Recapping our Trip: It was about more than travel.

In total we traveled through these states: NC (2), SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, TX (2), NM (2), AZ (2), CA, NV, OK, AR, TN. Keeping up with the time zone changes was always confusing. And then before it was over was the spring forward insanity.

Along the way we were able to visit lots of friends (and family) – some we had not seen in over 30 years, and in one case nearly 40 years.

On the first day we met my sister Donna at a Cracker Barrel in Smithfield, NC for breakfast. It was a chance meeting. I just called her number when we got in the area and she happened to be coming that way.

Our daughter Sarah and her husband Terry’s home in Vero Beach, FL was our day one destination. Sarah got her cat back and we got to see their new home and worship with them on Sunday.

Facebook has given us the opportunity to reconnect with a lot of friends. In Ft. Myers, FL we stopped by to visit with Alice Cook. She and her husband Jimmy were my “parents” for the summer of 1975 when I did an internship in their church. The last time we saw her was in 1980. Her neighbor, Evelyn Berry, who was also a part of my summer there came over to see us, too.

Some of our friends were able to open their homes to us, which was really great. Motels do get old. Scott and Gayle Ranck welcomed us into their home in the Tampa area. What a great home! (And Gayle is a seriously good cook. No wonder Scott runs every morning.)

Mark and Sue Burns are terribly missed by all of us at Nags Head Church and we were glad to get to see them. They truly live in redneck country! Thanks Sue for the stuffed flounder dinner! I’m so excited about the church they’ve found, and they were in familiar places as greeters on Sunday morning.

Paul and Jenny South, another couple of NHC refugees are now living in New Orleans. Paul is attending New Orleans Seminary and Jenny is a nurse in the NICU at a NO hospital. God has increased their family, too, with now three great kids. And we had a great time with them watching the Mardi Gras parades!

Rabbi Ron Aaronson, Marilyn Dolly’s brother, gave us a wonderful tour of the Messianic synagogue in Houston where he teaches and shepherds Jewish believers. Then he took us out for lunch!

Lamar and Teresa Keener were friends from college. Lamar is a Christian publisher in San Diego and we got to meet with them for lunch at Claim Jumpers while driving through. We love Claim Jumpers. Thanks for the lunch, Lamar!

In Orange, CA we were “home”, staying with our long-time friends Richard and Carol Zazuetta. “Home” because I lived there in high school and it was the first place we lived together after we got married. During our stay there we got to have an evening when a bunch of old friends came together.

Russ, Michele and Wyatt Poland are another family who moved from Nags Head and now live in Southern California. We got to drive out to their home and spend a morning with them. Wyatt is growing up!

Robin and Donna Davies were a newly saved young couple in our church in California back in the late 70’s. Now Robin pastors the First Baptist Church of Cupertino, CA. They put us up for the night and fed us steak! It was fun hearing how God has grown them over the past 30plus years.

At a reunion in Lynchburg last September Gordon Luff invited all of his former students (even me) to come see them in Redding, CA. So we did. Dottie is the most gracious hostess ever. She even made grits for breakfast. We got to see Lassen Pines Christian Camp, where they’ve ministered now for over 20 years, meet some of their family, and enjoy reminiscing. I’m still learning from Gordon.

Another couple from college days opened their home in Yuba City, CA. Joyce and Paul Radobenko are active in the church Paul pastors there. And we got to talk a lot about our children and grandchildren. That was a really good pie Joyce made, too.

When I was 15 Dennis Carlson made a huge impact in my life. He was the youth pastor of our church in Orange, CA, and it was during that time that God called me into ministry. He and Sandra now live in Albuquerque, NM, enjoying retirement. They took us out to a great Italian dinner and we got to catch up on what’s been happening in their lives over the last 39 years.

It was good to visit with my parents for a couple of days in Hugo, OK. My brother Mark and his three kids also live nearby, and we spent a very relaxing Monday afternoon at Mark’s place, sitting on his deck looking at a peaceful Schooler Lake. It was great. I also was able to visit briefly with Byron Smith, who has been one of the speakers at The Call at NHC in past years.

Thanks to a couple of diligent friends we had a gathering in Tulsa, OK with a group of old friends who either worked with us in ministry or were teenagers we ministered to when we lived there 30 years ago. It was a lot of fun seeing most of them for the first time since we left there in 1980. Dave and Terri Hollingsworth, who have kept up with us (and visited us in Kitty Hawk) gave us their guest room and a warm welcome.

And on our way through Arkansas we stopped and had barbecue with Russell Stewart, a pastor (who has also visited us at NHC). It was great to hear how the church he planted has found its niche in their community.

I hope I didn’t leave anyone out, since I wrote this from memory… But as much fun as we had seeing the sites, it was just as much fun reconnecting with so many who remain special to us.

Reuniting is going to be one of the greatest parts of eternity, when we get to catch up once again. It was good to get in some practice.