a weekend near Davis

Katy Trail- between Dougherty and Falls Creek

Rodney decided to take a short trip with each of his daughters on his motorcycle this summer.  Rodney took Regan to the Turner Falls area, and the rest of us decided to tag along in my car... separately.  It worked out really well because Rosalind and Rayne were going to Falls Creek Church Camp just a few miles from our cabin the following Monday, so the three of us stayed an extra night and I dropped them off. 




We stayed at a place call Rock Creek Retreat.  It was really neat and peaceful and private.  The cabin was called Copper Cabana and suited the 5 of us really well.  Rodney and Regan rode lots of miles in beautiful foliage on winding county roads while the rest of us read, a lot.  It was so nice.  Rodney and Regan left on Sunday afternoon for home to get back for work on Monday, and the campers and I stayed.

Rosalind and Rayne on Bromide Hill overlooking Sulfur

Rosalind, Rayne and I rode up to Sulfur and visited the springs at the Chickasaw National Park.  We walked a lengthy trail and drove up to Bromide Hill.  After supper we returned to our cabin.  The next morning we lounged around before leaving.  We drove into Davis and around Turner Falls.  We didn't enter the park because it was pretty expensive- $12 per person plus $12 for the car.  We decided to take pictures from the free lookout instead. 

This marker was up at the lookout, near Turner Falls

Cash register at the soda fountain

We ate lunch downtown Davis in a neat little bistro that served quiche.  Happy girls were we!  Across the street was a drug store that had a soda fountain in it.  Twenty ounce milkshakes for $3.  What a bargain!  Soon it was time to drop the girls off at camp.  It was chaos.  Organized chaos, but chaos nevertheless.  Falls Creek is set up for 8000 students per week for 6 weeks a summer; it functions like a well oiled machine.


Driving home after a weekend full of family was a little different.  When I-35 got too congested, I cut through the country, driving down roads I had never been on before.  It was also then I noticed I had quiet a few bites; however, it wasn't until I got home that I realized that I was covered in them.  Chiggers.  Ugh.


I literally looked like I had the chicken pox because they weren't just around my feet... they were spaced from by ankles to my shoulders.  About 70 of them.  All of us ended up with them.  The girls didn't suffer as much and Rodney and I did.  Rodney had about 35 on his ankle in the space of 2x2 inches.  And the crazy thing is that none of us ever got into any grass, foliage, etc.  None.  And the only place we were all together was at the cabin besides eating out.


I still look like I'm recovering from the chicken pox, but I'm not sleeping with ice packs anymore, so I have decided that I just might live.  Chiggers suck.

Becoming an outlaster...

I cannot believe it's been almost 6 months since I last posted.  I could write a book on what I've learned since then.  But, you didn't sign up for that, so here's a couple of our latest blessings.

The back story...  On the eve of Easter, (silent Saturday) we had a little family meeting.  We were trying to decide where to go to church for Easter.  We basically had three choices:  our home church that we left a couple years ago, our current church we've transiently settled on, or a new LifeChurch.tv plant (The Edge) that is about a year old.  Everyone had a different idea and different motives.  We went to bed with the decision unsettled.

Easter morning, Rodney and I made the executive decision together and told the girls that we were going to The Edge.  My oldest had made plans to go with a friend to our home church, and I told her to call it off because she was going with us.  She was not happy with me but did not protest.

We got dressed, got in the car and drove to church without much discussion or conversation.

Of course there were people there who we knew.  We have a broad range of people with whom we are acquainted on this half of the state.  We had an idea what it would be like, but we just couldn't make ourselves go before now.

After the service, walking to the car, I asked my oldest if she was glad that I made her come.  She was.  She was radiant as were the rest of us.  We've been every Sunday since.

One series that Craig Groeschel just finished was called Outlasters.  If you're familiar with Bruce Wilkenson's three chair series, it's very similar.  Our kids were hanging on every word.  He talked about learning to appreciate work and embrace it as well as leaving a legacy and developing a real one-on-one relationship with God and not settling with a vicarious one through a parent.  Believe me, that's the scarce nutshell of the fantastic series.

Shifting gears...  Regan's choir director nominated her to go with the Voyageurs Ambassadors of Music organization on a 15 day European concert tour next summer.  After we received the information, we attended a meeting to learn more.  Basically she wants to go, Rosalind can go, too, and oh, it's going to cost $5745 per child.  Yes, you read that correctly, and no, we don't have that kind of cash.

After chewing on it for a weekend, we pinned the girls down on their commitment to do this or not.  My parents see the tremendous opportunity and have the means and offered to pay half if the girls could come up with the other half.  So we told the girls that if they would come up with half of their half, we'd match it.  That is $2872.

Our girls have always had some type of summer job but never anything that required 100% of them all the time.  They don't need anything really, and accumulating cash wasn't really a concern for them.

Putting it all together...  But this... this opportunity along with the teaching they are hearing and personally agreeing with from church has lit a fire under them.  We helped them organize a bit but have made them do all the work.  Last week was their first full week of work, and those three teenage girls legitimately raked in $865 together.  We're not talking about grossly overpaid donations, but justifiable payment for work performed.  They are beating the streets, taking on odd jobs, washing vehicles, hauling off junk piles, house cleaning, and working their summer babysitting and other jobs, working for my dad and brother-in-law. Now, I'm not anticipating that they can pull this off every week with church camps, ball camps and mission trips, etc., but they have an opportunity to meet their goal, and they've proven to themselves that they can do this with maximum effort.

Another thing that happened this week is my mother-in-law tripped over a cat and fell into the house and broke her arm below the shoulder in a place that cannot be casted, only immobilized.  Thus, she needs someone to be with her much of the day to help her with her personal needs, the garden and keep her house functioning.  This has been another way for my girls' other grandparents to help with this European trip.  They have offered to pay the girls to take turns helping care for her.  If the girls weren't available, they'd have to hire someone else to do this because no one is available all of the time.  This unfortunate situation provides Rodney's parents a way to contribute hugely by providing them a job while meeting a crucial need of their own.

The gift...  Without this trip on the horizon and the Outlasters series in church, I don't think we could have motivated our girls to work like they have.  I don't see it ending either.  Rayne isn't going to Europe next summer because she will still be too young, but she and Rosalind will be able to go in 2017.  The three girls have a deal worked out so that Rayne will help them work this summer, but she will also receive some money along. The summer of 2017 is a VERY long ways away for a 13 year old to stay focused on with no reward.  So this working for something will be perpetual for them, and hopefully they will learn many many lessons from it and create habits for a lifetime.  What a blessing we have been given, and we are extremely thankful.

Happy New Year from Rodney and Roshelle...

With 2013 just a memory now, this is what our family has to look back on…

Places we went: 

We spent some of spring break in Colorado skiing Wolf Creek.  We took our friend Galen Yoder with us and ran into the Todd and Dana Smith on the slopes also.  The weather and snow were perfect—great skiing, as always.  Wolf Creek has yet to disappoint us.

Skiing Wolf Creek-- good times!

Rayne at the lake over the
4th of July with the Gouchers

Over the 4^th of July, we went to Steve and Lisa’s place in Texas  and spent a couple days on the lake, which were our only lake days for the year.  I hope the drought is over and we can get enough moisture soon to fill our lakes again.

Steer wrestling was
our favorite event

Just before school started, we spent a week in Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas.  We set out for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and saw 3 rodeos, the parade, and a Luke Bryan concert (in the rain).  The girls loved every minute of it and want to go back for the whole week this year.  We met one of my oldest friends, Nancy, for lunch in Denver both coming and going (once at Casa Bonita) and went out to Evergreen to spend an afternoon with Rodney’s cousin John and his wife Dawn.  On the way home, we stayed a couple nights in Kansas with Lee, our harvester for so many years.  He’s like family to us and since we sold the farm and changed our lives, we have missed out on our harvest time with him and his crew.  Every time I think about this I just want to boohoo, so moving on…  While there, the girls played music with Lee and his neighbor, they learned to ride dirt bikes, they swam in a pond with a huge slide built on one side of the shore, and of course, they shot things.  Big thanks for Kristi (Rodney’s sister in Dodge City) for giving us a bed on the way; it’s nice to wake up with 4-5 hours behind you already when traveling.

Kate, (Lee's daughter) Rosalind and Regan coming down the slide at the pond

All three girls learned to ride dirt bikes this summer.  Rayne even had one on her Christmas list.

What’s new with….

Rodney—He spent more time riding motorcycles with my dad and my brother this year.  He’s riding a Harley now- a black 2012 street glider.  And quite simply, he’s loving it.  I’m glad, too.  Those guys work hard and need some time to get away and do what they like to do.  Granted, riding isn’t my favorite thing; I can do it for a few hours at a time when it’s warm… really warm, but he doesn’t need me to have a good time.  Rodney still enjoys his work in the oilfield and doesn’t miss the farming. 

Wayne, Dad and Rodney getting ready for a long weekend ride

Rosalind—She now has braces like Regan.  Just yesterday the dentist removed her palate expanders (upper and lower) and she can talk again.  Actually, it must not have been too terrible as she made Western Oklahoma honor choir when the tryouts were just 3 days after getting her braces and expanders.  Her musical talent is starting to shine.  She’s still in piano lessons and is a little songbird.  For Christmas, Rodney and I bought the girls a keyboard workstation, an amplifier, microphones, and an interface (piece of hardware that mixes and records).  The possibilities are endless with this equipment… definitely something they will use a lot and won’t ever outgrow.  Rosalind just turned 14 this week and is an 8^th grader.  She’s playing basketball and earned a starting position on the junior high team.  We’re very proud of this girl.

Regan and Rosalind

Regan—Bless her heart, she turned 16 this summer and loves driving her blue pickup-truck everywhere and anywhere.  Like all teenagers, she’s growing and maturing and learning life lessons—some are easy where others have been quite life-altering experiences.  Going into the 11^th grade, she set her mind to giving her best effort to her school work and to making the most of her two years left in high school.  She took the ACT for the first time and scored well.  Her musical ability is truly a gift from God, and at this point she’s thinking of pursuing some form of music after graduation.  When she’s singing and playing her guitar, I am so humbled; it makes my heart happy.  She is so much like me that it is scary.  Actually, she’s a much better version of my young-self.  Still, I wish I could protect her from herself until she gets her feet under her and the world by the tail.

Rayne Elise 

Rayne—Her biggest change this year is being at school with the rest of us.  She is 12 years old and in the 7^th grade; and she is loving it at CBA.  Rayne’s playing a little basketball, taking piano lessons, and making friends with everyone at school… 11^th graders, 12^th graders… pretty much everyone.  She picked the flute this year for band and loves it.  She whistles all the time… to the point of being annoying with it sometimes.  She likes to sing, to laugh, to be involved with what’s going on.  She has a fashion sense that is very different from most.  She has a lot of confidence and pretty much doesn’t have a bad day.  She smiles all the time; she is the bright spot in my day, and I don’t think I’m the only one who feels like this.  She is definitely one of a kind.

Backsplash this fall brings
our remodel full circle

Roshelle—Me?  I’m into my second year teaching high school English at CBA, and just as I predicted, it is much easier.  I’m still tweaking and re-evaluating my plans and procedures and policies, but really, do we ever stop doing that?  I hope not, for when I do get to that point, I know I’ll be done.    But really what’s new with me?  I do the same routine every day, except most Saturdays…  I get in the car and drive to Corn.  I have three daughters, so I say the same things day after day… Do you have homework? Who needs a shower? Whose stuff is in the washer? Get everything out of the back seat (of the car).... etc.  So, after racking my brain to find something new, I came up with—backsplash.  I know, right?  But, you see, this IS a BIG DEAL because it means that my house has come full circle.  The day after we took possession of our house in October of 2005, I tore the canary yellow formica off the backsplash in the kitchen, and it has been ugly, unfinished sheetrock, dating back to the early days of sheetrock (just after plaster and lathe) with big tears in the paper and splotchy, hard glue residue, and holes the size my fist would fit through.  Yes, in other words, it’s been lovely to look at for 8 long years.  But this fall, beautiful glass subway tile in the color rust with hand chipped edges was laid, and I couldn’t be happier. 

Where do we go from here? 

Forward.  Not much will change this year, but next year (2015) will be a completely different story.  I like my family how it is right now… intact.  Under my roof where I (actually, we) call the shots.  I’m not looking forward to having a college student in ‘15.  I think I’ll just bask in the moment and savor each day I have left.  God has been so faithful and I have no fear.