Magnolias and Voodoo Tacos
Why “Hburg”? Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has hosted the re|engage marriage ministry for nearly a decade. Brad & Raegan Hodges, the dynamic couple who lead the ministry, invited us to come share God’s story in our marriage. It was a privilege to watch Team Hodges love on all the couples going through this marriage ministry - sometimes we need some fun interjected into our marriages and they brought just that by kicking off the night with a game “Sit Down If You’ve Ever…”! We then shared our story (God’s story) of hope in our marriage and re|engage groups wrapped up the night by working through the “humility” lesson, in which couples are challenged to reflect on what humility looks like in marriage.
Wanna stay on a Christmas Tree Farm? Do you have “farmhouse” signs in your home, but never stayed in a real farmhouse?? Now’s your chance! Thomley’s Christmas Tree Farm is not only home to pigs, goats, cats, a glassblowing studio and Christmas tree farm, but their farmhouse Airbnb is five stars! And you can check out the tree farm on Facebook. We had to leave our RV in Dallas for a solar upgrade, so got to enjoy this little slice of heaven for the week.
Golden Nuggets…we’re leaving with full bellies and full hearts! These oyster-neigh sayers visited Half Shell Oyster House not once, but TWICE, to chow down on the voodoo tacos and smoky bacon shrimp & grits. Beyond the amazing food, we got to experience in a small but profound way, the beauty of Hattiesburg (from the rolling pine tree-lined hills to the historic downtown homes) and the heart of this town (meeting awesome folks along the way - at the Airbnb, local restaurants, while grocery shopping, and at the church). At Temple Baptist, they host all of their their mid-week ministries (marriage, discipleship, kids) on Wednesday nights. So to help families, the church offers dinners for $5/person so everyone in the family can eat before jumping into various ministry groups. We arrived that night and found a sea of folks, pizza/salad/steak for purchase, and a large gymnasium full of smiling families and friends breaking bread together. The rooming was buzzing with laughter, with hope, with a sense of belonging.
Written by Jen
Published September 9, 2023