Road trip for Chase, Mama sick, Answers to prayer

As we drove over to Bowie last night, Victoria let Chase drive most of the distance. He did well on the open road. It was only after we hit rain in the dark that he started to slow down drastically. By that time we were within fifteen miles or so of Bowie. Overall he did a good job with the Lincoln on the highway. We stopped to fill up the Lincoln on the way and ended up overfilling the tank. Part of the spill got on Chase’s shirt sleeve. He put the shirt in a plastic bag from the convenience store and they endured the residual smell for the remainder of the trip – about two hours. The two of them had Rosie with them. I think she suffered the most.


Both the Lincoln and the van were loaded up with the items we are relocating to Bowie to have available to the kids when each of them have the opportunity to come over and collect them. I did not take all the seats out of the van for this trip so we were not able to get all the stored items in this trip, but we got a large portion of them. Every little bit helps clear out the garage. That is the goal I am striving for. In this trip the Lincoln will stay here and the little Ranger will go back to Amarillo so Chase can drive it – even though it will only be for a few weeks. He is excited about it.

Mama and Victoria are both a little sick today. Both have a sore throat and a little bit of a fever. I do not think Mama slept well again last night but it is hard for me to gauge until she tells me when we talk in the morning. She and Victoria are going to go to look at some pups this morning and I have a strong suspicion they will be able to agree on at least one to bring home. We are looking to Victoria to raise the pup to be a farm guard dog – to our little livestock. I am told that that is the nature of the Great Pyrenees. Time will tell, but at least they will get to see the dogs in their current farm attending situation. That, in and of itself, should be worth the trip.

Grandpa handed me a letter last night after church addressed to me at the farm address. It was from the tax assessor’s office and I almost did not open it. I have the first letter taped to the prayer rail (actually it is just the window sill) in my office in Borger so I thought I knew what was. Turned out I was wrong. It was a corrected tax statement for the amount we would owe if the farm had been properly registered for the Ag exemption. It was for $790 instead of $2400 as we were originally told. I am not sure what happened, but I know the Lord is behind it. Encouragement like that makes you want to keep praying.

I will not see the farm until after work today but Grandpa tells me the grass is over twelve inches tall and the tanks are quickly filling up. It will be such a change from the image I have in my mind of the dry fields and the parched ground. I was only beginning to see some hopeful signs of growth the last time we were here. Since then it has rained almost every week. Today the rain is supposed to continue through the day into the early evening so Mama and the kids were planning on cleaning the up stairs portion of the farmhouse. I have a feeling that will be put on hold as badly as she was feeling last night, but she surprises me with her enthusiasm every time we are over here.

We made it to the church here about ten minutes late but it all worked out well since when we got there Grandma was giving a testimony and it took up all the time we needed to get to the bathroom and get the proper footwear on for services. They are a pleasant group of people and they are doing a great work in the community but I think we will miss our very active, prayerful church when we make the move over here permanently. The important thing for now is that Grandma and Grandpa are happy in this church. It is their church, not ours and for some reason that is important to Grandma.

Pray for Victoria. The press will be on to make her choose to move to Bowie soon. I am not in favor of it at this point and will freely say so, because it is too soon for her to leave the church we are in right now. It will happen soon, but now does not impress me as being the right time and those of you who know Grandma can imagine what I am talking about.