September 11-15, 2009

I can't remember when it was decided, but a girlfriend announced that we were going on a road trip and the road we were taking would lead us to the beach in Gulf Shores. We discussed dates and I threw a suggestion out there about weekdays being better than the weekend. However, I'm the only person who's schedule works that way. My friend landed on the weekend of September 12 and 13. I had little hope of it working out for me to go but did tell Bobby about the "mommy trip" and explained that I understood if he didn't want me to go. But what Bobby said was, "we could probably make that work." I was so surprised and very excited. We did work out the details that went like this:

Friday morning, September 11th, I would drive the car to the church where two friends would pick me up. (Sorry about being so vague. Names have been withheld to protect the innocent.) On Saturday evening, Bobby and the children would drive the van to the church and attend services. Following church services, Mr. Pat and his wife, Mary would abandon their car and take Grace and Faith, in our van and drive to their house, while Bobby, Landis and Hope would take our car home. On Sunday morning Bobby, Landis and Hope would take the car loaded down with guitar, equipment and CDs and drive to Lyles, Tennessee, which is near Dickson. There, they would minister at Wrigley Church of God of Prophecy and Bobby told me later, it was very strange to go sing without half the family. He also said that Landis and Hope did a great job of singing and playing. He had to admit they sound a lot better without Faith. (Oh, poor Faith! Give her a break y'all, she's only 3!) After the service in Lyles, Bobby, Landis and Hope would grab a quick lunch and then meet Mr. Pat, Grace and Faith back at Cornerstone. Mr. Pat would take his car home that he had left there on Saturday evening and Bobby and the children would get in the van and drive home, leaving our car there at the church so that I would have it to drive home on Tuesday evening.

I thought it was pretty good planning and it went very smoothly. Well, everything, that is, except the weather. The plans were to actually lay in the sun and work on my tan. However, you know this rain that's been with us for the past week? Well, it actually started in the gulf states 2 weeks ago and has been with me ever since, except for last weekend when we went to Michigan.

The theme for our weekend was "Expanding Our Borders." I have no idea where that came from but we just started saying it and because we couldn't lay in the sun, we decided to expand our borders and do some shopping. I'm tellin' ya', these girls know how to shop! We only made it as far as Birmingham and had to start shopping. Instead of it taking 7 and a half hours to get to Gulf Shores, it took us closer to 12 hours. We were blessed with 3 free nights at the HI Express in Orange Beach, thanks to my friends' husbands' points earned from his travels. Even with the mist in the air and the lightening in the distance over the gulf, we had a great time of relaxation and some guilt-free self indulgence as we soaked in the hot tub, shopped, took late-night walks on the beach, shopped, ate out, shopped, made sure my friend got her raw oysters, and shopped. Oh, and don't get me started with the texts, tweets, emails and phone calls that caused both of these girls' phones to constantly serenade our trio with cute and funny little diddies. I surrendered to them that they would only hear from my phone (with a more traditional ring) a couple of times a day. I confessed that I must not be as popular nor as outgoing because my phone does not chime and beep and play songs every 20 minutes (or less) like their phones did. Or...maybe I don't care to talk on the phone very much and if I don't make calls, I shouldn't expect to receive calls, right?

On Sunday, the three of us went to Dauphin Island where one of us ministered in music at Dauphin Island Baptist Church. The quickest way to Dauphin Island from Orange Beach, of course is to drive west on 180 and then take the ferry over to the island. It takes close to an hour to get to Dauphin Island going that way. However, because the ferry didn't run as early as we needed it, we had to drive north and then west toward Mobile and from Mobile, due south. Going this way required us to leave the hotel much earlier and it took us an hour and a half. But when we got to the island we drove the length of it to see what it was like since only one of us had been there before. Only seven miles long, the island doesn't have much on it but houses, a small restaurant and small grocery, two churches and two gas stations...and of course, the ferry.

We were introduced to Pastor Chris Schansberg and his wife, Lee. This is a talented young couple with three beautiful kids. There was a good-sized group that met for Sunday School, which was led by Mrs. Lee, and then the sanctuary was nearly full for the church service and after one of us threw down, Pastor Chris preached a great sermon.

After the service, we were treated to lunch and was able to visit with the Schansbergs to a greater extent. I was especially priviliged to sit near daughters, Sarah and Katie and learned many things, like, what a Webkinz was. You let the children talk and you can learn a lot.



That evening as we went back to some serious business of relaxation, the sun somehow broke through the clouds and we saw the most beautiful rainbow. It was too late in the day to lay out but we were delighted to catch a few rays and feel a little hope in our hearts.

As I said, we had three nights at the HI Express but we had planned our "mommy weekend" to include a fourth night away. Instead of staying on the beach (it was still raining, you know...and besides, we had pretty much shopped in every store) we decided to see what kind of damage we could do in Mobile. We packed up and moved up to the big city and began poking our shopping noses into new and unexplored regions. We wasted no time. We only stopped shopping to get a quick dinner and then shopped some more, never quitting until closing time. That wasn't so relaxing to me but it was fun and I enjoyed not looking after anyone but me.

We shopped so much that we almost shopped ourselves out of our car. Once we got into our hotel room on that last night, major moves of consolidation were made as we combined our treasures into fewer bags and smaller spaces. Still, when the car was loaded the following morning, we could not see through the rear view mirror. Yes, the car was stuffed to the gills.

We made it home in very good time and thanked each other for such a great time away. I was welcomed home with screams, hugs, kisses and cards. There's a tiny bit of temptation that comes when considering leaving my family for 5 days to fend for themselves (I did cook their dinners for them and write their school assignments ahead of time) but I'm reassured that I did the right thing when we're so happy to see each other again. Writing this post 2 weeks after the event, I can tell you that an observation I made after my "mommy weekend," was that this time that Bobby spent with the children really suited him well. I admit that I expected Bobby to tell me as soon as I walked in the door that he needed to get out and go...to the gas station...anywhere...just AWAY. I figured he'd be stir crazy. But instead, I saw a much more patient and loving daddy. Isn't that something? Perhaps not only did I need some time away from the kids, but perhaps spending some time with the kids was exactly what Bobby (and the kids) needed. And by the way, Bobby, Landis and Hope had a great service in Lyles, Tennessee that Sunday. Bobby told me that Landis and Hope sang beautifully, and that even though my 10-15 minutes of the service didn't happen, he transitioned through that and it went very smoothly. Of COURSE it did. He's a PRO! He doesn't NEED me to do what he's doing. We all just work together to enhance and compliment what each other does. Our goal is to work together to bring glory to God.

August 28 - September 6, 2009

On Friday, the 28th, we drove to Arkansas and spent the night at Bob and Tena's, Bobby's parents' home. The following day we made a 3-hour drive to Durant, Oklahoma where we met some wonderful folks at Grace Baptist Church. We didn't get to meet Brother Daniel, the music pastor. Bobby had been communicating with him up to the day before the concert when he called to say that his father was very ill and he felt he needed to be near him as he believed his father was at the end of his life. So we regretted not getting to meet Brother Daniel but we were blessed to meet Pastor Anthony Williams. Pastor Anthony is one of those people that you like as soon as you meet him. He loves people and you can tell. A lot of people came out for some gospel music and we had a great evening.

The next morning we drove down to Celina, Texas to make a return visit to Trail To Heaven Cowboy Church. We first met Pastor Kevin Landis and his beautiful wife, Sharon back in February of this year. We enjoyed seeing worship leader, Ricky Coulter again but missed most of his precious family as most of them were home under the weather. It's fun to go back to a church you've already been and reunite with friends. Some of the church leaders had a meeting after church and brought lunch for themselves. Since we had a four-hour drive that afternoon they were generous enough to load us up with hot plates to take with us on the road. What a blessing!

Another return visit - two in one day! - this time to see Pastor Bill and Katrina Estep at Altus Church of God in Altus, Oklahoma. We met this precious couple in January of this year and had the best time in the service as well as visiting with them before and after the service. That night back in January, when we arrived in Altus it was windy but the temperatures balmy. But by the time church was over the temperature had dropped significantly and the wind had not died down at all. But the atmosphere in the sanctuary that night was thick with the Holy Spirit as one of the saints, Brother Austin prophesied concerning Grace. And this night in August was equally as great but the friendships as well as the temperatures were warmer. And, like January, we went to Pizza Hut after the service and talked and laughed with Bill and Katrina like we'd been friends for years instead of a few months.

I got a call the week prior to this saying that my grandmother, Mattie, or Reubmommy, as we call her, had stopped breathing for a minute or two one night and that we should expect a call announcing her passing soon. I got that call on Sunday afternoon just before we arrived in Altus. It was a call that I knew was coming and that I figured I was ready for. Yet, when you hear those words it hurts. But Reubmommy was 95 years old. She was tired and so ready to lay down and give up the ghost.

On Monday as we drove back toward the Dallas/Ft Worth area, we called airlines and travel agents and discussed our options concerning getting me or all of us to the funeral in Michigan. We were scheduled to sing at a senior's bible study at North Richland Hills Baptist Church in Fort Worth on Tuesday morning. If we had money to throw around, the easiest thing to do would have been for the whole family to get on a plane in Dallas after singing and fly to Chicago where my dad or brother would have gladly picked us up, attended the funeral on Wednesday, stayed a day or two and then flown back to Dallas in plenty of time to sing the next weekend in East Texas. I don't need to tell you that we don't have money to throw around, do I? I could have flown alone, but I hated to leave Bobby with all of the children. I checked into just Grace and I flying but I found out that Grace can't fly unless she has a particular car seat, which we don't have. So just before we met our friends, Mark and Anne Lunsford for a late lunch, we made the decision to make a crazy drive from Fort Worth, Texas to Burr Oak, Michigan in nineteen hours.

Yes, we got to see Mark and Anne Lunsford again. Well, we have seen Mark recently but we hadn't seen Anne in years and it was a delight to talk with them both again and catch up on their lives. After lunch, Anne went back to the house to wait for us while Mark took us to Hope Fellowship, Pastor John's church in Frisco, to give us a quick tour. We didn't get to see Pastor John but saw a couple of familiar faces there and met some new ones. The church building feels very urban and contemporary and we were impressed with the size of the sanctuary and the quiet, theater feel when you walk in. Then Mark led us over to their massive home where, this time, Anne gave the tour and explained how they have twice the house in Texas as they did in Florida but for the same amount of money they sold their old home for.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the seniors at North Richland Hills Baptist Church on Tuesday morning. We shared a table with three beautiful grandmas that helped me with keeping my girls in line and spoiling them as well. To top it all off, we shared in a catered lunch and after changes of clothes, visits to the restrooms and some quick reorganizing in the van and trailer, we were ready to hit the road at one o'clock. Our stops were few and very quick with one big stop in the northeast corner of Arkansas to put the wheelchair in the trailer and make beds for the children to sleep for the night. We did our usual thing of me sleeping until about four o'clock and then driving to the finish line. At one point I had to stop to visit the lady's room and get another coffee and I literally ran in and ran out for time's sake. We made it to my cousin, Roxanne's house at exactly nine o'clock, eastern time, which left us with thirty minutes until it was time for the funeral to start. We unloaded luggage, cleaned up, changed a diaper, and made it to the funeral by 9:40, figuring we'd just sit in the back of the room. However, my brother, Joel, who was waiting outside the building for us, had seats saved up in the front of the room with the family.

We left Grace and Faith at my cousin's house and I tried my best to prep Landis and Hope with what they were about to experience. My grandmother was amish and the service they were about to sit through would be the longest, most boring service they would ever sit through, but it was going to be something they could say they did and live to tell about it. They both did very good and the service actually went by pretty fast. I joked later that I had prayed before hand asking God to reveal something to me that was being said as the two preachers both preached in Pennsylvania Dutch, and He did! Every time those preachers said a line in English, I understood every word. By eleven o'clock we were kneeling for prayer and another five minutes later, we were standing to pray some more. I was glad they decided to allow one more viewing before the service was over so I could take one last look at her but as I passed by the casket I decided that I'd always prefer to remember Reubmommy the way she looked a year ago. The lack of food and the wasting away had really taken it's toll on her little ninety five year old frame. Her eight children gathered around her casket one more time and said goodbye, some taking it harder than others.


As soon as the service was over Bobby, the kids and I rushed back to RoxAnne's house to pick up Grace and Faith and take them with us to the cemetery. I figured we could run back and pick up the girls and make it back to the cemetery in about the same amount of time it took a slow procession of buggies to parade 2 miles down the road. However, when we drove up, they had nearly finished with filling the hole with dirt. They didn't waste any time and seemed to be ahead of schedule. So Landis and Hope got to participate in the burial a little bit along with other cousins.

Faith stood next to the grave of her great-great grandpa, Bishop John H. Troyer.




I couldn't help but get a photo of this "kleine maedel" as she was taking her first little trip past the graves of so many ancestors.


We stayed an extra day to rest up and then made a mad dash back to Texarkana on Friday, the fourth of September. We left before dawn, drove non-stop and pulled into Bob and Tena's drive at ten p.m. Another day to rest up and then a full day of singing in Atlanta, Texas and Hope, Arkansas.


On Sunday morning we ministered at Cross Creek Cowboy Church. Bobby's sister, Judy and her husband, Deano Townes came out as well as our old friend, Pete Sams. Cross Creek meets in probably one of the most authentic cowboy church buildings we've seen yet. It was very rustic and the smell of cedar filled the air inside. It was definitely outfitted for cowboys and cowgirls in it's decor. It looked like a good place to have a square dance. Like a couple of the other cowboy churches we've attended recently, there seemed to be growth and momentum and like the others, there were a couple of baptisms at the end of the service and one couple came forward to be received into membership.


An added bonus for Landis was when after church, Pastor Todd showed him how to hold and throw a rope.


After lunch at Olive Garden and a little rest at Bob and Tena's, we headed east to Hope, Arkansas to make a return visit to Hope Family Church and see our friends, Pastors Jeff and Pam Smith. Jeff and Pam have a very unique story of how they met and the lifestyles they had before they surrendured their lives to the Lord. They were having revival services and asked Bobby to lead the worship this particular night. They also had a guest preacher and then following the first sermon, Pastor Jeff was tagged and he gave a second sermon. Following the second sermon we enjoyed communion together and then at just the right moment, the barbacued ribs were brought in. Since the children weren't singing tonight, Hope stayed in Texarkana with her Papaw and Mamaw and went to church with them. Hope would have had four helpings on the ribs. The girl can eat ribs. We knew she'd hate it that she missed them. The aroma was incredible and that's why I say they were brought in at just the right moment. Had they brought the ribs in during church, the saints wouldn't have stayed in their pews. Needless to say with so much on the schedule that evening, we didn't get back to Bob and Tena's until nearly ten thirty.

The following morning we made the long drive home again. Happy to be home for a couple of days.

August 22 & 23, 2009

An easy, breezy trip to Alabama! A few hours down the road to Sylacauga, which is southeast of Birmingham, is where an old friend, Debe Hooley and husband Phil live. Debe assisted in getting Bobby the date at Weogufka. The Weogufka High Alumni meet nearly every Saturday night in the old High School, after the city threatened to tear the old building down. The folks really show up to support the concerts and dinners held there and prove to the city that the old structure still serves a great purpose.

I hadn't seen Debe in 20 years and we enjoyed reminiscing on old times, old places and familiar faces. I was disappointed that I didn't get to see Phil, who was the most quiet person I think I've ever known. Twenty years ago I wouldn't make the same effort to try to get to know someone that I do today, so I had really hoped to see Phil as well as Debe but he wasn't at the concert because he had been called to work.

Debe and I used to attend the same church but another connection between us was an old amish couple, Pete and Mandy Schwartz. Uncle Pete was a brother to my grandpa, John Schwartz. Mandy was a sister to Debe's dad, Al Yoder. Al and Edna have passed away and Debe opened Yoder's Country Store in Sylacauga in their honor.

Presley Boswell, Bobby's contact, was a blessing to my kids as well as us. He assured us we'd have a great crowd and we did. It was a joy visiting with the people of Weogufka, Alabama. Oh, and Hope had a winning raffle ticket and won her mother a brand new iron! Mine died recently.

The following morning we had a three hour drive, but fortunately we weren't scheduled to sing until two o'clock. We arrived at Christ Way Baptist Church at noon and Bobby walked into the back of the sanctuary to hear Brother Leroy Landers still preaching. He came back out to the van where the kids and I were waiting and said he thought this was a missionary church. “He's really preaching in there. He sounds like a Pentecostal." Then he went back in and listened some more.

We had a scrumptious lunch and enjoyed tasty dishes that only church ladies can prepare. During lunch, Pastor Leroy, who has a smooth, hair-free scalp on his top and very tight curls above his ears and all around the back of his head, visited with us and somehow remembered each of the childrens' names. I was very impressed and the kids took a liking to him. At one point, Honest Hope said, "Dad, he looks like Larry!" I immediately tried to change the subject and move the conversation along. But Pastor Leroy heard her and said, "I've been told I look like Larry for years and years!" The fact that he reminded someone of Larry from the Three Stooges was old news that he'd heard many times.

We were a little disappointed that not all of the folks stayed for the afternoon concert after lunch, but we were blessed anyway and at the end of the service, a very emotional Pastor Leroy, hesitated with his words as he closed the service in prayer. Perhaps Faith should have been spanked and it's too late to do that now but she only considered herself to be helping when she kept adding an audible "AMEN" every time the pastor paused. He was waiting on the Lord and she was waiting on the pastor. I kept trying to silence her but again, she only thought she was helping him.

Community Baptist Church was just down the road so we mosied on over for the evening service. Pastor Brandon Dyar, dressed in a sharp periwinkle suit walked out of the building to help Bobby load in. This is a small, but young and stirred-up congregation that loves to sing and loves to worship Jesus. When Bobby sang some of his praise and worship songs, the children, sitting on the front row, joined in with such enthusiasm, I think they were louder than Bobby. Pastor Brandon and his beautiful wife, Maria, are in their thirties with young children, and he has succeeded in sharing his vision with his congregation. Everyone sat near the front which told me these folks come eager and ready to receive something when they walk through those doors.

After the service we had fellowship over Mexican food and Pastor Brandon and Maria shared with us how they have received the power and giftings of the Holy Spirit but have not forsaken the denominational teachings of the Baptist Church. They were a very inspiring couple to visit with and we really enjoyed our time with them.

We had a relatively easy drive home that night and was able to wake up Monday morning in our own beds. As I was about to wake up Monday morning, I remember situating my pillow under my head and thinking, "This is a very nice pillow...what hotel is this again?" And then I woke up and remembered it was my pillow on my bed in my house and I was there. It's nice to have more time at home, sweet home.