Maryland

Ever since the economy went sour, business has been slow for many, many people. Construction wasn't exempt. Reputable contractors who were once swamped with work all of the sudden found themselves with nothing stirring at all. The Lord certainly has blessed our family with plenty of work to keep our "crew" busy. Then the outskirts of our small town received their one-of-a-kind stimulus package.......a tornado came through with baseball-size hail. Needless to say, our phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting estimates for their roofs. Dad and Ray along with Keisha and Sara spent all last week (Monday - Saturday) getting up at 4:00 in the morning so they could get a head start before the sun could warm things up too much. They were able to complete two roofs last week and have several more lined up for next week.

In amongst roofing the two houses they did as many estimates as they could fit into their busy schedule. They also had to meet with insurance adjusters to confirm the damage.

After such a week as this, all anybody would want to think of is sleep, but that wasn't quite what was in our schedule. Saturday morning, we left out at 10:00 for Maryland......just a measly 8 1/2 hour drive. Dad and Ray especially were worn out so Christina took over the wheel for a few hours to give Dad a rest.

Is that plum sour, Christina? ......or maybe we should say it's plumb sour. : )

When we arrived at the pastor's house in time for a 4th of July cookout. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with the pastor and his wife as well as another dear couple and the sweet lady who lent us the whole upstairs of her house.

The dog was certainly enjoying herself. If you look real close you can see her licking her chops just waiting to sink her teeth in a juicy burger. (Click the picture to enlarge)

This year we didn't get to go see the fireworks, but some came above the trees every now and then in a grand finale of sorts.

Sunday was the church's 50th anniversary services for which we played our instruments and sang, and Christina was installed as temporary church pianist. : ) The pastor semi-jokingly says he plans to keep her on full time.

After the Sunday morning service there was dinner on the grounds then we all gathered again for a 2:30 service.

We have met so many dear, sweet people here. It's one of those places where it's not long before you feel like you've known them all your life.

This is our sweet hostess, Ann.

Pastor and Mrs. Mayes cutting the cake

As soon as the afternoon service was over, we quickly packed up and headed for a church about an hour away to minister in their evening service. It seems that the Lord always leads us to such wonderful people......and to such wonderful food! : )

The 50th anniversary meetings lasted through Wednesday. Thursday we took a quick trip up to Elkton, MD for a mid-week service there, then traveled back down yesterday (10th). That means last night was the first night this week where we haven't been in a church service.....but we spent the evening at the pastor's house for homemade lasagna which makes up for the loss. : )