Softball Games

Went yesterday to a softball tournament. Most of the guys from our church team were on it plus 2 other guys & one lady. The games were at 9am, noon, 3pm & 6pm. The ballpark is a couple of miles out of town so we spent the day in fellowship with some GREAT people! We had a grill there & had some good burgers & dogs. Before our last game it started pouring down rain & we sat in amazement at the other teams still playing while it was raining. Tho we lost all of our games but 1 we had such a wonderful time. There were some who played horseshoes. Brandon wanted to play & did a fantastic job! I think there was even a water fight between Harold & Rachel! I got to sit & visit with some people I know but don't know (know what I mean?). Betty Jones & Melinda Gerbich. Such wonderful women! We headed down for our last game which ended up starting late as the umpire wanted to get the Championship game in before it started raining again. As we were headed down the hill Libby told me to be careful & not fall. I was telling her I ought to be used to walking in the muck like that as I'd worked on 2 dairies, when down I went! She said she turned around when I started telling her that & there I was flat on my back! LOL! I think I had more mud on me than some of the players!!! It started raining again during our game but our players kept on playing too. Had a couple spills on the field that had everyone a little worried but we kept on. Even after the game was called because of the 10 rule run our guys talked the other team into finishing the game. Steve umped the last innings. He used to ump little league back home. We couldn't yell at the ump during the real game but we let this one have an 'earful' during this part of the game. All the fun! Several mentioned that we should do this more often. I agree! What an exhausting but blessed day! Thank you Lord!

McDowell

I had the great opportunity to go on a mission trip with our church to McDowell Co., West Virginia. There was a young lady going & no other women were going so they asked me to go. We left on Sunday morning July 5th at 6am. It's about a 6 hour drive & the 2 youth we had in with us slept most of the way. There were 8 of us going. This is a much smaller group than last year I understand. When we got to the 'Clubhouse' (an old 3 story home) we unloaded the trailer & headed to the grocery store for groceries for the week. That in itself was an experience! We had orientation that evening. The next morning we started roofing a house for a couple. They are both retired teachers. The wife had to have her leg amputated due to diabetes & their 25 yr old son has spinal biffita. What an inspiration the son was! He has a dog, an Irish Sitter, that stays under his wheel chair & very much is his protector. The dog doesn't like adults. I was in the house visiting with the wife & son & Molly (the dog) came up to me & put her paw out for me to shake. The couple was amazed at this.
Amy & I didn't get to do much at that house. We did toss drinks, tools, & sandwiches up to the guys (yes sandwiches! The guys wouldn't come down to even eat). We finished putting a metal roof on that house on Tues. & moved on to the Welch Fire Dept to put siding on their firehouse.
We put vinyl siding over cinder blocks (what a job!). Amy & I got to do quite a bit at this job. I even had time to test drive a pink Wrangler Jeep! LOL!!!
We went to the movies one nite (Ice Age 3) & to the county fair one nite. There isn't a lot of land there for livestock so their county fair was a LOT different than the ones in Oklahoma. There weren't any exhibits either. This is coal mining country & is a poor part of West Virginia, but you couldn't tell it by the spirits of the people living there.
After the movies we stopped by to visit a man that the group worked for last year. Those that were there last year commented on how much change there was in him. He holds several records in football for West Virginia Mountaineers. He also writes a little & I was fortunate to receive a signed poem he'd written.
One of the guys in our group said that he came on the mission trip expecting to be a blessing to those he worked for but found that they were more of a blessing to him than vice versa. I totally agree with that! The week went by way too fast for me. Hope to go again next year.