Return

It's Monday, and with that is a Return to lots of things.

Return.... of Craig to the USA. I've been calling him every hour, since I'm not sure when he actually gets home. Maybe he's back already and just hasn't turned his phone on yet. I'm so anxious to hear his voice. Thank you to all my friends who prayed for his safe travels and for blessings on the mission trip.

Return...from a fun weekend in Dallas. Mom and I spent time with Carolyn in Dallas this weekend. We tore up the town and had SO much fun. We were introduced to YogurtLand - OMG is all I can say about it. It was so good, and I loved that we could make our own creation and just pay by the ounce. Pistachio with toasted almonds was my favorite, although toasted coconut was a close second. We also saw Eat, Pray, Love and enjoyed it thoroughly. Carolyn had the pleasure of hosting Elizabeth Gilbert at the DMA and shared that Elizabeth was by far, one of her favorite authors to work with. The movie followed pretty closely the book - that is something that usually doesn't happen. In the picture below, we have just finished eating a wonderful breakfast of omelettes prepared by a chef at their apartment building.

And this is a picture of the dash of Carolyn's car as we drove around Dallas Saturday. 117 degrees??? C'mon! I'm sure that isn't entirely accurate, but it sure felt like it!

Return...from the land of the Armyworms!  OK, last week was a nightmare, courtesy of those little squiggly guys with army hats and flack jackets. We were warned on Monday, but they didn't arrive until Tuesday morning. Once here, they invaded rather quickly. After much searching, and with the help of Uncle Lee, we found a 60 gallon sprayer in Mineola. Rick brought it back to Athens Monday night where we quickly discovered that the height of the sprayer arms wouldn't clear the flower vases on the memorials. So we started the laborious process of removing the flower vases. Lee to the rescue... at about 10pm he and Rick headed over to Red Dot and had the shop build a piece that attached to the sprayer to raise the arms high enough. Success! Armando started spaying Wednesday morning while Sammy put back into place the vases I had lowered the night before. Wednesday is spent searching for a replacement pump, all the while the Army continues to invade and attack our precious turf. Finally, Thursday arrives and all problems are resolved. We spray.  The major blessing in all of this is that there was not a funeral last week. A funeral, while providing much needed revenue, would have been a mess with Armyworms climbing all over the feet of our guests!

Return...of Rick from prison! Rick spent Saturday with the men at the Beto Unit. He came back sharing some wonderful updates and stories of hope and renewal amongst the men that he met with. We are looking forward to another Kairos weekend at Beto in November.

Return to the projects I've been putting off...Every Monday I feel a return in motivation to tackle the projects I've been putting off at work. Once again, that is how I felt this morning. Refreshed and ready to tackle several things.  Fast forward...It's 5:15pm now on Monday, and that motivation has slowly slipped away. It's starting to look like I'm going to have to wait until next Monday to feel the motivation again.

I'm ready for the weekend!  :)

I've been silent for a few weeks on my blog. Probably because I just have nothing to say!  In fact, I don't even have a title for this post.

Sometimes I go through periods of silence in my life. Maybe you do to. Times when we are so busy with work and schedules that we just put ourself in "sustain" mode and go. While I'm busy doing everything that needs to be done, I also somehow remove myself from the "grid" and hide at home when the day is done.  I hope my friends are still out there when I emerge from the cave!

You can ask Rick...Over the last few weeks, even Tuesday Night Date Night has been at home. I just haven't wanted to go out or do extra stuff. Maybe it's a bit of the Summertime Blues. This summer has gotten so hot and long....I'm ready for the seasons to change. God knew what he was doing when he created the seasons, because I'm ALWAYS ready for it when it arrives. Now, if He could only make our Texas fall start a little bit earlier...

To wrap up, let me just list a few things going on:
1. My brother is arriving in Uganda tonight for his mission trip with E-3 Partners. I'm sure he's already exhausted with the travel that began yesterday, through Detroit and Amsterdam. Mom and I will spend next weekend with Carolyn - going to have some girl time to keep her company. A trip to the Apple store, Barnes & Noble, and a movie are sure to be on the list.

2. Sadness in my heart over the passing of Brother Bond. He was the pastor at FBC Athens for years, and was a dear friend of the family. Marion and the kids...we love you and are praying for comfort.

3. Website - Cornerstone is getting an overhaul, thanks to the folks at Clever Mutt. More to come on that... meanwhile, I think they are waiting on me to provide some more information. Yuck. I hate the ball being in my court!

4. Learning more and more about the Faith Based Wing at the George Beto Unit in Tennessee Colony. They now have about 500 inmates living out their faith, doing Bible Study and trying to make a difference in the way they live. Over the last 3 years, the program has had 111 inmates released through parole. Only 1 has come back to prison. How is that for a recidivism rate? Completely blows the TDJ rate of 70% out of the water!  We are good friends with Casey Miner who runs the program at Beto, and it's always encouraging to talk to him about what's happening, so I just wanted to share that with you!

Ok, I'm done for now.
That's all, folks. (Say that to yourself in your best Porky Pig voice.)