Looks like I’ve been away from the blog for a month. I’m surprised. I could have sworn I’d posted many times. I guess I just thought about it but never actually did it. There’s probably a sermon in that thought if you think about it. I’ll let you come up with it.
So, in case you’re wondering. We’re not in Dallas any more. After leaving there around June 2 (as I faintly recall now), we stayed a night in Baton Rouge with our relatively new friends (Pastor Steve and Liz Foster) who came and shared in our annual family conference down in Mexico last fall. We moved on and covered ground all the way to Tallahassee and then continued on to Avon Park, FL to visit my mother and sister (and her husband) and also a couple of nieces. Then we headed up to Eustis, FL to visit my other sister and her family before heading to Edgewater, FL to visit a day with Beth’s cousin and his wife. From there we hit the road to Lawrenceville, GA to spend a couple of nights with another of Beth’s cousins and also to meet the parents and sisters of her cousin’s wife.
Leaving Georgia, we made our way to Dayton, TN and we met with more people than I care to try to name here. We shared a ministry update at Westminster Presbyterian Church and were pleased to see so many of our long-time friends there as Dayton was once a place we called home for a number of years. As you probably know or surmised, we even named one of our kids after this town where we met.
However one person stands out as especially worth mentioning. Beth’s cousin Mary who has been battling cancer was still hanging in there despite the fact that her battle was clearly over. What a blessing for Beth to be able to see her and to see Mary light up and say something we couldn’t make out. Her husband, Daniel, said she was probably remembering Beth from some context when they were kids. A good memory, no doubt. The cancer which was throughout her body and was affecting her brain and her ability to think in any particular time and place through her bank of memories. Wednesday morning, June 21, surrounded by her husband and 5 kids, Mary breathed her last breath on this earth and breathed her next breath in the presence of her Lord Jesus. What a relief for her to be released from her difficult journey. We sorrow with her family who miss her loving presence. They are hanging onto the loving presence of the Lord they cannot see knowing Mary, wife and mother, is there with him.
We departed TN and passed through KY to spend a night with one of my best and oldest friends, Tim Combs in Xenia, OH. I hope we’ll get to spend another night with him and his family in August on our way back to Dallas and Mexico.
Our visit with the Combs was much too brief but with Sunday coming, we passed through Ostrander, OH and enjoyed lunch with a good friend before winding up in Mansfield, OH where we’ve been this week. We shared an update at Mohicanville Community Church.
We’ve been visiting with members of Little Flock Fellowship Church all week. On Wednesday we spent the afternoon preparing a large Mexican meal for nearly 30 people and then shared with the youth, most of whom are heading to the mountains of Kentucky for a mission trip in just a couple weeks. I will be sharing in both a combined SS and giving the message in the main service this at this church on the coming Sunday.
So, there you have it. That’s where we’ve been, where we are, and only scratching the surface of all that we’ve done. I think we’ve somehow managed to keep our weight at about the same as when we left Dallas. Not sure we’ll manage to lose any while traveling, but maintaining is acceptable…and the waistline of my pants so it is a bit more important than merely acceptable!
Here are a few pics from our pozole meal this past evening.
Dayton’s new t-shirt is another hum-dinger. If you can’t read it all, it says: “National Sarcastic Society: Like we need your support.” That about sums it up for him!
Knowing Your ABCDs 