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July 25, 2010

We were happy to go to Cornerstone on Saturday night, the 24^th and then got up early enough to drive to Evansville, Indiana to Assembly of Faith for our third visit there.

We have really grown to appreciate, admire and love this pastor and the congregation. They hadn't grown much since the last time we were there but there is still a passion in the spirit of the people. “Whoopi” as everyone calls her was just as animated and friendly as ever and Mrs. Winnie Hope was there to love and honor. When I asked her how she was doing she smiled and said she was OK but getting older. I hope for my own sake I'll see her there the next time I go but for her sake and heavens, I hope her home going is soon. She's such a sweet heart.

Pastor Brenda still leads her flock with wisdom and fervency and I have gained more and more respect for her each time I visit with her.

We grabbed a fast food lunch and headed home just in time to change our clothes and freshen up and then drive the long 3 miles to Bethel Baptist Church just down the road from us.

We have a lot of history with Bethel as Landis, Hope and Faith have all attended Mother's Day Out here and I even taught a Mother's Day Out class one year. All of the children have attended VBS here. Bethel does a great job with VBS. Our own church, Cornerstone, leads in every area of ministry in my own biased opinion, however, Bethel has it “goin' on” when it comes to VBS and I have to say, they have it goin on a little better than our own church did in June. In all fairness, Cornerstone has not had VBS in the last several years so I think this was a trial run and learning experience for them this summer.

Brother Mike Corbin has been the worship pastor at Bethel for many years and actually for the past 2 years he and Bobby have been trying to coordinate some dates. Finally, we got it worked out to come on the 25^th of July and Brother Mike combined it with an ice cream social! How yummy!

Bobby let several of our friends know on Facebook that we would be singing locally and many came. I tried to get as many pictures of current and old friends as I could.

Grace enjoyed the attention from 2 dear friends, Mr. Pat and Mrs. Mary Jones, her former Special Ed. teacher from Watauga. They shared the task of feeding Grace her ice cream, which is her favorite vegetable.

We had a good service and a great time with the folks at Bethel as well our friends that came out to support us. We appreciated their presence so much!

Another thing we appreciated was the fact that we were able to minister that evening, and then only drive 3 miles and sleep in our own beds. Oooh, that was nice!

Pickin' In The Panhandle

July 16-19, 2010

Last spring when we learned that our calendar was open enough for Landis and Hope to attend Kid's Camp with our church, I talked it over with Bobby and then gave him the dates saying, “Just remember not to book anything too far away.” The children had to be at the church around 11:00 AM on Monday, the 19^th and if we had too far to travel after a Sunday night concert, we wouldn't be able to get the kids to the church on time.

The next thing I know we're booked in western Oklahoma! At first I thought we'd have to drive all night long to get the kids home but even that wasn't going to give us enough time. So Bobby said the only thing we could do would be to leave Landis and Hope with someone like Pat and Mary Johnson for the weekend while he and I and Grace and Faith made the trip.

Oh, the packing and preparing to be done. I tried my best to make it simple for everyone, including Pat and Mary. I packed a bag for Landis and Hope together for the weekend at the Johnsons as well as packing separate bags for Landis and Hope for the week at camp. There was nothing, not even toothbrushes, that had to be moved from bag to bag. The weekend luggage was totally separate from the camp luggage.

Friday evening with the rain pouring down we drove to Bellevue to leave two of our babies while we headed west. It was a big deal for me but I didn't cry.

The girls and I settled down to sleep in west Tennessee and Bobby drove until about 3:00. That was a little earlier than usual but he figured we got an earlier start than we usually do so he figured he ought to quit a little earlier. I started driving just before Little Rock and found out later Bobby was sleeping very little back there. I drove as far as Shawnee, Oklahoma and then Bobby drove some more until we stopped in Elk City to have breakfast.

We arrived at the Best Western in Guymon in plenty of time to shower and refresh ourselves and then drive another 80 miles to Felt where we were happy to see again, Orden and Gayla Hartley and their youngins, Sherry and Orden J.T. I think Sherry was a little disappointed that Hope wasn't with us but Faith and Orden J.T. remembered each other and seemed to pick up where they left off as kids can so well do.

Pastor Orden grilled hot dogs and the ladies brought all the stuff that goes around that, including dessert. In spite of the fact that the meal and concert were outside in the church yard where the thermometer read 98 degrees, it felt better than the weekend before in Mississippi where it wasn't quite as hot. The low humidity out west is a wonderful invention.

Bobby sang to us while we ate our hot dogs and then it was Faith's turn to sing. We'd been preparing her weeks in advance telling her that Landis and Hope would not be with us and that the children's part of the program was all on her shoulders. Every time we told her this she insisted that she would NOT sing a solo, so one night at bedtime I asked her why. She said she didn't want everyone looking at her, so, remembering an episode of the Brady Bunch, I told her that when she sang she should just imagine everyone in their underwear. This cracked her up so hard that she was shaking with laughter.

Then on Thursday, the 15^th, the day before we left for the Oklahoma trip, we sang at a nursing home in Goodlettsville and we coaxed her into singing her solo while sitting on Mama's lap. She did it! And we were hopeful that this one time would build some confidence in her and encourage her for the coming weekend. It did, and when Bobby called her up to sing at the Felt concert, she sang her song beautifully. By the way, the song has a LOT of words, is entitled “My Day” (a Veggie Tales song) and is recorded on the kids new CD. When Bobby started introducing her and her song, he usually says, “This song has a lot of words.” And Faith will inevitably interrupt him and say, “No...it just has two words.” She's referring to the title.

We had the 80 mile drive back to Guymon that night and then drove back west again the following morning but only about half that distance to Keyes. We met a very young Pastor Nichols and his beautiful family. We were shown to our Sunday School classes and then had a good church service. Before the service we were introduced to Leland and Loretta Arthaud who said they would take us to Guymon for lunch since there were no restaurants any closer. I felt kinda bad for them to go that far but Loretta insisted that they were used to that.

However, immediately after church Loretta approached me and asked me if we liked spaghetti. She said she'd thought about it during church and decided that it would be more pleasant for all of us if we just came to their home for lunch and she figured she could find something to prepare quickly. She went on home ahead of Leland who was brought home by his son and family who lived next door.

We were led down straight dirt roads to a lovely but humble farm house and were made to feel right at home. The Arthaud home reminded so much of the farm houses of relatives in Indiana and Michigan where I grew up. All that was missing was the sound of the FM radio over in the corner hissing and blurting out gossip and information. After lunch Grace and I lay upstairs, she surrounded by toys and me on a sofa and Leland and Bobby lay in recliners down in the living room. Loretta and Faith made play dough, colored red and had a good time together in the kitchen. We snoozed about an hour, and waking, realized we'd better hurry to Balko or we'd be late for the evening service. How pleasant it was there in that quiet and comfortable house under large shade trees. We thanked Leland and Loretta for the yummy lunch and the moments of rest and then it was off again to sing and minister in another church.

Balko Baptist Church was where we met Mr. Dale Naylor in March over a year ago. Dale was the gentleman, who, after visiting with Grace and I, told his pastor that he wanted to offer us his aged parents' motor home. We were delighted and grateful and enjoyed having a motor home for a few weeks but it became a problem for us as it began breaking down and costing us more money to maintain than we could afford. Through that experience though, we have enjoyed getting to know Dale and Jackie. This time we had the great privilege of meeting Dale's parents Dick and Opal and his sister, Bertha.

Before the service, we were reacquainted with the Blosser Family. Their son, Tanner, has a big heart for children with special needs and couldn't wait that evening for Grace to come out of the bathroom where I was combing her hair and washing her face. Had I known he was out there I would have hurried a little more. When I finished getting ready for church and joined the others on the front pew, there was Tanner sitting in my spot next to Grace at the end of the pew! He offered to move but I insisted he stay right where he was. He sat there in the front with our family for the entire service and was such a sweetie to Grace, who enjoyed the attention.

After the service, we followed the Naylor's to their home just a few yards shy of the Texas line to enjoy a meal with them. We figured we'd have some sandwiches and tea but Jackie had prepared fried chicken, mashed potatoes and everything that goes with it. All this at 9:00 at night! We were surprised to say the least but loved it and ate our fill. We had a great time visiting with the Naylor family around their dining room table in their lovely ranch home.

Following dinner and lots of conversation, I had the opportunity of looking at some pictures of Dale's brother, Darrell, when Darrell was in the service in Vietnam. It was in battle that Darrell sustained injuries that left him unable to walk, talk or care for himself in any way. He could not even turn himself in the bed and his parents cared for him for 36 years until he passed away over 4 years ago with congestive heart failure.

It was a privilege to finally fellowship with Mr. Dick and Mrs. Opal Naylor; to thank them face to face for their generosity toward us and to receive encouragement from them regarding caring for Gracie.

We followed sister, Bertha down some country roads into Perryton, Texas where Mr. Dale had purchased a room for us at a brand new Baymont Inn. We rested there and our family of four headed east toward Nashville the following morning. I had a bit of a lump in my throat when I got to speak to Landis and Hope for the last time until Friday evening, blessing them for a wonderful week at camp.

We arrived home at 3:00 AM - exactly 24 hours after Timothy, Kristy and family LEFT our home. They had spent the night at our house on Sunday night in order to be close to the motor home. They rose at 2:30, put the boys in the bus and headed out at 3:00 AM heading to North Carolina to see family. I thought I would not see them again until next summer, but I've been wrong before...

A Mess In Mississippi

July 10 & 11, 2010

My youngest sister, Kristy, her husband, Timothy Hall and their 4 sons, Clay, Thaddeus, Christopher and Ethan live in China and came to the States for their annual visit at the end of June. They arrived in Detroit and my dad picked them up and took them to his house. The Halls stayed in Michigan for 1 week and then drove Dad's Winnebago to Nashville for a two-week stay. They parked the motor home at our house and stayed at my sister, Mary Kelso's home in Mt. Juliet. Dad actually followed them down and stayed at our house. I had a big meal prepared for all of us when they arrived and we enjoyed getting to meet little Ethan, 3 months, for the first time.

The Halls and my dad arrived in Nashville on July 6^th and a couple of days later Bobby asked Dad if the Bowens could borrow the motor home for our trip to Mississippi the coming weekend. I resisted and wondered why Bobby would even want to mess with it. The problems with our motor home from a little over a year ago were still pretty fresh in my mind and I figured it would be the same way for him. Dad said he didn't mind at all if we took the motor home but it took us a couple of days to work it out. Bobby told me that the Saturday night concert was outdoors and considering the heat and humidity he thought we might really be thankful for the air conditioned motor home. I figured he was probably right and we drove the motor home.

We hadn't even gone completely out of town when Faith said, “We forgot our pajamas.” I thought she was funny and assured her that we had our, “pajamas in the... Bobby we don't have the suitcase!!!” It was still sitting on the table in my bedroom, unzipped. I guess just changing to a different vehicle and making sure we had the things we needed messed me up. I am still amazed that Faith, who's 4, would have noticed such a thing. At first we were trying to think of ways to get that suitcase but Bobby insisted we'd be fine. He said we could stop and buy a few things that we needed. “A few things that we needed?” My mind began scrambling over how we could made do with what we had. At least we had clothes to sing in. I could wash underwear out in the sink if I had to. I've done that before.

When we got to Jackson, Tennessee Bobby pulled over at a Family Dollar! Yuck! I went in and bought a package of small boys white t-shirts and a package of girls underwear. I didn't want to buy more than one package because the girls had more underwear at home than they need anyway. I knew that what I bought were going to be too big for Faith's itty bitty butt but knew that I had to buy them big enough for Hope to fit into. I got myself a package of underwear and decided I could make do with that. Thankfully, Landis' clothes were packed in Bobby's bag.

Our concert was at Union Grove Family Worship Center near Mooreville, Mississippi and outside as I said. The girls and I waited in the motor home as long as we possibly could before we got up the nerve to go out in the humidity. We enjoyed some hot dogs before the concert and the kids were having a great time playing in the inflatables and other games. Bobby shared the stage with a family group from Alabama and our kids had their turn singing as well.

The church put us in the Wyndam but only one room so Bobby offered that he and Landis would sleep in the motor home and the girls and I could sleep in the room. That was especially nice because the girls were sleeping in their new t-shirts and undies instead of pajamas.

I hurried as quickly as I could getting those sweaty girls bathed and ready for bed and finally got to bed after 11:00. I was in a hurry to get to bed because the following morning we had to make the 2 ½ hour drive to Carthage to sing at Free Trade Church of God.

When I met Bobby in the lobby for breakfast the following morning at 6:00 he told me he had bad news. He said around 2:00 AM the air conditioner quit working in the motor home. It wasn't too uncomfortable in the middle of the night but he was concerned about the rest of the day Sunday and Monday's drive home.

We were fine driving to Carthage and before we arrived there, Bobby was on the phone with Pastor Mark telling him about our trouble and asking him if he had any good mechanics in his church. Sure enough, when we arrived there were a couple of men dressed in their work clothes ready to take a look and see how they could help.

We sang here back in the late winter and really enjoyed getting to know Pastor Mark Gill and his beautiful wife, Gayla and their girls, Katelyn and Chelsea. Pastor Mark was the one who got us turned on to listening to Keith Moore again and his sermon series called Receiving and Ministering Healing. Oh how I enjoyed listening to that in the early morning drives while Bobby took a break and slept in the back of the van with the kids. Pastor Mark has become a friend of Bobby's and will call him every so often just to see how he's doing. He's a great guy and we appreciate him and his family a lot.

Unfortunately, after church we were no better off but we thanked these men for their time and trouble and went to lunch with the Gill Family.

After lunch we headed over to Philadelphia to unload the van and check into the Marriott. We took Chelsea with us as the church where we were ministering that evening was her uncle's church in Sebastopol and Pastor Mark thought she might be helpful in finding the place.

When we walked into our beautiful room it was like Christmas as the children each had a colorful basket with toys and candy overflowing out of them. There were squeals of delight and exclamations of excitement as they tore into their individual baskets and began to play with their toys. Even Bobby and I had a basket. It's pictured below. Chelsea was so helpful as she began picking up trash that was strewn all around the room for us. What a cool kid to see what needed to be done and just dig in.

After arriving at Crossroads Church of God in Sebastopol, I found a wire cutter in Bobby's tool box and had to cut a 3-pronged fish hook out of Hope's prettiest singing dress that she'd worn that morning. I was so thankful I could get it out without hurting the dress. I promised my huntin'-lovin', fishin'-freak boy of mine that every single piece of fishing gear I find from that point on I'd throw in the trash. That was the third time I've found a fish hook where it shouldn't be. Twice I found fish hooks in the floor, the first time being in Grace's shirt while she lay on the floor! That scares me! Since that promise I've thrown probably a half dozen fishing items in the trash.

Shortly after we arrived at the church it began raining and I had to run out in it to close all of our open windows in the motor home. Unfortunately, the rain did not cool things off but only made things steamier outside. For some reason I totally forgot to take my groceries into the hotel room so when we got to the church I remembered them and had to put them in the church's refrigerator. We had great food after church in the fellowship hall, barely remembered to get our groceries, and then headed back to Philadelphia to our very nice room.

We got ready for bed as quickly as possible – and that's NOT quickly when you consider changing Grace's diaper and clothes, making sure everyone's teeth are brushed, etc. But we wasted no time and got to sleep between 11 and midnight.

Bobby and I discussed it Sunday evening and I begged him to get up early on Monday and get a head start on the day because of the lack of air conditioning. My alarm went off at 5:30 and I began to dress and wake children up. We were on the road by 6:30 with the windows open and the wind blowing through the motor home wildly. I saw no point in fixing my hair so I just pulled it back in a ponytail. Why I didn't think of wearing a hat, I don't know. However, I did take the bow from the gift basket pictured above to hold my hair down for the day. Of course it was lovely. Ok, I only wore it for a moment because it was hideous on my head.

With the wind blowing through it was comfortable enough the entire trip. However, it was awful when we stopped to fuel up. We also had cloud cover the entire day until we drove into Nashville where the sun began to shine through the breaking clouds, and then I could really feel the difference in the temperature. But I was so glad to be home before it got too warm.

Cleaning up the motor home immediately after we parked in the driveway wasn't fun but we let the sweat run down our bodies and reminded ourselves it was good for us to sweat.

Of course it was good to be home again for a few more days with Timothy and Kristy and boys and then we were to leave for the panhandle of Oklahoma on Friday evening.

Happy 4th!!

July 3 & 4, 2010

On Saturday morning Bobby, the kids, his parents and I all headed back to Texarkana, just as we had planned and after dropping them off at their exit, we continued on to Waxahachie, Texas. It was pretty late when we arrived at the Knights Inn but they put us in a suite because the cable TV was out in the building we would have been placed in so we got to sleep very quickly; everyone on a bed...3 beds!

Ellis County Cowboy Church was not far away and we quickly got loaded in and set up. It seems the later the summer gets, the more often I put something on the kids (particularly Landis and Hope) and find that it's too short or tight. Landis had to make a last minute wardrobe change in the van after we arrived at the church because his shirt was too small. What are we feeding our children?!

This cowboy church is the biggest we've been to yet. Their auditorium seats between 1,100 and 1,200 and it was 75% full in both services. They have a pretty good sized campus with some good children's programs. During the second service Grace enjoyed watching a movie in the special needs room. That's not exactly what she needed but she enjoyed it.

During Bobby's first concert in January of 2008, he asked Landis if he'd like to come up and sing a song with him. Landis said absolutely not and for months that was his answer. Now, two and a half years later at one of the largest churches we've ministered in, he's begging Bobby to let him sing a solo off the kids' latest project. Of course Bobby let him and I was so proud of the kids for singing to a crowd as big as that one was just the same as if they were singing to a crowd of 40...something they've done many times.

Cowboy churches are different from all the other churches in that they have a lot of musical guests, some weekly, but they have a very short time of music and they always have a sermon. It's all fine and good...just different from other churches. But I suppose that whoever started cowboy church had “different” in mind when they started it.

We drove east of Dallas a ways before we stopped to grab lunch and after we got back on the road, I began reading where I'd left off somewhere in the middle of the book, “The Long Winter,” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read aloud for four hours straight. I started reading these books to Grace and Landis (actually, I read the entire series to Grace a few years ago) but Bobby found himself getting involved in the long and hungry winter the Ingalls Family suffered in 1880. I'd finish a chapter and ask Landis, “Shall I read another?” Before Landis could answer, Bobby would quickly say, “Yeah!” I finished the book at 7:00 pm.

Along the way east as it grew darker we could see fireworks for miles and miles until finally, it grew too late and people stopped celebrating so they could get some sleep. But not the Bowens. We couldn't rest until we got home around 3:00 am.

Probably Proctor and Absolutely Abilene

June 24-29, 2010

Another all-night drive. This time to Proctor, Texas. We settled in our room at the Best Western in Comanche and then, when it was time, we found Proctor Baptist Church in ...Proctor! Perhaps there was more to the town than we could see, but what we actually saw was a post office, the church, of course, several houses, cats, chickens and goats and a drive-through liquor store. I'd never seen a drive “through” so I had to get a picture.

We liked Pastor Robert Whitefield and his son, Bobby, immediately and later I thought that if we were going to serve in one spot for 3 days, alongside Pastor Robert was a great place to be. This is a genuine Christian with an obvious call of God on his life and a burden to reach the lost. I sensed a sincerity in this man but the biggest thing that impressed me was how his teenage children responded to him. His children plainly respected him but didn't fear him. They were not typical teenagers with careless attitudes but could easily become a part of meaningful adult conversation, including conversation with their parents. I was impressed with this and decided this is what spoke the loudest of Pastor Robert Whitefield's walk with the Lord.

We were not the only guests at Proctor Baptist Church. A gentleman by the name of Dallas Houston preached for the 3 services, while Bobby and the kids sang about 30 minutes at the beginning of each service, Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday morning. The sanctuary was full each time and each time we had food and fellowship following the service. It just goes to show, people always show up when there's food involved.

Brother Dallas had quite a testimony. He is well-known regionally as he has been a radio DJ for many years and is THE voice of the local football teams as he announces the games on Friday nights on the radio. He also used to serve as pastor in Proctor and now leads a congregation in Center City, Texas.

By the end of the third service, 3 young boys had given their lives to the Lord. Pastor Robert said they already had 8 waiting to be baptized as soon as possible and now he thought he might need help baptizing 11. They didn't have a baptistry so they were lining the saints up and getting ready to put a date on the calendar to meet at the river.

After a big catered lunch on Sunday, we took our time leaving, spending just a few more minutes with the Whitefield family and a few others that had become so special to us. Mrs. Joy Green (a.k.a. “Ganny”) finally said, “Well, I don't have any reason to be staying here but only to wait to leave until you folks leave.” She fussed over all of the kids and kissed Grace several times. As I hugged her goodbye I told her that if I didn't see her on this earth again, I'd be looking forward to seeing her in heaven. What a sweetie she was!

We did finally get on the road and headed to Abilene where we ministered at Berry Lane Baptist Church. Clay Jacobs was our contact. Bobby had contacted the pastor, who then asked his best friend, Clay if he'd ever heard of Bobby Bowen. Clay had good things to say about Bobby so Pastor Billy Bardin took his friend's word and scheduled Bobby to come sing. Clay met us at the church, let us in and helped us get loaded in. We had a great time meeting Clay's wife, Rachel, Pastor Billy, his wife, Robbie, and a woman that introduced herself as someone who grew up near Sturgis, Michigan and was delivered in the same hospital I was delivered in. Small world. Hope and Faith were supposed to "point" at "side 1" and lead in some clapping, but Faith can't help herself; the girl LOVES to dance. I just wish she weren't so shy. (ha!) The next photo is Bobby with brother Clay Jacobs.

Bobby with Pastor Billy Bardin


A tailgate party after church

It seemed like a long ride to Texarkana the following day. We arrived at Bob and Tena's around 7:00 and spent the night. We spent the next day with them because they had a Young At Heart fellowship at their church they didn't want to miss. Finally, on Wednesday morning, Bobby got behind the wheel of his parents car and I drove the van. Tena was with me and the girls while Bob and Landis rode with Bobby and we all went to Nashville.

We complain occasionally that Bob and Tena don't make enough of an effort to come visit us. We can't say too much about it because we come to see them so often. But Bobby had a great idea to drive his folks to our house so they could visit with us there. We took them to see the rodeo at our church on Thursday night, since they're big fans of the sport, and we could drive them back to Texarkana the following Saturday as we were to sing near Dallas on Sunday morning.

The construction of our sanctuary was completed in the fall of 2000 and Pastor Davis planned then to replace the carpet in 10 years. So for this 4th of July at Cornerstone he wanted to have an indoor rodeo! Bring in the dirt! Let the poop drop! No worries, they're ripping that stuff up and replacing it the week after the Fourth! The rodeo was a success over the course of the five services with over 200 people giving their hearts to the Lord including several of the bullriders!

My friend, Chele, her daughter, Mali and friends

Does this look like a church sanctuary?



Landis and Hope got to participate in the calf chase.

Another great lazer and pyro show!



My sister, Mary, told us about Thomas' Drugstore in Cross Plains where you could get old fashioned malts and ice cream sodas, so we made a drive up there on Friday.

Having Bob and Tena come to Tennessee with us was a plan that went very well. They enjoyed the bullriding very much, in spite of the fact that it wasn't PBR, which is what they're used to watching on television. I believe we had the best visit with his folks that we've ever had.