Second, I have to give a great big shout out to Andy and Kristen Rogers in Wilmore who hosted our family for the time we were there. They'd never met us, we'd never met them; they served us with the gift of hospitality that comes straight from God and in response to their love for Him. We were incredibly blessed to have been a part of their household for a little while and cannot thank them enough for the late night chats, the early morning pancakes, the Georgia-style BBQ ribs, the parade in the rain, and many moments of laughter and joy.
So, how was our trip? As with anything in life, it had its ups and downs. Our first day there we found out there was a snafu with our housing and it took the wind out of my sails for a little bit. The first night as I wrestled with my own lack of faith, I found myself doubting and saying like Peter, "Lord, I believe. Forgive my unbelief." God is pretty incredible. He showed me for the rest of the weekend how He is bigger than our circumstances, our feelings, our perceptions and our expectations.
It was a rainy visit to Wilmore. The clouds opened up and, from what I'm hearing, they are still letting loose on the town. The Fourth of July celebration, parade, and carnival, we were so looking forward to were cancelled. The parks we were hoping to visit were soggy. The fireworks watching arena was a little puddly. My whole little agenda was a washout (pun intended).
So, ditch my plans and start from scratch. The Rogers family was well prepared to deal with our changing needs. Wednesday morning while Luke met with his adviser and worked on ironing out our housing issues, Andy took the girls and me on a tour of their new school. Hannah got to meet all of the 4th grade teachers and we got to play on a fun, albeit soggy, playground. That afternoon the rain stopped long enough for us to head out to the Asbury Equine Program stables where the kids got to pet and help groom some really pretty horses. The horses were getting all gussied up for the parade the next day and the equine students were awesome about letting our kids join in on the fun of brushing, grooming, petting and feeding.
We got to meet the mayor of Wilmore who is also the head of the university's equestrian studies. He was driving a pink tractor (painted by his female equestrian students just for him) and he let the kids sit on it and took time to welcome Luke and me to town. It was a really special time for the kids and we could feel welcome, welcome, welcome everywhere we turned.
After the trip to the stables, we hit up the local Soda Shop for ice cream sundaes and malt shakes. It felt like we stepped back in time with all the trappings of "Mayberry." I am looking forward to going back and trying some of their other menu items. We parted ways with the Rogers as they had a swim meet and we headed up to Lexington to the local discount theater. $6 for the whole family to watch The Croods!! That's less than one ticket here! Then Whole Foods; yes, that was Mommy's part of the night.
That night, we watched as the rain doubled in strength and magnitude. It was becoming apparent that the Independence Day festivities would have to be cancelled. Regardless, Andy and Luke got up early and cooked us a fantastic breakfast to start the day. As news came in that the parade was cancelled and tears flowed from brokenhearted little girls, a burst of inspiration or maybe just craziness hit Andy. "Let's do our own parade, " he proclaimed. I'm not sure he expected what followed in the next hour, suffice it to say, we did indeed have our own parade complete with John Philip Sousa (being blasted through their car's sound system), flag twirling (an hilarious attempt by yours truly), clowns and other costumed beauties (our girls were decked out), and rampant patriotism by a very soggy group of Americans. By the end of our drenched march through our future neighborhood of Kalas Village, we had picked up about 15 more kids, 3-4 adults, another car, and lots of cheering fans. The tears were gone; instead there was nothing but total joy on our kids faces and it changed everything. Sun could not have shown brighter than their eyes. I could not have felt more welcomed than when my future neighbors joined our little parade and started cheering us on. No rain on our parade.
But our wonderful hosts weren't done. In lightening quick fashion they threw together a cookout for the evening complete with succulent ribs and new friends for us to meet. Andy even put up an umbrella over the grill so we could have that cookout feel even in the rain. By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired and secretly the parents were hoping that the fireworks would be cancelled because we were tuckered out. We heard thunder at one point and thought, "Okay, no fireworks." BUT, the patriots of Wilmore more than made up for us not going to the larger fireworks display. As the neighbors began setting off their own "rocket's red glare" our girls squealed and jumped with each beautiful display. Tears once again replaced with joy; disappointment met with greater hope. Naomi declared it the "best day ever." (Be assured this title is frequently bestowed on days, but only those days which bring her great joy)
Psalm 30:5 in the Message reads like this: All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face! He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love.The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter. The truth of this statement was evidenced in a very mild form for me this week. I said in my last blog that the thing about first impressions is that they last a lifetime. So what were my first impressions? Love, community, joy, perseverance, and most of all, Christ lived out in the lives of strangers who have and will become friends. Bumps in the road? Sure. Snafus in the plans? Of course. But, there was no rain on our parade!
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