November 9-16, 2009

It was so beautiful in El Paso that I hated to leave and go back to the cold, rainy east but we did. We really wanted to take the children just over the border into Mexico but we were advised that it was not safe these days and besides, we needed passports. So we did the next best thing. We drove east on I-10 until we got to Fabens, Texas. We chose to exit here because the Interstate almost touches the Mexican border here on our atlas. We drove south through the small town and in a matter of a couple of minutes we found ourselves on a narrow dirt road between cotton fields and soon saw a fence in the distance ending our road ahead of us. We slowly drove until we couldn't go any further, got out and approached the fence. My first remark was, “There really IS a fence.” A tall, dense, iron fence went as far to the left and to the right as we could see. Peeking through the rust-colored iron screen we could see where the Rio Grande was several yards ahead of us,

although we couldn't actually see the river itself. We took a few pictures in front of the fence but after hearing gunshots in the distance on both sides of us, we decided it was time to get back in the van and move on down the road.

As Sam Goodman of the Happy Goodman's used to say, “Once you get out of Texas, you're almost there.” We drove through Texas all day long and into the night. The kids and I went to sleep but at 3:00, Bobby stopped just inside the Louisiana border where I got some coffee and got behind the wheel. I drove through Louisiana and Mississippi and stopped just shy of the Alabama line.

We drove right into Tropical Storm Ida somewhere in Alabama. By the time the sun rose on Tuesday, it looked like this.

A far cry from yesterday.

I was so glad when Bobby, who got behind the wheel in Alabama, stopped the van in Bremen, Georgia and by 2:00 Tuesday afternoon, although we were all dirty and damp from getting rained on, we were settled in a clean, dry hotel room. We finally got cleaned up, schooling done and plenty of rest.

We wished we could have driven a little farther on Tuesday in order to be closer to Rockingham, North Carolina but we made it to our destination in 7 or 8 hours and in plenty of time to sing at Highland Acres Church of God on Wednesday night.

The rain continued but let up a little for load-in and load-out again. But it started up again as we were driving away from the church. We slept soundly and drove the next day to Lincolnton to sing at Daystar Family Worship Center. We sang at Daystar back in May when we were having motor home troubles. We had such a memorable evening with this family of believers. Pastor Joey's wife, Tracy, and her sister-in-law, Paula made such an impression on my life that night after the service, that I believe these new friends will probably be women that I will keep in touch with the rest of my life.

Again, the Lord was present in our assembly and He was allowed to minister. I believe there were a couple of men in the service that night that broke through some spiritual walls that have holding them back from receiving what God has for them. I love the photo of Pastor Joey praying for a hurting brother but I want you to know that I was NOT snapping pictures during the altar service...my son was taking pictures with my phone and I didn't know it. Although I scolded him and told him not to be taking pictures of people during alter calls, I was glad to have this picture.

Friday was a day off, however, we did do a taping for a local Christian television show in Dillon, South Carolina. An old friend of Bobby's, Jim Owens, hosts a show that goes into 20,000 homes weekly. Bobby and Jim first met back in the early 90's when both were doing the Christian Country Music circuit. Bobby, of course, sang with Mid South and Jim sang in a duo called Rivers and Owens, also affectionately called “Liver and Onions,” by Mid South.

Bobby lip-syncd 4 songs followed by a solo interview first and the kids watched from behind the cameras. But when it was time for the children to sit in front of the cameras, everyone was ready except Faith. Considering she's not bashful about singing on stage, she's such a ham and loves to make people laugh, I am shocked when it comes to how she hangs her head or runs the other direction when someone wants to take her picture. We decided it was best to ignore her lack of posture when we were positioning ourselves. But by the end of the countdown and as the first words were being spoken she sat straighter. Jim asked Landis and Hope a couple of questions toward the end of the segment, completely ignoring Faith so as not set himself up for an awkward moment. But Faith didn't appreciate being left out so she threw in her 2 cents worth and then we thought she wasn't going to stop talking. I'm sure you can hardly wait to see this video so I'll be sure to post it later when it's ready. Sarcasm strikes again.

On Saturday evening we returned to Rockingham and sang at New Vision Free Will Baptist Church with Pastor Joel Simpson. Joel was actually the pastor at the church where we sang on February 28 in Warren, Arkansas, but he was out of town and we didn't meet him that night. Bobby caught up with him later and found out he was out of town the night we were at his church in Warren because he was in Rockingham applying for the position as lead pastor there. So Bobby asked him if we could come to his new church. We did and it was a real pleasure to meet this young pastor and his family.

We were scheduled to go back to Dillon on Sunday morning to Jim Owen's church. He pastors a church just outside of Dillon and again, this was one of those “special” congregations that knows what worship is and they have a desire to be in God's presence. We had a rich service and following a spirit-filled altar service, a leader in the church spoke to Bobby and I concerning the days ahead for our ministry. It was very encouraging and it gave us some things to ponder and pray over.

Jim and his wife, treated us to lunch and then we were on our way to Pageland, where, once again, we had the privilege of worshiping the Lord with a group of on-fire believers at Hope Family Worship Center. We're always grateful for those dates where we can receive as well as give. It's so exciting to come in to a church that's fired up about Jesus Christ and their hearts are expectant. Pastor Ricky Malloy led us in praise and worship accompanied by Pastor W.J., lead pastor, on keys. The people were very responsive through the whole service (no sleeping) and then we had a victorious altar call to end the evening. What a great day!