Yard work ministry, shopping for the wedding, prayers

Mama worked with one of the older ladies in our church yesterday. She is 74 years old and lives in a nice town house near the church. She had a stroke many years ago and has had to give up many activities she used to enjoy; one of which is yard work. Mama helped her with her little yard space yesterday. I do not know what they did other than pull weeds and tidy it up but Mama and I bought two little plants last night at Lowe’s to put in the space when she goes back over on Wednesday with Chase to do some heavier tasks.


Mama has discovered a new found freedom to visit some of the older ladies in our church. She has begun to visit Mrs. Patrick on a regular basis when she is in town and now Mrs. Watson has been added to the list. It is a ministry for which she is well qualified.

Mama is leaving for Bowie on Wednesday afternoon or possibly Thursday morning. Grandma and Grandpa are still planning to leave on Friday. He has done most of the prep work he had scheduled on the truck and trailer and Grandma is psyching herself up for the journey. In preparation, Mama has been shopping for a wedding outfit for Grandma and yesterday she struck pay dirt. I hope Grandma is as thrilled with the outfit as Mama is.

Mama and I were out on Saturday evening after the conference looking for a specific style and color of shirt for the same occasion. Mama was very frustrated and threatened to give up shopping altogether. (We all know that is not going to happen.) I am still not sure what we were looking for even though it was described to me several times. I know it had to be red and I was having trouble with even that defining characteristic.

Nothing I found was really red even though I remain unconvinced of the dismissal. Whatever it was we were having no luck finding it. But we did come across a wrap that Mama bought. Oddly enough, it was “off white” and not even close to the item which had been described to me as the object of our search. It bothered me a little since none of the “off red” items I found were even given consideration. Never-the-less, it was incorporated into the final outfit. The bridal fitting is Thursday night so be praying for that.

Mama and I are praying about the job I have applied for. We never really know how such a position will affect our lives and our marriage. The demands of licensing can be burdensome. There are times of very short notice to fly to a plant in some far flung part of the world to help them through a problem. There are assignments where it would not be practical to take Mama. Want I need to find out is whether or not they are looking to station us somewhere for a year or more or whether they will look to me to shuttle from one project to another for several weeks at a time.

Although Mama would be available to go with me wherever I was sent, the same is not true for Chase. He is the wild card in the venture. Our obligations to him are not yet complete. He cannot stay behind the way Joshua did when we went to New Jersey. It would not be practical for him to hop from one location to another with us – unless he would choose to do so for a year or more. Remembering back to my youth, at his age, a year looks like a small section of eternity and being encumbered in a relationship with a young lady only makes the time traveling abroad look more unattractive.

As Mama and I began to pray together last night I told her we had two weeks or so to pray this through since I probably will not hear anything before the end of the month. When I do hear back I fully expect to be asked to interview with the position manager in Houston. It is there that I will find out all the particulars associated with the job. That will more fully direct our prayers.

For the moment we are fully loaded up with my work demands, the farm and all that goes along with that, trying to order our lives to live in two places at once, watch over Chase as he makes the final preparations to enter life on his own, and help provide for Grandma and Grandpa as they approach the end of their race. Whether or not we get the licensing job, we will praise the Lord and press on.

Times are tough but God id good!