Southern Hospitality

Let me start by saying that after being in North and South Carolina for the past six days, I feel like talking southern! And, I think the thing we've been doing the most is eating! Southerners know how to host!

Last Wednesday we pulled out of the driveway at 4:49 AM and arrived at our hotel around 9:30 PM. Since the kids were sound asleep in the van we just put them to bed in their clothes (we've actually been doing that a lot!). We fit nicely in our hotel room with the boys sharing a bed, Silas in the pack n' play and Sammie under the desk. Thursday we shared lunch with Dave and Nikki Bremner, former PY missionaries now serving stateside in the SIM international office in Fort Mill, SC. After picking up a few supplies for our display table we then headed an hour south to Chesnee, SC where we met up with Dave & Debbie Wolff and Dave's mom and husband, Wilbur and Mary Burnett.

On our way there we were phoning Dave, getting directions and it seemed like he was quite shocked that we didn't have GPS. Oh, we had our maps and TripTick from AAA but no GPS (Jay & Kelly...we should have borrowed yours!). Well, I jokingly said that if he thought we should have one then maybe he should get us one. Wouldn't you know that the moment after we had all walked into the restaurant and were sitting down to eat that Dave pulled out a GPS? He uses them for his business and generously is allowing us to borrow it for the duration of this east coast trip. Dave, we would be "lost" without you! (although...we are still getting the hang of it and do still tend to get lost!). And I ate humble pie.

It was such a wonderful opportunity to get to know Dave & Debbie better (or meet them for the first time in my case!) and their overwhelming generosity of meals, and words of encouragement and time and just loving on the kids was simply amazing. Thank you Dave & Debbie for everything!

Then, Mary and Wilbur, I can't think of enough words to adequately describe how welcome and at home they made us feel. Wilbur told us they were taking good care of us so we could go home bragging about it and well, here I am, bragging about it! You can't go hungry in their house, no way. With four little ones, entering into an elegant, elaborate house you can't help but feel a tad bit nervous about what is going to happen but this couple couldn't have been more warm, loving, caring or kind.

This southern hospitality that I am talking about didn't just happen on an individual basis. The church that hosted the missions conference and everyone that was involved were so sweet. Again food, food, food! And words, words, words! For this "words of encouragement" girl, it was exactly what God knew I needed and I feel so much more at peace about this whole trip and even missions as a result of some of God's people just doing what came naturally to them. Thank you! The couple that was in charge of the missions conference, Ray & Carol Reneau, were genuine people with a passion for the command to disciple all the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They did a wonderful job and we were honored to be a part of the conference. (I'll share more about the conference later)

How cool is this? We discovered that we were just a few minutes from our Paraguay teammate Cherlynn who is on home assignment also so of course we couldn't pass on an opportunity to meet up with her for lunch.

Finally, meet the Burkes. Isn't this family beautiful?! We met them at the conference and it worked out perfectly that we were able to spend the evening with them before heading back to NC Monday night. Their girls, Hannah especially, told me more than I'll ever need to know about chickens she had saved and purchased on her own. Their twin boys, Joseph and Joshua, shared music and terere with Dan that I know made his day. Kailey, the oldest (and sorry if I spelled the name wrong!), blessed me with her personality and her blue grass singing. Emily and Faith loved on Silas. Caleb and Isabell played with the boys and Samantha. Glen and Laura opened their home and their hearts to us and we are truly grateful. It is a humbling feeling when a family generously gives of their time and energy to our family. We drove away feeling full in our hearts and extremely blessed.

So, you see? You have got to check out the South. We are going further South this weekend and I can only imagine what God has in store for us then!