I know it has been two and a half months since I've blogged, but things have been extremely busy, plus I've enjoyed being back home in Florida so much... that taking the time to blog hasn't been on the top of my to-do list.
Touring four months straight has a way of taking a toll on things. I'm thankful for good health and looking back at it now, I really felt great physically most of the time while out on the road and never really was sick at all. The boys sneezed whenever we were with people who owned cats or dogs, but other than that, we survived the challenges of being away from home and out of our normal routine. I must add that doing the tour was one of the best things we've ever done as a family. It helped us re-group emotionally, and allow God to prepare some changes in our lives. In addition to meeting many new people we've never met before, we saw a lot of familiar faces from the past. And along the way God helped establish a ministry within our family, which had been spoken to us in faith by many ministers, most of whom we had never met in person. It has been a special experience to watch our boys grow up and find themselves in the middle of ministry and the things of the Lord. I anticipate many great things from them in the future. They are excited about all that the future holds for our family.
I had flown Colton up to Greensboro, NC to spend a few days with me at a conference. I was so excited about getting back home earlier than expected, I asked him to ride with me and keep me awake while I drove all night long back to Orlando. Colton assured me that he would stay up and ride shotgun for me. After pondering my options, and being reluctant to cancel some things in Georgia; I knew it was time for me to get home and be with my family. Wouldn't you know he fell asleep after about two hours on the road, and I ended up pulling over at two different truck stops to rest about an hour each time. We made it back home about mid-morning and other than pulling an all-nighter... it felt oh so good to finally be home!
After taking it easy for a couple of weeks, I made a few quick trips out of town, but not to the point where it was disrupting my schedule at home. I was able to check out a few of Colton's baseball games, and even allowed Tate to play hooky from school a day or two over the next few weeks. I took the family to New Mexico for the holidays and we had a blast! It was one of the nicest vacations we've ever had. Spending two weeks relaxing in the southeastern New Mexico desert, skiing the snow covered mountains of Santa Fe, and exploring some scary terrain on four-wheelers helped us ring in the new year!
We flew into Orlando around midnight on New Years Eve...what a way to celebrate right? Then again, as long as we landed safely, we should consider ourselves blessed. The next day (January 1st) I picked my stepdad up from the airport and he spent two weeks with us. We had a wonderful time with him visiting and it was good to just relax and kick around with him. It has been a tough year on our family after losing my mom in April. We are glad to see 2009 get here, and look forward to all that God has in store for our family.
I trust everyone has a wonderful weekend and may your favorite NFL team be victorious on Sunday. I might add, it has been so good getting to watch more college and NFL action this fall than I had in previous years. Feel free to invite me over for the Super Bowl. I'll being the chicken wings and pickle burgers.
