February 28 and March 1, 2009

Warren and Ashdown, Arkansas and Paris, Texas

I spent my birthday traveling through the rain and sleet to Warren, Arkansas. We sang at First Freewill Baptist Church. The crowd was not large but it was bigger than I had expected considering the weather. We had a fun evening and yes, they sang Happy Birthday to me but get this, Landis accompanied on the guitar. Now that was a nice gift. I'm very proud of my children.

We struggled to stay awake as we drove on to Texarkana to sleep at Bobby's parents' home. We arrived there at 11:30 and we were all in bed by midnight. Up again a little after 6:00 to get ready and drive to Paris, Texas...a 2 hour drive. I got Grace dressed before we left the house but I got the other children dressed in the van. They did look funny walking from the house in the pajamas and church shoes. Upon arrival at The Lighthouse Church, we found a nursery with an adjoining bathroom and finished getting ourselves presentable.

Let me just paint a quick picture of our traveling adventures. I wheel Grace into the small bathroom so I can brush her teeth and fix her hair but I have to get out of there quick because the other children are making too much noise in the next room and there's an adult Sunday School class close by. As I try to pass between the wheelchair and the sink, my foot is turned sideways and my boot gets caught between the tire and the base of the sink. I can't move for just a second, at least my foot can't but I already have momentum and the rest of my body is still moving. I almost fall on my face. I take Grace back out to the nursery, get her out of the chair and lay her on the floor. She has a stinky and I change it. Just then a lady sticks her head in the door to say hello. We run her off very quickly with the stench from the diaper. Then I look in the mirror and see that the collar on the silk blouse that I just got back from the dry cleaners is nicely pressed on one side but standing up on the other side. I fold it down and hold it and press it with my hand. No use. So I have an idea. I remove the air freshener from the outlet above the sink in the bathroom so as to plug my curling iron in there. There's no power. I try pushing the reset button. It still doesn't work. The next closest outlet is in the nursery near the bathroom door. I have to remove the child safety cover first and plug my curling iron in. It works! Then I move Grace who is in the wheelchair over to the nursery door and park her directly in front of it so that no one can come in. Next I ask Landis to go play in a little hidden corner of the room where he can't see me. I remove my shirt and get down on the floor with my blouse and attempt to iron that collar with my hot curling iron. SUCCESS!!! When I finish you can't even tell it's not a professional job. Well, maybe it IS a professional job! Good thing I curled my hair before we left Texarkana...I wouldn't have had a mirror where the curling plugged in!

We had 10 minutes to spare before it was time to go in and find our place in the sanctuary so we had a quick devotion and I took the opportunity to share the basic concept of what Jeff Deyo shared with the choir last Wednesday night. I turned to Amos 5 and even asked the kids the same questions that Jeff asked us, “Does God hate music? Does God hate church?” Of course He doesn't but He hates vain repetitions, mindless singing and empty words. Landis led us in prayer, after a little encouragement, and then we went in for a great service. We enjoyed some good hard singing during the praise and worship time with some country pickin'. Bobby led a great service and...please pray for Faith. She's been refusing to sing with the kids. We changed the program just a little and she didn't like it. Now that we've changed it back for her sake, she still refuses to sing. I don't want to make too big of a deal about it but I want her back up there. She, like each of the children, add so much to the concert.

We had some people come forward for the altar service and God moved. The pastor said he could feel the presence of the Lord and I agreed. We had prayer and singing and praising. It was a good time.

After church a woman a bit older than me came to me and said that she could relate so closely to my testimony. She had been through a very similar situation when her daughter was born and her daughter, too, has CP. Today, her daughter is twenty four years old, has a masters degree and is engaged to be married. She lost her husband through it all but found a wonderful man who had also been through a tragedy with his daughter.

We enjoyed lunch and fellowship with Pastor Tom Calk, his wife, Pat and their youngest daughter, Skylar. Also joining us were Ms. Opal (what a sweet old saint) and Brother E.W. and his wife, Sandra. We had just enough time to drive back, skimming the north side of Texarkana but moving on to Ashdown. We arrived at First Assembly a little before 4:30 and was able to get set up and ready for the 5:30 evening service. Bobby's parents came as well as his aunt, Beverly Bowen. Bobby's Uncle Troy (Dink) passed away suddenly last July and it was the first time we got to see Aunt Beverly since then.

Another great time of worship before Bobby went on stage and around the third song, Landis leaned over and said he didn't want to do his part tonight, he was too tired. My heart went out to him and I understood but I told him he was very much needed and that if he'd do his part just one more time, he could have 4 or 5 days of real good rest. I was so thankful he didn't say any more about it and went on stage without any hesitation. Not Faith. :( Have ya started praying for her yet?

We had a quick bite to eat with Bobby's parents before going to our friend, Elizabeth's house just a few blocks from Bob and Tena's. Elizabeth works in Dallas during the week and only comes home on the weekend. She was gracious enough to give us permission to stay here for the week so as to cut down on drive time and mileage. We'll be leaving here early Friday morning to head to the northeast corner of New Mexico. (That's why we didn't drive all the way back to Nashville this week.) We'll sing in Felt, Oklahoma, which is in the tip of the panhandle, on Saturday evening. We'll go on to Balko after we sing, so we can be close for the Sunday morning service there and then a challenging drive down to Altus for the Sunday evening service. Stay tuned to see if next Monday's post confirms that we actually made it on time. :)