Early AM Drive

At 5:40 this morning Kurt and I drove out of our subdivision headed towards Nashville. In the back of the van were four groggy boys still clad in their pj's with lap blankets to console their tired bodies from the premature evacuation of their comfy beds.

Kurt's on his way to drive back J&Rs car to Georgia (with a detour through Cookeville) and my mom will be joining him in the passenger seat (poor Kurt - Mom is a terrible "back seat driver"!!) While we were talking about the trip to come for him he said, "I hope your mom can stand me in the car for five days!" I assured him it is possible. He was looking forward to seeing some folks there at home but due to his schedule, he barely has enough layover to speak of but he will see a couple, I guess.

When I arrived home I called my mom and asked her how her preparations were going and she said that she hoped everything would fit in the PT Cruiser that they are shuttling. With the rather bulky items that she's planning she was a little concerned for space. Then, she said, (I kid you not) "I hope Kurt can stand me in the car for five days!" I laughed and told her that the feeling was mutual so she was in good company. She sounded excited to come and I am so, so jazzed to have her here. She's a bit of a Washington State snob so I can't expect too much but I did "wow" her with the plans of attending the Grand Ol' Opry. We're planning a mom and daughter day/night out. Won't that be fun?

I got a call from Jay (during a mini flooding incident in their recently vacated Washington home) soon after I spoke with Mom. They sounded like they were ready to head to Georgia so I think the trek will be a good one. 

Your prayers for safe travel for the five of them would be coveted.

Blast From the Past

I'm sitting here at my desk with eight past issues of Quit You Like Men that were dug out of the obscure location that I managed to pack-rat away with so many of my other "treasures". The published dates are from July/August 1998 to September/October 2000 (with some missing ones here and there). I had come across them a couple of weeks ago as I was looking for some encouraging past issues of a different publication for a perspective home schooling mom. 

Let me take you back to: 1997 or so we were introduced to this publication from our legendary mentors, the Ables'. It was such a fresh message to us that we were stunned at the quenching nature it provided to our thirst for some TRUTH. Of course, it's a men's magazine but there were articles written by the editor's wife that I would immediately search out upon it's arrival in my mailbox.  Robert and Rachel Green were highly regarded in our eyes. We laughed at the inconsistent population of cats they housed, cringed when they would receive a critical letter from a reader, and cheer at the glory they gave to the Lord. Then one day it all seemed to fade away. We kept our issues of the magazine and shared the collectibles (in our estimation) with others when we thought they needed some spiritual "meat". All other magazines were measured up according to two publications we read and this was one of them. There really hasn't been any since.

Now let's return to the present... Kurt and I are members of the Cookeville Primitive Baptist Church where we met Debbi Sacran (among other FABULOUS people). Over the next six months we had been informed of a great family camp to attend over the summer (we didn't attend this year), and her daughter-in-law's family who were so musically inclined (particularly vocally), and some folks who she thought we "had to meet". Well, those particular folks (who own the camp property, sing really well and are so totally needing to be met) were going to be attending the Smithville Fiddler's Jamboree as judges. I was on task to help with registration at that event. Debbi introduced me to "Rachel". Then a man kept wandering in and out of our registration area with a name button labeled "Robert" and Debbi, again, introduced me. I go home and casually tell Kurt about the goings on of the day and include information about the Greene's (yes, for some reason this is the spelling that I thought was theirs... I don't know why). I just mentioned it to him that they were going to be at church in the morning so we were going to have a common meal together after services.

Sunday morning Kurt yells from the bedroom dripping wet from jumping out of the shower, "Robert Green??? That's the editor of Quit You Like Men??!!?!!?!" I said, "Nah, they spell their name with an "e" on the end." Kurt just stood there with a slightly deflated look. We continued on with church preparations and headed to the church building. After a lovely lesson we were getting the food prepared for lunch and Kurt approached Robert and asked him if he were the Robert Green of QYLM. Robert sheepishly acknowledged that he was one and the same. No "e" on the end of their name. These were the folks that had six, five, twelve, six, five, eleven, four, two, one, three, five, four, five, two cats and two lurking toms that we had felt so blessed to have known of. All of the sudden we were in the presence of celebrities! And then they had to go to a meeting and we had a fussy two year old overdue for a nap. 

We didn't get the opportunity to sit and just soak in their company but I am so happy to say that Rachel is my "friend" on Face Book and we look forward to another possible opportunity to glean from their adventures as editors, parents, home schoolers and disciples of Christ. 

It's almost like we went to Texas to be shown this humble little magazine (and don't forget that we had to pick up #1 boy there too ), go home to Washington to share it with a few folks, and then sent to Tennessee to hear the wonderful truth that the Primitive Baptist church cherishes, only to become members, and then meet the very people who have assisted my little family to be seekers of Christ through the PB network. It appears full circle, eh? What a crazy, winding road the Lord blessed me to travel to meet some great people.