Good Morning, Guatemala!

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Psalms 65:8

Flooding - When it Rains, it Pours

It's rainy season here in Guatemala.  We're coming down to the home stretch when the dry season arrives.  For the past few days, it has been raining 24 - 7.

Yesterday, the sun came out!  Yeah.  When we drove to the store, we came to the normal "turn in the road", where the road had fallen off a number of years ago, making it go down from a 4 lane road to a 2 lane road.

Now that road is in danger again. With the constant rain that Guatemala City has been enduring, there are numerous mudslides and road closures.

The police decided to close the road.  There are 2 main roads that serve our community.  With this one main road being closed down, the only other road will be over-saturated with more cars.  Ugh!

HB to me

HB to me!

My friends... who are they and how do I know them?
It is interesting when I reflect on the list of those of you who took the time to write personal Birthday greetings to me. Besides being my friends, you have blessed me from any of the following contexts:

White Rock and North Lake Elementary School
Lake Highlands High School
Moody Bible Institute
John Brown University Parent Council
missionaries and friends from Bolivia
missionaries and friends from Guatemala

churches we have attended together
childhood , HS or college friends of Glenn
relatives  and neighbors
prayer warriors and supporters

Thank you to all of you who sent me your Birthday Greetings.  I am blessed to have you as a part of my life.  Y'all rock my socks off.

How did I spend my day?
Yesterday, I celebrated my 59th birthday.  It started out with breakfast at IHOP, then I had a skype call with my grandkids, followed by a nap, enjoyed the movie "The Bridge of Spies" with Tom Hanks at the VIP Oakland Mall with an unexpected cancellation of dinner plans followed by an evening of reading all of my FaceBook wall postings and watching Chicago Cubs baseball.

Thank Y'all!

Bucket List

Check 2 more items off of my bucket list.

Corn Maze

I would say I can't completely mark this off of my bucket list.  There was a 10 year old boy who was running all around, annoying everyone and gave us the wrong information.  We believed him, otherwise it would have been an even more fun experience.  I think I will have to try another Corn Maze to feel that this experience is complete.

I asked for a map of the 2 acre corn maze. Nope, didn't have one.  I asked for a diagram of the corn maze.  Nope, didn't have one.  I love following maps, but this was challenging with no map.  Glenn and I made a team effort and accomplished the maze.  It was Fun!  It was a Beautiful day.

The Corn Maze was at Hall's Pumpkin Farm and Corn Maze.  Check out the web-site.  If you are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you should check it out. It is very family friendly.  Open until Oct 31st.  We even got the Senior Discount.

Dallas Cowboy's Football Stadium

We got to go inside of the AT&T stadium, otherwise known as Dallas Cowboys' home field. 

 It's been 20 years since we had been to a game, but just to go see the beautiful stadium was a real treat.

To read more about our adventure at the Stadium, click here.

So, I got to knock 2 things off of my Bucket List in the past 3 weeks. 

 I wonder what the next item will be that I can check off of my bucket list?

Cemetery and Dallas Cowboys

I don't think there is any direct connection between looking up cemeteries and the Dallas Cowboys, but there could be.  

We were at both places on the same day.

We drove my parents and Aunt Hattie "Down Home" to several cemeteries, walked down memory lane and enjoyed recounting the family heritage that we have.

Interestingly enough, we were visiting at the Leesburg, Texas cemetery
 on Oct 10, 2015
...exactly 73 years after my great grandmother died.  

Next stop was Pleasant Grove cemetery.

My great grand parent's grave

My grandparents (my mom's parents).

My parents showing us their burial spot and location.

After a picnic lunch, we stopped at a 3rd cemetery outside of Gilmer and saw where my Aunt Sue is buried.  She also went by the name of Poochie.

Later that afternoon, we drove Aunt Hattie to Arlington to the Cowboy Stadium. This was our first visit to the AT&T Stadium in Arlington.  Aunt Hattie's grand daughter runs the Redzone Game events.  It was a special time to walk through a self guided tour of the stadium.  We watched little kids play, small girls cheer and families smile as they walked on the astro-turf to the center Dallas Cowboy star and families take prize photos.

My eyes were drawn to the 5 Super Bowl Championship banners proudly hanging overhead.  

Those were the days!

The jumbo-tron  was H U G E.

Check out their website.  RedZoneUSA

Thank you, Melissa, for giving us the opportunity to bring Aunt Hattie out to the stadium, and also to go on the self guided tour.  Y'all do a wonderful job with RedZoneUSA  
Check it out!

State Fair of Texas

It had been several years since Glenn and I paid a visit to Big Tex and the 
State Fair of Texas.  

This year, we got the Senior Citizen's discount - FREE!

Corn on the cob + Fletcher's Corn Dog = Very Good!

Not pictured, the Fried S'more!

Billy Graham Library

Several weeks ago, Glenn and I visited missionaries and friends in the Charlotte area and also took a side trip to walk through the Billy Graham Library.

We saw the Memorial sites for George Beverly Shea.

and Ruth Bell Graham.

I like the tag line

"End of Construction...Thank you for your patience"

What a beautiful way to summarize your life.

We had lunch with friends who I worked with in Dallas during the Billy Graham Crusade (Metroplex Mission) in 2002. 

I would highly recommend the Billy Graham Library.

He's Always Near

I serve a risen Savior

He's in the world today.

I know that He is living,

Whatever men may say.

I see His hand of mercy;

I hear his voice of cheer;

And just the time I need Him

He's always near.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.

He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives?

He lives within my heart.

My Brother Turns 60

My brother, Rick Marr, turns 60 today, October 9. 

 

We ate some delicious banana pudding that Brenda made.

Brian made a video for his dad's special birthday.  There were lots of laughs as we looked how the hair and clothing styles have changed over the years.

Click here to see the video that Brian made.

https://animoto.com/play/dfqfSKpJr1CH0nk6Sdj4ig

Happy 60th Birthday, Rick.

Rick, 60 years old, with G'Mommy (86) and G'Daddy (87 in 2 short weeks).

 Rick with his 4 grandkids.

Camp, Callie, Colton and Cooper

75th Anniversary of Ben Lippen School

Back in the 70's it was customary for missionaries to send their children away to boarding school.

It was no exception for Glenn.  For his 10th, 11th and 12th grades, Glenn attended Ben Lippen High School in Asheville North Carolina.

Over the weekend, Glenn and I took a journey back to his formative years.  We connected with dear old friends.

Glenn connected with old classmates, former soccer players and friends from his high school choir.

On Saturday evening, we joined the class of 1972 for their evening gathering and potluck dinner.  We sat around the tables and shared stories, heard stories of heart aches, challenges and growth since their BL years, and we heard stories of God's faithfulness through the years.  We didn't leave the gathering until 12:45am.  My eyes were swollen from crying and we were worn out from engaging in the interesting stories of grief and joy.

God is faithful.

On Sunday morning, we gathered at the old campus to have brunch and a worship service.

Glenn and his choir director, Ralph Parker.

Glenn is somewhere there in the crowd with some of the former BL choir members.