Joys in Mid-South

A whirlwind trip, but what a blessing.  Sunday after lunch, I hit the road and traveled down to the Beethe's in Little Rock - they had graciously offered to let me spend the night there.  Visiting with the whole family was such a blessing - and the primal breakfast was an added treat that I hadn't expected.  Unfortunately on the trip down to Little Rock my iPhone died.  It had a baptism.  Don't ask.  Grr.

So, first thing Monday a.m. (AFTER the primal breakfast - with some absolutely super bacon and pancakes), off to the AT&T store to replace the phone.  Sigh.  Funny how panicky I get without that tether - as I was driving all those miles without any phone at all (and with only the iPad for a navigating devise to get me to the Beethe's - and that only worked at wi-fi joints), I kept reminding myself of what David wisely says:  "You never had a phone when you were driving around for years and you were fine."  Too true. 

Little Rock was really a surprise.  What a beautiful city!  After getting the phone up and running, though, I had to leave the city and head into even more beautiful country:  Lake DeGray State Park.  Led the brothers of that region of Midsouth through some joys in Colossians, joined them to celebrate a reverent and yet joy-packed Divine Service III, heard many outstanding devotions around the theme "At Table with Jesus" and thoroughly enjoyed the visiting.  A special treat was getting outside on Tuesday morning at 6 and running with Mark and Emil as the sun rose, the woodpeckers pecked away, and the day slowly stretched and woke up.  It was great.  Emil and I ran for six miles and chatted almost all the way - fascinating to learn a bit more of his story.

Tuesday a.m. after wrapping up Colossians, I sadly had to hit the road back home - I would have loved to sit at the feet of Dr. Alvin Schmidt again.  He's amazing.  But what a beautiful day for a drive!  I had the roof open all the way home, the windows down, the radio blaring oldies and the miles flying by.  The way down I'd been stuck on Highway 40 between Memphis and Little Rock for an hour due to an accident, but the way home was without incident.  It ended up being over 1000 miles round trip, but as I love driving (at least on open highways on Spring days when the sun is warm and shining!), all was good.  Got in about 5:30 and crashed for the evening.  Cindi revived my weary spirit with a fabulous dinner and an after-dinner BBC (which is our favorite tropical drink by far). 

Thanks to Mark and the brothers in Midsouth for the invite.  It was a blessing indeed to be with you all!