November 23-29

The week of Thanksgiving we spent time with the Bowen Family in Arkansas. They decided to have a family reunion on Thanksgiving day. Now, a reunion to me is descendants of the great, or even, great-great grandparent consisting of hundreds of aunts, uncles and first and second cousins from several states who haven't seen each other in many years, or perhaps never. However, this “reunion” was more what I would call a family “get together” and only included the family of Loy and Myrtle (Smith) Bowen who had 4 children, 3 sons and 1 daughter. Bobby's dad, Bob, is the only remaining son and his aunt, Peggy, is looking (and acting) absolutely fabulous at 76 years of age. A special treat was seeing Bobby's cousin, Ricky Bowen, who drove all the way from Muncie, Indiana. I wish we could have seen Ricky's sister, Regina, her husband, Elwyn and their sons, Dustin and Dylan from Temple, Texas. I haven't seen them in at least 15 years, when Bobby and I were newlyweds. Dustin and Dylan are grown now and serving the church, following the footsteps of their parents. As a matter of fact, Dylan won first place in Short Sermon at the General Council of the Assemblies of God in Orlando last summer. It's only 5 minutes long so check it out.

For such a young guy he's very impressive with his passion, delivery and his ability to captivate an audience. Could it be that he intimately KNOWS the One he preaches about? I do believe he does.

Of course there was a bounty of food available at the “get together” and plenty of laughter and hugs. Following the late lunch in the fellowship hall (we met at a church), we migrated to the sanctuary

where Bobby led us in an all-inclusive concert. We had trios, duets and solos as Bobby played rhythm, his dad on bass, nephew, Aaron on drums, and cousin Jimmy on piano. We had a good time reminiscing, encouraging each other and of course, praising the Lord.

We had to rise very early Sunday morning to leave Texarkana to make it to Searcy, Arkansas for the morning service. Of course we put shoes on the kids and led or carried them to the van where they could continue sleeping. This was another return visit and we were glad to see Pastor Jim Cantrell and his family again. A big blessing this time was meeting Pastor Cantrell's parents. In February of 2009 I wrote about his dad having heart surgery and not doing very well. But God raised him up and restored his health. Pastor Cantrell's brother was also there again and this time let Grace know how much she meant to him. He seemed very emotional as he simply spent some time sitting with Grace after the service holding her hand and talking to her, even helping her out to the van.

Driving back toward the west, we stopped in Vilonia for a lunch at Annie's on US 64. I asked them if they had a website because I figured I'd want to mention them in my blog, but they didn't. So...if you're ever in Vilonia, Arkansas, a half hour north of Little Rock, stop in at Annie's and enjoy some good viddles and a free ice cream cone after your meal.

We found a room for ourselves in Conway at the Microtel. When we have to buy our own room, we usually try to stay at Microtel because they're usually new, clean, cheap and they have a window seat which Landis uses as his bed. After settling there and making a couple of quick wardrobe changes, we drove to Houston Assembly of God near Houston, Arkansas, yet another return visit. Pastor Michael McDaniel was difficult for me to read the first time I met him but I soon liked him and appreciated he and his wife very much. We had served there exactly one year earlier, the weekend after Thanksgiving, and just like last year, we met again in their multi-purpose room with the adjacent kitchen. They had arranged tables and chairs because we would be eating immediately following the service and we had a good group of people show up in spite of the cold rain outside. Bobby's long-time friend, Steve Secrease came to say hello just as he did last year also.

There was one small puzzle that to this day we haven't figured out. I'm only writing about it because I thought it might get a laugh. I'm not angry about it or fussing at anyone. Even though people were seated at tables for the concert, everyone either sat on the side of the table that faced Bobby or they turned their chairs around...except for one dear old saint. Now, I don't have any idea if she was a “crotchety old saint,” as I've heard my pastor tag them, or if she was confused or simply having one bad day, but one lovely lady decided to sit with her back to Bobby and keep a negative countenance on her lovely face. She finally turned around and looked toward the stage when she heard the children singing, but she promptly turned around again when Bobby continued his solos. It struck us as odd, but again, we don't know what her reasons were.

We had some “delicious” fellowship after the service (if you know what I mean) and headed back to Conway to sleep. However, after traveling 5 miles on a winding, wet road in the dark, we got a call from the pastor saying that he found a purse setting on one of the tables and thought it might be mine. (Ahem!) It was. If you were to assume that Bobby was not too happy about having to go back, you'd be right. The only thing I can say in defense is that it was only my church purse, meaning, it doesn't have anything valuable in it. Just stuff for the kids to play with during our concerts. Why do I always have to be the one to lock myself out of the car? Or lose my purse? Or misplace my keys? Why does HE always have to be so perfect? Does anyone feel my pain? :)