Home Again, II

Sam is in the back yard with my dad, who is having fun playing with his chainsaw, cutting down crooked trees into firewood. And they just downed a pretty substantial pine tree; that was impressive. The yard has been so full of trees that the grass back there has had no real no chance to grow, so this will hopefully allow us to have more of a back yard and less of a wooded dirty area. We have plans of trying to make up a landscaping plan for back there, but we haven't really made any progress in that regard yet. Last year we focused on the inside of the house; this year maybe we'll get somewhere on the outside. Of course with a baby coming.... We'll see.

So, while we were gone....

My dog stayed with my parents for the 13 days (wow!) that we were out of town; a family from the church, who also live in our neighborhood, came by and played with the cats and made sure they had what they needed. All the animals were thrilled beyond their capacity when we came home. The cats barely allowed us to sleep the first night we were home; they spent hours purring and kneading and kissing us while we tried to get to sleep.

We took off the day after Christmas and went to Hattiesburg, MS, - a 7-hour drive - where we stayed the night with a family we knew from Texas. We don't get to see them very often, so any time with them is always fun. Their girls are skilled in basketball, and they hope - quite reasonably - to be given scholarships for college. Maybe we'll see them make names for themselves in a few years.

After that, it was on to Houston - 7 more hours - to visit Sam's parents and brother. We had a good time, and stayed there from Saturday night through Thursday morning, which is about the limit that either of us can graciously visit with his family. They love us, and they care deeply for us, and they are some of the kindest people I know. But they do tend to kill us with that kindness.

We ate very well while we were with them (more kindness), yet while we ate, Sam was constantly reminded not to eat too much, because he is "too fat!" and has a "moon-face". Sigh... he can't win. But they do keep us laughing.

Sam kept busy for a day painting some of the trim at their house and fixing odds and ends that they don't know how to take care of themselves. We were also commissioned to take as much of Sam's stuff out of his old room as possible, since Sam's brother needs more room. He's engaged, and his fiance' is due to come over from Taiwan this summer and they'll be married once all her paperwork goes through; odds are they will start out living with Sam's parents. Hopefully they won't stay there long and will be able to get a place of their own quickly.

We made it to San Antonio (a 3 hour drive), the home of the Alamo, the Riverwalk (there we are on the Riverwalk, the night before they drained the river for its annual cleaning to remove the chairs, debris, and lost tourists), and the best Mexican food in the world. Even better than the food in Mexico.

The best part of being in San Antonio was being involved with the Next conference, which was so much fun, and so rich in fellowship, depth of relationships (both relationships we have with others, and the relationships that you know are there between other people involved there), and the Word. We believe we needed to be there because it is important to stay connected with so many of the people who also attend, who have been involved in our lives, and who are a tangible part of the Body of Christ from all over the country - some from all parts of the world.

Sunday afternoon we spent a few hours visiting with Beth and Thomas, who live in San Antonio, catching up and soaking in the encouragement that they are to us. Then we headed back out to Houston for one last night with Sam's parents, packed as much stuff from his old room into the car as we could cram in (believe me, it was an engineering feat), then headed to Mobile, AL, (about 8 hours in the car) after a noon breakfast at Denny's.

In Mobile, we stayed with probably the most brilliant couple that we know, both lawyers, with teenage kids who are just as bright as their parents, just younger. They used to be youth leaders for about a year when I was in youth group, and are strong and bold believers. Again, it was an encouragement to be able to spend time with them, too.

That is the outline of the trip; we put a little over 2000 miles on Sam's car, dropped off the office furniture and files for Boy With a Ball in San Antonio, brought back nearly as much as we took to Texas, ate very well, got food poisoning and got over it, and reconnected with some really wonderful friends. There are more things that can be said, but for now this is plenty long; and I need to find some lunch.