We left for Florida early Tuesday morning. The Drama Queen already had her sunglasses ready. We had to rent a van for the trip - our van isn't up for any long trips. It's old and tired. We are simply praying that it will not give up the ghost before August!
This was the fourth time we had attempted a trip to Pensacola - and even this time, we had all but given up. The sticking point was finding an affordable place to stay while there. (It's a bit much to expect any family to take in Melissa and I and 4 kids for a week!) But this time, a friend at OMS headquarters put us in contact with an OMS board member who lives in Niceville and she, in turn, put us in contact with Evans and Susan, a beautiful couple who own a home in Shalimar - just an hour or so from Pensacola. AND they were heading down to Tampa Wednesday through Sunday evening and were graciously willing to offer their house to us (complete strangers!) during that time! Being on the receiving end of that sort of hospitality is so humbling and so beautiful.
Their gracious offer reached us just the previous Friday, so as we were wrapping up the last day of school, all of a sudden we had a trip to Florida to look forward to!
So Tuesday was spent in the van. And, I must note, our kids are better than ever about travelling. (Just a few years ago, we made our first potty stop literally 20 miles down the road. THAT was a long day.) This picture was taken at a rest stop in Alabama. Dats was determined to wear his sleeveless shirt, even though it was not much warmer than Indiana.
We arrived in Shalimar just after dark. And Melissa and I praised God we made it without incident - during the last hour or so, we saw three or four dozen deer standing alongside the road! It seemed miraculous that none of them darted in front of our van.
We had the chance to visit just a bit with Evans and get a tour of the house before everyone was ready to crash for the night.
It had not even occurred to me in our "planning" of the trip that Wednesday would be an excellent day to find people at the First United Methodist Church of Pensacola, but it certainly worked out that way. We arrived just in time for their weekly lunch - some delicious chicken pot pie. It has been nearly 11 years since we left Pensacola, and yet, many of the faces greeting us in the church office and fellowship hall were just as we remembered them.
The girls in front of a blooming azalea bush on the church grounds. The Drama Queen was only a month old when we moved from Pensacola back to Indiana. The Princess, of course, was non-existent at the time. Time flies!
We did some driving around in the afternoon and then came back to the church for dinner and a Lenten worship service. A great day to visit some dear people - with opportunities to catch up on life events and to share a bit about Haiti in the process.
We didn't mind the drive to get back to Shalimar each evening - and it didn't take long for us to make ourselves at home!
Of course the kids could hardly wait to get some sand between their toes, so we took lunch to a nearby beach on Thursday. It was quite chilly, especially with the wind sweeping down the coast, but our kids were determined to make the most of the water and sand.
I was struck time and again on this trip that our kids are each other's best friends. They squabble sometimes, of course, but by and large they are super close. Makes a dad's heart very happy!
At least the beach wasn't overcrowded! Plus, no chance of a terrible sunburn. Ideal!
Just as much as they had bugged us about the beach - or more! - the kids wondered again and again, "When are we going to Jeff and Sheila's house?" Thursday evening, we got to spend with Jeff and Sheila. Here the kids are squeezing some oranges off the tree beside the house after Mr. Jeff used his pocket knife to cut a hole in the top of each.
We had a wonderful seafood dinner and had some time to catch up with each other and with another friend, Jimmy, who joined us all for dinner.
The last time we saw Jeff and Sheila was almost two years ago when we were headed down to Miami in anticipation of taking our kids to Haiti for the first time. That trip was our way of confirming God's call on our lives to serve him in Haiti. Now we finally got to share some of the pictures from that trip with Jeff and Sheila in person.
The kids love to climb on Mr. Jeff!
More pictures to come...
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