Our trip to KY

On our way there I had this idea that I would keep track of the happenings and then blog about them when I got home. Well, I started to do that but I guess I really had nothing to say and then after some things that happened I felt like maybe there was no reason for me to do this but here it goes anyhow. I will probably add pictures later once I get my camera hooked up & download the pictures.

Our journey began around 8 AM on Wed., July 29th. The weather was pretty dreary and it seemed the farther we went the heavier the rain started falling. It was like someone had opened a window to our hearts and we were watching our own tears stream down. This trip would be like no other for us. Any other time we had gone down there, Aunt Frances's smiling face was there to greet us. This time, it would not be :(. We missed our turn and ended up just over the line in West Virginia which kinda made my day (first time I had been to WV since I was a baby and we passed through on our way to FL).

We were able to get on the right road and got to Kentucky about 3:30 PM. We went and found a motel and got changed for the viewing. We got a big surprise when we went to the viewing. Mom's now only living aunt had flown up from FL with her two daughters that we had not seen in years. The funny part about that was that just a few days before we found out Aunt Frances had died, Aunt Lula Belle told Mom on the phone that she couldn't ever come back up north again because they wouldn't let wheel chairs on airplanes--guess they proved her wrong huh? It was really great to see everybody again even if it was under bad circumstances.

We saw all but 1 of my first cousins on my mom's side which we hadn't seen any of them in almost 10 years! We also got to see all of Mom's siblings! So, even though we went for a sorrowful time... the funeral made us realize that we were crying for nothing. She is in a better place and much happier! She is pain-free for the first time in a very long time! She is with her husband once again! We had a tough time leaving but we did anyhow. We left there about 3 PM and got home at 9:30. Hopefully we can go back and visit the remaining family and it NOT be under death circumstances. The last 5 times we have gone south have been weddings and funerals. The first of those 5 was May 2001 when we went to my cousin Missy's wedding. We went back twice in Sept. 2001 for 2 funerals...Mom's aunt and her son died within 2 weeks of each other. We didn't get to go back until March 2008 when we went to Uncle Floyd's funeral and now in July 2009 we went to Aunt Frances's funeral.

Our hearts may be broken and hurting right now but it's like the pastor said yesterday... if we keep our hearts right and walk close to God as she did...we can go to Heaven to meet her again!

Hmm...

Well looks like it's been a VERY long time since I blogged huh? I've had a lot to blog about but just have never taken the time. So much has happened that I will just leave most of it out I'm sure.

We just had a WONDERFUL camp! The last night was way beyond anything I had really even seen before. TOTALLY amazing! We saw a LOT of victories won that night. The service that started at 7:30 lasted until around midnight!!!! There h

ad been talk before camp about whether God really wanted us to continue and this year just totally showed us all that it is His will! Every year our little church has had to support several thousand dollars of the camp expenses and praise the Lord, this year they have to support very little to NONE!! We raised over $10,100!! We also had quite a few new people and our nightly stay average was around 50 (AWESOME for us)! One night Gram Hastings and I were like if anyone else comes, we aren't sure where we can put them because the "inn was full up!" Thank God for His amazing help!

I think this is going to be the end of my post for this time but I wanted to leave you with a prayer request.

Isaac Copeland is in need of a lot of prayer right now. His parents are missionaries to Mexico. Isaac was recently bitten by something poisonous. He is in a hospital in Texas and they have had to do several surgeries. Please just remember him and the whole family in prayer! Here is a picture of Isaac that was taken last year when they were home for camp.