faith and Trust in GOD by the Power of the Holy Spirit building up inside me and I decided to give the switch another try in FAITH while stating this SCRIPTURE. The first time I stated it and clicked the switch there was no click still. But the second or third time I did this in a row (I don't specifically remember which time) but immediately, the switch clicked and I started the engine. With the generator running I was able to turn the engine back off and leave the battery switch on where there wouldn't be any parasitic drain on our 12 volt. (If this doesn't make complete sense, on RV's, sometimes your old engine battery gets weak and every time you try to start the RV back up after it's been sitting a while, the battery is too weak to start the engine. This was the case with our battery which is why I'd turn it off when we'd stop. But with the generator running, it keeps the 12 volt charged, so we were set). Point being made, GOD WORKS, GOD IS THE WORD (John 1:1-14), and when you quote THE LITERAL WORD OF GOD in specific situations, POWER happens when we believe (Hebrews 4:12 ONM = For the WORD OF GOD is Living and Powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces until separation of breath of life and spirit, of joints and marrow and passing judgments on the thoughts and understandings of your heart:) After about 1 hour and 250 attempts with absolutely no success, I quoted Psalm 1's “in whatsoever I do I shall prosper” while clicking the switch, and we had a working switch again within 5 seconds.

Early on December 4th we had been awake and taking a stroll, watching the beautiful sunrise across the white sands. We soon saw several cars entering our section of the park and knew the gates were re-opened. We took off for the mountains on the 82 through the beautiful Lincoln National Forest. We stopped soon in Cloudcroft at a sweet little mercantile type store that had excellent homemade donuts and cheap coffee, and then headed further east through the mountains (A+ donuts if you ever go skiing in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Just ask the locals where to head for donuts). After the beautiful drive across the U.S. 82 (Absolutely Gorgeous drive), it was before sundown on December 4th when we reached Carlsbad and we had not been sleeping many hours for several nights in a row. But no worries, this wasn't our first time on the road with little sleep. Besides, Jedidiah's got weeks to go, right? Coming into Carlsbad that afternoon we met up with our new friends we were going to see (Rick and Jeanie - who are really knowledgeable on getting great mileage on vehicles pecostwister.com), and parked the RV at their place to get some free electricity. That night a snow storm hit Carlsbad and the roads froze over. However, something much more rare than that happened in Carlsbad that night, Jill went into labor. We both thought it was the Braxton Hicks contractions that people talk about (basically fake contractions that happen about three weeks before the baby's due). We called our kind midwife (Brenda Smith in Conway, AR for those of you looking for the best midwife in central Arkansas) and she comforted us, as the contractions got further and further apart and became milder. At this point I had a desire to take off, but we had no choice but to stay in Carlsbad since it was now night and the roads were iced. I got very little sleep that night as it was tough for me to relax. Jill blessedly got a couple hours of rest, but we still hadn't averaged much sleep at all for about four nights in a row. When morning came the contractions had not stopped, and they began to get a little closer together. At noon after the thaw and snow trucks had cleared the roads, we packed up and got back on the highway as fast as the Sea Turtle would go, about 65-70mph. Just before leaving, I spoke with another new friend we made who was a pastor in Carlsbad and he told me a, “Just in case you need to know this...” bit of information about how to safely cut and tie off an umbilical chord to help the baby and mother, along with what tools I'd need. He used to be a paramedic and did this because he felt like he should tell me as the LORD led him do this. I thought, “Man, I don't need to know this. I'll get her back to Arkansas in time.” I'm very glad he listened to GOD.

When we'd crossed into west Texas, we had noticed our water tank was really full on the RV. There was absolutely no legal dump site around for miles and miles, and no one we could pay or even ask to do this in this part of Texas, so we made a decision to do a dump and run off the side of the highway. Now even if you're dumping grey water, like your soap and dish water, it's still something you're not supposed to do. We finally found a red clay looking road going off the main country highway to the left and took it. The snow had covered the ground here the night before as well, but it had melted in this area by now and the dirt road was wet, but solid. As we got on the dirt road I didn't feel like getting a big fine in case someone saw us dumping our grey water near the highway, so I drove up the road a while. After topping a hill on the road, the seemingly solid road all of a sudden went to mush. We got stuck. We couldn't move at all! I was smashing the gas pedal down throwing the RV into forward and reverse to try and rock it out of the mud and get some traction, but ended up sliding all the way over to the right side of the road about a couple feet from a tall embankment. Being stuck and trying not to think of the worst as Jill's contractions were continuously getting closer, I heard that Still Small Voice the Voice from GOD, once you accept Jesus as LORD of lords/GOD and HE comes to live inside you (John 14:15-18, 23, 26-27, 1 Corinthians 2:12, 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, 3:4-6, 6:16-17, 9:8, 12:9, Galatians 5:22-26, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Acts 15:8, Psalm 61:2, 1 John 4:13). I tell you HE rescues us from trouble (Psalm 91). As I was in reverse and turning the wheel to the left to avoid sliding the rear passenger side of the RV into the embankment on the right, the wheels hopelessly spun and we dug deeper into the mud. Then I heard the Voice Tell me to turn the steering wheel to the right and go in reverse. I thought in man's knowledge that would make the back of the RV slam into the embankment. But, I was in trouble and going nowhere with man's knowledge and needed help to get out of nowhere Texas since no people were around to help (and let's not even talk about cell reception in West Texas). I turned the wheel to the right thinking the back of the RV might hit the embankment, and the opposite happened. Only by the GRACE OF Y'SHUA (That's Hebrew for JESUS), did the back of the RV end up going left toward the middle of the muddy road and we started getting a little traction as I was eventually able to gas it enough to get to the top of the dirt hill again where we regained solid ground. After the quick dump and run back closer to the highway, we were off again heading toward Interstate 20 to go through Dallas. Once we reached Dallas and hit Interstate 30 it had been dark for a while.

After not sleeping much for many days I eventually got to the “head-bobbing” stage of driving at night and needed to avoid falling asleep at the wheel, and coffee and red bull wasn't helping at all. I finally got to the point where my body felt like it was literally shutting down in areas and I had to pull over. We stopped at a rest stop probably about halfway to Texarkana from Dallas. I set an alarm and me and sweet Jill could finally relax and as we got a couple hours of sleep. She was still having contractions and they just started to get a little more intense for a short period of time when we reached Dallas, but she seemed far from the one minute contractions. Much of the trip she was quoting Isaiah 53:4-5 believing JESUS bore her pain, as she stared at the "Prince of Peace" portrait of JESUS, painted with Akiane Kramarik(AT EIGHT YEARS OLD), which was hanging in our RV. As she quoted Is. 53:4 over and over, and we prayed in the Spirit very often, The LORD used His Supernatural Prayer Language of praying in The Spirit (The Gift of Tongues, that you can read about in The Bible), to make her labor and our experience much smoother. So many of her contractions for over 24 hours would be like 10 seconds and just stop. Until the last hour, her contractions had not reached 50 seconds. Ask most moms about their first birth and you'll get a different story as some go through long contractions for over one day straight. Jill will explain to people she fought with the SWORD and GOD blessed her. Jill hadn't been able to sleep much while we were driving because the Sea Turtle is shaky at 65-70mph. After a couple hours at this rest stop our alarm went off, and we turned it off. Then we just ended up falling soundly asleep again. Shortly after this another miracle happened, and I mean the SUPERNATURAL OF GOD. I think it was an Angel of LIGHT from GOD. I was sound asleep for the first time in about four nights and it was now sometime after midnight, during the morning of December 6th, 2011. I remember sleeping on the fold out couch and having Jill on my right side, while on my left side was the RV wall. In mid-sleep I felt on the left side of my face an extreme heat that got hotter and hotter until it made me rise up abruptly from sleep. It felt like someone had a gas heater and had gotten it about 2 inches away from my face inside the RV, just close enough where it wouldn't burn me. I've truly never felt anything like this, it was SUPERNATURAL. I even frantically looked outside the RV window to check if anything was outside... guess I had to make sure the RV wasn't on fire. But of course it was a cold Texas night and whatever it was that brought the heat, we were unable to see with our physical eyes. It was a SUPERNATURAL event. It felt like fire on the left side of my face. I felt like I could sleep 17 straight hours, but the fire of GOD came and woke me up.

We hit the road again and the contractions really started getting serious soon after this. When finally got to Texarkana and GOD had told me it was time to call our midwife. I called her and it was about 4am, so she didn't answer. I was timing the contractions on my cell phone (which had a stopwatch) so I could give the midwife the latest. The midwife heard her cell in her sleep and graciously awoke and called us back. I informed her the contractions were at 50-53 seconds long and Jill's water had broke. She said, pull over, get the RV warm, get the blankets out, and have the baby. I urged her over and over telling her we could be in central Arkansas in 90 minutes and she kept insisting I pull over and deliver the baby. She stated our baby would come within two hours and gave me a quick course on delivering a child. Smart lady... our midwife. We looked for the next well lit exit after passing Texarkana and saw nothing for a while. Finally an exit sign for Hope appeared with a blue hospital sign. This looked great, for one reason because RV's can usually park at hospitals and the hospitals don't care since their lots are so huge. We knew the hospital parking lot would be well lit and spacious. We pulled into the parking lot and parked at the very edge of the lot so we would not disturb anyone with our generator running. By the time I had pulled over in the lot, gotten the heater running off the generator, and found a bunch of sheets and comforters that were just given to us recently, it was about 4:57 am, and I clearly heard GOD again speak on the inside of me to get the stuff ready for the umbilical chord and get to the back of the RV with Jill because he is coming out at 5am.

Immediately at 5 am on the morning of December 6th, 2011, Jedidiah Jason VanCleve was born and took his first breath in my hands. We quickly got Jill and Jedidiah back to the couch, took care of the umbilical chord and were on the phone with our midwife rejoicing together. What happened next is actually another miracle, and a literal prophecy fulfilled which Pastor Miguel Estrella in Fort Bragg, California spoke over us that would happen with Jedidiah, but GOD has told us to seal up the rest of this story to the public for a later time in our lives. I think this is because it could really hurt some peoples' feelings and make people very angry at others, so there's just no need to have strife as we are to live peaceably with all mankind as far as it depends on us (Romans 12:18, 1 John 4:7-8, Hebrews 12:14-15, 13:1-3, Matthew 15:11), so we're going to do that. WOW, on the middle of a multiple hour journey back from Carlsbad, NM through the snow, Jedidiah happened to be born in Hope, Arkansas.

Literally, he was born in HOPE. Just another miracle by our FATHER. The Angels of LIGHT were with us, and most importantly IMMANUEL was there (Immanuel means GOD WITH US) (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, Exodus 3:14 & John 8:58, John 14:7-9, Colossians 1:13-16, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 1). Jedidiah was born in the back of the Sea Turtle, in the Hope Hospital parking lot, as we pulled off of Interstate 30. Haha, we like his birth certificate as it literally reads that his birthplace was in the “Sea Turtle RV”. Yes!

We then headed back to central Arkansas to meet with our kind midwife Brenda, but first stopped at my dad's place of work that morning. We pulled in the parking lot and I went in and told him, “Come outside, we have an early Christmas present for you.” He loved his early Christmas present. He always will, as well as will we.

Brenda examined Jedidiah and told us, "You couldn't have asked for a healthier baby." Jedidiah was born three weeks early, weighing 7 lbs 9 ounces and was 21 and a 1/2 inches long. Thank YOU LORD he came early. All of the time we never saw a human doctor (we're not speaking bad against human doctors), but THE DOCTOR, YAHWEH, made Jedidiah in the womb and kept him healthy. We quoted verses over him in the womb often and GOD blessed him with HIS WORD. Yet another miracle, when I told my mom Jill was pregnant in April 2011, she later told me smiling, "GOD TOLD me to start praying for your unborn child back in October(2010)."

Thank YOU JESUS, GOD ALL MIGHTY! Everything was made through YOU, our FATHER and our FRIEND (Isaiah 9:6, Colossians 1:14-17, John 5:23, 15:15) and we thank YOU for this GOD GIVEN event in which you protected and held me, Jill and Jedidiah safely in The Palm of Your Hand (Psalm 91, John 10:28)!!! YOUR Blessing truly makes rich, with no sorrow added (Proverbs 10:22). GOD IS LOVE(1 John 4:14-19).