Our Mission

On Thursday evening we arrived in the Dallas - Fort Worth area where we had a couple of appointments that evening and Friday.

1. The first appointment was to meet friends for dinner at a local restaurant. Some of the expected participants were not able to participate. Some were "Providentially hindered" and one just stayed home. Since our friend secured the reservations he knew that his wife and children were hindered by strep throat (the Providentially hindered parties). What he didn't know was that The Bear had opted to stay home this trip. Everyone adapted, me as well, as I unexpectedly found myself sharing dinner with 3 Baptist preachers. Well, if nothing else I got a good steak dinner out of it. (I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I'm not a total ignoramus when it comes to theological discussions. Just a partial one!) :)
2. The second was to meet folks at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary who were to show Pastor Dad books to help him do research for a peer lecture that he is giving in August. The professor cancelled but the large campus library provided plenty of fodder. I served as research assistant on this project: securing promising tomes and perusing same for tidbits. And in the down-time I was able to do my own research via my laptop on a subject of more interest to me (Duh! Genealogy!) I do not consider time in a library to be boring.

As we walked around campus we encountered the following signs everywhere. I thought they aptly stated what our mission is on this trip. Although we've had some time of rest and research, the fact that by the time the 12 1/2 days of this trip have ended, Pastor Dad will have preached 6 sermons.

We're leaving now for our next destination. I would say that I'll post more later, but I'm not sure I'll have access to the Internet. The host pastor has a computer but I'm not sure if the guest apartment does. I made the comment that I'd need to find a McD or something and Pastor Dad commented that the town might not have one. So until further notice, this is me signing off!

Take Ten In '10, Week 17 Reading Schedule

Schedule for April 26th - May 2, 2010

Monday, April 26th

I Samuel 3-5

I Corinthians 9

Tuesday, April 27th

I Samuel 6-8

I Corinthians 10

Wednesday, April 28th

I Samuel 9, 10

I Corinthians 11

Thursday, April 29th

I Samuel 11-13

I Corinthians 12, 13

Friday, April 30th

I Samuel 14, 15

I Corinthians 14

Saturday, May 1st

I Samuel 16, 17

I Corinthians 15

Sunday, May 2nd

No reading scheduled today. Finish any that were missed.

Heading West

Pastor Dad and I left our friends, old and new, and headed for our next destination. We stopped along the way to visit another cemetery, this one a national one.

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. :)



How is it that I've never been here before? I thought we saw every Civil War battlefield on our vacations when I was young. Evidently, I was wrong because I've never visited Vicksburg. I think I would've remembered! Whoa!


After crossing The Big River we completely crossed the state of Louisiana and spent our first night in the state where even breakfast makes a statement:

Where We've Been

Pastor Dad and I left Sunday afternoon for our 2 week vacation road trip. Whenever we reach this intersection in Nashville our usual inclination is to travel to the left. This time we took the road less traveled, at least by us.

This is a business trip, in that Pastor Dad has two preaching appointments, hence the two week journey. But all good trips combine business with pleasure so since we had a few hours to kill before we had to be at our first destination, we stopped at a tourist trap.

No one here spoke English. Besides the fact that my southern dialect is a bit rusty, foreigners were everywhere. One lady who was standing in the yard really, really aggravated the staff who were shouting, "GET OFF THE GRASS!" Several of us snickered as we saw she was standing next to a sign reading "Stay off the grass." Once the lady made her way back to her party we realized she wasn't speaking anything near a local dialect, northern or southern. Okay, so she couldn't read the sign, and she obviously cared little about the tour guides who were on the verge of apoplexy. I have no clue as to what language she was speaking but I really hope to hear it again someday, but with me visiting her homeland instead of vice versa.

And for those of you who don't recognize where this was taken - I'm looking at my offspring now - just let me say that we once stayed at a motel about a block away from this place but didn't visit. We opted for the zoo and Mud Island instead.

For those who might still be clueless, let me remind you that Dad and I never, e-v-e-r travel without making our way into a graveyard. Okay, usually this is due to genealogical research, but not this time.

Voila!:

After our visit to Graceland, we made our way to a place where Pastor Dad and about 9 other preachers took 1.5 days to point the way to the real Land of Grace.

The meeting ended this evening so we leave here tomorrow for the next one. We're getting up early and pointing the car west. We'll keep you posted.

Take Ten In '10, Week 16 Reading Schedule

Schedule for April 19th - April 25th, 2010

Monday, April 19th

Judges 15-17

Romans 14

Tuesday, April 20th

Judges 18, 19

Romans 15, 16

Wednesday, April 21st

Judges 20, 21

I Corinthians 1, 2

Thursday, April 22nd

Ruth 1, 2

I Corinthians 3, 4

Friday, April 23rd

Ruth 3, 4

I Corinthians 5, 6

Saturday, April 24th

I Samuel 1, 2

I Corinthians 7, 8

Sunday, April 25th

No reading scheduled today. Finish any that were missed.

Humorous Double-takes

I know I should be typing in the Bible reading schedule for next week. I'll do it in a minute. I promise. But first, I want to make you smile at a couple of things that happened this week.

See this little guy? You want to know what he was doing while his Aunt Karen was recovering from her fainting spell?

The Bear and I managed to corral the children onto the train where we could at least keep everyone together while the medical folks helped Karen. (The train had the closest seats available or we would've laid her elsewhere and let the ride progress without us. I'm telling you this so you don't think we were insensitive to everyone else around us.)

The Bear had transferred Fen back to me. Fen immediately began holding out his arms to the person seated behind me in the hopes that he/she would rescue him. I wrestled with him without taking my eyes off of Karen any more than necessary until she had reassured everyone that she was feeling better. Then I turned to see who Fen was so desperate to reach. It was a mom nursing her infant. Evidently he hasn't forgotten his former source of nourishment and since his sippy cup was empty and Gram was ignoring his needs he felt he should obtain his refreshment elsewhere.


See this picture? I took it Tuesday at the conference. Notice anything funny about it? Yes, there seem to be several sets of twins in it. (Click on it to see a larger image.)

They asked all the pastors to make up an impromptu choir. My camera has a panorama setting and since I could not get everyone into the frame I used that setting. The only problem was that I failed to seam it correctly. So there are 7 or 8 more preachers there than what were really there. Oh, to have that problem in real life.

One of the "twins" is my own hubby, so I'll quit now before I launch into a preacher joke that I might regret. :)

Zoo Antics

Some of you probably heard rumors of what happened to Karen yesterday and some may still be wondering so I shall now try to tell the tale from my perspective. I hope it reminds you to pray for my daughter and unborn grandchild.

Like these flamingos, it was a day of family togetherness for Karen and her girls, little Fen, the Bear, and me. Our zoo membership expires soon and I wanted Tigger to have a chance to see the new manatee acquisitions. (It wasn't a good day for manatee pictures. The water was somewhat blurry.)

The napping polar bear will give you some clue as to just how unseasonably warm it was in Cincinnati yesterday. We all felt like this guy looked: hot and droopy. We envied him his pool.

The girls got to see a couple of animals up close and personal, including this young penguin. The only problem with being up close and personal with a bunch of animals is that they . . . well, they smell like a bunch of animals. It smelled like a zoo yesterday. Naturally.

As our day was winding down we made our way to the zoo train station where we parked the strollers and got in the long line. There was little to no shade there and we were a bit uncomfortable. Little Fen was getting restless because he'd been riding or being held for a few hours and he wanted to get down and play on the pavement. I wrestled him while we waited for the train to return, pleased that we would be in the next group to board. We were the second family in line.

As we heard the whistle blow that signaled its return, Karen turned to me and said, "I don't feel well. I'm going to buy a Sprite and sit down for awhile." I asked if she felt nauseous, had a headache, or what. After vague answers I asked if she felt faint to which she replied, "Yes."

I quickly thrust Fen into the Bear's arms as Karen stumbled. She didn't fall to the ground and she didn't sit down. She just sort of landed in my arms. My cry for help made the woman in front of me offer her services as a nurse. Karen hadn't totally lost consciousness because as the nurse asked questions she responded somewhat.

A zoo paramedic soon arrived with an ice pack to put on the back of her neck and some bottled water. Between the heat, animal smells, the exertion of pushing strollers up and down the hills, her pregnancy, the sinus trouble she's been fighting, and standing in line in the sun, I think her system had an overload.

And even though her visit at the zoo didn't end with quite as much exuberance as it began, I'm happy to say that once she got in the shade and had a large cup of ice-cold Sierra Mist she was back to being herself, even if she didn't visit any of the animal exhibits that were on our way to the exit. The Bear and I made sure the girls got to see everything though. They were already worried about their mommy and taking them to see the animals seemed the best way to act naturally and calm their fears.

She's a bit embarrassed by the whole episode but I told Karen she wasn't the first - and she certainly won't be the last - person to faint at the zoo. The paramedic who responded acted like he did that kind of thing all the time. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't a zoo vet.

Digital Scrapbook Done One Way Or The Other

My friend, Vicky, and I were blessed to be together at a mission conference last night and this morning in another state. Since she lives in North Carolina and I live in Ohio this is a rare treat indeed.

We had hoped to get in a bit of scrapbook tutoring but we ran out of time and I ran out of energy. Preachers insisted upon preaching (imagine that!) and my get up and go got up and went as it has been doing a lot lately. Since I had to drive myself back home today - having deposited Pastor Dad with friends who were taking him to another conference in another city - I thought it best to leave prior to the lunch break. Nothing like food to make one sleepy: just what I did not need for the drive alone!

I was disappointed that we did not get to sit down and scrapbook together. But I gleaned a few things from our chats and decided to experiment when I got home. I came up with this composition. Details:

1. Picture is of Sweet Pea on her 3rd birthday in February. She was hamming it up for the camera. I have several more pictures of hams (you know who you are!) which could possibly find their way here. Yes, bribes will be accepted to keep that from happening. :)
2. The background paper and tag were from a free kit provided by my friend, Vicky Day, during a recent Blog Train.
3. The button and string of hearts were from a free kit provided by Roseytoes Designs during a recent Blog Train.

Thanks, Vicky, for volunteering to be my online tutorial. I'll have questions. Oh, my, yes, I'll so have questions! At least now I have a clue.

Lunchin' Munchin' Munchkin

What do you do when you've got a new set of chompers?



Why, sample the Sunday cuisine, of course! The mashed potatoes and yeast rolls were particularly yummy. His compliments to the chefs.

(And our apologies to his parents. They were the ones who had to hose him down afterward.) :)

It's Spring, But I'm Not Bouncy Yet

The temperatures around here have been up and so has my enthusiasm about the change of seasons. April must be about the prettiest month of all around these parts. The blue hyacinths, the little purple grape hyacinths, the white blossoms on the ornamental pear trees, the purplish-pink of the red bud trees, the pink or white of the dogwood trees, the blossoms on the creeping phlox, the daffodils and buttercups in their last stages of bloom, and the various colors of the palette showing on all the tulips prove my point. I'd be loading this blog up with pictures if I could get the energy to go out and play photographer. But alas, you must just take my word for all the beauty that surrounds me. I hope you are also so blessed, or soon will be if you haven't already been.

Two weeks ago I got hit by a virus that announced its presence with a severe headache on Sunday and delivered a runny nose, sore throat, and chest congestion as it unpacked its bags on Monday in anticipation of a long stay. But even now that it has packed back up and moved elsewhere I find remnants of things it left behind. Things like fatigue and muscle aches.

I haven't stopped doing things. On the contrary, I've kept up a pretty busy schedule in spite of it. But I have stopped blogging about the things I've been doing. It has taken quite an effort just to get through a day. I guess I got a respite of sorts because here I am blogging again. Maybe this means better things ahead.

So don't write me off as "gone" just yet. I've got lots of exciting adventures ahead of me and I can't wait to share them with you. I also can't wait to get back to reading your blogs again to see what you've been up to the last few weeks.

And if you're my Facebook friend (yes, I can be found there, too) now you know why you haven't heard from me there much either.

But it is Spring again and I'm ready to get moving! Just hold on a moment while I go take a couple of aspirin and another decongestant.

Let the bouncing begin!

Take Ten In '10, Week 15 Reading Schedule

Schedule for April 12th - April 18th, 2010

Monday, April 12th

Judges 1-3

Romans 4

Tuesday, April 13th

Judges 4, 5

Romans 5, 6

Wednesday, April 14th

Judges 6, 7

Romans 7, 8

Thursday, April 15th

Judges 8, 9

Romans 9, 10

Friday, April 16th

Judges 10-12

Romans 11

Saturday, April 17th

Judges 13, 14

Romans 12, 13

Sunday, April 18th

No reading scheduled today. Finish any that were missed.

Take Ten In '10, Week 14 Reading Schedule

Schedule for April 5th - April 11th, 2010

Monday, April 5th

Joshua 10, 11

Acts 22, 23

Tuesday, April 6th

Joshua 12-14

Acts 24, 25

Wednesday, April 7th

Joshua 15-17

Acts 26

Thursday, April 8th

Joshua 18, 19

Acts 27, 28

Friday, April 9th

Joshua 20-22

Romans 1

Saturday, April 10th

Joshua 23, 24

Romans 2, 3

Sunday, April 11th

No reading. Finish any that were missed.