Gonzo Gab: Weekend in San Antonio

Last week I had the blessing of getting away to San Antonio, TX for an extended weekend. Sam held down the fort with the three oldest and Isabella and I headed north. Oak Hills Church hosted a Children's Pastor's Conference in Spanish. I had known about it for a while, but hadn't really contemplated going until I realized that it might actually be a doable thing. It was a tremendous blessing for me. Isabella and I stayed with our good friends David and Janie Padilla. They have known Sam for a long, long time, and I have known them since I was in school at ACU. I used to babysit their girls and my claim to fame is that I taught them to eat cookie dough! Their mom was petrified, but they have grown up to be well adjusted young adults, and no stomach trouble. Amazing!!!
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The conference was so good. It was just the breath of fresh air that I needed. I met some really neat people from all over the USA and Latin America. I think that a big part of it was to see quality materials, resources and very talented people in Spanish. It was good. I was renewed in the vision for what we want the children of this church to be about. I also really enjoyed to see how Oak Hills is doing some of their bilingual ministry in San Antonio. It was very cool to see how the worship flowed from English to Spanish and back. Something Sam and I have dreamed about for churches in the USA. Of course, the opportunity to have to keep track of only one kid and not have the usual responsibilities was a breath of fresh air also.
Sam did an amazing job at taking care of things on the home front. They had a great time, did homework and made it to school everyday. So, all is good. The fact that he was so encouraging in having me go and taking care of the girls made the time all the more enjoyable. Isabella did get a little clingy, to say the least, so it felt like I held her for most of the time we were gone. She did well on her first plane ride. She cried a little, but mostly slept and ate. It put her in a great mood as we went through customs, so they were all enjoying her and not terribly concerned with giving us a hard time. As we buckled in for the plane ride home and the plane started to move, she started the action in her diaper. It was not pretty!!! By the time we made it to the bathroom it was quite a mess and she needed a whole new set of clothes. Let me tell you, those airplane bathrooms are small enough as is, but when you have to change a diaper in them...they're really, really small. Never a dull moment!
In spite of all of that, it is great to be home!