The Weekend Dispatch 6/5/23

Our weekend began in Gainesville, Texas. It was laundry day for KJo and Odie while I was trying my best to be prepared for Pastor Dennis King's funeral on Saturday. Even though my sermon was complete by Wednesday evening, I was editing right up to the last minute. Unfortunately, that is not uncommon for me.😢

KJo and I spent some time at the church Friday preparing for a new song.

The family night visitation Friday evening was amazing. Hundreds of people walked through the church as a testimony to the life Bro. King had lived. He was an honorable man and the people came to declare it.

We have been going to House of Prayer in Gainesville for many years but we were blessed Friday to meet hundreds of people that Bro. Dennis had helped or influenced. It was tremendous to witness the outpouring of love for a man that affected so many lives.

The funeral was Saturday at 10:00. We were up early in order to get our voices warmed up and do our best for Bro. King and his family. We also started the bus and moved to the edge of the parking lot so as to make room for the cars to line up around the church.

This the RV parking at the church. 

We backed up and over to this spot.

They were not even sure they could bury Bro King Saturday because of the 100% chance of storms with heavy rain. But the sun shined all day long until a couple of hours after the committal service. The temperatures were pleasant too. No rain and sunshine were blessings.

Another great crowd gathered Saturday and the funeral was excellent. Several people told Sis. King they had not been in a service with the Spirit of the Lord present like that in many years. We are thanking the Lord for manifesting His presence in a mighty way! Hallelujah!

Please continue to pray for Sis. King and the House of Prayer in the coming weeks. They need the Lord to stay close to them. I can barely imagine the road they are walking at this moment, but my heart is turned toward them and I know that God can comfort our friends.

Thank you, friends, for praying for us. We appreciate it much. I was able to be at the church for over seven hours on Friday and run all day Saturday. I had plenty of strength to sing and preach and I am very thankful for that. 

After the funeral and committal, we went to eat with some friends and arrived back at the bus at 3:00. By 4:10, we had cranked the bus, emptied the holding tanks, hooked up the car, said our farewells to Sis. King again and hit the road.

We needed to eat up some miles toward Louisiana in order to make our Sunday a little easier. We lost about 15 minutes in the Dallas area traffic but overall, it was not bad. We stopped for the night in a rest area near Van, Texas after 140 miles.

I did not rest well because of the ongoing generator issue, but it was good enough, I guess. We spent the day finishing the trip to Pineville, Louisiana just after 3:00 PM. It took us about an hour to navigate the tricky entrance into the camp and get parked and then we were done for the day.

The youth camp is held at the Nazarene Camp and the entrance goes way down and back up quickly. We were able to finagle in, but we may not be able to get out again. It seems like a nice place to live.😍

We had a great meal with Pastor Jerry Arnold and a bunch of the folks and today we get ready for the first night of youth camp. 

Thank you for stopping by today.

Davy

A Few Pictures and A Skunk!

The weather this week was perfect for travel. Hallelujah! We had a short rain shower Thursday evening, but we already had our 1000 miles behind us by then.

Saturday morning we will be having the funeral for Pastor Dennis King at the House of Prayer in Gainesville. Please pray for Sis. King, the church and for me. I am trusting God to help me speak His Word and bring comfort and peace. Thank you.

We have a few pictures from our travel week to share with you but first, we have a couple of pictures left over from Sunday night in West Harrison, Indiana.

A Few Pictures and A Skunk!

Since we had nearly 1000 miles to travel from home to Gainesville, Texas, we rolled our wheels a few hours after the Birthday and Anniversary festivities were mostly over Monday evening. I rested a few minutes in the bus and then we hit it strong for an hour or so and soon we were ready to go.

Traffic was good including Cincinnati and Louisville and we had no problem making it to the Horse Cave, Kentucky Rest Area on southbound I-65. It was 211 miles and it took us 3 hours and 35 minutes.

Tuesday we drove 396 miles in about 6.5 hours with very little traffic. It was kind of slow for a bit in Nashville, but much better than it can be. The rest of the day was nearly perfect and we spent the night at a rest area near Hazen, Arkansas.

Tuesday evening I realized we were within 400 miles of our destination and I began to hope we could make it Wednesday evening rather than the projected Thursday. The 211 miles Monday evening and the great day Tuesday really helped. We were way ahead of schedule. Yay!

My high hopes were dashed after the delays we experienced on I-30.

My body was done and my nerves were shot by the time I pulled into a small roadside picnic area near Blossom, Texas. We were over 120 miles from Gainesville and I was finished for the day.

I did not know if we could park there for the night, but I figured I could get some rest during the day and that is exactly what I did. I curled up on the couch and stayed there for quite a while. I did not sleep much, but I rested well. By 6:15 PM I was thinking about finishing the trip.

30 minutes later we were ready to ride.

We made it to the Quick Trip Truck Stop in Gainesville a few minutes after 9:00 PM and we were pulling behind the church shortly after 9:30. Now for the hilarious story I promised you yesterday.

The bus was behind the church, but not yet in its parking position. I was visiting with Sis. Judy King for a moment when I spied a skunk waddling along behind the building.

Sis. Judy wisely left, but we were stuck. I could not back the bus out of the way without removing the car and the skunk was too close to the car for me to unhook it from the bus.

We gave him plenty of space, but we needed to pull the bus forward about 20-25 feet. While waiting him out, he decided to park under the edge of the bus. Can you see him?

The bus was running and the engine and generator exhaust was hitting the ground right near him. I could not believe he was not disturbed by the noise and vibration of the big engine.

He stayed in that exact position for at least 10+ minutes without moving. He first crawled there at 9:40 and we could not move the bus and shut down until after 10:00. 

Eventually, he went under the bus and must have turned and exited under the back of the car. He did not go out the other side and did not walk to the front.   

I usually put an oil-catching pan under the engine when parked on church lots, but I did not go back there at all. I reckon I can clean up any oil drops!😍

Including the 4 hours we were resting at the picnic area, we had been on the road 13 hours when the skunk invaded the last few minutes of our day. What a hilarious ending to a long and taxing day.

Thursday it was safe to unhook the car.

We ate lunch at our favorite area restaurant. I am sure you will see more pictures from there.

Bro. Bruce and Sis. Priscilla Mayhan drove down to eat with us Thursday. It was a sacrifice for them to do it and we appreciate their effort. They are dear friends and they keep proving it over and over. Thank you, friends.

That wraps up a week of travel. Thank you for joining us today.

Davy

A Get Together Extraordinaire!

We had a great day Monday celebrating my Dad's 80th birthday and my parent's 60th Anniversary. A local meat market supplied roasted hog and other trimmings and then everyone chipped in a bunch of food. 

Someone took a video of the food table while the food was being added. It is only a glimpse of what was to come.

I have no idea how many people were there, but it was many dozens of folks. Although we have pictures below from several family members, we did not get pictures of nearly everyone.

This is every living descendant of Eugene and Martha Boggs.

Take your time and enjoy the pictures. Thank you for stopping in.

Davy