Oklahoma Days

Ben left for Ft. Sill, Oklahoma on September 1st to begin the first of two Basic Officer Leadership Courses. After one day of considering my options - and a few encouraging phone calls from my sister and a friend - I decided that this was one of those times you’ve gotta fight for your man and your heart. Three days of packing, and a sweet spontaneous 1 day visit from my sister, Taylor, later, I hit the road.

The drive to Oklahoma from Washington state was so beautiful. After driving through a part of Oregon, I headed into Idaho and spent the first night at Hostel Boise. It was on the outskirts of town and I had the quiet little country place to myself. Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado. It was so nice to stop and see Gilby & Jocie (Ben’s brother-in-law & sister) and spend the night at their place in Denver. The next day I knew i would see Ben and that definitely pushed me on....Colorado, the west corner of Oklahoma, Texas - right through Amarillo - and then Ft. Sill.

So here we both are. There was this woman in Australia who prayed for me once when I was there in 2005, and the words God spoke to me through her prayers keep coming back to me. He said that i would have a network of fiery friends. Every day that i wake up here, and also when we were in Washington this summer, my heart is overwhelmed by the faithfulness of the Lord God to fulfill His promises. My close friend Hannah lives here in Tulsa with her husband. We were room mates in Hawaii in 2006 during our counseling school at the U of N. Both her and her parents (who only live 2 hours from Ft. Sill - where Ben is training) have opened up their homes to me for the time that we are here. And they haven’t only been sharing their homes with us, they have been sharing their lives.

Being with my husband means more than anything to me, and we are taking this journey as it comes.

This weekend is the Oklahoma State Fair....maybe we’ll live it up and ride the ferris wheel, catch a country concert and heck, maybe even a pig race. Next time I will have to share about the cool little country town of Guthrie where Hannah’s parents live. It is definitely a slow-paced country town with loads of good ‘ol western history. I’m trying to catch up on the classic western movies - like Tombstone and The Quick & The Dead - while we’re here. (We’ve also got hooked on Arrested Development....so not western at all.)

Bless you all this fall....may it be the start of many new and exciting things in your life!!!

With Love,

Ben and Chelsa