Day 2

From Mike:

We arrived in Grape Creek, a small community just outside of San Angelo around noon at our friends home.  Brad is the pastor of Grape Creek Baptist Church where I was on staff for 3 years when Libby and I first got married.  We had a great time catching up and settling in.  After lunch at their home, we headed into San Angelo on Carter’s “birthland tour.”  We spent the afternoon checking out various sites that were special to us when we lived here.  We drove by Angelo State University, went into Eggemeyer’s General Store, wandered around the Cactus Hotel, along the Concho River, and even got out and went into the hospital where Carter was born back in 1996.  Carter thought it was pretty cool to be able to stand in the same viewing room outside the nursery where his aunts, uncles, and grandparents stood and watched him as a newborn being weighed.  

After touring SA for a while, Carter reminded me that we were on an OFL Road Trip, not a trip down memory lane, so we busted out the cleaning supplies and started looking for restrooms to clean.  The first place we stopped was a business I remembered as being owned by a family I knew.  It was closed, but a young man was there catching up on paperwork and came out to meet us.  He turned out to be Justin, a former member of my youth group!  We met his new fiancé and prayed with them before leaving.

The next stop was a cell phone store where we offered to clean restrooms.  The manager was friends with the music minister at GCBC, and he was glad to hear what we were doing, and a young lady working there was so touched by what we were doing that she came out with a bag full of cold bottled water for us.  When I asked how we could pray for them, she told us that her entire family is working in Minnesota at a vegetable processing plant until the season is over in October.  She was left alone here in SA until they returned because she didn’t want to leave her job at the cell phone store.  She was maybe 18-19yrs old.

Next door to the cell phone store was a Dollar General. 

An older man in tattered clothes was sitting out front.  As we grabbed our cleaning supplies and one of the cold bottles of water, a taxi pulled up to pick him up.  We grabbed a second bottle and flagged down the taxi.  We offered the driver (Mary) and passenger (Bob) bottles of water and asked if we could pray for them.  Both of them were very happy for the water and the prayers.  Please pray for Mary and Bob.

We went on into the Dollar General.  We asked the manager if we could clean his restrooms and he seemed kind of frustrated as though he really didn’t have time to mess with us, but showed us the way back to the restroom.  As soon as we started cleaning, a lady came rushing back asking if there was a restroom she could use.  We cleared out and wandered around the store until she came out. As soon as she exited, another lady went in.  That restroom was the dirtiest we’d seen so far, and needless to say, I was less than thrilled to go back in after it had just been used twice!  I won’t go further with any details, but my fears were confirmed and that was the quickest bathroom cleaning in the history of OFL service!  We did a good job though!!!  After cleaning, we needed some new rubber gloves and sunglasses for Carter.  The manager had watched us clean  after the two customers had used it and his heart softened a lot.  He even pulled out his wallet and offered to pay for our items out of his own pocket!  We told him that we would pay but that he could let us pray for him, to which he agreed.  The cashier lived in Grape Creek, so we hope that she will visit the church.  We’ve been giving out cards that tells people “God loves you so much.  Please accept this gift as an expression of love from Him and the people of Grape Creek Baptist Church.”  Please pray for the manager Kevin, and the cashier whose name I cannot remember.

Now we’re at a Starbucks mooching their free wireless right now, and we’re both pretty wiped out.  I think we’re about to head back to Brad and Karen's home, eat dinner, and hit the hay.
Carter and I decided to sing Monk and Neagle’s song “Twenty-first Time” tomorrow when we share at Grape Creek Baptist Church.  Carter sat in the back of the van playing his guitar while we practiced singing.  I think we sound pretty good (or at least his guitar does!).


From Libby:
After painting my living room, cleaning orange nail polish off the tile floor and door frame that Dillon spilled and then cleaning up a bowl of watermelon that Dillon spilled 10minutes after the nail polish fiasco, I'm so glad my buddy Susie came over to hang out!  Abby prayed for "mommy to have grace and patience to take care of Hudson and Dillon."!!!  HA, if that doesn't tell you what those 2 little boys are like when together all day, then I don't know what will ;)