Cactus Flower

  Thank you!  Thank you for an incredible furlough.  Thank you for changing up your schedules, for including us in what you do and for making our time in the USA memorable and refreshing.   We love each of you so much.  Living close by (real close for one son) was so nice.  Lunches, suppers, parties.  What a time!  Here are just a few of my favorite memories of 2024...

  I happened upon an archive of old home video from our furlough in 2018 while transferring items to a new laptop.  Oh, what fun to watch!  Decided to put them in a little video collage.  Making important memories while in the USA with our grands is important!  It takes a little effort and a little intent.   Enjoy! In memory of Papa Potter

  Last weekend we headed to Georgia from North Carolina, a good six hour plus trip.  In the car were one old great-grandmother, one toddler, one seven year-old and one nine year-old and two crazy missionaries.  We were on our way to a meeting with an entourage.   It may not have been the best planned activity of our furlough.  It may not have been with no tears and all smiles.  It was an adventure, and hopefully one our grandchildren remember with fondness in years to come. The church meeting went off without a hitch.  We managed to keep them all fed and fairly clean.  We even went to a safari type zoo and stopped to visit quickly with friends on the way back to Carolina. We have worked hard to "make core memories" on this furlough.  We can only hope and pray that God will bless our efforts with interest in the future. In the meantime we look forward to a few more days with lot of holiday fun before we head back to Brazil.

  It's that time of the year in the United States when all things are pumpkin spice even ice cream and coffee.  Yes, I recently ordered and enjoyed a scoop of pumpkin spice ice cream.  Crazy right?  Not for Americans!   Byron and I went to the NC State Fair this week with a church group of senior citizens.  Another crazy thing.  Have we really reached this age?  Byron perhaps, but me?   Granny has indeed and was happy to go.  Anyone aged 65 and up got in free.  We did have to pay, so I guess we aren't quite there yet. Granny enjoyed the pumpkins on display and wanted to ride the giant Ferris wheel stating she might never have another chance.   I've found most of my fall favorite clothes that had been in storage and even purchased a few new tops to make it through the season.  It's truly crazy at the lengths people go to decorating their homes and making sure they have the latest in pumpkin spice style.  This...

Over the Labor Day weekend we enjoyed a few hours in the sun and sand with family.  Papa Byron did get sun burnt in spite of all of his precautions.  Seems his pale legs just don't see the light very often.  Playing with our youngest grandbaby in the sand and waves was a delight. Gramma, me, was mostly happy to be with all the gang and to finally visit the famed beach house.  Our fine hosts made our meals at home and everyone enjoyed lots of games and fun. Everything said even with a few small problems and a church meeting in another city in the middle we all had a grand time.   I can be very thankful and feel quite blessed to have been together with our wild, crazy, extended family. I even got to buy two beach tee shirts and enjoy a brief outing with two of my favorite girls. Enjoy this little home video of the game that Gramma Michele can't win!  Taco Cat!

I'm reading a book for old missionaries about all the crazy things people go through in returning from their field of service to spend time in their home country.  One of the chapters is all about how tough it is to "go home."  Things change and the missionary ends up out of sync with what's new since their last "home" visit. "Coming home" this time has been smooth in some ways and a little crazy in others.  Byron and I haven't had a real furlough for six years.  On one hand our recent short visits pathed the way for an easier transition.   But staying for a longer this time around means we don't have to feel as rushed to go and do and see, even though we are always reminded of that the pages of the calendar are passing by. Keeping in touch with our friends in Brazil is uniquely easy nowadays allowing us the privilege of almost instant contact, real time decision making and even seeing regular photos of my cat.  We can send money quickly an...

  Furlough, it used to mean getting my boys all prepped with new clothes, all ready to attend classes in real schools, and all set to interact with Americans.  Today, it means finding someone to take care of our Brazilian pets and hoping the grandkids remember who we are.  I didn't even buy any new clothes! Thankfully we found who I hope will be the best house/petsitter ever, and I think my grandbabies already know who I am.  Tying up all the loose ends of ministry and house took more effort and time than ever, but we made it to the aiport on time and so far so good.  I am sitting unstressed in the largest airport in Brazil this afternoon typing away with few concerns. Hopefully this sabbatical furlough will be just that unstressed with few concerns.  We need to visit around 25 churches, see as many loved ones as possible and go to Walmart as often as we can.  We also need to rally support for the missionaries that are joining our ministry efforts in t...

We arrived in Brazil on Friday, July 27, with no problems in immigration or customs.  The only problem with our flights was our 11 hour layover in Recife waiting for a one hour flight to Petrolina!  Yes, we could have driven in about 10 hours, but we were dead tired and our flight was free - more or less.  Let's say, already paid for. Our dogs and the cat were happy to see us.  The cat purrs and purrs whenever one of us walk by and gets up in the night every time I do.  One of Wishbone's (the white dog) 5 puppies is still here.  We're hoping to find it a home soon enough. All in all, we can be very grateful for an easy arrival and transition. We've come back to a house full of bugs once.  Another time we had to battle a house full of rats.  Once there was a horse living in the back yard along with the stuff that comes of horses who live places.  This time there was just a clean house and happy pets.   Tomorro...

So you're on furlough from foreign missionary service and someone asks you how you are enjoying your vacation.  At the moment you've rushed from an engagement that morning, to the home in which you are staying where you hurrily cleaned up the house for a small group meeting leaving your daughter-in-law prepping snacks and icing cupcakes, only to jump in the car to head off to an evening engagement an hour and a half away over mountainous roads... how do you answer?   Your whole week has been consumed with taking care of grandbabies, helping plan a wedding that will happen in less than two weeks, helping family with the care of an elderly grandpa, visiting your parents in another state for a day trip and lunch, studying a little for a continuing education class, doing normal household chores, making daily runs to take our teen to driver's ed at a big high school, visiting a far off grocery store looking for ingredients for the wedding shower, going out with family to tes...