Mississippi Pt.5

 We went to the Elvis museum today. We didn't actually go into the museum. But we did take the free walking tour, perused the gift shop and actually found it quite interesting! It was neat to see the truly humble beginnings of such an icon. I mean it's elvis. It's kind of cool.

We enjoyed lunching, talking, planning out the details of Abbie's wedding shower (we miss her) and just being in a different place and exploring. This was a good addition to the whole Tupelo experience. 

don't do them.

While we were off being tourists along with all the other Elvis fans in their beatup RVs, our men were off working hard. My dad is putting in 16+ hour days. Lots of studying and preparation and then close to 8 hours in the studio. Unfortunately, this new recording studio is having air conditioning problems. That means, my dad is teaching for many hours, under hot lights, with the air being around 90 degrees. He's holding up just fine, but that will drain you pretty quick. Bill keeps saying how great he's doing, even under the challenging circumstances. I'm so glad they're doing this together. I'm looking forward to joining them in the morning to take some pictures and be with them for a bit. 

Things are very good and we look forward to sharing more details along the way. :)

Mississippi Pt.4

It's a neat thing to travel as a wife and mom.  Mostly because I've always been able to watch my mom care for us all. She does so many things well.  She has a way of bringing pieces of home to wherever we go. It's often small comforts and they can so easily go overlooked. She just has this stress free, effortless way of making things go as smoothly as possible and it's great.
I love trying to be like her. It's a fun challenge. It feels good. :) A week away like this one, reveals so many the subtle ways that marriage is so beautiful. Watching her with my dad and experiencing it as Bill and I. It's so good to care for each other. It's a real image of God's goodness. 




Tonight we walked into a cool little authentic Mexican restaurant called D' Casa. My dad had just gotten a phone call, Bill was getting the baby settled, Jana was chatting with Caroline. Next to our table was a guy alone. Sitting, waiting for his family. He was in a wheelchair with a severely broken leg. I watched my mom so naturally and gracefully ask him about his leg. He's having another surgery tomorrow. He's just a guy who liked to deer hunt. She showed interest and care for him. She laughed with him as he told stories about it all. She encouraged him when he asked "They wanted me to amputate. Did I make the right decision not to? I often wonder that." He was introduced to the whole family, we all laughed and joked and he rested his hand on my moms shoulder and said, "It was so good to talk to you, Lisa. Thank you." 

That kind of story isn't rare for her. In fact she had another similar, funny interaction earlier this morning. It's so simple- but it's not.  She knows how to listen and what to say. She asks questions that show that she actually cares and wants to hear a response. Whether it's a stranger, coworker (she's got some good stories from the hospital!)  or a friend, she'll come away from any given conversation having said nothing about herself (she's very interesting) but having learned about a person.  She actually cares and she remembers. 

It's just cool. I love her. And I want to say more, but I won't. I'm just happy when I sometimes do things like her. I hope I do more. It's wonderful to live life so closely linked with someone so intentionally thoughtful. 




It was a good day in Mississippi. The boys worked hard at the studio. We have a sick feverish Caroline, but she's getting better. Jack took his first swim. He was a fan. Grant enjoyed himself immensely. In his very Grant way. :)

and now we sleep for a bit.  

Mississippi Pt.3

Today we got into our actual hotel for the week. It's quite nice and we're happy to get settled in. We pretty much relaxed for the afternoon, enjoyed the new hotel, unpacked and were together.
 We also had a good Taco Bell experience. I love when in life, something simple turns out really good and you just feel like talking about it. And you know that years down the road you'll go to Taco Bell for lunch and you'll be like, "That was good, but remember the Taco Bell in Tupelo. That was great! Southerners know how to do Taco Bell. That was a good experience." And it becomes a memory, even though it's such a small thing. Do you know what I mean?

Some of you may wonder what has brought us to Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis is cool and all, but his birthplace wouldn't quite have been at the top of our list for destination sites. My dad's brief Facebook description sums it up, below. 

"So, we are driving South tomorrow to a television studio in Tupelo, Mississippi (the birthplace of Elvis Presley). At the thoughtful and generous request of The Potter's School (Springfield, VA) and the American Family Association, I will spend three days in an HD video studio recording a 12 part DVD teaching series entitled "Generations of Grace." It is a great privilege to have the opportunity to announce the glory of God, His grace, and His happy vision for family-life. The DVDs will be a tri-production of the AFA, The Potter's School, and our own Enjoying Grace Ministries. They will be distributed through the AFA, used by the Homeschool Channel and The Potter's School's international discipleship activities. Lots more to this unfolding opportunity, but that's the introduction, for all of you friends out there who we would ask to pray for us throughout this intense, exciting week. Pray for Bill Baxter as well, who will be recording conversational clips with me, that will be used throughout the DVD teaching sessions."

When they requested for him to come down and do these recordings, their plan was to fly him down for the majority of the week by himself. We immediately wanted to be a part of this with him and were able to make it work. Even if it meant just driving down and back with him so that we could be together, it was worth it. My dad is passionate about each member of our family. He shows so much love and care in each one of our lives and through every new circumstance and opportunity. 

We had to be with him for such a neat adventure. Our hearts are knit together. 

He'll be talking about the heart of God. The delight that the Father has for us, His children. The prodigal sons and their prodigal Father. The Pharisees and why they matter. God's lavish and abundant goodness and grace. I want to say more but my little bullet point sentences don't do it justice. This is defining to the vision of life and the Gospel that drives his ministry. It is good stuff. If you know my dad, you would know that these themes are dear to his heart.

My dad has been a pastor since I was born. Every Sunday that I can remember, he has woken up at 5 in the morning (if not earlier) to pray and finsish preparation for each message that he has ever spoken. He doesn't treat any of this stuff flippantly. He's an excellent speaker and could prepare on the fly if he wanted to, but he doesn't.
 Each day, for the next three days he will be doing four full teaching times along with conversational clips with Bill as well. Please pray for him! That's a lot of teaching in a short time. I know that He'll do wonderfully and I know that God will give him strength, clarity of mind and ability to do this very well.

 I hope that he's even able to really enjoy it.  

I'm looking forward to letting you all know how things are going along the way. It's fun and I am so happy to be here and a part of it. Bill will be in the studio with him for the whole time. Mom, Caroline, Grant, Jack and I hope to be there a little as well. Abbie, Stephen, Adam, Jackie, and kids are so sad not to be here with us.  We are too and we wish they were. But we've enjoyed talking with them along the way. They're the best. :) 

These words are always an encouragement to me and are a refreshing reminder today;

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, 

according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. 

Ephesian 3:14-21

I love that. He won't just do more then we ask, as if we could be too greedy to desire and ask for God's gifts. He will do exceedingly and abundantly beyond what we could even think. 
It is good to be His child.

Thank you all for your love and prayers!

Lookout Mountain - Mississippi Bound pt. 2

"We are alive. We are here ... and we are laughing beneath a surly sky." - n.d.wilson

Yes, we are here. Today was another full day of driving. We all continued to enjoy ourselves, but were very ready to arrive in Tupelo and settle in. Today was full of many things. To name a few, changed plans, a solid handful of farm animals, oatmeal cream pies and some unique characters . Like the suspenders + santa clause tie wearing, talks about his canker sores + presidential candidates kind of characters.
I would like to elaborate on the quirkiness of the day. But I will not. You're welcome. :) 

We drove through Hackleburg Alabama today. It was a town devastated by tornadoes last April. At first we didn't realize that this was the result of a storm that we had seen on tv on my mom's birthday. The destroyed trees, land and homes was so huge that it didn't seem possible for it to have only been one tornado. The reality of seeing the kind of destruction, that you grow so familiar to seeing on the news, was sobering.

On a sweeter note we took a quick little pit stop to journey off the main roads to Lookout Mountain - the place of Grandma and Grandpa Ellis' honeymoon. It's South of the Border-esque in it's signage. The more signs we saw, the more we were convinced that it would be a happy thing to drive up the mountain and see where grandma and grandpa spent their first married days together. :) It was beautiful and I made a very simple, little video of it. You should probably watch it. -

We are very happy to be in Tupelo now. No more road trip adventures until the way home. Now to explore Elvis' birth town and do other Mississippi-ish things and get settled in for the week. Please continue to pray for my dad! Tomorrow will be a big preparation day for three very big days of teaching. It's a joy to be here with him!

Hello everyone,

it's Bill! I'll be posting on the blog every now and then so I figured I should introduce myself.

A few things: I love pizza, playing my guitar, singing, and anything with an Apple logo on the back. Twitter is my social network of choice and food is a chief joy in my shared life with Elizabeth and Jack. I love a good story and a comfortable hammock. I'm not much of an athlete but I do enjoy the occasional sport. I'm fond of a good brew and I have a strong appreciation for good packaging. Most of all, I love my family.

Bethie, Jack and I are the best of friends and we are going to use this space to show off all of our fabulous adventures together. God has blessed us immensely with a great extended family around us (who I'm sure you'll see glimpses of on here too!) and so many good things that we can't help but photograph. We know that we're going to have fun sharing these things with you all and we hope you enjoy them as well! Until next time!

Mississippi Bound Pt.1

“The world is beautiful but badly broken. St. Paul said that it groans, but I love it even in it’s groaning. I love this round stage where we act out the tragedies and the comedies of history. I love it with all it’s villains and petty liars and self-righteous pompers. I love the ants and the laughter of wide-eyed children encountering their first butterfly. I love it as it is, because it is a story, and it isn’t stuck in one place. It is full of conflict and darkness like every good story. And like every good story, there will be an ending. I love the world as it is, because I love what it will be.” - n.d.wilson

We embarked today on a little journey down to Tupelo, Mississippi. More on why we’re headed down later. It’s fun stuff. But now, we drive. And I love everything about the journey. The talking, relaxing, reading and watching the world swirl by. Initially I was a bit disappointed to have such a grey and damp day for a beautiful drive through pastures and Blue Ridge Mountains, but I have to say there’s something about being cozied up in your comfy car and watching the world, sunny or surly - it’s a beautiful place. 

Anyone who’s driven more than one minute on a highway knows trees. As we drive I’m reading n.d. wilson and he says, “Tree, I say, and you know what I mean. You see one in your mind, or glance out your window and remember the much needed pruning. Tree, God says, and there is one. But he doesn’t say the word tree; He says the tree itself. He needs no shortcut. He’s not merely calling one into existence, though His voice creates. His voice is it’s existence.”  -  “We imitate God’s words, but our noises are insufficient. So we doodle in the margins, children working to capture the Sistine Chapel with finger paints on a paper plate. What else can we do?” - “Look outside. Human language is our attempt at navigating God’s language; it is us running between the lines of His epic, climbing on the vowels and building houses out of the consonants.” 

This is His spoken word.

As we continue to drive, we observe God’s word. Lots of trees. Blurs of purple blossoms or still brown and branchy yet-to-blossom ones and pines so thickly layered across hills that you can’t even identify the individuals. This is His spoken word. And, it’s all beautiful and full of good. And a sweet thing to see the trees of other places and to think about the quiet spaces of the earth that God spoke existence into. It’s fun to think about.

Looking forward to updating along the way. I'm sure we'll have some adventures to tell. :)

“Listen to a child’s first laugh and know that this world is here, that you are in it and that it’s flavors are deep and layered and it’s lights are bright. Know that it’s real.”

Oh hi, it's us.

Before I can write and share photos and other fun things with you all, I suppose I need to introduce us and all I can think to say is that we’re happy. I always struggle with introductions. I feel like there’s so much left unsaid and it never comes out as I hoped. Similarly I hate when people ask what my favorite of something is, because I know I'll wish I said something else in just a few moments - there’s so many favorite things! Life is full of moments and funny coincidences and unexpected joys and new favorite things and we grow and change as people and we’re just us. We love to dream of the future and our chief objective as our little family is to be together and enjoy.




We love to have fun together. Often times that means adventuring and experiencing something new. Most of the time that means getting a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream, enjoying a brew and sitting around the living room with family, enjoying conversation and watching a red sox game or good movie. It’s all fun and when enjoyed with gratefulness and a love in the people shared with - I believe it’s very good. We love our days together. Just us. Bill, Bethie and Jack, running errands and doing stuff. We even love the days we work, because we work together, both waiting on tables and photographing weddings and people. We really love Mondays. Because that’s the day that we rest as a family. We eat and laugh and talk and are together. Together is the best part. We love the days that get to be poured into ministry and fellowship with others. Especially every Sunday with a wonderful group of people. We also, sometimes get opportunities to travel to meet other people where we sing and learn and laugh and talk and eat some more (all this eating, laughing, talking, enjoying stuff is kind of a theme). Oh yes, we also love Thursdays because that’s a day that we often do fun things. Wednesday nights are pretty good too, because it’s looking forward to Thursday and we can just relax and enjoy. Every day has so many good parts. Even the hard days have rays of light that help us to remember that it’s all good.



So that's why I'm writing. It's a fun way to remember our days together and I want to share some of that with anyone who's interested in reading. I also like to take pretty pictures and record videos and read interesting things and experiment with food and talk about things that are happening. It’s also fun to tell stories and remember things, so we’ll probably do a bit of that too. So, if you care to enjoy some of that with me - please read and please say hello!