Travel, the big doctor truck

Mama and I left the farm about 7:30 am to drive the Lawton, OK. It was an easy drive. About two hours of road time but there was not a lot of traffic. When we got to Lawton, we did our best to locate all the houses on our list – about sixteen in all. We have never been to Lawton, so we had to rely extensively on the GPS on Mama’s phone and in doing so we backtracked several times to see houses we had already driven past while following directions to the one we had punched into the map. We looked at fourteen houses in all plus two lots we thought we might be interested in. It was fairly easy to do so Mama and I were done about 1:30 pm. We found a house on our quest that was not on any of our lists. A two-story home on a good location that appeared to be abandoned. We took pictures of the notices on the front door and front window. Mama is going to call on that house this morning to find out the story behind the current condition. Some of those on our list have been removed based on what we sat in situ. Others have moved up on the list of remaining candidates. Those we will drill down on to discover all that we can about the legal condition and financial liabilities of those properties. That may require a trip to the Comanche County Courthouse before the auction next month – we will see how much we can determine via the internet. It was exciting for both me and Mama to move forward in preparing for the auction. It was oddly reassuring that all this is for real. There really are houses out there that will be sold for taxes owed and we could be the bidder that gets that property.

On the way home, we got a call from a couple who were in class with us in February. They are not having any success acquiring tax liens, so Mama and I talked to them about what we were doing. They also live in the DFW area, so Lawton is accessible to them. We shared all the information we had so they can decide to investigate for themselves whether or not they want to change strategies to the more aggressive tax deed acquisitions. All in all, they were excited to discover a new approach that could work for them. It was fun for Mama and me to be on the mission we were on for our business and get to describe it to them as it was going on. Talk about perfect timing. The bottom line is that we may not get a house through the auction. We could very easily be outbid, but we are ready to participate, and as Edna Mole once wisely said, “Luck favors the prepared, darling.”

Victoria traveled home from Pensacola Monday morning. As she as being dropped off at the airport, Cori and Nate were finishing packing a trailer with the 38 totes and suitcases accumulated for their personal items so they could travel to Atlanta that same day. Friends from West Florida Baptist Church took them and the kids to Atlanta to catch a flight to Honduras. They are at the airport as I am writing this post and Mama just called to tell me that when they were checking in at the airport an agent helped them to get free passage of sixteen of their bags and while he was processing the other twenty-two, the computer printing the tags stopped adding fees at number ten, but processed tags for all the remaining bags. As much as he tried to correct the computer and restart the charging process, the computer would not comply. They ended up getting all their baggage through for $800. Praise the Lord! Pray for them as they will deal with all the belongings going through customs in Honduras early this afternoon. Once that obstacle is past, they will begin the process of getting all the necessary furnishings and appliances to set up their home in country. Another daunting task. Fortunately, we serve a very big God.

Over the weekend Maggie had a bad spell and had to be taken to the emergency room via ambulance. She said the paramedics were very gracious and allowed Katherine and Walter to sit in the two captain’s chairs in the back of the ambulance while she was on the stretcher and they were on benches beside her. Her two children loved the experience. Her, not so much. On the way Walter excitedly told her, “Mommy, I’m riding in a big doctor truck.” She and the paramedics got a laugh out of that. Her issue seems to have stemmed to a very bad reaction to a dye she was given to drink prior to taking an MRI. With the abdominal pain she has been experiencing, the original diagnosis was a problem with the appendix, but after further analysis, her doctor believes the problem is with her kidneys. X-rays show a mass on one kidney. That appears to be the source of her pain. We are awaiting further news as her diagnosis is formalized.

We will certainly be praying for her as we wait to hear more.