Our Weekend In The Rearview MIrror 8/20/19

Before I pick up on our Saturday morning adventures, I have a couple of pictures from a bus project on Thursday or Friday morning. I had to replace a bus headlight back in January in Sterlington, Louisiana. The dim part of the light had quit working on the driver's side light. Since they were replaced at the same time back in 2008, it was only a matter of time before the other side would need to be replaced.

As we were driving a few nights before, we noticed the passenger side might be dim. We checked and sure enough, it was out. Kelly Jo picked up the proper bulb in town and I put it in one morning in Central City.

Friday was a gorgeous day.

Pastor Alan Harris took a great picture from his drone Friday. I love this.


Kelly Jo and I went out at 3:40 on Friday afternoon and began the process of setting up the sound system and preparing the tent and trailer for the takedown adventure.

I told you yesterday that the service and takedown all went well and by midnight everything was ready to go. Here it is.

We had a big day ahead, so Saturday morning started with a rush for the door. Odie was scheduled to be in Brentni's wedding about 90 minutes from Central City and we needed to get the trailer to Evansville, Indiana about 90 minutes in a different direction. This required a plan.

Bro. and Sis. Harris were involved in the music side of the wedding and they were going early. Kelly Jo left the tent site about 5:55 AM and took Odie to their house so she could ride with them later. I left the tent site with the bus and trailer about 6:10 and headed toward Central City. 

I took a couple of pictures as the sun was coming up.

I have to take the bus a different, longer route that Kelly did and I had to stop for fuel. She beat me there by about 30 minutes and that was part of the plan. It can be a little tricky to get the bus into Bro. John Eaton's church. Kelly Jo was there early to spy out the land and report back.

She mapped out the best way onto the church lot and found something totally unexpected. There is a certain route that I have taken to the church for years. She traveled that route and found that while it is good for the bus, IT IS NOT good for the trailer. The bus is 12'6" and the trailer is 13'6". There is a low clearance on my normal route of 13'6"!

Oops! Thank God for Kelly Jo. She noticed and rerouted me a different way. I was able to pull through the grass, drop the trailer, pull into a good position and hook up to electric. It took me 2 hours and 20 minutes to make the trip.

We had a few minutes to clean up and then we hit the road for the wedding in the Green Machine. It was 80 miles through the country to the Lola Church where the wedding was held and it took us about 2 hours each way to make the trip.

The wedding was beautiful.

We stayed for the reception and part of the activities and then squealed the Green Machine tires making a beeline back to Evansville. Upon arrival, we cranked the bus, hooked up the car and we were on the road by about 5:30.

We had 224 uneventful miles just like we like them. It was after 10:00 PM and we were about 20 miles from the church where we were parking for the night. The traffic was clear on Google Maps and we were anxious to put the long day to bed.

Then suddenly this.

What in the world? An accident! 38 minutes of creeping took us 2 miles past the cleaned up accident and we were rolling again. Wow! What an ending to an extended day. However, being delayed by the accident was a whole lot better than being IN the accident!

We pulled into the Pentecostal Holiness Tabernacle on Springdale Rd without any problems and we were in bed by about 1:00.

Sunday morning, we loaded the keyboard and some sound equipment and headed across town to Homecoming at Sharonville Free Holiness Church. We had a tremendous crowd and a wonderful Homecoming service followed by enough food to feed a small army.

It was a great joy to preach for my dear friend, Pastor Randy Brown and his congregation. Please pray for Bro. and Sis. Brown. He is in a life and death struggle in his health and he needs a miracle! We know that God is able!



Davy and Pastor Randy Brown

We arrived back to the bus with enough time for about a 20 minute nap. Then it was time to load in our sound equipment and get a quick soundcheck before service began at 5:30.

I appreciate Pastor David Miller inviting us to preach Sunday night and I appreciate his people responding the way they did. His young people led the way into the altar and we had a really good service.

After church, the men helped us load back into the bus and we were pulling next to the barn before 10:00 Sunday night. Thus came to an end, a wonderfully satisfying, weekend blessed by God.

Today we did laundry, mowed, visited with my parents and drank some salsa. We also drove to the airport Monday night in Dayton to pick up Bro. Kevin and Sis. Teresa Webster. They flew in to attend a few services of fellowship meeting and we are so glad to have them.

We went to fetch two people and got a third as a bonus.

Their son Brady lives in Philadelphia. He knew when they were arriving and he flew to Dayton to surprise them. What an awesome surprise! It is great to see Brady again!

That brings you up to date. Remember that the rest of the posts this week will probably be pictures from the Indoor Fellowship Meeting at Dryden Rd. We are expecting a great time.

Thank you for stopping in.

Davy

The Last Night and Taking Down The Tent in Central City, KY

Our Weekend post will hopefully be ready Tuesday. It was a busy weekend with lots of activity and I will try to pull it all together later today.

Even though I am not ready with the whole weekend post, I do have pictures from the last service of tent revival in Central City. We had a great crowd Friday night and a wonderful service.

It was very dark when service was over Friday night in Central City so taking pictures of the takedown process was sketchy at best. Odie managed to get a few pictures and I have them below.

Fortunately taking the tent down was much easier than trying to take pictures of it in the dark. We had lots of help with the work from the Central City folks and visitors. They really worked great together.

The chairs were in the trailer and strapped down, the sound system was removed from the tent, the lights were taken down, the tent was taken down and folded, the stakes were pulled up, the poles were put away, the straps were folded and packed, the sound equipment was loaded in the bus and EVERYTHING else was loaded into the trailer and strapped down with the trailer doors shut within 59 minutes! 

It took me almost that long to type the worlds longest sentence above.

😁

Bro. Tommy from the church hooked his truck up to the trailer and pulled it over to the pavement where the bus was parked. We cranked the bus, turned it around, hooked up to the tent trailer and pulled into position so that we could easily pull out early Saturday morning.

I will pick up the weekend story from there on the next episode.

Kelly Jo and I appreciate all of the hard work taking the tent down. We could not do it by ourselves and enthusiastic assistance is a huge blessing to us. Thank you, friends.

We also appreciate Pastor Alan Harris and his folks for pouring their hearts into tent revival last week. They had never done anything like tent revival, but they jumped in with all their might and it showed. God blessed and we all enjoyed the fruit of it. I pray that God blesses the results of tent revival for a long time to come.

Now, here a few pictures of a tent takedown in the dark of night. Thank you for dropping in.

Davy

View Out The Front Window 8/18/19

This was the view out the bus window for a few hours Saturday in Evansville, Indiana.

This is our view when we pulled into a church in Cincinnati late Saturday night.

That is all, folks! Have a great Sunday!

Davy

Special Day For Bentni

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from Kentucky. Thank you to all of you that prayed for us this week! I believe that we saw God move and change lives this week.  I love watching grace at work. It never gets old. It is still “Amazing Grace’’!

The tent is packed away in the trailer and waiting for setup next Saturday in Evansville, Indiana. We have a months worth of activity planned before we get to Evansville next weekend.

Brentni Hrapeck 

Several years ago in our travels I met Brentni and we became friends. God knew I needed her as my friend. She has stood by me in the happy and sad times of life. I have tried to be there for her too. 

Regular blog readers will recognize her because she is frequently spotted in different places where we are singing and preaching. Brentni has been in countless services with us all over the country. She is always willing to lend a helping hand wherever needed. She has spent her vacation time and money to spend a little time with me. I can not thank her enough for her friendship. 

I love you, Brentni!

This is a very special day for Brentni. She will change her last name to Davis as she marries Bro. Jordan Davis from Arkansas. Brentni and Jordan will become husband and wife this afternoon in Salem, Kentucky. 

A few months ago Brentni asked us for possible dates that we could be at a wedding. Due to our crazy schedule, we were severely limited on the options. I consulted with Dad and he laid out the options for me. Brentni and Jordan were kind enough to choose the one Saturday that our family could be in Kentucky for a wedding this late summer or fall. That is a true friend! 😃

Three months of wedding planning have flown by for Brentni. She is also moving to Arkansas today. Brentni has had her plate packed completely full lately. The planning is over and it is officially wedding day.

This is a major life-changing moment. She will be a beautiful bride, become a wife and join her husband in ministry. It is a privilege to be by my dear friend for this special day. I am excited to gain Jordan as a new friend too. I pray that God blesses them with an awesome life together as husband and wife!

I must close and get ready for a wedding. There will be pictures to show you on a later date. Thank you for reading  

Odie