Our hearts are overwhelmed by the blessings of the Lord this weekend in Perryton, Texas. We arrived in town around 2 p.m. and quickly checked into the hotel and then headed for the church. We had our family devotions in the bus together before going in to set up.
The conference hostess provided us a delicious dinner before our evening started. Thank you! Our music session went quite well. Nathan was able to join us, so he played lead guitar. Some elderly members of the community came to the music session, and we were blessed that they took the time to come.
Nathan and Melanie were a joy to have with us: they would look for ways they could help and fill needs. Even Baby Maxwell did so well; he/she didn’t even make any noise :-).
Each session went smoothly, and we were thrilled that families took their day to come to the conference. Most people had driven a distance to attend. One family brought lunch for us, which made it easy to be able to eat before the afternoon sessions. Thank you!
We met many families, and a highlight for us is being able to learn about their lives. A special treat for the boys this weekend was being able to chat with a father who repairs bluegrass instruments.
The Lord also graciously protected us on our drive home. We were only a little over an hour down the road, when we hit fog. It was very difficult driving for Dad, but we finally came out of the fog. We checked the weather on the Internet, and it appeared we were headed for bad weather. We hit the snow/slush in Wichita. After a quick stop (including ice cream, thanks Nathan!), around 10 p.m. we were on our way again. We weren’t too far down the interstate, and suddenly we came up to an accident. Uriah doesn’t stop too quickly, and the accident was in our lane. Dad braked as quickly as he could. We were horrified to see everyone (including children) involved in the accident standing near their cars, in a very vulnerable area. After switching lanes, Dad decided to see if they could help (no one appear injured, but Dad was going to see if they wanted to come in Uriah), so he pulled Uriah off, and John, Christopher, and Dad went to the scene. The family didn’t want to come, and some KDOT salt trucks showed up, and they were going to help.
We continued through really bad road conditions for another few hours, which slowed down our progress. Then, near Topeka, the roads cleared up, and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.
Another wonderful conference :-)! Our next trip is only four weeks away. That trip will include several stops in Oregon, two in Canada, one in North Dakota, and the last at the MACHE convention (Minnesota).
Blessings,
Sarah for the rest of the family

We snapped this picture quickly as we drove through Greensburg, Kansas, a small town that was devastated by a tornado last year.

Nathan working on his laptop.

Two sisters :-).

The boys listening to the father who works on instruments.

We each have at least one type of bag we carry, and this is our stack of backpacks (and not everyone has one :-)).