January 31-February 1, 2009.

We had a nice and restful week at Bob & Tena's, a.k.a. Papaw & Mamaw's house in Texarkana. Again, we were grateful not to have to drive the 12 hours home and then another 12 hours back to southern Louisiana four days later. Texarkana was only 5 hours away and much more do-able. Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy days but Thursday was beautiful and to give Papaw and Mamaw a little break from us, we took a family outing. The kids were eager to visit Fouke again because they're so intrigued with the legendary Fouke Monster. Fouke lies 20 miles south of Texarkana on Highway 71 and therein settled among the pines, sweet gum and walnut trees sits the house Bobby grew up in. As we drove by that tiny little house on Virginia Street and stopped to let the kids gaze upon it, the owner drove into the driveway and offered a tour of the inside of the house. Could it be? How often do you get to walk back into the home you grew up in after it's been owned by a stranger for 20 years? So the kids and I got to sneak a peek at the old home place where Bobby used to lay his head to sleep and eat his nightly supper.

The discussions recently have been centered around a larger vehicle to travel in. My Dad mentioned a motor home last spring and I remember just laughing at the suggestion, thinking, “that's really not necessary.” Now I'm laughing at myself and realizing that it has certainly become a necessity. Not only are we cramped but when we have a few days in between dates and need to lodge in one spot for a 2 or 3 days, it would be great to have a place to stay...anywhere we are. This is something we are praying about now, thanking God for that particular vehicle that is being prepared for us even now and the means to obtain it.

So Saturday, the 31st was Faith's 3rd birthday! We arrived at the Fairfield Inn in Lafayette on Friday evening and got settled and then on Saturday morning we began the cycles of “Happy Birthday To You” over and over to help Faith understand that indeed it was HER birthday and she wasn't 2 anymore. Throughout the day we asked her how old she was and she consistently said she was 2 and then we'd remind her she was 3. She's still giggling when she attempts holding up that 3rd finger. Also, Mr. Pat sent an e-card
http://www.bluemountain.com/view.pd?i=205535436&m=5678&rr=y&source=bma999
which made all the kids laugh hysterically, and a very unique video of himself wishing Faith a happy birthday with a small cake adorned with 3 candles.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1073759852831
He encouraged Faith to get ready to blow out the candles and reminded her that she must give a very strong blow because her breath must get through the computer screen. He gave the countdown and as he said “go” he never stopped talking to her and encouraging her to give it all she had. Magically Faith was able to blow those candles out through the computer screen. That Mr. Pat is SO clever ...and thoughtful!

We celebrated her birthday at Chili's which was walking distance from the hotel and...OH...what a beautiful DAY!!! Sunny skies and 65 degrees. I wish we would have spent more time outside even if it would have been just walking around the perimeter of the parking lot. Instead, we watched others enjoy the weather as we occasionally looked out of our suite windows at the river behind us. A couple in a rowboat, a motorboat and an occasional duck waked the waters every so often. Personally, I enjoyed looking to the other side of the river at the lovely homes with their gazebos, perfectly manicured lawns and beautifully decorated patios. I look at it and wonder how I could copy what they did and not spend any money doing it. And right now I'm wondering how I started this paragraph talking about my daughter's birthday and am ending it with landscaping. I ask myself, “how?” It's 12:05 am Monday morning....that's how.

We're still driving back from Louisiana and as I right this next paragraph we're at Jackson, Tennessee. The Garmin (we call her “Laverne”) says we'll get to our driveway at 2:27. Bobby's doing well behind the wheel in spite of the persistent rain. We're in the company of Dan Seals, Ronnie Milsap, Don Williams, Shenandoah, Ricky Skaggs and Glen Campbell singing all of our old favorites but I expect we'll be switching to Fox News shortly since the kids are asleep (finally).

Back to Saturday. First Baptist Church of Broussard booked us for Saturday night as well as Sunday morning, sharing the pulpit with guest pastor, Wayne Jenkins. This church was so kind and gracious to us in so many ways. But they were so quiet in both services that I only hope they were ministered to. One woman responded to the altar call, given by Pastor Jenkins, on Saturday evening. But no one responded to the call on Sunday morning. Instead, from the stage I heard someone playing a game on their cell phone! Yes!...during the invitation. (I think it was the teenager on the second row, right behind Landis.) The spirit of Maury Davis came upon me and I came close to calling her out right then and there! I had to remind myself that I wasn't in charge and it wasn't my place. But what a distraction! Like Pastor Davis always says, “It never fails. If a baby's gonna cry in church, it will be during that moment when God wants to speak to someone. The devil will try anything he can to take our focus away from the voice of God.” However, no one said anything and that made me even more angry. We can't be taking a back seat to the devil like that, folks.

Home again, home again jiggety jig! But we'll not be purchasing any fat pigs.