We All Made it, Again!
May 8, 2026
We All Made it, Again!
Thursday, May 7, 2026. I’m milking our dairy goat before the sunrise, little stinky (aka, Daphne, the kid) is locked up with goat Daddy (aka Shaggy, who looks like a shaggy sheepdog with horns) and two future-stew-pot cockerels. Daphne jumps all over Velma to distract her, and the stewpots steal goat feed. Lucas and Laud are already dressed and outside, filled with energy and getting dirty before our long car ride. It’s not unusual for Laud, but it’s highly unusual for Lucas – I think he’s hit a growth spurt as he’s starting to sleep more than Becky when she was growing. Like Jillian right before she passed my height – okay, before she passed every woman in our house except for Rebeccah and Jaquline. I can usually finish milking before I get through “Great is Thy Faithfulness” but sometimes, she has milk enough to get partway through another song – today it was “The Voice” by Rebecca St James that rang in my head.
Rebeccah, our second daughter, was about to graduate with her bachelor’s degree from Pensacola Christian College. We were super excited because originally we thought she was just staying in Pensacola due to starting her Master’s degree classes in the summer, but she was going to come home with us! We were going to have Friday to Friday – 2 whole weeks! Lucas already had told everyone he would be spending every day he could with Becky. I love how special their bond is. My brain was in nostalgia and adventure and excitement mode all at the same time. We’d all made it to Christina’s graduation from Embry-Riddle – this adventure was in Pensacola!
Jillian, Lucas, and Laud packed everything up. Clothes and such I had packed and readied on Wednesday after getting the girls back from gym. Jillian packed snacks. Assigned seats were set. Blankets, pillows, not too many, but enough to be comfy. Thea tried to load four backpacks and three giant stuffies “to show Becky” but it was thinned down to what she could fit in only one backpack and use on the trip without losing pieces (please no clay beads, but crochet hook and ball of yarn, sure). I had planned on leaving the house at 2pm to Bunnell and pick Louis up. 4pm; We are headed to Pensacola & likely a 10pm or 11pm arrival, just before the check in cutoff. As we were finishing with morning chores and have all the animals setups ready, Louis texts saying he’s ready whenever we can get him. Wow. That’s fast. Not even 10am yet. My bread to make sandwiches with the egg salad would be ready after 11:15am.
Got all the inside relatively clean. Big girls were working and riding over with Christina and Dylan after work. Four potential drivers riding together seemed nice. I figured Jillian would sleep he whole time no matter which car she ended up in. The big girls would be the last to make sure the animals got refreshed water and set up in their spots for Grandma to check on. They would also be the last to make sure the little cube was plugged in. We discussed plans again to make sure everything was good. I’d see them in 16 to 20 hours 450 miles away. Nope, not worried, I prayed. I do that a lot now that five of the nine are driving. If I feel worried about roads, I just pray for whomever is driving – Louis and Dylan included even though I know they are “professional drivers” as Louis always reminds me. Prayers only help. I’ve been praying instead of worrying about them driving since it was Louis coming home late from Columbia.
Just after 11, bread sliced as neatly as warm bread can – Jaquline swiped some for croutons, snacks in, kiddos packed and buckled, Lucas is my passenger seat guy. That means he gets to make sure my phone with the broken charging port stays plugged in, maps are on, he reads texts, types texts, and deejays – at this moment we were on a Skillet / Stryper dance party for an hour south.
“Dad texted something” I hear. “I can’t read it.”
Really, that meant, I don’t want to stop playing Skillet’s Monster on youtube music.
“Then hand the phone back to me! I can read everything!” Thea chirped, “then we can listen to Snakes in the Biddie Barn!” Thea loves that story I’ve written but not yet published.
“He says deliver eggs to fun house – he means the funeral home – and he is at the fire house – he meant the crematory,” Lucas interpreted as he read. Magically, he could read again! I smiled. Yes, we would deliver all the eggs from the fridge to a family Louis worked with, they were sitting in the actual passenger seat, Lucas was in the middle seat but with passenger seat privileges.
Just after noon we grabbed Louis, delivered eggs, and officially set off! My Rebeccah is graduating!! (oops, potty breaks for Lucas – Laud says, “my brother goes potty, I go potty”.) On road trips, Laud is rarely the reason we stop, because he has learned the life-skill of being an opportunistic toilet user – go potty when everyone else is going potty.
Music selection shifted to some more worship with Christian Rock peppered through it and random country songs like “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” & “God’s Country” – Lucas has good music taste. Kiddos slept, chatted, played car games, Lucas tried our patience a few times (7 hours in a van & sugar candy?) Lucas did make mention several times that the boys outnumbered the girls in our van for the first time ever. (Not actually the first time ever, but likely the first long road trip ever)
Arrival happened about 8pm. We checked in, boys set up the hotel room & took baths, girls (Mom & Thea) went to Aldi and grabbed groceries for dinner, breakfast, and snacks. After pizza, sweet peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and citrus fruits for summer, everyone literally crashed. We rose and were starting to head out to explore the hotel grounds and eat the continental breakfast at 6am, the same time the big kiddos arrived and crashed. Jillian came with us because she had slept the whole trip (who knew?) and was too excited to sleep. Food, exploration, go play in the pool, Mom, Dad, and Lucas went to help Becky move some furniture to a friend’s apartment for the 2 weeks she would be gone, and then dressed and big hugs and carpool to the college!
Rebeccah looked stunning in her beautiful blue regalia. White and gold accents, beautiful swords with gemstones dangling from the pretty bun her thick braided hair was twisted into, gorgeous dragon earrings, twinkling brown eyes and a smile that radiated Jesus’ love from within.
Light rain started as we were waiting for the doors to open to the auditorium. I couldn’t stop praying thank yous to God because of all He has blessed us with and how thankful I was to be a part of Rebeccah’s college graduation celebration. God kept all of us safe on our trips. God is guiding Rebeccah through her educational journey. (She is going straight back to start studying for her Masters, so she is continuing this journey…) God has blessed her with friends, mentors, and experiences. I am so thankful for the connections she has made. I’m thankful for the beautiful woman of God she is. I am thankful that she still wants to hang out with us. My mind is overwhelmed with gratitude as I’m noticing others around us. Our chattering happy crew takes up almost the entire row. A couple further down and to the right had breakfast in our hotel. A family to the left and front keeps growing by twos and threes, each time a woman or the child is carrying a small bouquet. Their younger children are walking back and forth in front of the family’s chairs to chat with everyone just like Laud and Thea were. I get up to walk Laud around the gorgeous lobby and ride up and down the elevator (a favorite thrill of Laud’s since he was a few months old at the Conquistador Gymnastics competition and played with Lucas, Raegan, and Thea up and down the huge story elevator for almost an hour). The elevator in the lobby has a giant chandelier that he gets to count lights and gasp, “look at the lights” every time we glance at it. This entertainment is crucial to keeping him quiet once the ceremony starts. I try my best to keep littles busy beforehand so they are ready to sit while long sit-still events happen. It usually works. A couple has taken the seats we were using on the end closest to the door so I go around to sit by Dylan and Christina instead of Louis and Kimberly. Laud plays “crowd surfer” a few times from Dad to Kim to Jaquline to Jillian and over Thea to me, which he discovers he loves. Instead of settling down to snuggle (as is expected at 2pm), he’s grinning at me and sneaking back over to dad for another crowd-surfing trip. This happens a few times. The music selection printed in the program starts and when the last song listed begins, I let Lucas, Thea, and Laud know they have to be quiet now and still.
I’m so excited to watch and listen. Ages ago – a whole lifetime ago – walking down these (at the time brand new) aisles to accept a diploma after four years of college life was my dream. Now, I watch my confident girl who persevered through all of the college challenges, and she is lining up with the science group. Excited whispers of “I see Becky!” and “shhhh!” make a few of us smile. Christina was scared she wouldn’t get to “whoop” for Becky, but several excited loud celebrations in the tiny allowed pauses encourage her to yell where everyone can hear her.
I love how loud we celebrate! Laud slept through all of the ceremony following his crowd-surfing escapades.
Her graduation ceremony was beautiful. Her smile was amazing. She did it! I never doubted she would finish. But I’m her mom, I know she has more determination than most. She will make a way. I love her determination.
We all made it. Dad, Mom, big sister, little sisters, little brothers; the whole family came to celebrate! Dinner, walking around, fun board games, and family fun!
Rebeccah, I pray you keep your eyes on Jesus and follow His gentle lead and direction. I pray you keep your smile and your encouraging, serving, loving spirit. I pray your thirst for knowledge and love of adventure stay strong and keep your eyes bright with wonder. Enjoy your time each day as God gives you. They say each day is a gift, thus why it’s called the present. I pray that I can learn how to water friendships better so as to stay close to you. I pray you will ‘know I will always make time for you. I love you. I am honored to be your mother.
Here are some pictures!!
On to the next adventure!
Thank you for reading…
Type at you later,
~Nancy Tart
