Marcy Jo's Mealhouse

 It was a dream! :-) Derrick had a seminary conference in Nashville at Opryland. We were staying in a log cabin on the lake at Arnold Air Force Base.On the way I looked up how close Marcy Jo's Mealhouse would be. It turned out we would only be an hour and 20 minutes away so on the way home we took the backroads and stopped by there! I thought that we'd probably get to meet Marcy and was excited about that. I thought there could be a possibility of seeing Heidi Feek because she had been working there (she no longer was). I joked that we may get to meet Rory and said we'd have to go very early because I knew he used to go early for coffee when Joey was there. We got the cabin cleaned up, packed the evening before, and laid out our clothes. I joked saying, "You're not going to wear that to meet Rory are you?! No, let's find something else!" Cameron piped up, "I want to wear my super hero shirt to meet Rory!" He had his shirt that says, "My dad is a super hero!" We got up just after 5 a.m. to make it there early. We didn't actually drive away from the cabin until about 6:20. We were there in the 7 o'clock hour. We walked in and immediately scanned the place for any sign of Rory. Nope. A lady sitting at the door said, "Oh wow! You are living my dream! They are so beautiful  (the kids). I wanted 50 children and my husband wanted 1...so we had 2!" I said, "Oh, so you made a bit of a compromise, right?" She said, "Some kind of compromise! Haha!" She was a lovely lady. Her husband came back to the table. Marcy was there (!) and told us we'd be seated shortly. We went out on the front porch. I would've waited for hours and the wait wasn't even long. I wanted to go upstairs to the gift shop. So we all did. We looked at t-shirts, coffee mugs, jewelry, guitar picks...Then they called us. We were walking down the stairs and there was a stir. The kids were saying, "Mom, Rory's here!!!"No way."Rory and INDY, Mama!" I got to to the bottom step and looked the direction they were. Sure enough! I couldn't believe it. This was even better than the time I ran into Garth Brooks...or Flea! See http://derrickhildebrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/mom-knows-best-who-knew-garth-would-be.html?m=1

Joey + Rory are so special to me not only because I love their music, but they have shared their lives, they have been authentic, they love the Lord, and they loved each other and others well. They have been such an example to me. If they weren't famous, I'd still want to be around them. It's not their fame that makes me interested in them. For the same reasons, I love the Duggar family.

I looked at Rory and smiled and he smiled back. We went to our table and had to stop ourselves from staring at Rory and Indy after smiling and laughing and watching Indy. I ordered the best omelet I've ever had in my life, the kids had a cinnamon roll and biscuits and gravy, and Derrick had Stuffed French Toast. I I could hardly eat my breakfast. We wanted to say hi, dreamed of getting a picture, but we also didn't want to bother Rory because we know that happens to him all the time! Marcy came and asked if we were going to get a cinnamon roll saying it was the best part and I told her we really enjoyed watching her on the Joey + Rory shows. So cute but, while we were still eating, little 3-year old Cameron pointed over at Rory and said, "Mom, Rory's here!" I guess he knew him because I'm always playing Joey+Rory videos or their Dvd.

Suddenly Derrick said, "I think he's leaving soon so you better go say hi." I saw the woman that had greeted us and her husband were talking to him. She came over and started talking to me and I said, "He's here!!" because I had said earlier that we had hoped he would be. She started telling me about the (19?) rescue animals they have in Indiana. All of a sudden, Rory was standing in front me and his phone was recording us!! I was so confused and must've of  looked dumbfounded on what he was recording! I was thinking in my head and forcing myself not to say aloud, "Aren't WE supposed to be taking pictures of you?! I  turned and there was Marcy holding Indy and guests admiring her right behind me. Wow! Talk about finding the courage to speak to Rory! 

I took the girls to the bathroom which was right by Rory's table. Then I tried to let Rory finish his conversation with the man with him at his table (Derrick said he looked familiar, a man from Kansas, Ok) I told him that he and Joey really impacted us and to love each other better and to love my husband better...to love like Christ. He thanked me and shook my hand. I said I joked with the kids about not wearing certain clothes to meet Rory and Cameron wanting to wear his super her shirt. I said, "This is a dream! I didn't think you'd actually BE here though. He said he hadn't been coming there and was rarely there. Later I found out that Bailey and I both prayed him there. :) The man with him said they'd just flown in from Arkansaa and they made him come. There seemed to be a sadness about Rory. I'm sure he's hurting pretty good. :'(

Derrick was at the table talking to the man from Kansas, Ok. Still talking with Rory, he actually asked all the kid's names and then Derrick (I think) asked if we could take a picture with him. He said yes and he and Indy stood with us. The man with him asked Marcy to turn around and took hers too. Then Rory stood there and asked all the kids their ages. It was wonderful! In the words of Bill Gaither, they are the "real deal." :-) 

*Derrick and I did have one regret about this wonderful event. Derrick said he wished he would've prayed with Rory and I wished I would've told him we're praying for them and had acknowledged the pain he's going through.