On the Road Again (to Montana)

On Sunday, May 19, Lee preached at Ingalls Avenue Baptist Church in Pascagoula, MS. Next, we headed to Providence Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, MS, for my brother-in-law, David Williamson's graduation reception. He recently graduated from Southwestern Seminary with his Doctorate. Finally, we headed to Thomasville, AL to Thomasville Baptist Church where we spoke to their mission team that is coming out this summer and Lee preached their P.M. service. Our day ended in Grove Hill, AL, where we spoke to their mission team that will be working at the rodeo. It was a whirlwind day! Monday we tried to pack everything up and Tuesday we flew home - this time with no problems! We had a couple of days to pack, and then our wonderful mission team from Hattiesburg, MS came to help us move. Mr. Rickey and Mrs. Gay Nicholas and their nephew, Shawn, flew in on Friday. We got the moving truck on Saturday and began loading it, with the help of Mike Ungaretti and Rob and Allison Labs, all from our church in Livingston. We finished packing the truck Saturday night. Sunday, May 26, was our last Sunday with Cornerstone Community Fellowship in Livingston. Lee shared about our work in Red Lodge, they had a special prayer for us, and lunch at the church. It was a special time with those sweet folks who were our first church home in Montana. One thing I left out was that Lee had been having back problems for a few months before we went south. While in Mississippi, he saw a friend of ours who was a chiropractor a few times. But he was still having pain. He was unable to help any while we were packing boxes or loading the truck to move. That's why our dear friends who helped us really were life savers. Also, the whole time we were down south, we were working with the bank to finalize the loan on the house we were buying in Red Lodge. It seemed at every turn there were obstacles. We even wondered if we would have to rent a while until we could find something. The strange thing was - no one could explain why we were having these problems. So we flew home on Tuesday, closed on the house on Friday, and moved in on Monday. God's timing is always right on! So, Monday, May 27, Memorial Day, exactly one year to the day of when we left our friends and family in Alabama, we pulled out from our rental house in Livingston and headed to our new home in Red Lodge. As we began to unload the truck, Lee continued to get worse. Now he could hardly stand, much less walk. A friend from the Rock Church in Laurel, MT, Kevin Kaiserman, came down to help us unload the truck. Once it was unloaded, Lee told me to take him to the Emergency Room. What a way to start our lives here in Red Lodge! I took him to the ER, and Mrs. Gay took care of the family. They gave Lee some strong pain medication, and he basically lost a week of his life! He was in the bed the entire next week, and mostly didn't know anything. Again, the Nicholas' helped tremendously. On Friday, May 31, Lee went to see our local doctor and he seemed to think he had a bulging disc in his lower back. He gave him a round of steroids and sent him home.