Brittany, Cori, Chase, work

Brittany drove down from Colorado Springs to visit with us for the weekend. She got in late on Thursday and left after dinner Sunday. Thursday night was a bust for me as far as visiting was concerned. I went to bed a little after 10 p.m. The rest of the household stayed up past midnight talking. Mama was really feeling it the next morning when she had to get up to take Chase to work at 5:30 a.m. Chick-fil-A was providing breakfast and lunch for volunteers at a free dental clinic organized by the city of Amarillo. Chase was very impressed by the idea and the execution.


Mama, Brittany and I worked on the garage on Saturday. Brittany left with a carload of stuff we had been keeping for her and I got to empty several totes and boxes from long term storage. Mama has been giving out the beanie babies as special incentives to our little ones in primary church. The kids love it. When I walked in on Sunday morning they were all playing with the ones they had been given. It was happy chaos – just like we like it.

Brittany made it home safe last night. It is about a six hour drive for her; a little more than Mama and I make to Bowie every month or so. I do know that it is a much more beautiful drive – at least for the last hundred miles. While she was here she found her wedding dress at David’s Bridal and got a job offer to boot. She is taking a business card from the owner here to her local store to apply for a part time job there. She was excited.

We are praying for Cori who is sick with what appears to be a stomach virus. She called Sunday morning to ask our help in prayer. Mama got an update Sunday evening and she was better but not good. I know she is still stressed out over organizing the Mission’s Conference at her church. It begins on Wednesday and goes through Sunday. There is a lot to take care of as well as the three full time charges she usually attends to. Keep her in your prayers.

Chase has done fairly well in keeping up with his room so he and Mama are going to go Tuesday morning – Lord willing - so he can take his driving test again. He is much better prepared now than he was the first time. I think he will be a good driver. It will just take him some time to get the experience to make wise decisions as he learns.

He is attempting to cool things off with the girl he has been paying attention to. Statistically, those suggestions fall on deaf ears and I feel his will remain statistically unimpressive. He spent the day with her family painting an apartment being rented by an older sister who is having a shotgun wedding in December. That evening the family and Chase ate pizza and started a movie before I picked him up. Way too cool things off Chase.

I asked him if he was ready to get married. His stuttered answer was, “Not financially.” When I relayed that to Mama she choked. I only smiled and continued a conversation we were having about what he should be looking for given the fact that we have not eliminated the possibility of a pastoral calling on his life; whether or not I did any good remains to be seen. Brittany thought the whole thing about Chase having a girlfriend was pretty cute.

Today is one of those days when I would rather not have come to work. I was off Friday, sort of. I did not go to the office but I might as well have. I spent a lot of time answering emails and taking phone calls. But I was not at the office. Having taken that time off, it is always anticlimactic to have to go back. I have about five little battles I am fighting through right now and though none are life changing in their scope, they are distracting none the less. They are like mosquitoes pestering you as you try to take a nap, until they get enough blood or you kill them, they re not going away. So today is swatting day.

My goal is to not injure myself as I put down these little pests.