Winter Storm Fern

"Feasting is the call to do the hard work of joy, for the easiest thing in the world is to be serious and cynical, but the harder (and more Christian) thing to do is fight for laughter and levity."

~Justin Whitmel Early, "The Body Teaches the Soul"

I knew I wanted the trip to Dallas to be full of "laughter and levity" as we sent Sarah off to the other side of the world. Winter Storm Fern pushed the needle towards "serious and cynical". Thanksfully, we have some flexibility, and we chose to leave a day earlier than originally planned so we could beat the storm. I drove, Aaron worked beside me, and Katherine chugged away on school in the back seat.

We woke up Saturday morning to a winter wonderland. Our room had a little balcony, and I enjoyed a continuous refill of hot drinks in my mug while I enjoyed watching the snow and sleet come down. I was plenty cozy in my layers. Thankfully, Olivia and Connor had good friends who pulled some strings and freed them up to come to Dallas late Friday night, too.

The "laughter and levity" aspect of our family erupts joyously and easily once we are together. Games and food help provide a fertile atmosphere for fun.

Technology helps more than ever. We videoed with the Kansas City crew and played screen games together. At one point, I asked Sarah, "What are quiet hours here in the guest house?" because we were laughing so loudly.

Sunday morning, churches all over the DFW area canceled because of the ice and snow, so the guest house hosted a hymn sing. Katherine brought her cello so she could practice, and we found some other instruments lying around. For two hours, we joined with many other voices and sang praisees to the Lord. What an unexpected gift that one of Sarah's friends snapped this pic of us worshipping together.

We reconnected with the Huntleys, which is always encouraging and refilling. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that our first interaction with Ruth was exactly twenty years ago. She sat in front of 2 1/2 year old Olivia on a plane from Atlanta to Orlando as we flew to training camp. Ruth's seat was rocked by Olivia's energetic kicks for several house, but she never complained. When we climbed into the vans to whisk us away to orientation, there was this lovely young lady from the plane who was also a part of Wycliffe Bible Translators. 

Our friendship has grown over the last twenty years as we have weathered changing assignments and growing families, but this is a beautiful sisterhood that shapes us to look more like Jesus and brings us great joy.