Partings Sweet Sorrow

It has been such joy to spend nearly a week with Taya, Ross and Isaiah! We even spent an extra day with them. What fun! Isaiah was thrilled to have the bbow right outside his bedroom window. He calls it "the big ol' motor home".

Their home is so beautiful. Neither Gary or Taryn has been here since they moved last June. Taryn couldn't wait to move right in to her sisters spare room and be right next to Isaiah. She got to meet her very special pen pal Madeline and got to spend lots of "girl time" with her and her two sisters Mallory and Alexis. Just what she needed after 3 weeks on the road with Mom and Dad.

I'll just try to hit the highlights of our week here:

Thursday Ross worked, Gary did some work on the bbow, I sorted and organized....and just enjoyed Taya and Isaiah. We went swimming at the pool which was so nice since it was hot and muggy. We "grilled" on the patio and Taryn had a sleepover with Madeline.

Friday Ross took off work and we went to Memphis. Our first stop was the Peabody Hotel which is famous for their ducks. Each day a trainer escorts five ducks from their "palace" on the hotel roof down the elevator to the lobby where they march down a red carpet and hop into the fountain located at the center of the lobby. There is usually a crowd that lines the carpet path and fountain to cheer them on. It is quite cute and Isaiah loved it - all 10 seconds of it.

We then walked down the street and into an alley to find our bbq destination - the famous Memphis Rendezvous. Wow, this was the real thing! It had the atmosphere, it had the people, and it had authentic Memphis bbq. We did ribs again and it's a completely different taste experience from our Texas bbq. They used a serious dry rub, and sauce is on the side, completely different beans, slaw and rice too. What fun! It was there that a serious thunderstorm descended on the city. Poor Ross made a run for umbrellas. We all slogged thru the city streets in our flip flops - except for Gary. It was a comedy just trying to keep them on our feet.

We were walking to the Cotton Exchange Museum, a small but well done museum where we learned the history of the cotton industry in Memphis which was very interesting. We even had the place to ourselves. There is an amazing music history here as well - blues and jazz.

There is so much to do and see in Memphis but it felt like we only had time for a glimpse before we had to head back to Little Rock. We were meeting friends at Larry's for dinner. Larry's is a pizza experience every Thursday nite - an all-you-can-eat experience! They make every kind of pizza you can imagine - from the ordinary to the unique - and they bring them out to you calling out what they're carrying and you just let them know if you'd like a piece. What fun! We all ate way too much.

Saturday we all split up: Girls went shopping and guys went to the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour 2007 Finale. Little Rock was the final stop of their six city tour.

Sunday we went with Ross and Taya to their church - Fellowship Bible Church. This is always so exciting for me b/cause this is one of the churches I pray for every Sunday. Their teaching Pastor Tim Lundy is a wonderful teacher of the Word. We were there for part two of a three week series on spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6. I would highly recommend listening or viewing this series online at www.fbclr.org We can't wait to hear the final message next week.

After Isaiah's nap we drove around Little Rock together and were able to check Fellowship's new facility which is under construction. It is an amazing building and will be a wonderful, welcoming place for them to relocate.

Meanwhile, there was a major thunder and lightening storm back at the house. It was right over us when we got back there. It poured - and I mean nearly 2" of rain poured out of the sky. Taryn even set out a soup can and it was unbelievable how much fell in a relatively short amount of time. We watched their back yard fill up with water surrounding Isaiah sand/rock box, which appropriately is a tug boat. It nearly floated!

Gary's friend Scott and his wife drove over two hours to visit with us that evening. Imagine every growing up/high school story - the good, the bad and the ugly - being told...and oh so many laughs. All I can say is God's grace towards us was and is indeed very, very great!

Monday we were scheduled to leave but decided to stay and enjoy one more day together. I really dreaded the Tuesday good-bye. It's never any fun to leave them, but we were so blessed by our time together. To see their lives and ministry close up, to spend time with them, love on Isaiah, see the sights of the area or just enjoying the ordinary everyday things of life together is really a rich blessing and we are so thankful. They were most gracious and giving towards us and we had a wonderful time.

We left as we came...with Taya and Isaiah standing in the driveway waving and blowing us kisses as we drove off in our bbow.