Wendy and I are retired and living in Pearland. We raised three children and have seven grandchildren. Our journey at Palmer began in 2004, after our children had left us empty nested.

The biggest factor in our move to Palmer was the community. While we immediately enjoyed the beautiful music and campus, it was the people that counted most. That is still true today.

In mid-September, our daughter Mindy invited us to come and spend a month at her home in Virginia. We jumped at the chance to escape our “cabin fever. We couldn’t wait to see three of our grandsons (two of whom are in college), connect with extended family, witness the changing of the leaves, and offer some level of support to our daughter in the midst of her divorce.

The planning began. Many lists were compiled, and each item was journaled as a to-do or scratched for alternative action. We made the important decisions: we’d be home before Thanksgiving, we would drive rather than fly in COVID time, and the two dogs and the cat would go with us.

So away we went, and no sooner were we on the road when we began calling our neighbors to see if they could bail us out of situations we hadn’t anticipated or had left off our lists. As the expression, in our case goes, “Bill and Wendy plan, God laughs.”

The first two days were filled with delays and late arrivals at our stopping points. The animals were being extremely good, a very pleasant surprise. My co-pilot, on the other hand, was a different story. The medicine she takes for an auto-immune health condition causes heightened levels of paranoia and fear, and both were on full display when daytime setbacks forced us to drive after dark. At one point I threatened to leave her on the side of the road – that didn’t happen! – and the last day of travel went better.

Our visit to Virginia was wonderful, the autumn leaves were spectacular, and we were able to safely do all the things we hoped. All the while we stayed in touch with our Palmer Bible study groups, the church office volunteers at morning tea parties and early evening happy hours, Sunday school classes, and Sunday Worship on Zoom and YouTube. These were important connections to our community and friends, and gave continuity to our “normative” pandemic reality.

On the way home there was a huge amount of tractor-trailer traffic and highway construction made worse by concrete barricades that left little, if any, shoulder on the road. It was a stressful drive, especially when we were inches away from a solid barricade on one side and a “monster” truck on the other. Cue the paranoia and fear? Not so fast. We made it home safely and with less strife.

I’ve heard it said many times that holding people in your thoughts and prayers is not really doing anything. I am extremely thankful that we live in a community that takes prayer seriously and practices it in earnest. Very recently I heard a member of Palmer cite the positive, noticeable effects of prayer while experiencing surgery and recovery. And all of you put Wendy and I in God’s hands through your prayers and zoom calls. The Palmer community was with us all the time!

Saint Paul says, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7  NRSV

Paul makes prayer a fundamental practice of our faith -- Palmer gets it – and we are grateful.