It was great to be home, even if it was only for two days. Wednesday night, the 5th, after church we finished up our re-packing of the trailer and at midnight headed out for Texas. There are several reasons we like leaving at that hour, like, sleeping children, less traffic, cooler temperatures and again I say sleeping children. :) We sang Friday evening in Vidor at New Covenant Full Gospel Church pastored by Wendy Underwood. There was a strong smell of mothballs when we got out of the van to go into the church but I didn't think too much about it. Shortly after we arrived Bobby told me that Pastor Wendy warned us to keep our eyes open for snakes. Since Hurricane Ike last year there has been an abundance of snakes and the moth balls keep them at a distance. Pastor Wendy apologized about the smell but personally, I'd rather smell moth balls than step on a snake.
We had a great service at New Covenant Full Gospel Church and before we left there Pastor Wendy had us scheduled to come back in March of next year! Pastor Wendy leads an enthusiastic group of believers at New Covenant. They showed up and showed support for their pastor and for the special service that night. And you know what? When the people showed up, God showed up too. He was there! Imagine that! He is true to His Word that when two or three are gathered in His Name, He is there.
On Saturday morning we drove north to Waco where we received a hearty Texas welcome from our brothers and sisters at Sparks Memorial Methodist Church. I don't think anyone ever decorated a cake in our honor but we were tickled to see a big white sheet cake that said, "Welcome Bowen Family." Wasn't that "sweet?" But they didn't just have cake. They had a spaghetti dinner complete with salad, bread sticks and a variety of beverages. They went all out to have a great evening and we did.
We slept nearby at the Hampton and the following morning drove about an hour to Milam County Cowboy Church in Rockdale, Texas. Their church services are held in a community building at the fairground. Attending cowboy church really is a different world from what I'm used to. We pulled up and there was a man on a horse running on the track outside the building. Everyone wears their blue jeans and most of the men wear their cowboy hats and big belt buckles. It's reminds me of what it might have been like going to church back in the 19th century. There's nothing old fashioned or outdated about it. It's just that when you see the horses and the hats it reminds you of ...cowboys. Hmm.
When we arrived, Bobby unloaded his stuff and was inside setting up while I stayed in the van with the kids as we do many times. While I was getting the children ready, a woman came to the van and introduced herself as Valerie Herod and offered to help with the kids. Even though I didn't really have anything for her to do, I appreciated it so much that she would take a step forward to say hello and offer a hand. She did visit a bit as I finished with the kids and told me that her husband, Michael's life was changed back in the 90's because of the music ministry of MidSouth. Michael went from a life that included alcohol and a lack of commitment to being surrendered to Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the ministry that he received back then led him to form a music ministry of his own called "Broken Chains Ministries," named after the popular MidSouth song.
The large room was full for the church service and how great it was to see two young boys getting 
baptized in the big horse trough. There were others that had recently been baptized and yet more that would be baptized in the coming weeks. This is a good sign that a church is doing something right. Pastor Greg Spears preached about witnessing and did a very quick illustration as he approached someone in the front that he had prepped and propped with a bowl of Blue Bell ice cream. He walked up to the guy in the front and talked about how he loved ice cream. Then he took the bowl of ice cream and began eating it in front of us telling us how cool, sweet and creamy it was. He paralleled that with telling people how much he loved Jesus and what Jesus means to him. What Pastor Greg didn't know was that there was a 10-year-old girl, also in the front of the room, that is a huge fan of ice cream. He couldn't possibly know that he dared not talk about how good the ice cream was and then go so far as to eat that ice cream in front of her and not offer her a bite! He had no idea that he was setting himself up for a revolt right there in the church service. We managed to make it through most of the sermon but toward the end when things got the most serious, I had to take Grace out of the room so as not to distract. We simply stood outside the doors and faced the side of the building. I struggle with taking Grace out like that because I don't want her to think she can fuss and then get taken out to have fun. I want her to be bored and dissatisfied with leaving the service so I let her stare at a blank wall. When I heard Bobby's voice in the mic a few minutes later, Grace and I re-entered and finished out the service. She's very attentive when her Daddy is singing.
baptized in the big horse trough. There were others that had recently been baptized and yet more that would be baptized in the coming weeks. This is a good sign that a church is doing something right. Pastor Greg Spears preached about witnessing and did a very quick illustration as he approached someone in the front that he had prepped and propped with a bowl of Blue Bell ice cream. He walked up to the guy in the front and talked about how he loved ice cream. Then he took the bowl of ice cream and began eating it in front of us telling us how cool, sweet and creamy it was. He paralleled that with telling people how much he loved Jesus and what Jesus means to him. What Pastor Greg didn't know was that there was a 10-year-old girl, also in the front of the room, that is a huge fan of ice cream. He couldn't possibly know that he dared not talk about how good the ice cream was and then go so far as to eat that ice cream in front of her and not offer her a bite! He had no idea that he was setting himself up for a revolt right there in the church service. We managed to make it through most of the sermon but toward the end when things got the most serious, I had to take Grace out of the room so as not to distract. We simply stood outside the doors and faced the side of the building. I struggle with taking Grace out like that because I don't want her to think she can fuss and then get taken out to have fun. I want her to be bored and dissatisfied with leaving the service so I let her stare at a blank wall. When I heard Bobby's voice in the mic a few minutes later, Grace and I re-entered and finished out the service. She's very attentive when her Daddy is singing.
After the service Valerie presented the children with a huge basket FULL of goodies to keep their hands busy and their bellies content while going down the road hour after hour and we thanked for her kindness and thoughtfulness.
I succeeded in getting the children to take naps as we drove from Rockdale to Cleveland, Texas for the evening service. We were a little surprised to see a parking lot full of cars and a crowd of people gathered outside the building at First Baptist Church. You'd know I was kidding if I told you they were there waiting with anticipation for us to show up, right? Seriously, much more exciting things were going on. A baptismal service was just starting when we arrived and thirty young people were in line to be baptized. How exciting to see such signs of growth in both the morning and evening services!
Another fun surprise for Bobby was that when he stepped out of the van, long-time friend, Tommy Alexander and his wife, Billie greeted us. Tommy helped Bobby set up and then during the concert, Bobby asked him to come up to the stage and sing a couple of songs with him. Tommy, like Bobby, is a former member of the MidSouth Boys back when they were a quartet. He's also a very good songwriter and Bobby joined him on a couple of his best works. It wasn't the first time Bobby and Tommy sang together at this particular church, for it was New Year's Eve of 1982 that Bobby was hired to sing and play bass for the MidSouth Boys at First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Texas. It was a sentimental reunion for both of them.
We enjoyed a good time of fellowship over some of McDonalds' culinary best and the following morning we were northward bound for Texarkana where we spent the week with Bobby's parents.
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