Charleston, Mississippi

Once again, Pat and Mary Johnson kept our children all night while Bobby and I went out to eat Mexican food and then on to Cornerstone Church where we enjoyed watching, "The Imposter" a Christian film featuring Kevin Max and Cornerstone's very own, Jeff Deyo. The red carpet was rolled out (literally) and the aroma of popcorn filled the air as we neared the front doors of the church. Tickets were sold for $5 a person and the money was used to support the youth group's mission trips this summer, so we were glad to go and support Jeff and our youth going to minister in Jamaica. The movie lacked in several areas but I'm always happy to support those who make the efforts to contribute some godly influence in the film industry.

The following morning we picked the children up in Bellevue and headed west on I-40. Bobby has been talking every weekend about driving the scenic route and I always resist. Well, this Saturday seemed like the perfect time for this since we were only going about 55 miles south of Memphis and we weren't singing Saturday night. We drove the Natchez Trace down to Highway 64 and headed west. We continued to zigzag cross country until finally arriving in Batesville, Mississippi taking 7 hours when it could have been a 4 hour trip. As Bobby pulled into the Days Inn, I asked him if he got the "desire to drive the scenic route" out of his system. He gave a very quick, "Yep!" and was out of the van to check in. A few moments later he drove us around to the backside of the hotel to our room and as we started to unload the van to enter our room we had flashbacks to January 3 in Cleveland, Mississippi. That was the night that someone tried to enter our hotel room and scared us silly. Just as we entered the hotel room, a car approached right outside of our room with the woofers booming and Bobby said, "Let's go!" He didn't ask the front desk clerk, he told him to credit the church's credit card because we weren't staying. We drove to the Holiday Inn Express but they were booked up with guests from 2 weddings not to mention Ole MISS having their spring football game on Saturday. So we moved on to the Hampton, which is my personal favorite. Good news! There was room at the inn! I put everything in place in our room, even breaking into the coffee when the kids discovered a couple of ants on the wall near the headboard. Bobby and I knew that where there were "a couple" of ants, there were probably more. We found two trails both coming from two different spots in the ceiling where it meets the wall and both trails went toward the beds. Yes, there were actually ants on and in one of the beds. Once again we loaded up and went back to the front desk. Very patiently we told the front desk clerk that we needed a different room...an "ant-less" one. He sent us to the top floor on the opposite side of the building and called us after we had had a few minutes to get situated, checking on us. At last, we were free of booming woofers and ants and ready to get cleaned up and a good night's rest.

After a big breakfast the next morning, we drove about 40 minutes south of Batesville to the small town of Charleston to sing at the United Methodist Church. We were greeted my Mrs. Louanne Cossar, the Director of Music, and her two granddaughters. We enjoyed a good Sunday School class where the discussion was about being witnesses for Christ and the Holy Spirit empowering us to do such. Nothing was mentioned about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit so I took liberty to mention it. That's ALL I did...mention...I promise.

The congregation was much more quiet than what we're used to and it was difficult to get through the service but afterward several came to us with warm, receptive words filled with gratitude. Just like all people are individual and unique, so are congregations different from each other. Some churches are taught to shout "amen" and be audibly responsive, encouraging the preacher/singer but many churches are taught it's not polite to interrupt, or as my mother swayed me, "be careful that you don't draw attention to yourself." Either way, we're not dependent on the encouragement or responsiveness of the congregation but on what the Father tells us to sing and say. If we don't get a response from the people or a warm hug after the service, we move on and know that we're still to do what the Father has called us to do and to do it with purpose.

We're headed home as I write this. Our Sunday evening service was canceled due to some ornery sheep in the fold. The pastor called Bobby two days before and gave him the bad news. And bad it was because this was the second time this particular pastor canceled. But here's what the saint did. First he apologized and then he told Bobby that their church would still take an offering and drive it from Grenada to Charleston after the morning service. And that's exactly what they did. That was an honorable thing to do and we commend them for their integrity. Going into the weekend, Bobby had some financial concerns considering the cancellation, but God, who is ever faithful and always provides for us, blessed us over and above once again.