The Maynards Visit! ~ Day 3

I felt bad again this morning. By the time I finished my devotions and showered Lydia and Joe were downstairs with the boys. Lyd was making scones. She ended up making a nice big breakfast. Russell and I discussed some neat Bible things having to do with devotions yesterday while I emptied the dishwasher. Meanwhile, the “Aaronites” teased each other about being “beasts,” which is now Josiah’s favorite word. They got more hyper as the week wore on. (grin) That had to do with the lack of sleep. Dad was still out having his devotions, so we sat down to breakfast without him. Afterwards all of us kids cleaned up the kitchen.

Then we played Pit. What a game! We used to have a blast playing that game with my cousins. Those are some wonderful memories. We played several games; it’s one of those games you could get addicted to. (chuckle) Russell was winning, of course (rolling eyes), and poor Aaron kept getting the bear. He pretended to pray before he looked at his cards, because he didn’t want to get the losing bear card. It was hilarious. Lydia was recording us on her MP3 player, and Aaron would pick it up and talk into it about his cards, informing everyone whether he had good or bad ones.

Then we played Taboo. That was bad. I couldn’t think for anything, and Aaron was losing because of me. Russell and Lyd were on the opposite team. Then we switched and Clay took Aaron’s place. We were still losing. Then we played Lyd and me against Clay and Russell. That was a little better. Brothers and sisters can explain some things better to each other because they think more along the same lines and know each other better. We played all afternoon.

Meanwhile, Bro. Buddy got a nap on the couch (jetlag does that to ya!), and Aaron joined him on the other couch and snoozed. Mrs. Chris was also asleep upstairs. Our poor worn-out company! I was glad they were able to sleep; if you know what their schedule is like at home, then you would know that they deserve all the rest they can get!!!

At 3:30 PM I made sandwiches and pretty much everyone was awake and back downstairs in the living room again. The guys talked about guns--how boring! (grin) Then Dad suggested we have devotions and get our hearts prepared for street preaching later on. Dad read from Psalm 62 again, because he had gleaned more good stuff from it. He talked about that our salvation is IN God. If God had a human body like ours, where would His salvation be? In His heart--in the heart of God. If He could lose His salvation, where would it go? Into His blood, and it would go right back to His heart. That was an interesting thought. Because God is eternal, our salvation is eternal. If we are saved, God’s salvation is in us--in our hearts--and He cannot deny Himself. Praise God! Every day that we had devotions the Lord convicted and blessed my heart! Then Bro. Buddy prayed a closing prayer, and it seemed he was talking/preaching to me just because of one thing he said! It struck me as if God meant if solely for me. What a blessing! Then we sat around and talked some more. You probably guessed that, right? (chuckle)

I turned on my laptop and tried to find that verse on Online Bible that Russell was talking about earlier. He showed me some neat verses in Zechariah 12:10 and Exodus 23:22. I brought my college books down to show Russell, who shares my love for books, and then he started telling us about a poem having to do with a verse Dad quoted during devotions about God desiring mercy and not sacrifice. It was good! I’m going to post that poem soon.

For dinner we ate meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and apples sauce. Yummy! The conversation during dinner was interesting! (chuckle) As soon as we finished eating it was the big dash to get ready for street preaching. Mrs. Chrissy wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed home. Poor dear! As we drove downtown Dad went around the roundabout like 6 times. By the time that wild ride was over we were all laughing and screaming for him to stop and feeling rather sick with dizziness. Bro. Buddy and the boys in the car behind us enjoyed it though. Ha!


Once we parked in the parking garage, Mom and I walked to the store and got some medicine I needed and grabbed some food for dinner for Friday night. Then we joined the others. It was raining when we got out of the store. Yuck! The banner was up and everyone was passing out tracts. We got lots of tracts out considering the weather was bad. It rained off and on. Then the guys preached. It was good. I know the Maynard boys were really looking forward to preaching. They street preach in Panama City, but it’s really bad in the States. The hearts of the people are fully set to do evil. We got a lot of negative feedback from people, which we thought was unusual, but the guys said that was nothing compared to what they are used to. America, America!!! How far you have strayed from the principles that made you a great nation! I was glad when it was time to go home, because we were all freezing--everyone except Russell, that is, who didn’t even have a coat on. I kept telling him he was going to be sick, but he said he wasn’t, and by God’s grace he didn’t.

We got home and found Mrs. Chrissy resting on the couch. I felt bad that she was sick. I think that was the only day she really felt bad, and even when she was upstairs trying to sleep and feeling ill during the afternoon, she told my mom that our kids’ laughter downstairs in the kitchen was like music to her ears. I lit candles around the room to make it cozy, and we ate some more graduation cake and drank tea. The adults sat in the living room and talked, and all six of us played Apples to Apples in the kitchen. Fun! Before we went to bed I practiced some Christmas songs that I love. I’ve been working on an arrangement for Christmas. We’ll see how it goes.