Oklahoma trip and Visting Speakers

It has been awhile since my last post.  I normally use the time when Dennis is at work to do my computer stuff.  With him being home all the time, it changes up my routine quite a bit!  It has been nice having him around these past few weeks tho.  We've been able to do some things that we never have time to with him working.  We finally managed to find the right car and buy it:  a simple, white 2010 Camry.  I love it!  It was a bit of a scramble getting it...the morning we were planning to go car shopping our old Camry refused to start.  We had to put in a new alternator (me doing the lifting, loosening and tightening under Dennis' instructions).  Since the alternator was still in warranty, it didn't cost us anything other than a little time.

We left on the 18th for a long overdue trip to see Gray and Vicki.  We stopped for a couple of nights in Spur to visit with Daddy and Bobbie.  It was good having some time with them, and we finally got to see their shop in downtown Spur.  While we were there, Daddy started thinking about hosting a meeting there.  They are so small in number...sometimes only 2-4 on a Lord's Day morning...that he thought it would be a big morale booster.  He talked to Dwight and they decided on Memorial Day weekend.  We are trying to get several young people interested in going to help out.  Daddy and Bobbie have offered their home for those who bring sleeping bags.  They can also recommend local motels for those who desire a little more comfort.

We left Spur last Monday morning and headed up to Alva.  It was super windy, but our trusty Camry handled quite well and still managed to get over 34 mpg.  It was a nice drive.  There aren't really any large towns on the route we took, until we got to Woodward, OK.  In the Texas panhandle, practically every town we passed through was the county seat (and sometimes ONLY town in the county, I think) so we got to look at a variety of county courthouses.  We also passed by the Pitchford Ranch and the 6666 Ranch.  We saw a lot of oil wells, windmills, tumbleweeds and dust!

We spent Monday through Wednesday nights with Gray and Vicki.  This was Dennis' first time to Alva and my second.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with these dear loved ones!  Rhonda and Kevin came over the first night for supper and then we all went out to eat Wednesday night after services.  Lots of good visitation and laughter!  Vicki was the perfect hostess, as always...serving us wonderful meals and making us feel at home.

We got home Thursday evening.  Stephen and Mandy came for a short weekend on Saturday.  Stephen and David were guest speakers for us at Highway Sunday.  They used a unique presentation to deliver a wonderful lesson on "What is a Christian to do?"  We had a bountiful potluck dinner between services, as well as a singing.  We enjoyed several visitors in addition to Stephen, Mandy and David.  The singing was absolutely gorgeous and very moving.  After the afternoon assembly, a group of us headed over to Rosa's to extend our fellowship just a little longer.  My hope and prayer is that I can take the teachings and examples that I've received over the past week and use them to grow in my spiritual walk.

Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Post-surgery update

Well it has been almost a week since Dennis' surgery.  He has done amazingly well!  I was worried the first time I saw him in the recovery room...he was in SO much pain.  But after a couple of pain shots, he was fine.  They kicked him out within a couple of hours and he hasn't really had much pain since.  Of course he has to be careful what he does, and sneezing is NOT pleasant, but he rarely even takes ibuprofen anymore. He was even able to make it to both assemblies at Highway on Sunday.  I was expecting him to want to attend here in MW to avoid riding that much, but he did fine.  (He could sure feel it the next day tho!)  He should be able to start driving in a couple of days, which will be really nice.  I've gotten a lot of practice driving the truck lately (I can drive a standard, but I really don't like it).

Since Dennis has had so much time on his hands, he was able to go over our tax return.  When I had done it, it showed that we owed over $1200.  He was able to find my error and we ended up getting a $500 rebate instead!  Woo-hoo!  I was concerned that our tax bill would keep us from being able to take our anniversary trip this year (35th anniversary - planning a week long trip to the Big Bend and that area).  Instead, I was able to move the money I'd been putting aside for taxes into our vacation account.  :)

Dennis felt good enough yesterday to start working on the muzzle loader that he is building for Stephen.  I'm hoping he will have time to finish it before Stephen and David are here on the 26th to speak for us.  I can't wait to see it when he gets it stained and blued...I'm sure it will be beautiful!

Well, Sherlock is no longer with us.  :(  He disappeared a week and a half ago.  Everyone keeps telling me that someone probably took him in, but I think something must have killed him.  We live pretty close to a  busy road and we also have a lot of coyotes around here.  I'm convinced that if he were alive, he would have found a way home by now.  I miss him but I'm not ready to get another cat for awhile.  (I did go by the pet store the other day tho and was sorely tempted to bring one home with me!)  We hope to do some traveling while Dennis is on sick leave, and I don't want to worry about having something happening while we are gone.

Besides doing a little traveling, we have a few projects that we hope to do while Dennis is home.  Our dining room table desperately needs refinishing!  Dennis said we would work on that as soon as he is able.  We also hope to do some more car shopping when he is up to traveling to FW.  It will be so much easier to find a "new" car to buy while he's not having to work.  Our Camry is getting to the point where it will definitely need some repair work if we don't trade soon.  Some days it takes a LOT of effort to start it up.  Makes me a little nervous when I'm going somewhere on my own, but so far I haven't ended up being stranded. 

I hope each of you has a wonderful week!  Thank you all for your prayers for Dennis!

Jer 30:17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.