Visited Lainey Today

We got back from Alabama last night at 11:00.  I had Krissy pick up some flowers today when she got groceries for me.  Then we all went out to the cemetery to see Lainey's stone.  We bought a solar butterfly a while ago to put there once they had the stone set.  It's so pretty.  It glows red, then green, then blue, then purple.

We took two vehicles to the cemetery because Gary was going from there to get the combine from where it's been stored in Watseka and bring it home.  I pulled in the cemetery first.  Then Gary pulled in behind me.  Then a KR Drenth semi pulled off the highway and parked in the grass with his flashers on.  I looked over there and saw it was Mike Loving, one of our best drivers.  He "just happened" to decide to take Highway 16 to US 41 to go home tonight...a route he hadn't taken for a long time.  And we just happened to pull out on 16 in front of him and then pull into the cemetery.  He knew that "big purple bus", and pulled over right behind us.  He walked up to us and gave me a hug, and I just started crying.  The poor guy!!  He probably thought, "What am I gonna do now?"  He just patted me & let me cry.  Then I explained to him that they'd set Lainey's stone while we were gone, and this was the first time we'd seen it.  Mike called it fate, but I know it was God's timing.

It got me to thinking how God brings people into our lives and how He uses circumstances, our location, or our job to shape us and mold us.  We were at a point 13 or 14 years ago that we could only afford beans and rice.  Gary filled in for our friend, Steve DeVries, so he could take vacation.  He drove Steve's semi hauling garbage from Gary to Michigan City.  That led to Gary driving most of the summer filling in for various guys up there.  That, in turn, led to Gary buying his first semi until we had 13 semis.  During the 10 years that Cooper Trucking was in operation, we made many friends and had many opportunities to minister to people.  We grew a lot in many ways during those years.

As we look back over those years, we can see how our business opened many opportunities for us.  We tried to use every opportunity possible to share the Gospel with our employees and colleagues.  We had a special speaker at our Christmas parties that presented a challenge and the Gospel to our guests.  When Gary had to let one of the drivers go after an accident he had and our insurance wouldn't keep him, he was able to lead that man to Christ.

One opportunity God gave us as a result of the trucking company was to be able to be a blessing to Southern  Gospel singing groups.  We now have the contacts for diesel fuel & tires at a good price.  We have the parts and equipment to makes repairs.  We have the contacts for repairs to diesel engines. For example, tomorrow The Taylors will be here.  Gary has an appointment with our good friend and mechanic, Brad, to have their bus tuned up.  They also have a brake issue that Gary will look at.

It kind of gives me "the willies"to look back over the last decade and see where got brought us from and where we are today.  Thank you, Lord, for using us to be a blessing to others. 

Goodbye, Sweet Home Alabama

We leave for Indiana tomorrow morning after Gary gets back from Texas sometime today and gets some sleep.  Gary left home on July 25th, and we left home on August 4th....the longest we've ever been gone from our home sweet home.  I think it must miss us!!  No squeals and screams echoing from the walls, no spills on the linoleum, no back door slamming dozens of times every day, no fingerprints on the windows, the swings stand motionless....I'll bet it's been lonely.

Things we've experienced in Alabama...

While at Subway, I asked for a dozen cookies.  The girl at the register says, "6?"  I thought maybe she didn't quite catch what I said and was wondering if I said a dozen or a half dozen, so I repeated myself, "A dozen."  And again she said, "6?"  I said, "No, a dozen is 12!!"  And she just said, "Oh!  Ok!"

Everyone makes U-turns...all the time!!  In Indiana, U-turns are illegal, so this shocks us every time we see one.  We're always looking over our shoulder for the red and blue flashing lights of the policeman.  We still haven't figured out why they need to make so many U-turns.  Why can't they just turn into the place they were headed?  Did they change their mind?  Do they not know where they are going?  We were turning right at a light, and our light was green.  Someone coming from the other direction....whose light had to be red!!....turned left and made a U-turn into the way we were turning and almost got creamed.  If Meagan hadn't been as quick on the brake, that lady's car would have been pretty badly damaged.  And the worst of it was that she was talking on the phone and didn't even glance our way or know how close she'd just come to an accident.

There is no straight road down here and many county roads are dirt, red dirt, no gravel, just dirt.  There is no system to road numbers either like our sensible 9-1-1 numbering system in Indiana.

There are still quite a few businesses that close on Sundays because it's the Lord's day.  The station we gassed up at yesterday afternoon was closed.  We just paid at the pump...$3.39 a gallon.

People are friendly, and you're everybody's "hon" or "sweetie."

There's a Baptist church on every corner, and they're all full.  The preachers still preach against sin, not caring whether they are "politically correct" or step on someone's toes.  The people aren't afraid to use the altar or show when the Holy Spirit is working in their heart.  They know how to "have church" down here.

We've enjoyed our 2 1/2 weeks in Alabama and we'll be back, but home sure does sound sweet to us!! See you tomorrow!!

Another Sunday at Hillcrest Baptist Church

We attended Hillcrest again this Sunday and heard a wonderful message by Pastor Reaves.  He preached from Romans Chapter 1 where Paul was warning the Romans about their sin and that God was going to give up on them.  He started off by playing Paul Harvey's "If I Were the Devil."  As we listened to Paul Harvey naming all the things he would do to ruin America if he were the devil, I wondered what year he recorded that.  After all, Mr. Harvey has been dead a long time.  When Pastor Reaves got up to preach, he told us that recording was from 1965.  Wow!  You should search for it on Youtube.  Very sobering, as was Pastor Reaves' message.  Christians need to stand up for what is right and holy!!!

I should have taken a picture of the church for everyone, but I didn't think about it this morning.  Hillcrest is well-named because it is on the top of a hill  If you park in the lower parking lot, they have extended golf carts (that seat about 8 people) that pick people up and deliver them to the front door of the church.  The girls think that is the coolest thing!!  They always hope to be the one that gets to sit in the back seat that faces backwards!!  It's the most exciting because you feel like you're slipping off the seat on the ride up the steep hill.

Following the morning service, we went to Pizza Hut and had the buffet lunch.  We went with LaResa and Jessica Trammell and Baby Tessa.  Nanna seemed to have the same affect on her that she has on Ryan....smiles and giggles.  She must be pretty funny looking!  We enjoyed visiting with the Trammell ladies and getting to know them better.

Baby Tessa Trammell smiling at Nanna

Girls' Day Out

 Leah, Kara, & Laura modeling their fur vests.

 Kara, Laura, Leah, & Erin being goofy.

Nanna...rings on her fingers and bells on her toes....

Can you tell we had a good time today?  We went down to Oxford to try out some new "Southern" stores.  It was our first time in Martin's and Ross's.  We also visited Lane Bryant, Dress Barn, & Catos. We found some unbelievable bargains today!!!  I bought 5 pieces of clothing at Catos for $34; 6 pieces of clothing at Ross's for $46; and 5 things at Lane Bryant for $45 (2 of which were skirts that were originally $55 and $50!!).  Now those are some real bargains!!  Of course, Gary's favorite line is "I can't afford to save anymore money!"  But he's not here!!!  Hehehe!!

Lending a Hand

This is the only picture I took today.  Doesn't Nanna make a good Santa Claus?  She came in the kitchen and said, "Mom, take my picture!"  

I didn't post anything yesterday because I just spent the day grocery shopping, cooking, and doing laundry....same old things I do every day...nothing vacation-y about it.  The food I was cooking was for a friend that is very sick with morning sickness and not able to cook and care for her family.  We drove to Phenix City, Alabama, today to take several meals to our friends, Joel & Melissa Wood.  Meagan spent her time doing laundry, and all of us pitched in to clean and catch up the dishes.  I made stuffed taco shells and taco salad for supper.  We ate supper with them before heading back to Gadsden.  A precious baby will make it worth it, Melissa!!

And for our sweet friend, Blair, here's the taco salad recipe:

1 head of lettuce, tomato (if you like...I usually leave it out for Gary's sake), 1 can kidney beans, 1 pound browned hamburger, cheddar cheese (I usually throw in a couple of handfuls until it looks good), nacho cheese "doritos" (I always use generic) crushed (may not use the whole bag depending on the size of your head of lettuce), 1/2 of a small jar of taco sauce, salad dressing (I used to use Sam's Club's brand of French dressing, but have been unable to find that for 3 or 4 months.  Lately, I have been using Western dressing.  Here in the south (both North Carolina and Alabama), I have not been able to find Western dressing, so I've been using Catalina.  I put enough on until the taco salad seems "wet' enough.  Usually takes about the whole bottle.  Now how's that for "a little of this and a little of that" kind of recipe?  The recipe I originally started with called for onion and green pepper, but I never put that in.  

Uneventful day turned busy

When we woke up this morning, we didn't have much planned for the day.  Gary needed to get a haircut, and I needed to do a load or two of laundry so all Gary's clothes were clean.  He left tonight at 9:00 for Texas with the Mark Trammell Quartet.  They will be gone until Monday.  We were going to eat supper early so Gary could take a nap this evening before driving all night.  But that was all we had planned for the day....a nice quiet day.  Within a few minutes of getting up this morning, Gary had a call from Eric Phillips (tenor for MTQ).  They made plans to meet this afternoon at a great place for kids...

 The two pictures above are of 4 different moonwalks.  They were all inside an air-conditioned building (which is a wonderful thing down here in humid Alabama!!).  Our girls bounced and played hide-and-seek for a couple of hours with Eric's kids.  They had a great time!!  The place provided one snack and drink.  It was a fun and different way to spend an afternoon.

Before we went to the moonwalk place, Gary & Meagan went to Pat Barker's (bass for MTQ) to see if they could help him get his car running.  After replacing a blown fuse,  the car is running again.  It still needs a little electrical work at a mechanic's shop, but Pat was able to meet the bus tonight to leave for Texas.    It wasn't until after fixing Pat's car and meeting Eric at the moonwalk place that Gary was able to get his haircut, but he squeezed that in.

While we were eating an early supper, we received an invitation to attend church with Pat & Kesha Barker.  They were having Water Fun Night at their church.  The pastor's message was very good, and the kids enjoyed playing on two water slides (one of them is pictured below).

Since the girls were already wet when we came back to the campground, they jumped in the pool here until it closed for the evening.  So much for our quiet, uneventful day!!

Sequoyah Caverns

 Edward, the resident peacock at Sequoyah Caverns

 The girls feeding Edward Cheezits

 The friendly goat & donkey

 Nanna beckoning me to "Come on, Mom!"

 Great science lesson today!!!  Stalactites, stalagmites, cave popcorn, cave bacon, columns, rip pools...

 Can you pick out the center of this picture?  This is a pool reflecting the ceiling.  Awesome!!!

Our guide took our picture before we left the cavern.  Our eyes look a little goofy in the lighting.  It was a great tour, lasting about an hour.  Very interesting and educational.  Our guide was a girl about 20 years old.  She was very knowledgeable.  She had more than one occasion where she could have said "millions of years ago", but she always said "hundreds."  At one point, she was answering one of the girl's questions about how the fossils got in the ceiling of the cave.  She explained that they were fossils of animals that live above ground and a large amount of water had buried them quickly and washed them down there.  I asked the girls if they knew what that "large amount of water" was.  When they said "the flood", she said, "Yes, the Genesis flood or some call it Noah's flood."  It was so refreshing to have a tour guide give the credit to God for what we were seeing, instead of evolution.

We had a fun time at the caverns today.  When we got back to the campground, the girls went swimming while Gary & I went grocery shopping.  After they had worked up quite an appetite, they came back to the camper for tacos.  I browned several packages of hamburger before we left home and put them in the freezer in the camper.  That has been so handy for a quick supper.