Sunday Sanity 12/8

Hey Friends,

Four weeks ago today, my Dad finished his earthly fight. He was a faithful soldier in God’s army. Daddy was committed to his God, family, calling and friends until the end.

Today’s Sanity comes from Jeff Rowe. This is a snippet of a text he sent me four weeks ago. It spoke directly to my heart when it was freshly shattered!

God has brought many special people into our lives over the years. Now, we can not imagine life without them. One such person is Jeff Rowe, owner of East Tennessee Luxury Coach in Vonore, Tennessee. 

Jeff became the official BoggsMobile mechanic. He kept us rolling and took Dad’s calls whenever we needed help on the road. He also helped tremendously with his bus-induced psychosis!

He is not just our go to bus guy, but he became a friend to our family! Often, he took up for me with Dad! This was the last picture Dad took of me and Jeff on July 22nd. 

I have found Jeff is eloquent with his words. I always feel honored when he takes a moment out his busy schedule to send me a text. Often it was exactly what I need in that moment.

Jeff has served our country! Once a Marine, always a Marine. We thank you for your service!

Odie

 “Today is the Marine Corps birthday.   Although your Dad was not in the military he was a outstanding soldier in the most important army.  The army of God.”

Jeff  Rowe 

Davy Boggs Obituary Information

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from the beach cottage. Mom and I made it home to Waynesville last night. It was so good to spend some time surrounded by family!

Thank you for your calls, texts, comments, emails, prayers, hugs and support! Once again, the family of God has surrounded us. Your kindness and generosity are helping us through a difficult time. Words cannot adequately express our gratitude and appreciation!

On Tuesday, I posted the details of Dad's Celebration of Life, scheduled for next week. You can see that post by clicking here.

For anyone planning to attend the services from out of state. Here is some lodging information that you might find valuable. Thank you to Bro. Jeff Roberts for helping us with this information! He asked me to share the details below with our blog readers

“If you are making arrangements to come to the viewing or funeral for Bro Davy, we have a special rate with a block of rooms reserved at the following hotel. You can get a room for $65 plus tax. You need to request rooms under the block for Dryden Road Church. 

The Hotel at Dayton South

8099 Old Yankee Street

Centerville, OH 45458

(937) 291-0284”

Today, I have Dad’s official obituary for you. Thanks to my Uncle Steve and Aunt Karen for aiding us with this task! Here is a link to the official listing. 

Davy Boggs 

Jan 16, 1967 - Nov 10, 2024

Boggs, Davy, age 57, of Waynesville, passed away Sunday, November 10, 2024, in Wichita, Kansas.

Davy graduated from Waynesville High School, class of ’85, where he served as class president. 

Davy began preaching as a teenager and married young to his great love, Kelly Jo. They traveled and preached on weekends, worked public jobs, evangelized full-time some and pastored churches twice. Their daughter Odie traveled with them everywhere. In 2003, the family committed to full-time ministry with their only home on the road. After wearing out a couple trucks and fifth-wheel campers, in 2008, Davy moved his family into the Boggsmobile, a 1995 Prevost Motorcoach bus. While this complex machine stressed him at times (a condition the family called bus-induced psychosis), it quickly became home to him and remained his home until last week. 

Davy and his family spent much more time away than they did at home, often spending months traveling across the United States spreading the word of God as an evangelist. His days were spent studying and seeking the Lord so he could fulfill his calling to encourage pastors. Davy and his family ministered more than 340 services most years. Davy’s passion was for souls, and he loved to reach for them under the Blue and White Gospel Tent. In fact, he spent more than 800 nights holding tent revivals. In 2016, the ministry had a year of City Reach tent revivals across much of the country. Along the way, Davy and his family became close to many pastors and their congregations; places that became like home, friends that truly became family.

Boggs Family Ministries, under Davy’s leadership, traveled the world spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In 2007, on the invitation of Pastor E. Ade Shobanke, they began traveling overseas to Nigeria. Davy was widely known and loved by the people in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he preached minister’s conferences, camp meeting services, revivals or wherever he was asked to go. He pledged support from Boggs Family Ministries to the GoodNews Christian School when it was only a dream, and they have continued that support. He believed in the mission of the school and was convinced they are changing lives for good in Abeokuta and beyond.

Another abiding passion and ministry are his many thousands of blog posts at www.BoggsBlogs.com. He used the blog for many purposes: spiritual edification, travelogue, bus maintenance journal, and whatever else his interesting mind beheld and wished to share. Davy also had a regular Word For Wednesday (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnI-D9DP9CsjD-Eckg9WYp54FQiq8kL6&si=iglopxFJs4plFG1F) on the ministry’s YouTube channel. Archived on the YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@boggsfamilyministries?si=iAqJhjFwxxSNserJ) as well is the much-loved 61 night revival Davy held early in Covid-19. His encouragement and sharing of the Gospel would not be stopped because people were unable to gather.

Davy loved books. Eventually he found a place to keep them out of storage at the Lazy OD Ranch. He has long collected and shared his preacher’s library used as inspiration for his messages, videos and blog posts. Earlier in his life, he enjoyed playing the acoustic guitar, which developed into a passion for the sweet sound of a good Martin. He also loved to eat. When he was home, he had a tradition of visiting Acapulco Mexican Restaurant in Lebanon at opening time almost daily. They referred to him as “Señor Salsa;” he might even drink the salsa straight from the bowl. Many of Davy’s food adventures are documented on BoggsBlogs, including pictures of course.

Davy was faithful, caring, ethical, dedicated and kind. His sincerity with people made them feel like they were his best friend. He loved God’s people and the lost alike. In addition, he was very generous, for he knew God blessed him so he could help others. He kept his hands open to share God’s blessings. In Davy’s words, “We are humbled by what Christ has done in our lives and unashamed to travel the roads singing and preaching that Christ will do the same for all that go to God the Father through Him.”

Davy was preceded in death by his daughter, Ali Elizabeth Boggs. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Kelly Jo Boggs; one daughter, Andrea Eve "Odie" Boggs; his parents, Eugene and Martha Boggs; two brothers, Steve (Karen) Boggs and Tommy Boggs; one sister, Theresa (Jay) Osborn; parents-in-law, Danny and Betty Morgan; sister-in-law, Kimberly (Brian) Roush; brother-in-law, Danny (Jeanna) Morgan Jr.; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, church family, and many friends all across the world.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, November 21, at the Dryden Road Pentecostal Church in Moraine. Burial will be at Miami Cemetery in Corwin. The family will receive friends from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM Wednesday, November 20, at the church. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to GoodNews Christian School, c/o Boggs Family Ministries, PO Box 28, Waynesville, Ohio 45068 or via the following link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=W8Y7Z82EJPSFA&source=url&ssrt=1731391753627

Stubbs-Conner Funeral Home in Waynesville is serving the family. Condolences at www.stubbsconner.com.

A Travelogue - Russellville to Claremore

I am thankful that we are finished with 500 mile travel between revivals for a while. Last week nearly kilt me. Whew!

This week it was only 207 miles between Russellville, Arkansas and Claremore, Ok;ahoma and that was long enough. It was a great weather day for travel and that makes any travel day extremely better.

We were up later than expected visiting with church folks Sunday night and enjoying it but there was no need for an early start Monday. In addition to all the normal things we do to roll the wheels, I needed to add some oil to the big Detroit.

Once that was finished, KJo turned on the key and the coolant light was on. She told me so we added a gallon to the expansion tank and that satisfied the sensor as I knew it would. I usually need a gallon at least once a year and with the limited miles in 2024l this was the first one.

I always keep 4-5 gallons of mixed 50% coolant/50% water for emergencies. I knew we had plenty with us because that was one of the things on our checklist before we left home. That makes the busy days at home before departure worth it.

Once we cranked, we did the work of the evangelist, flipped the bus around and attached the Jeep. 100 miles and 93 minutes later we were stopped at the Oklahoma Welcome Center rest area.

I went outside and walked a bit to limber up and Kelly prepared a little meal for me there. We were only stopped about 40 minutes, but it was a good stop.

After 207 miles we pulled into Westside Holiness Church in Claremore, Oklahoma. 

This is definitely a familiar stop for us and we are happy to be here. We first came to Westside in the 1990s at their old location and we have always loved it. Bro. Jimmy Millikin is the Pastor at Westside and has been for five or six years. We love the Millikins and that adds to the appeal here.

We parked the BoggsMobile, hooked up the water and electric and then I helped KJo wash the bugs from the front of the bus and the road grime from the Jeep. 

We were about and hour and forty minutes getting all of that completed but I was sitting in a chair operating the sprayer most of the time. I was spent when we pulled in,

That was our travel day and the next three travel days in October should be even shorter! Yay! Today we have a big and intense task. I will tell you about it later.

Thank you for dropping in.

Davy

A Trip Summary

As I mentioned Monday, we intended to leave Ellisville sometime Sunday evening after the Homecoming dinner concluded. But we began to consider waiting until Monday early on Sunday Morning. I was dragging way more than I expected. 

The full week of revival in Richton and the Homecoming service probably would have been fine. I think the nearly sleepless night going into Sunday pushed me over the edge. No sleep was wonderful for my sermon prep but lousy for any chance of driving on Sunday evening.

We rested fairly well overnight and pulled out early on our way to Arkansas. My plan was to drive about three hours, rest uo a while and do it all over again. We wanted to make it to a campground at the 360 mile mark.

We drove 155 miles to a rest area in about three hours. I walked, rested for an hour, ate a healthy snack and then hit the road. Then, KJo called the campground and found they were booked for the night. They had no idea why they would be booked on Monday but we were too late.

75 miles later we stopped at another rest area for about twenty minutes. After seven hours we stopped at 307 total miles and we were done for the day. We let the bus run for a few hours to keep us cool with air conditioning and then switched over to the generator about an hour before dark.

We were able to run the generator for four hours and by then it was 70 degrees outside. We were fine overnight with fans which we can run just fine on the house batteries with the inverters.

We finished the final 192 miles to Russellville, Arkansas in about four hours. We stopped for a long fuel stop and that was our only stop. I should have stopped and rested and walked a couple times but finding a place big enough for the bus is impossible at times.

Overall, I would say I handled the 500 mile trip like I have come to expect, but not nearly as well as I should. I have severe muscle pain in my right leg pain after about an hour and driving seems to be the main force behind the fatigue. I need to improve if I am going to be able to do this long term.

We have settled in here at Parker Hill Holiness Church in Russellville, Arkansas and we are glad to be here. We will have more to say about revival later.

Thank you for joining us today.

Davy

Beginning The Second Leg

The last five weeks have been the first segment of our test tour to see IF I can handle traveling with the BoggsMobile and preaching revivals. We appreciate several friends checking on us and wondering how we are doing. Yesterday we began our next jump to Russellville, Arkansas.

The fact that I left yesterday rather than Sunday evening, as I had previously planned, indicates how I am doing at the end of this leg. I was hoping to feel like traveling for a few hours Sunday afternoon, but there was absolutely no way I could do it.

I think I will be okay but I am thankful I have shorter revivals on the second leg and built in rest and travel days. I have three Wednesday through Sunday meetings, one Friday through Sunday and one Friday and Sunday meeting. There is also a Tuesday thrown in but lots of days to rest.

I honestly wish that I was feeling better, but the numbness on the right side feels like 500 lbs when I am tired. That affects my balance, swallowing and even speech. That has become my new normal but we are believing God for better times. Thank you for praying for us.

We attached the Jeep Sunday night and early Monday we started the bus, unplugged the electric and rolled the wheels toward Arkansas.

Sunday evening

Monday morning

We are still on the way to Russellville. I will try to give you a full report Thursday. Thank you for joining us.

Davy

A Unique Place To Park

Two weeks ago while we were singing each night and preaching two nights of Campmeeting for Bro Eddie Stringfellow, we were parked a few miles away at Sims Chapel. Pastor Willie Long Jr. invited us to park there and it was an amazing place to park the bus.

It has good level concrete for all six tires, water, sewer and 50 amps of electricity. To top it off, laterally, the RV parking is COVERED parking. 

Look at this!

This is the first time we have had parking like this at a church. I told the congregation while I was preaching that we might stay a few months with covered parking!

There is even covered parking for the Jeep!

Sims Chapel is out in the country, but there is a small gas roadside diner/gas station about a mile down the road. KJo and Odie ordered lunch there several days and they loved it. Kelly had a toasted BLT every time and said it was probably the best she has ever had.

Then Pastor Long told me the church had high-speed internet! Wow! What will they think of next? We have parked the BoggsMobile in a lot of nice places but this may be the most unique parking spot yet.

Thank you for reading today.

Davy

We Made It!

We made it! The BoggsMobile carried all of us 773 miles to Thomasville,  Alabama. It is wonderful to be here!

Resting a few minutes at a Love's in Indiana.

We took a detour the first day but it was necessary and totally worth it. Rather than going straight south, we went southwest to Evansville, Indiana to visit for a few hours with Bro Allen and Sis Tammy Harris at the hospital. Sis Tammy is still in need of a series of miracles to live and Bro Allen is depending on the Lord each day.

Thank you for helping us pray for our dear friends. I am thankful we can depend on the family of God when we face difficulties in life. Praise God!

Pulling out of a campground on Tuesday.

Over the next three days we covered the rest of the miles including two days driving and one day resting in one spot. Traffic was not bad with only three problem areas and only one of those was bad. We had the expected slow traffic in Nashville and Birmingham, but the worst was totally unexpected.

South of Evansville, I-69 turns westward and Pennyrile Parkway continues south but you make the transition via ramp. There was an accident on the on-ramp and the traffic on this bridge never moved.

We moved about two tenths of a mile in 30 minutes but we realized we only inched forward as people in front of us gave up and went the other way. Once we realized the traffic on the bridge was not moving and we had the opportunity to follow I-69 toward the west, we jumped on.

It took us another 33 minutes to take the next exit and double back to Pennyrile Parkway. The traffic we detoured around was still at a standstill. We drove 29 miles to get around and lost an hour total but the miles were totally worth it.

That made the second day an hour longer than it should have been so we decided to rest the next day. I walked in place on the bus a few times that rest day but I did not even go outside.

I am happy to report that driving the bus is going well and the shorter days seem to be working. I am tired from the cumulative effect of the multiple days, but hopefully, I will bounce back by Sunday.

We hope tp rest until Sunday and visit with family a few days. Here are a few pictures from Thursday afternoon and evening.

Thank you for dropping in.

Davy

We Are On An Important Mission Today

Stop the presses! Stop the presses! 

The Mile Marker that was ready for today will have to wait. It is being preempted by this post of super great news!

KJo and I are on our way to get the BoggsMobile in Tennessee! Yay!!!

Mr. Jeff Rowe text me yesterday afternoon to let me know it would be ready. By mid-morning we hope to be in Vonore, Tennessee settling up and getting ready to roll north. 

The great news is that Jeff seems to have the long standing generator issue resolved. We have been on pins and needles about the generator for longer than I care to remember and I hope this settles it for years to come. 

They were working on a few other items as well and we are excited to see it all. We are ready to board the bus once again. 

We will take a couple days to get home because we are trying to shorten our bus travel days to make traveling more feasible for me. Plus there are a few things that may keep us in Tennessee most of today. 

It will also give us an opportunity to run the generator and put it through the paces and see the results for ourselves. The generator is so important in our mode of travel and we are thrilled to have it back online. 

We will have pictures of the BoggsMobile as soon as possible. Thank you for reading today. 

Davy

Searching For A Power Solution

I never could get pictures from my Apple phone to load on Blogger but we made it back to the Lazy OD Ranch and I have the pictures I wanted to show you from Monday.

Jeff Rowe and Odie

The front steps are nearly finished. Here they are in December in transition from storage to entrance stairs.

This is what they look like on Monday almost finished. They look so much better than I imagined! Wow!

The bus is at Jeff Rowe's for several piddly things but the main event is the generator. It is original to the bus and was built in Ohio in July 1995, It is a 15 KW Martin generator with a Yanmar engine. It has served us well and we hope it will for years to come.

It has given me voltage problems for a few years but we could always work around it. Last spring the problems kicked into overdrive and became insurmountable. We had to work our travel schedule around available campgrounds and that is a travel nightmare for us. Not to mention more expensive.

I am oversimplifying the problem because the herts are unstable too. We think that is the root of it all. But maybe you get the idea.

We spent a few thousand dollars on campgrounds in the northeast alone last summer.. When you add the inconvenience of not finding appropriate campgrounds along our route or near churches, it is a large headache. We had to park over one hour from churches for three straight weeks. Ugh!

Maybe that gives you a glimpse of how important the generator is in our travels. We like to have electricity for a working fridge, hot water and especially air conditioning. Sometimes the generator is the only way to have electricity.

Jeff is elbow-deep into the problem and seems to be close to a solution and we are pulling for him. The nuclear option is replacement and we are ready to investigate that IF necessary but that is a bigger step than we really want to make. We will pull the trigger on that IF the time comes.

We intend to travel in the bus this fall so we are down to the wire. We are praying for the right solution at the right time. Thank you for reading and praying.

Davy

It Is Done! And I Feel Good About It

We made it! By God’s grace the deed is done. The BoggsMobile is now in Vonore Tennessee at Jeff Rowe’s shop in good hands.  

I was up way too early Tuesday morning in anticipation of the day’s events but did not begin preparing until after 6:00. In the mean time I was trying to prepare myself and the Lord was ministering to me. It was a lovely few hours. 🙌🏽

The bus cranked fine, aired up normally, the brakes released completely and we were off like a herd of turtles. KJo and my Dad followed the first 8 miles and then we attached the Jeep and took off in earnest. 

We timed Cincinnati right for a change and had no traffic slowdowns in Cincy, Lexington or Knoxville. Hallelujah! The only traffic glitch was south of Jelico near the Rocky Top exit. We probably lost 30 minutes there due to construction. 

We drove 322 miles and arrived at 3:30 for a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes including a few stops. I felt confident and competent driving the bus with no problems and I am thankful for that. 

My body responded afterward like I expected but we are trusting that gets better with time. I feel about half dead, but at least I’m not twice dead and plucked up by the roots.😂

We are incredibly thankful for the Lord‘s help. This is probably my biggest non-spiritual accomplishment since the stroke🙌🏽🙌🏽 Feeling comfortable driving the bus is a necessary step in moving forward. Thank y’all for praying for us. 

This gives us the confidence to try some more. We believe if we travel shorter distances and allow more time for travel, we may actually swing into something near normal. That is exciting. 

We started home in the Jeep Tuesday evening and finished Wednesday. It is nice to have that trip behind us. Thank you for dropping in.

Davy

Sometimes Duty Comes Due

You may have wondered about the bus being in a different position in Sunday's picture. Of course, there is a reason for that.

Sometimes Duty Comes Due

The bus had not been started since I moved it out of the barn and drove it about 5 miles near the end of March. We need to get it to Jeff Rowe in Vonore, Tennessee this week, so we needed to get it ready to travel. 

That became the focus of our Saturday.  

There are legitimate concerns about a diesel fuel tank sitting too long without any activity. That concern includes condensation adding water to the fuel and also the possibility of fungus growing in the tank. Water in diesel fuel is always bad and the fungus clogs the fuel filters and shuts you down. 

I added the appropriate fuel treatments back in February, but I treated the fuel tank again on Friday. After getting the engine running Saturday I let it run a few hours to make sure the treated fuel was completely circulated. 

Then I pulled up to Odie‘s house, we unloaded some PA equipment there and then I pulled it back down to the parking lot and turned it around. 

Originally, we had planned to take the bus to Tennessee on Monday. However, after a long day of preparation Saturday and knowing our responsibilities for Sunday, we decided to finish some of the work on Monday and make the drive on Tuesday by God’s grace. 

I have driven the BoggsMobile over 240,000 miles so 300 miles is like a walk in the park. But I am a little apprehensive since the bus has been mostly sitting in one place since December 20. 

This has never happened before. Even when I was sick with Covid we took the bus someplace about every 30 days to keep it limbered up. That was not possible this time. Hopefully, prayerfully and carefully we will try. 

Please pray that the bus runs well and the trip goes smoothly. We plan to drive the Jeep back home and leave the bus with Mr. Jeff Rowe a few weeks.

You are probably thinking, what happened to trying to avoid traveling long distances to allow my body to build up strength to do it? That is a completely legitimate question. 

I am not sure the answer is completely legitimate, but it makes sense to us. When we are ready to hit the road, the bus needs to be in the best shape it can be for a 29.5 year old bus. Therefore getting the bus worked on takes preeminence and, unfortunately, it must be done. 

If all goes well, we will arrive in Tennessee this evening and be back home on Wednesday. Either way, I have A Word For Wednesday ready to go tomorrow. 

Thank you for praying for us.

Davy

Tomorrow

The Weekend Dispatch 4/23/24

Tune in tomorrow for A Word For Wednesday.

We will begin the Weekend Dispatch on Thursday. It was a beautiful day so KJo helped me pull the bus out of the barn. Since the weather is nice, the bus will be fine outside and that clears the barn space for things that need to be completed inside over the coming weeks.

Thursday evening we went to Dryden Rd, our home church. Bro Bennie asked me to preach when we arrived. Even though I was road weary, I was glad to try to do as he asked.

Bro. Mike Whitley wearing my suit coat.

Sunday we were scheduled to be in Hillsboro, Ohio to preach for Pastor Danny Morgan, KJo's brother. We had a great time with family and friends Sunday and we enjoyed the Lord helping folks.

Odie captured some great pictures that round out the weekend perfectly. Thank you for dropping by.