Visitors and uninvited guests

Mama and I have had a very busy weekend. Brittany and Andrew came down on Friday. They were just in time to help Mama get the Sequoia to our mechanic in Bowie since I was teaching a two-day class out of town. There has been a problem with a couple of sensors for the past few days and we did not want to drive it too much longer without knowing the issue. Brittany and Andrew were only going to spend the night so they left Saturday afternoon just after Becky, Mike, Bridgette and Justin came. They had traveled down from Hot Springs to repair the car that has sat in our carport for the past few weeks. It broke down on them when they were last here and Mike could not get the repairs completed before they had to report back to work in Hot Springs. With help from Justin they had the car running by Saturday afternoon. The guys were relieved and excited to have it going. They road tested it on a trip to see Grandma and Grandpa and it did well. After swinging back by the farm to load up, they headed to the motel they were staying in to celebrate with a swim in the indoor pool. I am not sure if they ever got in the water but that was the intent.

Becky and Bridgette went to church with us Sunday morning. Becky talks about a church they are going to but I have never heard the name of the church. At least she got to hear some very good preaching as she sat with us through the service. I would not have been surprised if they had left Sunday morning but the guys wanted to get the oil changed and replace a fender skirt they had left off for the road test before they headed back home. They were loaded up with things from the farm that Mama and I were glad to give away, so they went back home with both the car and the bed of Justin’s truck loaded to the brim.

We started our Mission’s Conference Sunday morning. The main speaker is a Bible translator who served as a missionary in Mexico at a work his father started for many years before being called into translation work. One of the recent Bibles he translated was the New Testaments into Mongolian. I am told that he speaks multiple languages fluently and is working on several other translations concurrently. Besides all that, he is a remarkable preacher. The conference will run through Wednesday night. Unfortunately, I have to travel Wednesday afternoon to Leander to teach a class for work. But I will get to participate through tomorrow night.

At the farm, Becky and I worked for a couple hours on some fencing repairs so we got a chance to talk. I feel a bit more informed about her life and their look forward. My main question was how do I pray for her and as we worked and talked I got a much better insight into how the Lord would have me pray concerning her, her child and her life with Mike. We even got to see God answer a prayer right away on something she has been fretting over for almost a year. That was encouraging.

Also, we had a calf born last week. A little bull calf. He is a beautiful bundle of energy and seems to be doing well. Chester stopped by to make sure we knew he was there and we visited for a while Saturday evening.

Sunday afternoon, after a dinner with friends we went to Bowie to pick up the Sequoia. Roger had pulled out the fuse box to repair the wires that a rat had chewed through as she made a nest in the fuse box. Mama and I are about worn out of rats damaging our vehicles but we are a little unclear about how to successfully combat them. The only successful methods are poison or predators. I am nor fond of either method but we will have to do something. For now, we are leaving the hoods of our vehicles popped open because we have been told that just having that much open around the engine compartment will discourage them from nesting there.

We’ll see. Their infestation is most unwelcome.