We rarely see our overseas grandkids on the mission field, but we anticipated retirement would bring frequent occasions to be with those stateside. However, as they have grown older and have lives filled with school, work and social commitments, occasions to be together have not been as often as we anticipated. Of course, our own commitments and travel have contributed to that.

We have been delighted that two separate travel itineraries in the last few weeks have allowed us to spend a few days with our son’s family in the Nashville area where Russell works in corporate media at Lifeway Christian Resources. They live south of Franklin in the Thompson Station and Springhill area. It was a special blessing to worship with a house church group last Sunday led by Russell.

They are a part of Conduit a growing contemporary church that believes the local body of believers exists to be a conduit for fulfilling the Great Commission and reaching the nations. They gathered in home groups on Pentecost Sunday to emulate and pray for the persecuted church around the world.

There has been no lack of mission involvement since they returned from missionary service in East Asia eight years ago. Zachary, who is 17, is pictured in a pretentious pose while on a spring mission trip to Miami. In the last couple of years he has been to Nicaragua, New York and Haiti twice. Joseph, who is 13, spent spring break with his Junior High group on a mission project in inner city Atlanta and accompanied his mother to Israel last year. Russell leaves in a couple of weeks for Guatemala and went to India last summer.

The little princess, as Anna Grace is affectionately called by her father, is 11 and relishes special attention from “Bubob” as Bobbye is called by the grandkids. It is a shortened combination of the Indonesian word for mother, “Ibu” and her name. We are amazed at how each of the kids have grown and matured since we were with them last Christmas. Our time with them in the past was one of reading them stories and playing childhood board games, but now they are consumed with their own interests.

Zachary has his driver’s license, which is scary, has a girl friend and is an avid drummer, playing in the praise band of his youth group where he is also working as an intern. There is no way to carry on a conversation anywhere in the house when he is practicing. Joseph loves reading, plays the saxophone in junior high band and likes to challenge “Papa” to an occasional game of chess.