View Out The Front Window May 22, 2016

Check out our posts from the last week at the links below. 

Odie's Saturday Post

Travel Days

City Reach Atwater - Pictures

Taking The Tent Down In Atwater, California

Sis. Tammy Ferguson

Weekend Woundup and Weview

Odie's Saturday Post was a sweet good-bye to her dear friend. It was very fitting and very touching.

If you like variety then you are in the right place today. The BoggsMobile and Bro. Jimmie's TentMobile were moving down the road this last week and we had several overnight views along the way. We finally landed in the Ft. Worth, Texas area but not before making a few stops after leaving California.

Our first overnight stop was at Flying J in Kingman, Arizona. Here is our view out the front door.

This was our view out the front window when we arrived.

And the next morning when we were ready to depart.

The next stop was Flying J in Tucumcari, New Mexico. This is our view out the front window.

This is our view out the front door.

Our final overnight stop was the Flying J in Ardmoore, Oklahoma. This is our view out the door.

This is our view out the front window.

Here is a view Thursday morning along the side of the BoggsMobile. You can see Bro. Jimmie's rig in the background. Unfortunately, he is not driving the Flying J tanker.

Thursday morning we arrived in the Ft. Worth area. The BoggsMobile is parked at Victory Tabernacle and here is the view out the window there.

Bro. Jimmie was able to pull onto the tent site but we decided it was too much of a risk to get the BoggsMobile stuck. That means we are parked about 1.5 miles from the tent. Since I can not get you a view out the front window with the tent in it, I thought I would share the view from where I am sitting under the tent as I type this about 1:00 AM. 

Bro. Jimmy was here watching until after midnight and he had a steady stream of folks stopping to inquire about tent revival. That is exciting. I believe the God is going help us. Of course good opinion or bad opinion does not stop God. As I was typing this a truck went by twice with the passenger yelling to take the tent down, but that will not slow God down one ounce.

In fact, I know they were going by slow enough to read the signs so they know the reason the tent is on this corner. "For God So Loved The World, One Life At A Time!" God loves you, friend. He loved you enough to send His only begotten son to pay the penalty for your sin. That is the whole purpose we are here.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a great Sunday.

Davy

See You Later My Dear Friend Tammy Ferguson

Hello friends this is Odie reporting in from Texas. We have been a moving target this week. The BoggsMobile covered over 1,700 miles. Thank the Lord for helping us to make the long journey safely. You can read about it HERE.

The tent is going up today. Dad, Mom, Bro. Jimmie and others have been working hard to be prepared for this moment. We are excited for City Reach Ft. Worth. Please pray that we reach everyone possible here. Also pray that the weather is cooperative. 

Dad already told you I lost a a special friend a few days ago. By the grace of God I was blessed to have fellowship with her before she left us. Last weekend I was privileged to spend some precious time with my dear friend Tammy Ferguson. We drank Starbucks, shopped, ate, talked, laughed and went to two great City Reach services. 

Tammy and I loved to get together. We had a blast on our girls day in November of 2014. You can read about that day HERE. We wanted to plan another outing. We actually had a bucket list of outings planned for the years ahead. We would often text and talk on the phone of places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do. 

Several months ago we started talking about City Reach coming to California. Tammy told me that she would visit City Reach in California. She was excited about the whole City Reach project and prayed fervently for it. Tammy was excited to be a part of City Reach Atwater. 

Tammy actually left work early last Friday to have extra time to spend with me. She was an amazing friend! We headed to Starbucks and got some drinks. It was our mini belated  celebration for Tammy's 52nd birthday. It was great to talk face to face with her for a while before service that evening. 

After a wonderful Friday night service we had great fellowship with lots of friends. We  finalized our plans for Saturday morning. Then It was time to enjoy a fun filled day on Saturday. 

I had planned to write this description of our day together and post it this morning. Tammy was a faithful blog reader and would have loved to read all about it. She often left encouraging comments and sent us texts and emails about posts she liked.

It was a special treat to have Emily and Shea with us for part of the day Saturday. We loaded up in Tammy's car and headed to Modesto, California and did a little shopping at few stores. Mostly we just enjoyed four young ladies spending the day together. We had great time.

A highlight of the day was lunch at Tahoe Joe's! If you can believe it, we were more excited about eating than shopping.  I had the fabulous Santa Fe Dip sandwich. I highly recommend this choice at Tahoe Joe's

In this picture Tammy and I are ready for the day. She always went out of her way to make sure I was well cared for. She was so afraid she would do something wrong. Tammy would say, "You are precious cargo and I can not let your parents down." 

I know some of these are not the best pictures but I will cherish these forever. 

Tammy and I hanging out while Emily and Shea shoe shopped. 

We both shared a love for southern gospel music. Tammy had became friends with several artists. She attended their concerts and assisted them however possible. I loved hearing her stories. 

After lunch we headed back to Atwater. The other girls needed to do something else so we parted ways until church. Tammy's car found its way to Starbucks again. We liked half price drinks! We took our drinks back to the tent and continued to visit until church time. 

Tammy wanted to help with setup Saturday night. She was blowing the grass off the carpet here and wanted a picture of her working at City Reach on the blog. 

We had an outstanding service Saturday night. God moved amazingly in the altar service. Quickly it was time for Tammy to return home. After several hugs and a quick last picture we said "see you later". She said that "Goodbye was too sad and too final." This time, it really was.

Sunday Tammy texted to let me know she was rejoicing that God had answered a prayer for her Saturday night!! God had built our faith Saturday night during service and her prayer had been answered. I had no idea that would be one of my final text from her. 

Monday, I along with so many shocked people, received the unbelievable news that Tammy had left this life in her sleep. It is devastating news for us left behind. With out a doubt I know Tammy is rejoicing in Heaven. I look forward to a happy reunion someday. 

It is a definite reminder we must live life ready to leave here in a twinkling of an eye. Tammy definitely lived life to the fullest and was ready to go. Everyone knew that she loved them and she was a friend to all!

Several years ago Tammy made it her mission to pray for me and to be my personal encourager. Out of that grew a deep abiding friendship. We rarely went a day without touching base through text or phone. It is my privilege and honor to be her friend. 

Tammy was also a praying lady. She fasted and prayed for me different times without knowing how desperately I needed the boost. Tammy was in tune with God. I know I was not the only one that she helped through life by praying for them. 

Right now I am still in shock that she is gone. I wake up hoping this nightmare will end. So many times I have reached for the phone to call or text her. It just does not seem real! I am extremely grateful that I was able to spend precious time with her! It is a blessing I will cherish forever. 

A group of us mutual friends are trying to rally around each other and help each other through this. Tammy's absence leaves a hole in countless hearts.  We love you, Tammy!!! You were a friend to everyone and had a gift to make everybody feel special. You are definitely missed and life is not the same without you here!

Thank you to all you that have been praying for me and everyone else. Many have let me know you are praying. I know some of you never got to meet the awesome, Tammy Ferguson but you are standing by us in prayer any way. God bless you for it.

Tammy left behind a hurting family too! Please join me in praying that God gives them unspeakable comfort and peace through this heartbreak! I know they are struggling to adjust to the new normal without Tammy. We love you all dearly!

I am going to close with a few pictures I found from our 2015 visit to Riverdale Assembly of God, Tammy's home church. These were taken in October of last year. 

Wearing our Dainty Jewell's dresses

Dilan Rich, Me and Tammy 

 

Matching completely unplanned

Thanks for reading today.

Odie

California to Texas - Travel Days

We pulled out of Amazing Grace Holiness Tabernacle in Atwater, California on Monday morning about 8:00 AM and pulled into Victory Tabernacle Holiness in Watauga, Texas about 1720 miles later near 11:40 AM on Thursday morning. It was a long, long drive but we made it safely and with very little problems.

I am very thankful God helped us along the way and I am very thankful to be in one place for several days. We love the open road but 1700+ miles will do me for a while.

Here we are Monday morning a few minutes before we pulled out.

Here is Bro. Jimmie and his rig going south on Hwy 99 in California.

We were having a slight anomaly in our air system so I stopped at the rest area near Tulare, California to check things out and contact Jeff Rowe from East Tennessee Luxury Coach. I am so glad Jeff still takes my phone calls, texts and emails. Thankfully everything checked out at the rest area and we had no more problems at all with the air pressure the whole drive.

We were stopped and in the midst of all of that when we received word that Sis. Tammy Ferguson had passed away. We did not know whether to turn around or go on. After talking with Pastor Spencer and checking with Odie, we decided to go with the original plan.

We would have loved to attend Sis. Tammy's funeral (Of course at that time we had no idea when the funeral would be) but we could see no way to do it and to be in Ft. Worth setting up the tent Saturday as planned. Odie feels so blessed to have spent the better part of two days with her dear friend right before she lost her. That was a tremendous gift for Odie and we are very thankful for that special time.

In a few hours we started back through the Tehachapi Mountains. It is not often we get to drive through one of our favorite places but we have been through here three times the last two months. We love this place.

Arizona was not to be outdone in scenery. We love this place too.

We stopped and fueled up at the Flying J in Kingman, Arizona and found a place to park for the night after 511 miles. Bro. Jimmie was already there and parked so we jumped in the Green Machine and went back one exit to a very good Golden Corral. We ate our meal courtesy of a gift card from Bro. Jorge and Sis. Mary Stevens in El Mirage. Thanks friends!

The car and RV parking was closed for construction so here we are parked among the trucks in Kingman.

Tuesday we hit the road about 7:00. Bro. Jimmie had left earlier and was quite a bit down the road by the time we started. It was another cool day to travel and we did have a little rain but it was a great day.

I only stopped three times for a break and a quick walk around and this was one of those times.

Beautiful!

Even with construction, some rain and some high wind, we made super great time all day long. Most folks know I like to keep my travel days to about 550 miles or less but we needed to do a long day this trip in order to make some time. Tuesday was nearly perfect to do it and we ended up driving 640 miles in 9:15 minutes total for better than 69 MPH overall average. I have never been able to do that in the bus.

I was killed by the time we stopped at Flying J in Tucumcari, New Mexico. I was very glad to find the RV spaces wide open. We parked in the same exact spot where we parked on February 29th on our way west. That was a 4325 mile circle!

Bro. Jimmie came in before dark but it was cold and spitting rain so I did not take a picture until later.

Wednesday morning we started about 7:00 Mountain time and just like Tuesday, Bro. Jimmie was already gone.

We could have cut down to Ft. Worth from Amarillo, Texas but we opted to drive about 100 miles farther and go through Oklahoma City and Wynnewood, Oklahoma. We needed to stop at the tent site in Oklahoma City and make some decisions. Bro. Jimmie was waiting for us when we pulled in.

And we wanted to stop in Wynnewood and drop off the two generators we are no longer using. It was good to see the tent trailer and my good friend, Bro. Larry Landress. Unfortunately I only snapped a picture of the tent trailer.

By the time we finished in Wynnewood, Bro. Jimmie and I were both finished for the day. We did manage to drive a few more miles to the Flying J in Ardmore, Oklahoma. I needed fuel again so I fueled up and parked in the RV section again.

Wednesday was more typical of one of our travel days. You can see below that we traveled about the same amount of time total as Tuesday, but because of the stops we had to make, the average was 50 instead of 69. That is a big difference and more normal.

Here is a picture I snapped of both rigs at Flying J in Ardmore Thursday morning.

Although we were anxious to get to Ft. Worth, there was no reason to hurry Thursday morning. Rush hour traffic in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area is a killer. I emptied our holding tanks and left a few minutes before 8:00. When we left I-35 W near Ft. Worth was completely red with traffic. By the time we arrived it was completely clear, even with construction. Perfecto!

We parked at Home Depot and Bro. Jimmie and I met Pastor JJ Stevens at the tent site to look it over. We were hoping to pull onto the lot but they have been getting quite a bit of rain and Wednesday night was heavy rain. The heavy rain revealed the low spots on the lot and educated me as to where the tent is NOT supposed to sit if we expect any rain. 

I do not expect any rain at all next week but the weather guessers have other ideas. Will you help us pray about the weather this week? God can do a notable miracle!

Since the tent site was wet, Bro. Jimmie and I parked our rigs at Victory. As I said before, it was nice to settle down into one spot. Here is Bro. Jimmie backing in.

I spent a couple of hours walking the property of tent site in the afternoon. I was praying and picking up trash so that it will be easier on Pastor JJ Stevens to mow today. There are a couple of places on this lot to set the tent even if the rain continues but now that you all are praying, I am believing for no rain.

Thursday evening we visited with a friend from Mississippi. 



Bro. Larry Smith is in DFW for a reunion of his company from Vietnam. We absolutely loved getting to see him, visit with some of the other veterans and tour the display area. It was awesome. We will try to put up pictures and more about the visit later in the week.

Today is more preparation for City Reach Ft. Worth and much more prayer about the weather. Will you join us? God bless you all.

Davy