A Three Hour Tour......

Tom's sister got married so we headed to Oklahoma for a few days. She got married on Saturday (OUTSIDE) and it poured for about 14 straight hours, from Thurs night to Fri morning. I mean a torrential rain the entire time. But, the sun came out Friday afternoon and it ended up being absolutely perfect weather for their big day. Here the best pics we have.

Tom took the top one, I took the bottom one, within seconds of each other. Why is the top one so much more crisp with the exact same point and shoot camera? I'm claiming that my photography skills are exceptional and to be praised. Anyway, we took these on the way out the door and once we got to the wedding we were way too busy chasing kids (Walker! :) ) to think about a whole family pic. Darn. But the bride was GORGEOUS and they had a lovely wedding. Congratulations Kathryn and Marcus!!

Overall, the trip was a success, we saw lots of family and had a relaxing time. Until the drive home. Without going into the entire thing, the 8-9 hour drive ended up taking 16 hours and we got home at midnight. It was comical how things kept going wrong but both boys were rock stars. About 10, Walker told me he didn't want a cracker and Harris said he was tired of movies so I started to get concerned. But they rallied and lasted till 11:30, when they finally nodded off. It is AMAZING how kids don't sleep in, regardless of their bedtime. They were up at 8. I wish my internal clock was that reliable.

While we were in Tulsa, the tornadoes hit Joplin, just two hours away. The devastation is incredible and reading the news is almost too difficult. My heart breaks for the families that have lost everything in an instant. Especially the family in Piedmont, OK, that lost their two young sons. That story hits way too close to home. Some friends from our church are driving toys and books up there tomorrow. Apparently donations have come in from all over the country, with formula, diapers, clothes, etc, so they are now requesting just toys and books. Our very brief stint in the hospital with Harris makes me appreciate the value of new toys to distract from an upsetting situation. So we started gathering some things up around the house. I explained to Harris that a storm took toys from little boys like him and we needed to help out and give them some of our things, just like we would want them to do for us. And then I realized Harris was actually teaching me. He turned around and got a book that he loves that was just given to him as a present. He held it out to me and said, "They would love this one!"  He knew what he was doing. We've done this before and he understands that the toy isn't coming back. And the first thing he grabs is a brand-new favorite thing?!?!? Had they been collecting women's clothes, I can tell you I wouldn't have gone to my closet and gotten a a brand new shirt that I really love to wear. But as a Christian, isn't that exactly what we are called to do?? Loving my neighbor as myself isn't giving them what I don't want anymore. I'm so proud of Harris for his compassion and completely humbled at the same time.

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3-4