View Out The Front Window March 11, 2018

Our view has not changed this week since we are still at the Lazy OD ranch but there are several things on the ranch that have changed. I will show you two pictures that prove it.

The septic system install has begun.

Also, the accent wall in Odie's bedroom is complete  except for some finishing touches.

Here are the links to our posts from the last week. Please take a moment to check them out.

Odie's Saturday Evening Post

A Sketch of Our Week

I'm Swinging My Way

Vintage View Vednesday

So Great Salvation

Weekend Woundup and Weview

Thanks for stopping in today. I hope you have a great Sunday.

Davy

See You Soon Papaw Bill

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from home. We had to come to Ohio this week unexpectedly but it is good to be here. I was excited to see the progress on the house that is being built for me to live in. Pictures are awesome but it is super exciting to see everything first hand.

Dad has told you the reason for this trip back to Ohio. We had to bid farewell to a saint of God. Bro. Bill Houston was an amazing man of God. His ministry touched countless people through the years. Bro. Bill and Sis. Darien influenced our family greatly. 

I can not fathom the heartache of Mamaw Darien and their family. Please keep them in your prayers. 

Bro. Bill always had a smile on his face. He loved to laugh and make others laugh. He was a lot of fun to be around. His number one goal was sharing the love of God and he did his job well. 

One of my many memories of Papaw Bill happened when I was four years old. It happened at campmeeting in Georgia. I remember feeling God move on me while the people were praying for my healing. It was one of the first times I remember realizing God was touching me. Papaw Bill was one of the ones praying for me and I tried walking to him that night. He was always my encourager and cheerleader. 

I will always be thankful for the impact that Bro. Bill had on my life spiritually. He encouraged me to keep believing and praying for my miracle. He reminded me to never give up. Many times he told me, "Do not say if it happens but say when it happens."

I had the privilege of knowing Bro. Bill Houston as, Papaw Bill. Papaw Bill and Mamaw Darien adopted me before they had grandchildren. We shared a special bond that I will forever cherish. 

Papaw loved to tell this story about me. I was 6 years old when his daughter Stephanie was expecting her first baby and she told me that I was no longer the #1 grandchild. Well, Papaw informed me that I would not lose my #1 status. So each time I had Stephanie’s attention and I would hold my finger up telling her that I was still #1. ☝🏻Papaw Bill got the biggest kick out of that. 😀

This all does not seem true that Papaw is gone. I heard preach and sing about Heaven so many times. He made you feel as if you were almost there. Last week He reached that wonderful place. For Papaw Bill there is no more dreaming about Heaven. To him it is now a reality. 

I have tried to write a fitting tribute to Papaw! All of my words just feel hollow. It was an honor to know him. Below is a note from my heart. 

Thank you for stopping by today. It is always good to have you visit with us. 

Odie

Papaw Bill, 

I can not believe we had to say goodbye to your earthly shell. I am still trying to accept the fact that you have left this world for Heaven. I am thankful that you will suffer no more. You fought the fight and now you have finished your race

I was blessed to have had you in my life and every day I find another way that you impacted me. Thank you for allowing me to be your #1 granddaughter. I will always love you. 

Heaven is sweeter with you there!  I plan to see you soon! I know you are enjoying Heaven and I am anticipating enjoying it with you. We will run a race on streets of Gold!

Love your☝🏻granddaughter

A Sketch of Our Week

It has been a busy week on the home front but that is the expected norm when we are home for a few days. We have people to see, places to go, food to eat and a house to build! I will try to post more pictures later from this week's progress on the house, but I have a few interesting pictures today.

I also have big news about the house. The septic system installation is scheduled to begin this morning and the flooring installation is supposed to take place next week. These are exciting times and that means the end of this process is getting closer!

We had a bona fide miracle Friday and Saturday concerning the finances for the house. We should have had the septic installed months ago but it is a pretty big ticket item so we spent money on other house areas. It needed to be put in NOW so I made the call not knowing how I would swing it.

Friday and Saturday we received all but $500 of the money from completely unexpected sources. Three offerings in less than 12 hours and one week later, the septic is going in! Wow!

I will give play by play on the rest of the week as we look at pictures  pictures.

Monday was Bro. Bill Houston's funeral and we sang a medley of a few of his songs. Here we are in the Dryden Rd. adult Sunday school room practicing before the service.

Monday evening we stopped at Acapulco for our first taste of their salsa in a few months! It was all delicious!

Thursday we had several bouts of heavy snow during the day. Thankfully, not much of accumulation.

Thursday Kelly Jo and I had another lunch visit to drink some salsa.

One of the house projects was painting the block walls and concrete ceiling in the closet/safe room. The paint is a special block filler paint. It is about as thick as gravy and messy to apply. It sure brightened the room

Kelly Jo and Odie spent one evening below Hillsboro with some of Kelly Jo's family. They were excited to see the completed home of Kelly's parents. I am anxious to see it too.

Odie snapped a few great pictures at my parent's house this week.

I mentioned yesterday that we sang and preached at Dodds Wednesday night. Thursday night we were blessed to hear our Pastor preach. All we had to do was sing a little and enjoy the Word of God! It was nice to be home.

Besides painting the safe room, we have also been working on a few other house things. Kelly Jo brushed on a coat of polyurethane inside some of the cabinets. All the sink bases and any other cabinets that could be vulnerable to a water leak should now be protected from water damage at least partially.

We had a 32" vanity in the second bathroom. It was built especially for the space as it was designed. The plumber missed the drain location by several inches and the vanity was only 10 inches from the center of the drain. We measured carefully and the commode would fit but the edge would only be 1" from the cabinet.

We purchased a 24" vanity and sink for a very reasonable price at Home Depot and installed it this week. It fits perfect and looks great but the quality is a lot less than the custom built vanity. We will find another use for the larger one.

We also cleaned the garage and we are in the process of cleaning/scraping the floors to get them ready for flooring next week. We have more projects we hope to complete today and tomorrow and we have a bunch of outside cleanup as well.

Hopefully I can post more pictures of all that next week. Thank you for dropping in to sit a spell today.

Davy

I'm Swinging My Way

We have been working on the house about non stop this week so not much time to work on a post. We did stop working long enough to walk next door to sing and preach at Dodds last night. Pastor Kelly Rogers invited us and we were happy to go. It was enjoyable to sing, preach and to get to be in church with some of my family! Thank you Bro. Kelly.

I had this ready to post last week but pulled it at the last minute to post something that could not wait. I will put it up today before it becomes too dated.

As you read our daily dispatches it may seem like we go to church, go to church, go to church, drive 500 miles and go to church again. Admittedly and happily daily church is a huge part of our lives. We love having it so.

But we do have a bunch of fun along the way. The day I am writing about was especially fun.

Twice last week we ate at Hog Heaven in Ellisville with Pastor Kenny Morris and Sis. Joan Morris. The first time we were joined Bro. Jason and Sis. Mandi Morris. This is a new location for this restaurant and it was our first visit. The food was excellent. It was so good we went back again later in the week.



We laughed until we about cried a few times as we visited with our friends. I love good fun with good people. It gets even better when you add in good food! Our visits to Hog Heaven included all of the above.

Once we finished eating the first visit, we went outside and the fun really began.

They have a swing hanging from a tree branch. It looks like a tow strap with a nice swing attached. Kelly Jo could not resist and it was a lot of fun.

I got her going high and fast and she loved it. Then I rotated her around and around and around as tight as a banjo string. Once it was tight, I pushed the swing in a big arcing circle and the the swing was spinning fast because of the rotation. KJ closed her eyes and hung on for dear life.

We had to slow it down a little bit so Kelly Jo could hold Lucas for a little ride.

I think we could have played on the swing all afternoon. It was raining the second day we went to Hog Heaven so we missed our swing time. Too bad!

Kelly Jo is such a big kid and we would not have it any other way. She brings joy to us with her laughter and her love of life. As long as I get to keep pushing the swing, that is all right by me. I would not have it any other way.

Thanks for dropping in today.

Davy

Vintage View Vednesday 2009 Tri-State Youth Camp.

Our Vintage View Vednesday post this week comes from Tri-State Youth Camp in Mt. Vernon Indiana in 2009. We have been to a lot of youth camps over the years and they are always good. This one stands out as one of the best in my memory. It was a great week.

The services were outstanding and with many of our friends there, the whole week was awesome. It seems like God has liberty to move in youth camps and we love being right in the middle of a move of God. 

You will see a bunch of pictures from the fun time. It was about the funniest fun time I have ever seen. I think I laughed as much as the young folks. I doubt you can look at all the pictures with a straight face, even if you have no idea what is going on when the picture was taken.

Looking at all the pictures makes me want to go back again. I thought about splitting the post in two since there are so many pictures but I decided to throw them all at you in one bunch. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for stopping in today.

Davy

Bro. John Eaton is the chairman of the camp and the day speaker was Bro. Chris Juneau.