Where to begin?

One day last week I hit "writer's block" and could think of nothing worthwhile for a blog post. After this weekend and Sunday, it is the complete opposite. Today there are so many things that I want to write, I hardly know where to start! I will probably spread things out over the next several days.
The first and most important item has to do with my wife and some of our wonderful friends from Springdale. Most of you know that the elders here in Ennis allow me to go back to Springdale every other week to see Merilyn and to be able to continue my Thursday night Bible study group. I was in Springdale this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday. By the way, we have a new member, Tana, joining our group so that was exciting. It came time for me to leave on Saturday to return to Ennis. I was leisurely loading things into the car in the hour or so before my planned departure time. Merilyn was loading some of the stuff as well, which is a little unusual but I thought nothing about it. After lunch, I told her it was time for me to take off. She said, "Go turn the TV off. I've got something to tell you." I said, "Why do I have to turn the TV off? Go ahead and tell me." She said, "Well, I'm going with you." My first thought was to wonder what she was up to because I knew there was no way she was going with me. I said, "What do you mean you're going with me? How are you going to get back?" She said, "Don't you worry about it." I said, "What about your clothes and other things?" She said, "They are already in the car." Then it dawned on me why she was helping to load all the stuff that she was because she was slipping her stuff in as well. So I said, "OK. Let's go." We turned off the TV, got the puppies squared away, got in the car and took off.
Of course, I was thrilled to have her come with me. But the story doesn't end there by a long shot! As we drove toward Texas I quizzed her a bit more about her arrangements. Who was going to pick her up? A friend of our daughter, Sarah. What's she doing in Texas? Visiting some friends. Where is she going to pick you up? Just out at the freeway by the Baymont Motel around 1 p.m. on Sunday. Where exactly is she is Texas? I don't know for sure. Do I need to drive you somewhere to meet her to make it easier for her? No, she is coming right through Ennis. We went on like this for 10 or 15 minutes until I could think of no other questions to ask so I was completely satisfied that she had all the arrangements done and everything was in good shape. It was a great blessing and fantastic surprise to me to have her come back to Texas with me, even if it was just for one more night. Another reason it was so good is because of a special event we had at church on Sunday. I'll write more on that tomorrow. Merilyn and I also got to spend a little time with both of our children over the weekend. I'll write more on that in the next few days.
Back to the story.
We made it back to Ennis fine. Had a good evening Saturday. Got up and went to Bible class on Sunday morning. We had lots of visitors and an excellent discussion in Ephesians 3. Went into the auditorium for worship and we were greeting folks. One man said, "Is that your Arkansas car out there?" I said, "Well, I have an Arkansas car, but mine is parked out back." He said, "No, this one is right out front. It's a black Pacifica." I said, "I'm going to have to track those folks down and see who it is." Meanwhile I was thinking if I knew anyone who drove a black Pacifica. About that time I looked up and I could hardly believe who was coming down the aisle...it was Joe and Cathy May and Dick and Shirley Pate from Springdale! They are the wonderful friends I mentioned earlier. I immediately went to them for a round of hugs and greetings. Merilyn followed and after the initial excitement died down, she said, "This is the friend of Sarah's that I'm riding home with." I was absolutely flabbergasted! The first thing I asked was, "How long have you guys been planning this?" It turns out they had been planning for two weeks and not only they knew about it, but also Adam, Sarah, my mother, my father-in-law and I don't know who else. I could not believe they pulled it over on me in such a big way. It started when I mentioned to my Thursday night Bible study group two weeks ago that we were having this special event at the church in Ennis on November 8. Cathy had the initial idea of cooking up a trip, shared it with the others and it just kind of snowballed from there. They were able to stay for the morning worship and then for our delicious fellowship meal. It was all one of the best surprises I've ever had.
More on the events of the weekend and Sunday later. Have a great day!