We left a little earlier for our annual trip to Texas and Oklahoma this year. For the first time ever, we traveled on Christmas Day and got to spend the day after with my whole family. Here we are at my dad’s house with sister Melissa and her three kids, sister Melinda – home from Abilene, and brother Stu – home from Palm Springs, CA! We had fun with these self-timed shots in my dad’s front yard. Notice the sandaled and bare feet…..we had ALL warm sunny days on this trip! So thankful…….

This was really NOT a vacation as we hit the preaching/fundraising/reporting circuit soon after. This year we added a couple of churches to the tour – Texas Oaks Baptist where our good friend James is now the pastor and Northridge Baptist – Robert’s sister’s church. We met James and his wife Cathy at Manchaca Baptist about 15 years ago. They helped out in the youth department and had me over for dinner every Monday night while Robert was in San Antonio for seminary. Their family has been such an example of faith and friendship to us. And yes, Robert got to drive James’s Cobra Mustang from the church to the Texican after the service – but I did beat them in the rented mini-van….just for the record. 🙂

The reason for our early arrival in Texas was what I’ve been calling “The Wedding of the Century.” My dear friend Miss Riggs was married to Jack on December 29th. (If you still don’t know who Miss Riggs and Jack are, you can get their history here and here.) So, directly after preaching in Austin, we headed south to San Antonio for the rehearsal and dinner. Our entire family had a part in the ceremony – Robert performing the ceremony, the kids were attendants, and I read a poem/hymn. (This has become my all-time-wedding-job…poetry reading!)

The wedding was just perfect and also a fun reunion with a few folks from my past. The happy couple honeymooned in Costa Rica, but made it a point to come and see us in San Marcos for dinner before we returned home to MA! We could not be happier for them and felt so privileged to be a part of their special day.

Next we headed west to Hondo for a few days at Robert’s parent’s home. We actually do get a little rest here….Robert’s mom made many wonderful meals and gluten free treats, and washed our clothes while Robert’s dad took the boys golfing two days in a row! They LOVED it. Not sure if it was the actual golfing or driving the carts, but they were highly entertained. The downside of this visit was that Kayla got a terrible stomach virus. I was up a whole night with her, and she was so weak by the morning that she couldn’t get herself out of bed to get to the bathroom. Poor thing – she slept almost the entire next day. Grammie and Paw Paw’s house would be the best place to be sick though – plenty of help and freedom to rest.

Next we drove for 12 hours to get from Hondo to Tulsa where many of our good friends from our UHBC days now live. Aaron and Shemaiah Murphy hosted what I think was our largest gathering yet of former students and their families – around 40 people total – and mostly children under the age of 7! Yikes! Miraculously, it went very smoothly and we all had a great time catching up on each other’s lives. This photo was taken at the end of the evening when just a few folks were left! Thank you, Murphys!

Early on a Sunday morning we headed to Stillwater where Robert would be preaching both morning services and then reporting on our church here in MA to the Sunday school classes. The Meffords surprised us by driving from Edmond for the service – we weren’t planning on seeing them until that evening at their house where we would be staying for the next two days. We all – all 12 of us – went to Mexico Joe’s for lunch. Kayla went home with them and got some “girl time,” the boys went to Sam Smith’s house for some “guy time,” and Robert and I hung out at Panera Bread having coffee with a few old friends from church there.

Being at the Mefford’s was definitely a highlight for us! The kids had so much fun with each other. Tamyra treated me with a morning together at the gym (ran 4 1/2 miles on the treadmill!), a visit to the spa (a pedicure AND a facial…heavenly!), Starbucks on the way home, and then dinner (Charlestons) and a movie (Marley and Me) with the husbands! We didn’t want to leave! We love and miss you lots Meffords! Thank you!

We had a VERY short, too short of a visit with the Graf family in Georgetown on our way back into Texas. Sherri was SO sweet to make me a special birthday dinner – a beautiful table setting and eveything! (Forgot to get a picture of that!) And on my actual birthday, (that I get to share with Elvis and Anne C. 🙂 ) Robert arranged for us to spend the night in a bed and breakfast in Wimberley, TX. We left early in the day, (my dad kept the kids) shopped in the quaint town, had an amazing lunch at the Leaning Pear, checked into our beautiful room, went to dinner, and then to a concert at Blue Rock – which is the home of Billy and Dodee Crockett. Does anyone remember Billy Crockett? He was a Christian musician/guitarist/recording artist back in the day. Robert and I used to go to his concerts when he appeared in the Austin area. Anyway, he and his wife now own a huge beautiful home in Wimberley that doubles as a state-of-the-art recording studio/concert venue. We saw an artist named Vance Gilbert that night along with my sister – it was her birthday gift to me. Vance is a truly amazing musician/vocalist – we were blown away!

So, those are the highlights – but there were some very low points as well. One of which was losing a dear friend of ours from Oklahoma. Her name is Marsha and she is the mom of another dear friend of mine from Stillwater, Deborah. We planned to visit Marsha and her husband in Edmond while we were at the Mefford’s. Marsha called the morning of to say that Gaylord had been in the ER all night after having been sick the day before. That was Monday the 5th. Tuesday evening (we were back in Texas by now) we got several urgent calls. One was from Tamrya to say that Brent had been called up to surgery from the ER (he’s an ER Dr.) to help prepare someone for surgery. When he entered the room, he saw Deborah and realized it was Marsha who he was to prepare for surgery – she had suffered a severe aneurysm. Brent reported that the prognosis was not too good and she died two days later on my birthday. We were shocked and greatly saddened over this sudden loss and we could only imagine the great loss Deborah and her family were experiencing. Marsha was a great and godly lady. Just last January she and Gaylord had us over for lunch – a wonderful baked potato bar. Then they took the time to ask us how we were doing, how the church was doing, and to pray for us and our family. She is the one who introduced me to the book The Shack which I read immediately after her recommendation and was deeply impacted. A few years back she emailed me when she knew Robert was out of town just to say she was praying for me knowing what it was like to be alone at home with small children. A wonderful woman with a heart for ministry and full of love and compassion for people. She will be missed, but she is finally with the love of her life – her Lord.

And there were other very low points – some of which I may post about here soon. Some are still in progress and are painful, but of course the Lord is accomplishing His purposes in me and pain is oftentimes a part of that. I am completely exhausted from the pace of the last few months and years. I have been prideful and driven and have not trusted the Lord in several areas. I am learning again and for the first time what it means to be a child and not a slave….

Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”