January 23-25, 2009. We left home Friday morning, the 23^rd and drove 11 hours to our destination, Dry Prong, Louisiana, which was just north of Alexandria. Very graciously, the pastor of Corinth Baptist Church, Steve Montgomery, opened up his vacant parsonage for us after the pastor of the church that booked us, Anchor Baptist Church, made our accommodation needs known. Instead of cramming into a hotel room, we were able to stretch out in a 2000 square foot home. No one slept on the floor and we were able to do some laundry and enjoy some wide open space for a change. On Saturday we played UNO, washed the bedding, took our baths, ate some soup, all at leisure, and then went to the pastor's home for dinner. Dr. Fred and Carol Kelsey hosted a tasty dinner of spaghetti (Landis' favorite) and garlic bread. Mmmm...Mm! Anchor Baptist Church was right next door so we didn't have far to go to sing for our supper. Bobby was treated by a quick visit from long-time friend, Dale Lingenfelter, an old friend he hadn't seen in 20 years. Dale came by the church when Bobby was setting up to say hi and catch up a bit. He and his wife, Jill, were expecting visitors at their home that evening and couldn't attend the concert. The concert was on the smaller side but it was a small building to begin with and once again we were amazed at the way God blessed us and met our needs.

From Tioga (that's where the church was) we drove 4 hours south into the bayous of Louisiana. We arrived at the Acadiana House, Bed and Breakfast in Larose just before 1:00 am. A bed and breakfast like no other we've ever been in. Bobby was emailed a passcode earlier in the week, punched the number in to the keypad next to the garage door and the door opened for him and from there we had access to the house. Freedom Worship Center, in Galliano, pastored by Robert Niestoeckel, was especially kind to us by renting this bed and breakfast and even placing an overloaded basket with fruit, juice, mixes, chips and other goodies on the kitchen counter. What a greeting! And at 1:00 am it perked us up a little. We got some rest and in the morning had a large assortment of breakfast foods to choose from to toast, fry, bake or boil. It was very nice.

We drove 15 minutes to the Freedom Worship Center and felt welcomed right away. We enjoyed a great time with the saints there, (no – not the New Orleans' saints) although it was difficult to understand a few of them from time to time with those thick Cajun accents. Pastor Robert and his lovely wife were not difficult to understand and she let me know why after the service. Their family moved to Galliano from Ligonier, Indiana 2 years ago. I enjoyed being so far from home yet being able to talk to someone who knew the roads and stores and restaurants that I knew.

Our evening service was 2 hours north near Baton Rouge at the Zachary Community Church. This congregation doesn't normally meet on Sunday evening so this was something different for them and it seemed to work well. The service started at 5:00 pm and there was a good crowd there. As only God can do, He touched people's hearts in that service through a very simple concert by a very simple family. And just like I remind people when I share a testimony: God will use any of us if we are willing. For the past year we've been willing to go anywhere and yes, take everyone. We have actually considered how much easier it would be to travel if we left 1 or 2 children with a friend or relative for this or that weekend trip. However, we have decided against it because each member of our family is an important part of this ministry and we'll leave no one behind because God uses each one of us to minister to different people.

I have to mention that we were tickled that this congregation chose to have a meal after church and of course, we were treated to jambalaya. Oh! It was GOOD!

Back to Texarkana for the week at Bobby's parents' home. It's not nearly as far to drive here as it is to drive back to Nashville. We will leave here Friday morning and head back down to southern Louisiana.

January 14-18, 2009.

On Wednesday morning, the 14th we left Bobby's parents' home in Texarkana and drove to Altus, Oklahoma to sing at Altus Church of God. Pastor Bill, his very precious wife, Katrina, and son, Nathan were waiting for us at the front door of the church. When we arrived in Altus, the temperature was a balmy 60 degrees, but by the time church was over that night, the temperature had dropped to near 20 degrees! That arctic blast that we'd been hearing about had finally hit. What a GREAT service we had. There were only about 30 people there so the members that didn't show up simply missed out. At the end of Bobby's first song, I knew the Holy Spirit was in the room with us. A dear saint, Brother Austin, worshiped passionately in the middle of the room. He and his wife have been married 54 years and have a 25-year-old grandson with Cerebral Palsy. At the end of the service as I was walking back to my seat after giving a testimony, Brother Austin walked to the front of the room. Bobby asked him if he could help him and Brother Austin said he might not have spoken up in times past but felt led to prophecy at that moment. He told us that we should trust God because Grace is IN HIS HANDS. Then he looked at Grace and told her that she was very special and that God was going to do GREAT things through her and for her...IN HIS TIME, and he emphasized that last phrase. This was such a blessing and encouragement to me because it was in April of 2000 that I cried out to God one night in frustration telling God I just didn't understand. He said to me, “Becky, you just have to trust Me. I will do this thing that I promised but I will do it in My time when I can receive the most glory.” I don't have to get worked up and anxious and wonder if I have enough faith. I can rest in Him, KNOWING that it's His will to heal Grace and He'll take care of her and bring her up out of that chair in His time because she is in His hands. All I have to do is believe and trust Him to do what He said He'd do. That's what I'm doing.

The following morning we drove from Altus to Enid, Oklahoma where we sang at our first Cowboy Church which meets in a cattle sale barn every Thursday night. The temperature remained frigid and we wore our coats for the service at Chisholm Trail Cowboy Church. You can view the entire service at:
http://www.winterlive.com/chisholm_cowboy/login.php.
Bobby sings two songs at the start of the service and then he comes back at 45 minutes and does a 45 minute set including the children singing and my testimony. After church we picked up some soup to go and headed back to our hotel room to get warm.

Friday morning we drove back to Texarkana and had just enough time to pop into Bobby's parents' house to change clothes. I had to curl my hair and fix something for Grace to eat and just take it with us. We made a return visit to Partnership Church where Bobby and the kids shared the stage with the Hendrix Trio and Masterpeace Quartet. It was more of a fun evening with a lot of Southern Gospel music. Bobby's parents, Bob and Tena came and we topped the evening off with cake and ice cream as we celebrated Bobby's sister, Kathy's 29th birthday....AHEM, (cough, cough!).

We said goodbye (for a few weeks) to Bob and Tena on Saturday morning and drove across the bottom part of Arkansas back to Cleveland, Mississippi where we had the Econohell experience. We glared at the Econolodge and stuck our tongues out as we drove past it to the Holiday Inn Express. That evening Bobby was reunited with a family he hadn't seen in over 25 years, the Wilkersons. Mr. Wilkerson pastors Church of Faith on the north side of Cleveland. His daughter, Debbie, an old friend of Bobby's booked the date and I was privileged to meet her and her four beautiful children, Scott, Chelsea, Mike and Logan. Debbie and I were able to connect instantly as we shared the joys and woes of raising children with special needs. Her 18-year-old son, Scott has many mental and emotional challenges.

Bobby originally had a booking for Sunday morning in Grenada, Mississippi but it canceled. At first he thought he'd try to fill that spot but I told him I was glad that date had canceled because we were to drive to Benton, Arkansas that night. We enjoyed a very restful morning at the Holiday Inn, getting up when we wanted to and not to an alarm and eating a leisure breakfast in the lobby. We had a short time of devotion in our room and finally got on the road by noon and drove to Benton which is on the west side of Little Rock.

We met many sweet people Sunday night at Benton Four Square Church including a surprise visit from an old friend of both mine and Bobby's, Mark Hall! He and his beautiful bride have 3 cute kids now and are involved in a church in Bryant, which is bit closer to Little Rock. Mark has always been involved in gospel music and used to keep up with Mid South, looking up to Bobby as a kid. I met Mark after Bobby did in 1989 while at Stamps Baxter School of Music with two of my sisters. I went to college with Mark's older sister, Dusty, in the years following that.

As I write this blog we are driving home! When we crossed the river into Tennessee, the kids spotted the sign and cheered. They were glad to be back in Tennessee even though they still had 200 miles to go. Hope is the most excited because all she's been able to think about for the past 5 days or so is her clubhouse. Every day she's been mentioning her latest plans for decorating her clubhouse in the back yard. I don't know what has inspired her but she is certainly focused on it. Bobby and I told her it's way too cold and it will be nearly dark by the time we get home late this afternoon. In her disappointment, she went to the back of the van and went to sleep.

There's always so much to do when we return from a trip but it will be good to be home for a few days.

“Kansas City, Kansas City here I come....there's some crazy little women there and I'm-a gonna get me one.” That's the song that came to my mind this weekend. Fortunately we didn't sing it at any of the churches we went to. I don't think it would have gone over too well.

We were going to leave early Friday morning for Butler, Missouri but on Thursday when we were on our way to my sister, Mary's house, the brake job that we thought we could put off until we got back home from this trip, was literally screaming for attention sooner than later. Mary kept ALL of our children ALL night Thursday while Bobby and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. The plan for the next morning was that Bobby and I would arrive at 7:45 to feed and dress our children while she got Owen ready for school and tended to her other boys as well. But when our mechanic agreed to do our brakes first thing Friday morning, we asked Mary if she could keep the kids until we could get there with our van. Of course I tried to think of another way I could relieve her, like driving the car to her house to pick up the kids. I could pick up the kids but I couldn't get the wheelchair. Everything worked out great. Kris was able to take Owen to school, we were able to get new brakes and get to her house by 11:35 – plenty of time for her to leave to pick up Owen from school.

On to Missouri. We got a later start, thus, a later arrival. We checked into our hotel by 11:30. We got a later checkout the next morning and with a little rendezvous at Wal-Mart, and lunch we were able to kill time until we were supposed to show up at the First Assembly of God.

A very young Pastor Cleghorn and his bride and 3 children greeted us along with 2 of the older ladies from the church who had prepared a delicious home-cooked meal for us. We had a nice crowd for a Saturday night and we were able to encourage some people there. From there we drove to Kansas City where we spent the night in my favorite chain, Hampton Inn. The following morning we sang at yet another new denomination for us, The First Christian Church of Pleasant Hill, Missouri which was on the southeast side of KC. It was much more liturgical than what we're used to but the people were receptive and we were able to minister. They really enjoyed Bobby's music and I think his approach and style was something they'd never had before in that congregation. Another “first” was that we sang for 2 services. We sang in the 8:00 a.m. service, had a great breakfast down in their basement, sang again for their 10:30 service, and then had a big lunch in the basement again! The pastor said he wanted to have us back in the fall for a weekend!

After that service we drove to the opposite side of the city to Bonner Springs, Kansas, where we sang at Basehor (pr. “baser”) Baptist Church on Sunday evening. It was at this special little place that God wanted to do a work. For the first time since I began sharing a testimony, I saw grown men wiping their eyes. We usually see a woman here and there shedding tears nearly everywhere we go but I don't recall seeing any man react that way. Just as I was finishing and was making the segue into our song, I glanced down at the song leader in front of me and saw a big old tear falling down his cheek. That just about did me in. At that point I had to move on to thinking about the unlady-like way Hope was sitting on the front row. Anything to keep from breaking. It's hard to keep my composure when men cry. Before we left the church parking lot, Pastor Martin told us that the words spoken tonight were words their congregation needed for there were families in their church that were really under attack right now. God is good.

Our first weekend out on the road in 2009 was one we will never forget. There were many “first time” experiences and 1 or 2 we would have rather not had. For the first time we sang at a Seventh Day Adventist church in Vicksburg, Mississippi. And on Sunday morning we were scheduled to sing at the First Church of the Nazarene in Cleveland, Mississippi. The first 2 bookings of the year were brand new denominations for us and we were excited about it. I mentioned to Bobby on the drive south that I felt the Lord was saying to us through these bookings that He had new things for us this year and we should expect new and different things from Him. Little did I know just how “different” and unwelcome one of our experiences would be.

We did not have the privilege of meeting the pastor of the little Adventist church on Saturday morning because he shepherds 3 churches and he was scheduled to be with another one of his flocks this past weekend. This small group of people we sang to on Saturday morning was a church that had somehow lost their joy. The looks on their faces had me so distracted as I tried to give my testimony that I lost my train of thought a couple of times. It was a bit humorous as I look back but I felt sorry for them at the time. I saw looks of pain, boredom, sleepiness and worry. Nearly everyone in the room had a negative expression on their face. Even after the service, the greetings we received were given with great effort and lacked sincerity. They had a small fellowship lunch after church and as I was waiting for the 3 women to finish warming the lunch (yes, 3) I stepped around a corner out of sight and whispered, “Oh Jesus, get us out of here.” The oppression was that great. As I breathed those words I looked up the wall I was leaning against and there He was, a picture of Jesus. HA! There was a lot of humor in the whole situation to me but I know God is grieved when people just go through the motions of playing church. Like I said, their joy was GONE. We thanked them for having us and for the lunch and agreed with them that if we didn't meet again here on earth, we'd see each other in heaven. As we got in the van and drove off, we felt as if we were escaping something.

From Vicksburg we drove to Cleveland, Mississippi and as we neared the Econolodge, we looked lustfully at the Holiday Inn Express, Hampton and even the Comfort Inn. (My favorite chain to stay in is the Hampton, Grace's is HI Express – (smile)) The truth is, I'm quite happy as long as we have clean, adjoining rooms but many times we cram into 1 double. The pastor had purchased 2 rooms for us. They were not adjoining and 1 of them was a handicap accessible room. Bobby and Landis took the handicap accessible room because it didn't have a bathtub and I needed a tub to bathe Grace. So the girls and I took the other room. We had been in the rooms for about 30 minutes before I called Bobby and asked if he'd please see if there was something else available. The floors were filthy and I told the girls not to walk without shoes, there were coffee cups but no coffee maker, the bathtub drain didn't work and wouldn't hold water, and it STUNK!!! It was a smoking room. Reluctantly Bobby went to the office and came back 10 minutes later saying we had nonsmoking, adjoining rooms. Oh, it was such an improvement. I love it when Bobby and I can stay in a king and the kids can stay together in the other room. That's the ideal situation.

Our light was turned off sometime around 11:30 and at 1:35 a.m. we were awakened to an awful noise. Everything happened in fractions of seconds and I remember thinking the TV or computer or something heavy fell on the floor and then realized it was our door and I jumped out of bed before Bobby as someone was trying to break our door down. Just as I approached the door it opened. Thankfully, we had remembered to use the safety lock so the door didn't open all the way. With all my might I pushed against the intruder and slammed the door shut on him. He pushed it open again and I pushed it shut again. He yelled through the door something about the fact that we weren't showing up in his books and that he suspected we were staying in the room illegally. Bobby and I both yelled at him that we were definitely legal and were registered. He argued that if we would just come out and talk to him we could get this situation resolved. I screamed back at him, “WE'RE NOT COMING OUT THERE!!!” He said he was just going to have to call the police if we weren't going to come out. I yelled back, “Please do call the police!” When it seemed he had walked away, I turned to see Bobby getting dressed. I freaked out and cried, “You are NOT going out there. Are you crazy?!” He just said he wasn't waiting for them to come back. Aw! Isn't that great? He was ready to give his life to protect his family. “But,” I said, “why don't we use our PHONES!!!” At first I thought I'd call the police but instead I called the front desk and announced that someone had just tried to break into our room. The voice on the other end said, “It was me and I wasn't trying to break in I was just trying to make sure y'all were registered for that room.” HUH????!!! If that wasn't breaking in I don't know what was. What he did was a good way to get shot! That's what I told him and I told him there were better ways to do the job he was doing. He told me this is how he was trained and yada, yada, yada, I won't go on with the 5 minute conversation except that I asked him how in the world we were supposed to try to go back to sleep now?!!! Miraculously, none of the children awoke. For that we were very thankful.

At 3:30, after tossing and turning, and after hearing 3 sounds over and over – sirens, booming bass stereos and people yelling - we prayed that all fear would leave, that we would be able to fall asleep and feel rested in the morning. We weren't laying there in fear but it was as if we had just got a shot of caffeine straight into our bloodstream. Our eyes were heavy but our bodies were unsettled. We were asleep before 4:00 a.m. That's the first-time, different and unwelcome experience we don't ever want to have again. And yes, we told the pastor Sunday morning what happened and that we wouldn't advise putting any more of his guests at Econohell.

I did call the manager for Econolodge today and she heard me out and then explained that yes, this man was doing his job. The problem began with a night clerk who sold rooms to people, didn't register them in the computer and pocketed the money. So they hired another night person, Julius, to check every room every night that didn't have any registered guests in them and just make sure they were empty. Julius has been in trouble with management in the past because he was not aggressive enough with unregistered guests. So, since he wanted to keep his job and be the hero he chose to be aggressive with us! I suggested to the manager that if Julius ever experiences resistance when he checks a supposedly empty room in the future, to go and get help and not to be so aggressive with the guest, be they registered or not. We don't want Julius getting himself killed. Glad we could help the Econolodge in Cleveland, Mississippi clear up this little problem. Hmmm. Just thought of something...maybe we did actually save Julius' life from a possible murder in the future and he'll have the opportunity to be saved. I guess the huge scare and losing the sleep was worth it. Ha! Oh, and btw, have you figured out yet that the afternoon clerk who moved us from the first rooms into the better rooms didn't change the information in the computer? Yeah, big mistake on her part.

Sunday morning at the Nazarene church and Sunday night in Greenwood, Mississippi were wonderful concerts. Sunday night we sang at the Church of God in Greenwood and the lady that sat behind me asked me if our hotel room was suitable. I assured her it was GREAT! And then briefed her on the hotel the night before. Her name was Velma. She was the secretary of the church and we visited for about 5 minutes before church started. In our conversation I learned her son and daughter-in-law live on Bethel Road in Greenbrier – less than 3 miles from us! Small world.

I have to mention Hope in regard to Sunday evening. She made an impression on so many. While I visited with Mrs. Velma, I noticed Hope standing in the middle aisle visiting with people. (Bobby told me later that he had given her permission after she had asked, to go talk to people before the service started.) When she came to sit down next to me she asked, “Can I talk in the mic tonight?” I asked her what she would say. She said she wanted to tell about our unwanted visitor the night before. (I think I know now what she was telling the folks before church.) I told her no and then she asked if she could just say, “Praise the Lord.” I told her certainly! When it was time for her to go up on stage she didn't remember to speak but she just seemed so at home. She's never been nervous and always ready to sing but last night she seemed even more in her element. She sang very loudly and asked Bobby if she could sing an extra song. Bobby was quick to say yes because he was really struggling with his voice. He caught what the locals called the Mississippi Mud Crud! We'll be doctoring him a lot this week getting him ready for next weekend. People commented to us after church at what a blessing Hope was to them. That blesses Bobby and I, don't ya know?

Back home tonight with guest, Josie Buck. She'll be here a couple of days.