Dominican Republic, no kids, and a surprise ending!!!!!

At the end of April Bubba and I got a call from some friends (Tommy and Heather Kyle) who head up a ministry called Nations of Coaches. They wanted us to come and be apart of a mission trip/ marriage retreat in the Dominican Republic. I won't share with you the exact process of how all this came about, but it was all God's grace and goodness! We were very blessed by a number of people who allowed us to be apart of this and are very thankful for the opportunity. NOT TO MENTION WE WERE KID LESS (thanks to MIMI and NANA)! For the sake of the story I do want to say that we were able to partially pay for the airline fair through the tickets Bubba surprised me with on my birthday! They were tickets to New York City I had never been before and was so excited, but we didn't know when we would actually have the money to go there so we decided to forgo that trip and use them for the Dominican!

While we were there we spent a good portion of time surrounding ourselves with many of the people that live there. The picture above is of us at a girls orphanage in the city! We brought them food and supplies, they were all so precious! They hung to use like glue, especially Bubba! THEY LOVED HIM! They braided my hair, we painted fingernails, played games, they took pictures with my camera! I know some of my friends will understand this, but at one point I saw a little 2 year old just standing there named Lady, I picked her up and immediately thought of my little Emma!!!! It just broke my heart to think that these little girls have no momma and daddy to tuck them in at night. It was really a sweet experience!

The next day the coaches all went to work a basketball clinic and share testimony with the kids! We then went to visit a village where a sugarcane plantation had been shut down. These people were so, so poor! They were living in slums and huts, the children had rags on, it was extremely sad! We went there to spend time with the children and deliver groceries to each of the

families!

It was such a great experience and trip, we were both so thankful to have been able to go! We were suppose to be heading back home on Sunday at three and we got a call from the airline that said our flight was canceled and the next flight wasn't till Monday at that same time!!!! I was really freaking out because Mary B. and Isaac both had the school talent show on Monday at 1:00! We had been practicing for weeks with Mary B. singing "GOD BLESS AMERICA" and I DID NOT WANT TO MISS IT!!!!! Fortunately a group of us were all riding back on the same flight, so we decided to go on over to the airport and see what other arrangements we could make to get back any earlier. They informed us that our only option would be to FLY TO NEW YORK CITY, stay the night there and leave at 8:00 the next morning to get back to Nashville by 10:00! I couldn't believe it... I WAS GOING TO NEW YORK CITY AFTER ALL and it was completely paid for by the airline!!!! ON TOP OF THAT I WOULD MAKE IT HOME IN TIME TO SEE ISAAC SING A SILLY CHRISTMAS SONG AND MARY B. BELT "GOD BLESS AMERICA!" To say the least, Bubba, I, and a few friends stayed out till 2 am in NYC, woke up at 5, and we were in Sewanee by 11:45 that same morning!!!!
It truly was a wonderful experience with a really special surprise ending!!!!!