We arrive...

We arrived at our Sabbatical on Monday with only a few minor distractions. The battery in my car was dead when I went to start the car, so a trip to Joey Watkins Automotive was in order. Thankfully, the AAA guy came really quickly. Next, I had to take our dog Tory to the Dyess’ for R and R. Tory tore her ACL last week- don’t ask! Apparently, that happens a lot in dogs. Finally, after loading two cars with everything that we thought we would need for a month, we were off. The drive took 5 hours with an hour for lunch. My friend Dana and her kids went with us since Roger was leading worship in Texas until Wednesday night. When you are traveling with 5 kids ages 4-14, an hour lunch ensues. Everyone must go potty when you get to ChickFilA and everyone must go when you leave!!
We arrived in Blowing Rock North Carolina to two days of pouring rain and wind that we thought might take the roof off of the house that we are staying in. We are on TOP of a ridge! Good thing the brakes on my car are good shape! We have been so completely blessed with a very comfortable home with gorgeous views. We have already spent time just watching the cloud formations move around in the valley below us.
We were very excited on Wednesday night when the rain turned to snow! It was so beautiful- the kids loved it and had a great time throwing snow at each other. (Except for Ella (age 4) who stood in the front yard crying because she had snow in her eyes! We helped her out and all smiles again!)

Thursday afternoon the Webbs left for sunny and warm Georgia, and we took ourselves to Wal-Mart for sliding equipment. (In Maine we learned that it is sliding- not sledding, which makes a lot of sense because we very rarely use a sled!) The kids spent a great afternoon sliding down hill on various pieces of sliding apparatus.


Roger joined us at the end of the session, and then we headed back to the house to show him where we will be staying.Friday morning, I used the magic words to get the kids out of the bed- “anyone who wants to go sliding must get up now!” I have only seen Sam move that fast once before and that was with a promise of a ChickFilA breakfast! The sliding was even better after a night of icing, and they all spent the better part of the morning going down the hill.


We are so glad that Roger made it here safely, and he is decompressing now and getting relaxed after a busy couple of months. We are so looking forward to rest and relaxation, but mostly to the contemplation and study of God’s word without the usual distractions. Family worship and devotion times have been super, and we all feel better connected to our Lord after only 5 days.