"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

A few months ago we got "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" on our NetFlix rotation. If you have never seen this movie, please do. It was wonderful. Anyway, as I was watching the movie it kinda reminded me that "someday" I would love for us to be able to go see all these places that we have read about and heard about and seen pictures of all our lives. Someday...

Well, the "someday" has arrived for the Reynolds Family! Rachael's parents asked Rachael a few weeks later if we would like to go on vacation with them to Wahington DC. Well, of course we would, but we certainly can't afford it. Well, what if we paid for it?

Let me give you a hint...don't ever offer a free vacation to a missionary unless you really mean it, because, chances are, they will take you up on it. And of course we did.

So, here we are in Washington DC. We have seen 3 of the Smithsonians, most of the monuments, the International Spy Museum, Arlington Cemetary and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and taken nearly 1,000 pictures! We have had a great time and we aren't even going home yet. The first of this week still holds the Capital, the White House, The Library of Congress... Well, you get the idea. Below you will find a few pictures.

Please don't misunderstand this post, we certainly aren't bragging. We just wanted you to know about the opportunity we had to "get away" one last time before the summer started and to be thrilled and motivated by all the sights and sounds and experiences of our great nation's capital...all due to the graciousness and generosity of Rachael's parents, Earl and Jan Heath. (Thanks also to the Robinsons for holding the fort down at the Campus!)

We hope and pray you are doing well, and we look forward to seeing or hearing from you soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

For Mother's Day, Rachael's sister, Catherine and her son Brian came up for a weekend visit, along with Rachael's parents, Earl and Jan. We all went to church together this morning, which was really great, and we even managed to talk a friend into taking a few pictures.

The first picture is all of us together, and the second is of Catherine and Brian.

Next is a picture of all the ladies together... all that beauty in one place. :-)

The next picture is us at dinner, and the last is all the men together.

i AM smiling...

Yes, as you can tell, we went for it at one of those silly "old timey" picture places. Rachael and I had always wanted to do it and the kids were game, so the next thing we knew, we were putting on the costumes and doing our best not to laugh while he took the picture. We took several poses and bought a couple and the guy was nice enough to give us the extra poses on my flash drive that I happened to have in my pocket. Really a nice day over all. We were on our way back from speaking at a church in western NC and decided to come home through Cherokee, NC and Gatlinburg. One last "hurrah" before the summer "rush hour" hits us. Times of family relax and enjoy time are few and far between so we try to take advantage of it when we can.

Up, up and away...

There's no picture to go with this blog as I am currently sitting in the Atlanta airport, waiting for a connecting flight home. My day began today at 3:30 AM and will end somewhere around midnight thirty. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Although I admit it has been a long day, it was well worth it. A very dear friend of ours in Montgomery passed away Saturday after a courageous battle with cancer. I had the Delta miles to get a "free" flight (you still have to pay a small fee), and it just seemed like the right thing to do. I jumped online Monday after we found out the funeral arragengements, and a miracle occurred.

The Lord worked it out where, not only did I get the flights I needed to make the "down and back" trip, but it only took the minimum number of miles to redeem to get the tickets. Dear friends picked me up at the airport, we squeezed in a visit to the hospital to a friend recovering from a motorcycle accident, they bought me lunch, we went to the funeral, and they deposited me back at the airport in plenty of time to catch the first leg of my flight home. What little "trouble" the day was, was inconsequential to being able to hug my buddy and tell him how sorry I was that his sweet wife was gone. She is completely healed now, standing whole in the presence of Christ our Savior. Up, up, and away...

Happy "day after" Easter!

SNOW AGAIN?!?

I’m sure glad that I listened to the wise person who said “Don’t put up your winter clothes until after Easter”. Well, Easter was yesterday and as you can tell by the picture, it looks like we’ll need to keep out the winter clothes for a little bit longer.

The forecast called for snow last week while our mission team from Texas was here. Although the team may have been a little disappointed that we didn’t get any snow, they were excited to see all of the kids who showed up for the after school Kid’s Club. The Lord provided most of the days with plenty of sunshine for all the activities to be held outside. He provided a little rain one day, but it didn’t stop all of the fun inside. Between games, Bible stories, crafts, snacks and more games, all the kids seemed to have had a great week. I know we did.

With the help of Pastor Bruce, we were also able to do several home visits to some home-bound elderly. As it often seems to turn out, the Lord used them to bless us. I know that I thoroughly enjoyed being able to hear about them and their families. I learned a lot about “who is related to whom?” Making home visits was something that I considered way out of my “Comfort Zone”, but once again, the Lord gave me courage to do it. I look forward to visiting again. (It didn’t hurt at all.)

I hope that the Lord will place it upon your heart to do something today that you normally would feel is out of your “Comfort Zone”. I’m sure you will be blessed richly for your obedience to Him.

Rachael

Happy Easter!

We hope you had a joyous celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! We did. Part of our celebration was three arrangements of flowers that Rachael's parents sent us, the Robinsons and the Hawkins. As you can tell, they were gorgeous.

Good shape for an older model

No, I am not talking about myself. I am talking about Austin's "new" truck. A couple of weeks ago Austin and I were running right on time for an appointment when we spotted this little Ford Ranger being driven into the Food City with a For Sale sign in the window. I told Austin that if it was still there when we came back, we would have to check it out. A couple of hours later when we came out, it was still there and we stopped to take a look. It almost seemed too good to be true, because if the odometer was correct (67k) and the condition of the body and interior were good indicators of what kind of shape it was in, it was a remarkable deal, especially for an '84 model.

We called the number on the window, and long story short, three days later we were exchanging cash and the title. The price was...well, let's put it this way; we were able to make the purchase without putting any undue strain on our budget, which isn't exactly overflowing with extra cash waiting to be spent.

We realize that this probably won't be a vehicle Austin can depend on for a really long time or lots of long trips, but for a first vehicle (that we can afford the insurance for), we think it fits the situation perfectly. This was a great deal, and we are surely thankful that it came into our path and the Lord blessed us in this way. Keep on truckin' Austin!