First of all, I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had posted here. I do miss blogging, and I miss the friends that I have lost contact with.
This past week I took a road trip to western North Carolina to visit friends from my distant past. I started out by visiting Sharon, a friend I sort of grew up with, except she is a lot younger than I am. Her mom was like a second mom to me, and I spent a lot of time at their house. She moved to North Carolina a few years ago after her daughter had moved there. Her brother Glenn was already there, and not too long after, her mom joined them.
We enjoyed talking about "old times." Sharon lives out in the country. They have chickens, a garden, quite a bit of acreage, and a lovely back porch with hummingbird feeders. I enjoyed sitting in the rocking chair watching the birds coming for food.
The next day I left and drove to Morganton to visit Don and Peg Windmiller, my former pastor and his wife from Bradenton. They have retired and moved to North Carolina to be in the mountains. They are not quite in the mountains, but when you drive up to their house, you feel like you are there. Sitting on the porch you can see them since they are not far away.
We had a good visit. On Tuesday, Peg and I drove over to Black Mountain, where Don and Peg's son, Dan works at Black Mountain Children's Home. What a wonderful place! It was good to meet Dan's two little girls and his wife Elise.
On Wednesday I left and drove up to Boone to see Mary Jane Uttley, one of my dear friends from Haiti days. She was up visiting David, her son. David was one of my students in Haiti when I taught down there in the early '70's. David works now for Samaritan's Purse, as does his wife , Cindy.
While there I had the opportunity to visit Samaritan's Purse an learn more of their work As the group was gathering for a tour of the facility, we were seated around a table, and the tour leader asked us to introduce ourselves. When we got to the last two couples, the lady introduced herself and her husband, and then introduced the other couple. She said, "And this is our friend, Damaris Carbaugh, and her husband. You may know her from the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir." My heart took a leap. Our choir at Bethel sang many of their songs, and her songs were among my favorites. That was certainly a highlight. After the tour was over, I had the opportunity to talk to her some...such a joy. If you click on her name, you can hear one of her songs. Be blessed.