First Recording!



April 22, 2010

In February of 2009 at the end of a concert in Searcy, Arkansas, the pastor said he felt led to take an offering for our kids before we dismissed. He specifically asked that we not spend the money on any kind of expense but strictly on the children. That little Church of God congregation took up $99 for the children that day and that was the beginning of their savings envelope. We made the decision to use their money on things like amusement parks, museums, zoos, etc. Giving the children each a dollar or two was something that people just started doing. It wasn't much until Bobby began getting requests for a CD of the children singing. After a few requests he decided to go ahead and let people know about what the children's goal was and if they felt led to give a dollar or more to the kids it would be set aside in a savings envelope to be used for their first recording. People began to give

more than ever and soon, after tithing and with a little help from Bobby, the kids had enough to go to the studio and record the music tracks.

Thursday morning, April 22^nd, Bobby, Landis and Hope left the house to go to the Mark Five Company in Hendersonville where
they met Jeremy Medkiff and Johnny Brown. Engineer, Rick Sandidge owns and operates his recording studio on the second floor of his home and normally, music tracks are not recorded there because of the small space. However, we had planned to keep the children's first project as simple and inexpensive as possible so Bobby played bass, Johnny was on keys and Jeremy, of course played not only guitar, but a drum machine via a keyboard.

Faith went to Mother's Day Out so knowing it was going to be only Grace and I in the house most of the day, I had big plans to prime and paint the girls' bathroom. You know, you can make plans but things don't always go the way you expect. Only 30 minutes after they'd gone, Landis called, wheezing, saying he needed his inhaler. He doesn't use an inhaler on a regular basis but it seems every April he has a flare up of asthma due to pollen (or something). Since he doesn't use it every day he didn't remember to take it with him. I had no choice but to load Grace up in the van and drive 35 minutes to Hendersonville and take Landis his puffer. Once I was there, I stayed for a little while prodding Landis on to get his school work done and admiring the music being created. Suffice it to say I didn't get much priming done, but a little, after picking Faith up from Mother's Day Out.

Grace, Faith and I went to our monthly Ministry Dinner at Cornerstone that evening and afterward swung by the studio to cheer our musicians on to the finish line. I think it was about 11:00 when we finally returned home. With the music tracks finished we had the foundation ready to build and complete the project as our schedule allowed.

I'm so thankful for what God is allowing our children to see and do at this early age. My prayer is that they will always have a heart for people and ministry.

"Sweet Home Alabama"

April 17 & 18, 2010

We made a short trip down to Sylacauga, Alabama, or to make Grace laugh, I like to say, “Sycalauga, Abalama.” Debe Hooley is a friend from my childhood and teen years. She and Phil used to attend the Mennonite church in Michigan where I was raised. Today she has a quaint little shop in Sylacauga called, Yoder Family Tradition Gift and Craft Shop, and she wanted us to come by there for a kind of meet and greet before going on to Weogufka to sing that evening.

Mr. Presley Boswell heads up the Saturday evening concerts at the old Weogufka High School where many of the Alumni come out to enjoy a dinner and concert and just reminisce about the good old days. There's always catering by Kenny Boggans Whiskers Catering and the food is fantastic! This time we had catfish.

Presley has a great sense of humor, too. He enjoys letting us know he's reserved a place for us to get ready in the “Star's” dressing room. That's funny because the building is so old and worn that the old bathroom that serves as the “Star's” dressing room is pretty dingy, rusted and cracked, not to mention “buggy.” But that doesn't mean this building is unwanted. The Weogufka High School Alumni Association fought to save their alma mater by having these dinner concerts and raising money until they had enough to buy the building, sparing it from the scheduled demolition.

Phil and Debe came down for the concert also and sat at our table with us. Debe and I can relate to each other about several things, one of the main things being that we both lost our mothers within the last few years. We had a good time sharing stories and experiences.

After a restful night at the Holiday Inn Express in Sylacauga, we had to check out pretty early in order to make it to Harvest, Alabama to minister at Community Missionary Baptist Church with Pastor Brandon Dyar . This is a very young congregation and for as small as it is, there are a lot of children. The kids here love to sing and they have very purposely been included in the congregational worship.

We had a very sweet time of ministry as a couple of people came to the altar and got some much-needed freedom from some things that had been holding them back. We weren't aware of any salvations but after the service, a lady told me that her husband, who rarely comes to church came that day, who says he's a Christian but she says he's not, insisted his wife buy one of our CDs and although he seemed a bit shy, hung out a little while after church and visited with us. I've prayed for him several times since that Sunday and I believe we'll hear that he received Jesus as his Savior when we make our next visit.

We had a fun lunch with Pastor Brandon and Maria and their kids and Maria's sister and her family. Each family had 4 kids which made a "mess o' kids" but boy, were they all good while we sat there so long and visited.

After a short drive home we popped some popcorn and watched Extreme Makeovers Home Edition. OK, I confess, I was extremely excited about not singing Sunday night; getting into my sweats and enjoying family time at home for a big change. Sshh...don't tell Bobby.

Here We Go Again!

April 9-12, 2010

I'm always the last one out the door when we leave for a trip. I always stand still or wander slowly and try to make sure I've remembered to pack the little things like clothes to sing in...ha! Seriously, we've left our hang-up clothes before. More commonly, I forget things like Grace's sippy cup or extra diapers or wipes, which means I have to buy more on the road. Perhaps because we had been gone for 2 weeks and had been so far from home on the last trip, I began to feel weary of the traveling and had more of a longing to just stay home. As the rest of the family waited for me out in the van with the engine running, I stood in the girls' bedroom with tears in my eyes and said, “Well, Lord, here we go again. You know the only reason I'm doing this is to see people saved. When I see people walk the aisle and give their lives to You, THAT makes it worth it.” And we were off to West Virginia.

We arrived at Jackson's Mill, West Virginia University's 4-H campus just out of Weston around 8:00 that evening and our friends, Susan Patterson and two of her daughters, Taylor and Hope met us and helped us to our suite. Terry and Susan Patterson are the property managers and their 3 daughters have a very large “backyard” to leave no stone unturned in.

Our family LOVES this place! First of all, it's beautifully nestled in between the mountains with long stretches of wood fence along the road and horses grazing. Second, the suite we stay in is on the second floor of a building who's exterior architecture is fashioned after Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. The suite is enormous and very tastefully designed and decorated in a cottage feel with mission-styled furnishings. Landis and Hope love it that they each get their own twin bed in their own bedroom, but more than that, they love spending the day with Taylor and Hope. Because a cattle sale group and a Catholic group were already

being served, we were able to eat 3 hot meals with them that day in the cafeteria below. Taylor and Hope came by our suite first thing in the morning to pick up Landis and Hope and take them to breakfast and brought some breakfast back for Faith and I. Bobby slept until almost noon to prepare for an all-night drive the next night (can you see him in the bed below?) and I had some breakfast in the room for Grace. After breakfast, the children,

including Faith, took off for the majority of the day to look at calves, help Susan with gardening and yard work, walk the dogs, take a walk to the store, play in the girls' clubhouse and even make a “smell-good soup,” which I think must have been potpourri.

That evening, after getting everyone cleaned up we had dinner in the cafeteria and were joined by Pastor Jay and his beautiful wife, Beth. After dinner, it was a short walk to the building where we had the concert. We were having a great time until just as Bobby was finishing a song, 2 men walked in a side door and stepped right in front of the stage, one of them demanding to know whose van was parked in the drive outside. We were totally floored but Bobby spoke very calmly and

said that just happened to be his van. The man speaking insisted that our van be moved immediately so he could park his car in his driveway. I stood and ushered the man back out the door, Pastor Jay following close behind. We assured him we would move the van so he could get to his driveway and invited him back in to enjoy the music. He asked what kind of music we were listening to and after we told him it was Gospel music, he soberly said that he could probably use a good dose of that right now. However, after he got into his car we didn't see him again. It's sad how alcohol will cause people to behave. It took us back by the way he came in, interrupted the service by positioning himself front and center and shouting demands. Unbeknownst to him, Susan, the property manager...his SUPERIOR, was sitting in the room. I wonder what happened to him on Monday?

Terry Patterson, his oldest daughter and Jay and Beth's daughter returned from a horse show in Ohio by the time the concert was over and after more hugs, picture taking and loading the trailer, we were off to Fredericksburg, Virginia for a Sunday morning service.

The kids and I were to sleep in the van while Bobby drove. He would check in to our reserved room in Fredericksburg between 2:00 and 3:00, leaving me a note as to what room he'd be in so that when my alarm went off at 6:00 I could find our room and shower. Everything went as planned except that I didn't sleep much while he was driving - way too many hills and curves on Interstate 68. I was constantly fighting the feeling that I was about to roll out of bed.

This was a second visit to Cornerstone Baptist Church where we got to see Pastor Todd Pyle and his sweet wife, again. They have two Sunday morning services, and Bobby shared the stage with a guest speaker. Needless to say we were a bit weary by the end of the second service but there is no rest for the weary Bowens until Sunday night. We had to decline lunch with the Pastor again and go west about 3 and half hours to Vesuvius where we were so excited to see Mr. Jim Hall and his wife, Shelvia again. Jim became a great friend last May when we had the troubles with the motor home and he made himself as well as his son, Rick's van available to us for sightseeing while we waited for motor home repairs. Of course Rick, his wife, Lori, and daughter, Gracia came also and Lori and I made some big plans to have a girl's day out the next time we're in the area. Mrs. Shelvia even offered to keep the children! That's an offer I can not refuse!

A very, very special treat for me that evening at Oronoco Church of the Brethren was to see my cousin, Matt Schwartz, who I hadn't seen in over

8 years. I was very privileged to meet his wife, Mindy and beautiful daughter, Katie Grace for the very first time. Matt left the family in Michigan to attend Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, Virginia and is now serving as an associate pastor locally. It was so good to see Matt and meet his young family that I'd been hearing great things about.

"Rubber Duckie" was waiting for us in our hotel that night. I've seen folded toilet paper, washcloths folded like animals and mints on the pillow but I've never been so blessed as to receive a complimentary rubber duck.

On Monday morning after rising late from a restful night in Lexington, Virginia, we found the home of Stonewall Jackson. I admit, I thought the only “Stonewall Jackson” was the senior Grand Ole Opry singer. Isn't that sad? Next to Robert E. Lee, he was the most revered of all Confederate commanders in the Civil War. He was an orphan and was raised by an aunt with a verbally abusive husband in Weston, West Virginia, which was still part of Virginia back then. Of course this is where we had stayed on Friday night and Saturday – Jackson's Mill, named after Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson. The home in Lexington, which is now a museum, was the only home he ever owned. He found God at some point and was very religious with his Bible reading and early morning prayer walks. His life ended too soon as he was shot by friendly fire and developed pneumonia, dying 8 days later.

A late lunch in Roanoke followed by evening school in the van and we were home late Monday night, the 12^th.

Texas Tour, Part 3

April 3-5, 2010

While Grace and I laid around in the hotel room on that beautiful Saturday before Easter, Bobby and the rest of the kids met Pastor Ron Kelley from Horizon City Assembly of God at the park near their church for their second annual Easter egg hunt, an event organized to reach out to the city. Bobby sang about 15 minutes and Pastor Ron gave a short message. Our children received tickets along with all of the other kids to be eligible to receive prizes throughout the morning. They had given away everything but the last prize which was a boy's Huffy bike. Landis hadn't been paying attention to the numbers being called but Bobby reminded him to look at his ticket just as they called out his number for that bike! He was riding that bike through the park the rest of the morning shouting, “Thank you, Jesus!!”

Resurrection Sunday morning I awoke feeling great. I had watched our church services back in Nashville by streaming video the night before and was so excited about what God did through the music and drama departments as they portrayed so well the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I laid down to sleep at 9:40 and fell asleep immediately. I awoke at 6:00 and realized I had slept the entire night through. Grace didn't wake me, the people that had been above us a couple of nights and never slept were gone. Nothing had disturbed my sleep in those eight and a half hours and I felt so good.

We joined our friends at Horizon City Assembly of God and had an absolutely GREAT service. Pastor Ron was fired up. He and Lori had been hosting a prophetess from Sydney, Australia in their home the previous 2 weeks and after some spiritually rousing fellowship with her, a new passion for God was kindled in their hearts. Bobby sang for 30 minutes and Pastor Ron preached a convicting sermon about not playing church any longer and walking closer to God. He wept as he said he wanted to see healings and miracles much more frequently. Most of the congregation gathered at the altar that morning. We prayed for Grace and a young man with Multiple Sclerosis followed by a sweet time of worship.

After church we went to Pastor Ron and Lori's home to have lunch with their family. Lori and her daughter even organized an egg hunt for the kids after lunch. We love these folks and we believe we'll hear of great things happening in this church.

Sunday evening we made a return visit to First Assembly of God on Montana Avenue with Pastor Phil Sanders. This is where we met Mr. and Mrs. Robert

Rodriguez, the couple that spoke Spanish to Grace to cheer her up. She had thrown a fit in the fellowship hall (for a reason I can't remember) and cleared the room. Mr. Robert and Mrs. Yolanda were brave enough to come back into the room and I asked him to speak Spanish to Grace, knowing she'd forget about herself. There's something about the sound that makes her giggle. That was last November. This time Mr. Robert blessed another one of our children. With Bobby standing next to him he presented Landis with an

electric guitar and small amplifier! Landis' eyes were as big as quarters when he saw it. He'd been asking his dad for an electric guitar for a couple of months. Mr. Robert said the Lord led him to do this one other time for a boy of about 13. He said that today that boy is grown and serving the Lord by playing in a Christian band.

The following morning we took our time checking out. I'd rather the kids would just get their schoolwork done in the hotel room rather than in the van, although it doesn't usually work that way. Pastor Ron came to the hotel to pray with us and see us off so we enjoyed just a little bit more fellowship and building of our friendship as we sat in the hotel lobby talking and praying together.

As we drove east on I-10 we looked over to the right at Mexico. This time we didn't take an exit toward the border in order to take a picture at the fence like we did in November. The last time we did that we heard gunshots to our left as well as to our right. This time the latest word in the evening news was that footprints were found on a ranch near Fort Hancock, Texas, which is on I-10 just east of El Paso.

Our ride home was long but easy and at one point I talked to Landis about how God had blessed him the previous weekend. I asked him if he knew what Matthew 6:33 said and then I told him that when you make God's desires your desires, He'll see to it that all the other things you need in your life are taken care of. I reminded him that when he fasted back in January, he showed God how much he wanted to see people saved at our concerts by setting aside his own wants and needs. A brand new bike and an electric guitar were not things he needed but they were things he desired and longed for. I was thrilled that he could see the Word of God come to life and overjoyed that he could experience the overwhelming goodness of God, not in a shower of blessings, but in a downpour.

Texas Tour, Part 2 "Sunday's Comin'!"

March 29-April 3, 2010

After a load of laundry, some exercise and some personal time with God, I fixed some instant oatmeal in the room for the kids. There is no complimentary breakfast at the Holiday Inn, however, I took the liberty to pick up an omelet for myself at the restaurant when I was off doing my laundry. We had 3 days ahead of us to enjoy and take our sweet old time driving across Texas. If you've ever driven all the way across Texas you know you can fill up 3 days pretty easily with leisure driving.

It wasn't until Monday afternoon that it dawned on us that we could take the kids to see the Alamo in San Antonio. We went to the website and saw that it closed at 5:30 and our ETA was 5:00. Not ideal but sufficient. While Bobby put the pedal to the metal, the kids and I took a crash course in history concerning the Alamo. As quickly as we could upon arrival, we walked through the grounds but took a little more time inside the mission. I got a lot more out of this visit than I did 20 years ago when I stopped with a girlfriend on our way to a wedding in Marble Falls.

Of course when the Alamo closed at 5:30, the obvious thing to do was to cross the street and show the kids the River Walk. We walked up and down the river for a while and then decided we really wanted to do the boat tour. Bobby was reluctant at first saying that he didn't want to use the kids' money that they've been saving to make a recording. However, I reminded him that the money the kids have been saving for the last year was originally intended to be used for sight-seeing, entrance fees, and educational entertainment. So he gave in and we went on a riverboat tour.

We were listening to our guide and enjoying the relaxing ride when we rounded a corner to the right and I noticed a family of 4 also rounding the same corner on the adjacent sidewalk. The next several thoughts all happened in a matter of about 5 seconds: “That lady reminds me of Rachelle Simonds” (A fellow 1986 graduate from Burr Oak High School.) “Of course that's not Rachelle, she lives in Michigan. How coincidental, she's got 2 girls about the same age as those 2 girls. Wait a minute! Surely it can't be her! Let me take a look at the her husband and see if he looks like Jim...I am FREAKING OUT...it's Jim and Rachelle!!!” I hollered from the boat, “RACHELLE!” She was surprised to hear her name called in a place so far from home and began to look around when she saw a crazy woman waving her arms from a boat in the river a few yards away. When she realized who I was, her mouth dropped open and she began to laugh so we had a minute where we just looked at each other from a distance and laughed. I

wanted to yell out more questions but was afraid I'd be chastened by our boat captain. What a shock to be in San Antonio, Texas and see a friend that I hadn't seen in nearly 25 years all the way from Michigan...not to mention the fact that the 1986 graduating class consisted of only 23 students! I managed to think of snapping a picture but was so concerned about causing a problem with our boat captain, I hurried too much and the pic is blurry.

After a very enjoyable tour of San Antonio we drove on to Boerne and spent the night. Dinner was provided by The Anchor Fellowship in Houston because they gave us leftover barbecue from Sunday's lunch. Needless to say we ate barbecue for the next 2 days. We stopped at a rest area on Tuesday afternoon to eat barbecue and let the kids run around a while and made it to Fort Stockton to sleep that night. At 2:00 AM I awoke to hear Bobby in the bathroom ...sick. I heard him again at 6:00 and decided that I would insist on driving into El Paso the following day so that Bobby could rest and hopefully be able to sing that night.

I insisted alright, but it didn't make a difference. Bobby does not give up the steering wheel easily. It's a wonder he lets me drive in the early morning hours on those all-night drives while he sleeps. He drove, pumped gas, and carried on the usual conversation all while running a low-grade fever in the middle of the day. Other than moving a little slowly, you couldn't tell he was sick.

We finally made it to El Paso Wednesday afternoon and got settled in our hotel. And when I say settled, I mean we settled in...to stay 5 days. There was a problem with parking at the hotel the hosting pastors had reserved for us, so we paid for our own room at another hotel hoping the pastors could get refunded and help us out with the new room, which was actually a better price and a bigger room. There were no double queens available so they let us upgrade to a suite for the same price.

Our Wednesday night service was at Sun City Christian Center where Pastor Hector Saucedo leads his flock of expressive worshipers. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet Brother Hector because he was on a mission trip in Mexico. We did, however, meet his beautiful wife, Bertha who had the sweetest spirit. Another delight for us was to be greeted by our friend, Pastor Ron Kelley from Horizon City Assembly of God. Pastor Ron helped us get the booking at Sun City and he knew Pastor Hector would be away so he stepped in to greet us and fill Pastor Hector's shoes.

Bobby sang as lovely as ever and no one knew he'd been sick the previous night. But just before I stood to give my testimony, Hope told me her tummy hurt. I knew what that meant and told her to go sit in the back of the room and stay near the ladies room. I forgot about her as I spoke and sang a song with Bobby but as soon as we were dismissed, someone came and told me Hope had become sick and didn't make it to the restroom. I don't want to make the reader sick by describing what I cleaned up and how much of it but suffice it to say I spent nearly 30 minutes cleaning from the floor in the foyer to the wall, to the bathroom door, to the sink, wall and mirror in the ladies room, most of the floor in the ladies room and the outside of the commode that Hope completely missed. She had to hold the trash can close to her on the drive back to the hotel and she made it to her bed on the sofa. She was much better the following morning with only a little weakness.

It's not pleasant dealing with sickness but if you want to count blessings, I'm thankful that still, no one has missed a concert because of sickness. God is faithful. As we stepped onto the elevator to go to our room on the third floor, a man who had 6 children of his own told us we very likely caught something in the dusty wind that blows in from the south. I asked if that was how it works and he replied, “Oh, you'd be surprised what blows in.”

That dusty wind became ferocious on Thursday. I've never been in a sandstorm but Thursday's dust storm in El Paso was as close as I care to get. We decided it would be best to just stay in the room for the day since Hope needed the rest anyway and we didn't know what it might do to Landis who has occasional asthma attacks. It's funny how I can be away from home yet spend an entire day doing...stuff. There was laundry, school with the children and tidying up and it wasn't until late afternoon that I finally got on my computer to look at my email and facebook. I saw a post from my brother-in-law in China saying that my sister's water had broken, their neighbor

was calling a cab and they were on their way to

Hong Kong to have a baby. His post already

had several comments and just as I complained, “I feel like I'm the last in the world to know about this,” my cell phone rang. It was Timothy saying that they were in a private room and Kristy was resting comfortably.

For some unexplained reason, Skype wasn't working properly so we didn't get to witness Ethan's birth but we rejoiced with Timothy and Kristy as they welcomed their fourth son, Ethan Malachi Hall on a very good, Good Friday, 2010 in China.

Since the wind died down and the air cleared enough that you could see the mountains across town we decided to venture out to Wal Mart that evening as we needed a few grocery items. But the following day, we hit the stores hard as we shopped for those final last minute items for Easter. Of course all of El Paso shopped with us as it was Good Friday and when we finally stopped to eat our dinner at Peter Piper's Pizza, it felt good to sit. In all of our searching we never did find the sneakers I had pictured for Grace. She wears braces under her shoes so I can't just put summer sandals on her. I came up with the idea that shiny silver sneakers would work great for her black, white or navy pants that she'll be wearing this summer but do you think I could find shiny silver sneakers? I don't think Grace minded wearing her black boots with her black slacks that she wore all last winter. At least she didn't complain.

I awoke in the very early morning hours to the sound of Grace trying to be sick. I jumped out of bed to grab the trash can. I can't begin to explain the challenges that go along with Grace being sick to her stomach. Grace writhes and lurches and has a lot of strength in her skinny legs so I'm trying to hold her still so as not to miss the can. She doesn't hold her head so I have to hold her head up high enough that she doesn't puke into her belly button. Her arms flail around violently and she actually knocks the trash can over. I just don't have enough hands to hold, support, restrain and catch. We went through this exerting exercise several times and she only succeeded in getting a little relief. When I went back to the bed the last time I realized I had that recently familiar knot in the top of my stomach. What in the world!! I had just gone through this 2 weeks earlier. I feel like I'm confessing sins when I say I laid down to this sickness a second time in 2 weeks. Grace and I were a pathetic pair as we lay in the hotel room the following day.

Thankfully, this bug has a very short life. I might have been sick on Saturday but I knew Sunday was comin'.