A little before noon, we pulled into the driveway. Thank You, Lord, for bring us safely these 5,000+ miles!
More later.
Sarah
Uriah, in his "waiting to be on the road again" spot!
“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
The sights are becoming familiar. The air is now heavy with our normal humidity. Yes, we are nearing our home. Lord willing, we will be home around lunch time! We are anxious to see all the family again!
In Christ, Anna
“Greatly desiring to see thee…that I may be filled with joy;†(2 Timothy 1:4)
It was 3:30 a.m., when Uriah pulled out of the Terre Haute Wal-Mart parking lot. Most of the family went back to sleep after the initial interruption of the engine starting and turning a few corners.
Driver B, aka John, is in the driver’s seat, with master trainer Dad, right behind him, coaching him along. John has been driving for the last three hours and is doing great. It is now sunny, which is nice.
As it stands currently, we’ll be back home in Leavenworth before lunch. Nothing like leaving Manchester, NH around 6 p.m. Saturday night and being home in Kansas by noon on Monday!
The sun rising this morning.
Sarah for the rest
“From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’S name is to be praised” (Psalms 113:3).
8 a.m. was the beginning of the convention for us Friday morning, although 10 a.m. was the official time registration opened. Set up only took about an hour, and the vendor hall was large and spacious.
Setting up Friday morningJoseph helping to bring things in for the book tables.A family registering.Another family registering for the conference.Anna helping at the book tables.
Our speaking schedule was quite full, so Maxwells were often coming and going. The young people’s sessions were met with enthusiasm and gratefulness, which gave us an extra measure of joy. Hearts were extremely open to the messages Dad and Mom shared! They were blessed by many parents coming up after sessions, asking questions and commenting. Throughout the weekend, people expressed their gratitude for us being at the convention.
After hearing Christopher’s Evangelism session, we heard of two young men, who, closely watched by their father, handed out nearly fifty tracts each at the nearby bus stop during the lunch break. One lady told mom that her daughters had been so blessed by the Keepers at Home session they had come to her with tears of joy.
Half of the family before music.
Our music was the most challenging time we’ve probably ever experienced. The reason? A prom was just beginning on the other side of the wall (which was really just a movable partition), and the DJ was revving up the music. At first, it truly felt like a spiritual battle: it sounded like the Tower of Babel coming from the other room, and then you had our side. Two CheNH leaders went to see what could be done about toning the noise down. After the first song, it felt a little easier to push out the distractions and concentrate on the task ahead of us, plus, by that time, the noise had quieted down to a somewhat manageable level, although some of the family was still struggling to keep going.
It ended up that the manager of the hotel became the “go between”: and he worked to keep the music quiet during Dad’s Building a Vision session, for which we were very thankful.
Music...
A family from Maine.Moody readers (and thank you all for the suggestions for Autumn Days; I'm grateful!)Mom sharing a session Saturday.A quick picture before heading off to a session.Cute brother and sister.Ladies listening to one of Mom's sessions.Dad sharing.A family of blog readers...Book tables--in a new area!
Since the vendor hall closed at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and Dad and Mom’s last session was ending around 4:45, it was decided to move the book tables to outside of Dad and Mom’s session. Joseph, John, Anna, Jesse, and Mary headed up the process, but they had so many helpers, the move took only a few minutes! Thank you to all those who pitched in.
We had several helpers for the pack up process.Packing out!Here's all my brothers, minus Nathan!The Girls and Mom
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for a fruitful three weeks!
Sarah
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain” (James 5:7).
It’s been an uneventful driving day, with sunny, blue skies, pretty scenery, and a nice breeze blowing through the bus. But, by 2:30, it was time to turn on the air conditioners, as inside the bus was becoming quite warm. After stopping for diesel somewhere in Ohio, we motored along again. But, we heard a strange noise coming from one of the air conditioners. Joseph and Jesse began investigating, pulling down the vent to see if anything was visibly caught. They saw nothing, so it was possibly some slight piece of plastic from the manufacturing process that wasn’t removed. But, now, it’s quiet. Nice.
You never know what might happen!
Sarah
“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him” (2 Samuel 22:31).