Wow! What a great trip!

Seriously. It was good. I left at five fifteen Thursday morning, made four quick stops along the 560(?) mile drive to Springfield, Missouri, and arrived at Amy’s apartment at two o’clock their time (three mine). That gave us a great deal of Thursday to spend together, too. It was so cool to pull up to her apartment complex and see my friend outside waiting on me. The fact that I had just drove ten hours with three little kids by myself was not the least of the coolness. I was pretty proud of myself. The kids were excellent, though. They were no trouble at all. Amy laughed at me when she saw that I really did wear my Supermom shirt. What can I say? I really believe in the power of positive thinking.

Thursday evening, I was so excited to get to go to Amy’s Bible study with her. It’s a group of wives of Chaplains, Chaplain candidates, and a couple of the ladies, including Amy, were Chaplain candidates themselves. So, it was a group of women that I felt an instant connection with. They had childcare, so we had some great girls downstairs watching all our kiddos while we got to relax and enjoy the fellowship upstairs. It was really good. I was very blessed by being there. That night, we (of course) stayed up most of the night. That’s what we do, I suppose. Really, though. We have five kids six and under between us. The only quiet time we have to hang out together in peace is when they are sleeping. It was great to spend time with my friend again.

Friday morning, we got up early, on just a few hours sleep, and got everyone ready, took Jeremiah to school, and went to Joy’s church for a women’s group thing. I had talked to Joy on Facebook and heard a lot about her from Amy, but I had not yet met her in person. So, I was so very excited to get to meet her and hear her speak to the women’s group. The service there was awesome. I didn’t know any of the worship songs, but just standing there and enjoying it with all of my sisters in Christ was amazing. Joy was awesome. She spoke about the importance of our words. It was good stuff! Our friend, Aimee, was also there. I had met her once before at Fort Jackson, briefly, and I was so excited to get to see her in person. (Yes, I am claiming all of Amy’s friends. They’re great!) Before we left, we made plans to meet up with Joy and Aimee later on, and went to pick up our kids from childcare. This was a huge, huge church, and they had a highly impressive set up for the kids. It was like Disneyland or something. The kids were in rooms by their ages, and got to go out to the playland which was like a McDonald’s playland on steroids. It was awesome. They had a blast. Elijah’s favorite part, I think, was the tiny little toilet and sink they had in the bathroom. He kept saying, “They have a wittle potty, Mama!”. You should have seen his eyes sparkle over that miniature toilet. Really, it was highly impressive.

Friday evening, we went to Amy’s Seminary for a game night they were having. I enjoyed getting to meet some of Amy’s classmates, and put some faces with names. We didn’t play any games, though. Really, we just ate their food and took advantage of their childcare. We mingled a bit, ate, and then sat in the prayer chapel talking in complete peace and quiet for a long time. We eventually picked up our kids and headed home.

Saturday, we met Joy, Aimee, and Aimee’s cousin, Thomas, at a park, and just hung out while the kids played. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home.

Sunday, I was so excited to get to go to church with Amy. We dropped all the kids off in their various classes, and got to enjoy the service sans kids. I was highly impressed with Amy’s church. The music was so good. It was contemporary but not crazy. Very worshipful and good. I enjoyed it a lot. They put their drummer in a box, though. Not sure what that was about. (Seriously. He was in a box.) I knew several of the songs, and it was good. The message was by a guest preacher, Bro. George Wood, (who is someone very important in the AG, but I forgot his title), and it was a really good message. I was highly impressed with him. That night, we went back to church, and it was just as good. I really liked Amy’s church a lot. I look forward to going back some time.

Monday, we spent most of the day at home, but took the kids to the park for a little while after picking Jeremiah up from school. That evening, we ordered pizza, and Joy came over for just a little while. It was just such a great time.

The whole trip was so much fun. It was a much needed break, and I came away feeling refreshed. Really, between the conversations with Amy and getting to pray with my friend again and then getting to attend a Bible study, a women’s meeting, and two church services, how could I not come away refreshed? It was so good to be there. I hated to leave. It never seems like enough time. I was excited to get home to my husband, though. Sometimes I feel torn between my two best friends. Really, someone needs to move. I am praying that someday we will be stationed at the same Army post, and I will get to spend as much time with my friend as I want.

Yesterday morning, I got up, packed all my stuff up, Amy fixed me breakfast, and then, after many sad looks and a few dozen hugs goodbye, we pulled out and headed back to Tennessee. The trip was great for most of the way. I only stopped twice between Springfield and Nashville. Things got complicated in Nashville when the ramp to I-40 was completely closed. I had to get off in downtown Nashville, and find my way back to 40 via Chris telling me roads to take over the phone. I ended up spending an hour in Nashville between the waiting on the interstate to get to an exit I could get off at and finding my way back to 40. Really, though, that was a blessing, too. It reinforced what I had learned several times this summer. I am capable.I…the girl who, up until Chris went to Vegas two years ago, was too scared to drive to Knoxville…have drove two trips to Fort Jackson and back, one trip to Florida and back, and now a trip to Springfield and back (all of those with three little kids, mind you!)…and I did fine. I am more competent than I often gave myself credit for. So, I count the hour in Nashville as a blessing.

Elijah spent the rest of the trip home…all the way from Nashville back to Harriman…crying. It was about to drive me crazy. The other kids were asleep, but he just kept crying and crying. Oh, and did I mention it was raining? My nerves were frazzled from the incessant crying, but I made it home safely close to midnight last night. I praise the Lord for safety and that I still have my sanity!

So, yay for friends! Yay for roadtrips! Yay for competence! And yay for arriving home with all children present and accounted for!

Addendum: For all of you grandmother and adoring great aunt types who read my blog searching for any little piece of information about the children and are probably wondering, “But how did the kids do? Did they have fun?”. Well, yes. They did have a good time. However, Amy and I don’t like to admit that our children don’t really like each other very often. So, la, la, la.