Arkansas

The day started wonderfully. We woke up after a great nights sleep in Aunt Frans cozy home. She fed us her famous breakfast including coffee, oatmeal (Aunt Frans slow cooked secret recipe), biscuits with or without sausage or jelly and to top it off--FRESH squeezed OJ.

YUM YUM. After this we said good-bye and hit the road. We headed out on I-40 west, crossed the Mississippi and officially left the EAST behind according to my geographer husband. The land is the delta and is flat but fertile. Crops included rice and lumber and more rice. The weather prediction for the day was fair except for a line of storms with wind gusts in the 80 MPH range that we would probably run into around Little Rock. as we approached it we could see the sky getting darker and were thankful that all we had to do was drive. The kids actually kind of like it because it makes the inside of the van seem snug. Just after skirting Little Rock we needed a potty break, as did the cat, or so we thought. We forgot the vet had told us she could go 8-12 hrs. We pulled into a McDonalds/truck stop in Maumelle, Arkansas (French for nightmare). This is where Phoebe Houdini'd out of her harness and made a break for it, medicated and all.

After hours of calling for her, meowing for her and crawling in and out of mosquito and spider infested brambles, We considered giving up. We registered her on a lost pet web site, gave all our contact info to the locals (whose overwhelming response was "it's just a cat", which only made me bawl more) and were about to hit the road. Brandon convinced me that we should stay one night in this place and hope for the best, plus he had pinky promised Mia. We left a towel and some food in the spot where she had last been seen (pictured above), and went to drown our sorrows at waffle house. It was here that we came to realize that We had to give Phoebe to God, after all, He had given her to us. By the time we left we all had some peace about the situation and were thankful that we could count on the truth...that somehow

1. This was God's plan for us and Phoebe and in that it was the best thing for us

2. it would ultimately bring Him glory

So OK the plan was to check a couple more times tonight and in the morning, and then head on--Having had a lengthy and tumultuous detour here in Maumelle. We crossed the street back into the McDonalds parking lot and I got out to check. His plan was for Phoebe to be with us at least one more day. She was there.

So now, again my family is sleeping, tired not from a day of driving and travel, but a day of having to trust and wait on the Lord, but Oh how it builds Faith. We saw how it built faith in our family. I was listening to someone the other day talking about trial, and she said "it's never the trial that makes you stronger, it's what you do with it".

Tomorrow we hope to make up for today and travel to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. 11 hours. Needless to say Phoebe will not be let out, I'm hoping maybe the kids and I will. Please continue to pray, we are so thankful.

Love and miss you all

The Leagues, Brandon, Kelly, Emily, Elijah, Mia and Phoebe.