A Lot!

Here's a brief overview of our recent trip to Tulsa. In case some of you have not heard, the purpose of the visit was to see my new grandson, Caden James. Oh, you already know? Just making sure! So what did we do for 10 days in the Sooner State? A lot!

We looked at this one a lot!

Can you blame us?

We took a lot of pictures.

We posed a lot for pictures.

We laughed a lot!

Christa and Jason started a mosaic business.
Emily was impressed a lot!

Andrew, Kelsey and Emily decorated a lot for Christmas!

There was a lot more posing for pictures.

Oh, yeah. And I held the baby a lot!

Church on Sunday

Jason and Christa are attending a new church since they have recently moved. I got to visit on Sunday, and in sure tourist-fashion I took the camera along. Mostly to take pictures of them, but I was so surprised/impressed with their church building, I thought I would share.

The church meets in a former mall. This is the center of the mall-now-church, and you can see that this church has things marked far better than any mall I've ever been in!

The booths set up are in preparation for a Christmas market that the church will host,

for all of Tulsa.

This shot is for Jim. They have their mission statement clearly and creatively visible. "Glorifying God by helping all people, all ages, all the time advance in their journey for Christ." I also saw this statement in their bulletin.

So to not look to touristic, I had Christa sit by the mall fountain turned baptismal fount.

No kidding. This is where they do baptisms.

The worship service was very rock-star.




This is the check-in station for the Nursery. The small machine prints out a "receipt" for your child, that you absolutley must show in order to remove your child from the Nursery.

This was the first impression I got, when I walked in.

Any wonder I snapped a few photos?

As impressed as I was with the facility, I must say how impressed I have been with the people. Christa's small group has been bringing meals a couple times a week, and will continue to do so all November. Seems like a great place for Jason and Christa to be!

Time Travel

Today I visited Siloam Springs. It's a different feeling everytime I go. Over the four years we were in Chicago, our visits to Siloam brought everything from we-are-glad-we-are-outta-here to we-really-miss-this-place kind of feelings. Today we basically drove to Siloam to see Andrew and Trish & Sam. Our plans were to make a JBU stop, a Steph stop, a Youmans stop, a Happy Birthday, Mrs. Caldwell stop, and of course, a Barnett's stop. We were planning on seeing about five people we knew.

Our first stop at JBU we not only saw Megan, our Financial Aid assistant, but in the same building saw Terri, Don, Susan, Rebekah, and Hannah.

At the Steph stop we saw Steph, Jill, Pam, Wanda, and Barb.

The Youmans stop included all people Youmans, minus the doctor.

The Birthday stop included Barb and Deborah.

The Barnett's stop included Reid, and some fine AAA stangers who gave our dead battery a jump.

Just as when we lived there Siloam was more than we bargained for, so our trip today was more than we had planned. But tonight I sit filled to the brim with the wonderfulness of the people of Siloam. I am glad to have called that place home, yet I am also glad for the new home we have, and the wonderfulness of people there. I'm thankful that God leads us to wonderful people.

Love This

Sugar and spice and everything nice?!

One Question

"Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?"

I Have a Barbecue Sauce Fairy

I am not surprised. Not at God. Not at my BBQ Fairy.

I had shared with someone about the November Challenge that the Keena family was on, to "make it to November". The other day Grace fixed herself a chicken patty and was looking for some bbq sauce, but the bottle was nearly empty. She squeezed just enough out of it, to make do. She declared "We need more barbecue sauce, Mom!" I told her I would buy some in November, because our grocery budget was shot for the month, and we would just have to do without for now. I mean, it's only bbq sauce. The next time she made a chicken patty (yes, this is one of her favorites!) she was surprised to find out that I was true to my word, and had NOT bought any bbq sauce yet. Her "We still don't have any bbq sauce?" was answered by my restating that I would buy some in November, because our grocery budget was shot for the month, and it WAS only bbq sauce. A similar conversation occurred the night we had baked potatoes WITHOUT cheese or sour cream. We did have plenty of butter and salt and pepper, and that's really what you're supposed to put on baked potatoes, right? So once again, I told my family I would buy some cheese and sour cream in November. Of course just the phrase "in November" made it sound all the more dramatic, I thought, so I WAS working it a bit.

Fast forward to today, I was having lunch with a friend, we'll call her Barbie Q. Faree, and I shared these bbq-sauce-desperate stories with her. We chatted back and forth about the challenges of feeding our ever-hungry children, including where to find reduced meat, buying from the locals, and what specials were where this week. We also shared that both of our husbands only get paid once a month, and the challenges that come with that. Including not having any bbq sauce at the end of the month.

After lunch, she drove me back to my house, only after having stopped at a local grocery store to pick up some steaks that were on special. She got several packages for her family, as well as a couple of packages for mine! What a blessing! I can't remember the last time I bought beef that wasn't ground!

I had been home for about 20 minutes when the doorbell rang. It was Barbie, and she handed me a couple bags of groceries and said "You left these in my car!" ??? I had not left any groceries in her car, because I distinctly remembered doing the "We Have Steak Dance" in the kitchen as I was putting my meat in the freezer. She handed the bags to me, and I could see it was not just meat, but a few more items. Care to guess? In total there was another package of steak, plus a couple pounds of ground beef, plus a large carton of sour cream, plus two blocks of cheddar cheese, plus BARBECUE SAUCE! I set the barbecue sauce on the table with a note that said "To Grace & David" From God. What do you think they had for snack?

We had more month left at the end of our grocery budget, and God had just the right amount of bbq sauce that He thought we needed. So he enlisted His bbq sauce fairy to deliver the goods.

I am not surprised. Not at God. Not at my BBQ Fairy. Because I know my God delights in watching over the smallest details of my life. And because I know my BBQ Fairy delights in helping God execute His plans. I'm so glad they are both in my life!

Caden James Clark

Three most delightful things to see:
a garden of white potatoes covered in blossom,
a ship under sail,
and a woman after giving birth.
Irish Proverb

Apparently, Caden is his daddy made over!

Beautiful red hair!

Bailey checking out the new competition!

7 lb. 4 oz. of perfection!

We're glad you're here, little buddy!