A Weekend to Remember - II

June 18, 2012

Continued from Part I - Saturday, June 16

Our car ride back to Providence Village was a lively one.  As I said, we sang, told stories about our day, and had a gay old time.  Zachary was in a crazy mood and was looking forward to Sunday's games.  As we were driving, I suggested that we rendezvous with Nicholas and Tommy at the Trail Dust for dinner.  It's a fun place ... food is great and they have a big indoor slide to keep the kids entertained.  Since we would be up and out extra early in the morning, we could have a Father's Day celebration a day early.

We stopped off at the house to clean the dust off our bodies and let the dogs out.  I had been a little leery about leaving four dogs loose in the house for such a long period of time but they surprised me and were all well behaved ... no accidents!

In no time, we headed out the door and down the road to the Trail Dust.  Gosh, that place dates back a long time ... good memories from long ago to the present!  Tommy and Nicholas pulled up in the yellow  Mustang and joined the party.  There were tales of Nicholas's successes and trials and Zachary's successes and trials.  The boys had put the games behind them and were racing towards the slide and juke box.  They cranked up the music and were laughing as they flew down the slide on to the dance floor.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and looked forward to attending Saturday night church at Prestonwood in Plano.

It was Tommy and Nicholas's turn to clean up and we all hopped into the van and were off to our next adventure.  It's amazing how long car rides can be fun when accompanied with laughter and bright spirits.  I looked forward to attending church and hearing Josh Hamilton's father in law, Michael Dean Chadwick, speak.  As we walked in the front doors, my heart started beating faster and I could feel the presence of the Lord.  The boys wanted to sit in the front row but we compromised sitting on the first row of the second section.  The praise team took their places and the music filled the entire room.  Chills ran up and down my spine as voices rang out ... Oh, I realized how much I missed that ... tears filled my eyes as I turned and look down the row at my family.  Zach's arms were raised high as he worshiped, Nicholas was writing love notes to his father,  Angie's hands were folded and her eyes closed, Tommy was beside me his voice raised to proclaim Jesus as Lord of his life ... Michael was on the other side of me, his deep bass voice thundering through each song.  I was blessed to be able to worship knowing my family was one in Christ.  The testimony that "Big Daddy" Chadwick gave was heart wrenching ... he gave the cliff notes of his life and his relationship with Josh Hamilton and I wished I could hear more.  I knew that lives were touched and changed that night.  We walked out of the service, the boys running full speed towards the water feature outside the front door.  I wondered where in the world they found the energy to keep on going!!

Angie made molten lava cakes with ice cream and Tommy and Michael were honored as Father and Grandfather.  It was so obvious ... Nicholas and Zachary absolutely adore their father and grandfather.  Love gathered around that table that night.  A perfect ending to a perfect day!

It was late ... my bones were weary.  Two happy little boys were tucked into bed and I made the trip down the hall to the guest room.  I was glad that I'd taken time Saturday morning to do my Bible and prayer time.  Somehow, from that moment on, I knew that the day would turn out okay no matter what happened.  We were family - for better or worse!

Life is what you make it and we are about as happy as we want to be.  Good times require some planning and the ability to change courses should the need arise.  It is one thing to be talented and gifted in an area; it is another to put in the hard work necessary to excel and move forward.  I learned so much from my grandsons as they played their hearts out on the baseball field, dealt with disappointments, then, moved on to celebrate Father's Day.  They didn't dwell on lost games -- they moved forward with ease.  I think Jesus is a pretty wise fellow telling us that we needed to be like children in our faith.  Somehow, they just flat out "get it."

The day closed with the hope of a fresh tomorrow.  Two little boys anxious to set new records for personal bests.  Two parents striving to support and teach their sons using the examples of the day ... two grandparents proud as peacocks of their grandsons knowing that they truly were the "cream of the crop!"

Stay tuned for day two of the weekend to remember ... Games come and go but memories last forever!  Always remember you are loved and prayed for ... YA YOU!!

Miss Dottie