I would like to thank the Lord for the year He has given us this year. He moved us in a different direction in the ministry and has directed our steps all along the way. He has blessed us in ways we had not been blessed before. I praise Him for that!!
My husband has been in Florida preaching meetings in the men's state prison there on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and will be having his last service during this trip tonight. When I spoke to him last night he was so excited. Tuesday night he preached two services and one man said he got born-again. Woohoo!! Then last night he said they had over 100 inmates in the service and seven men came forward and said they got saved. What a blessing!!
Before he left for this trip the other day he got a phone call from a pastor that we had been to his church a few months back...he let my husband know that the church had voted to take us on for support. We rejoice at the opportunities God is giving us to share the burden God has given us for the prisoners of America with the churches we have been in so far. We will be in a meeting this Saturday at one of our supporting churches and are looking forward to seeing the people there again. My husband will be preaching in their Jubilee there. We currently have no more meetings scheduled this year. It is always difficult to get meetings during the Christmas season. We look forward to God giving us more opportunities in the coming year.
It truly is a joy to serve the Lord!! Please continue to pray for us as we do what God has called us to do. In fact...pray for all your missionaries that you know and/or support. These are tough times for everyone but even moreso for missionaries and their families.
To God be the glory great things He hath done!!
I wanted to wait until my daughter-in-law Jessica said something before I said anything. But I saw on her blog this morning that she has posted about it so I thought I would too.
My son Ronnie and his wife Jessica are expecting another baby. This is the third pregnancy for them. The other two did not make it and are in Heaven today. Jessica called me yesterday morning to let me know the wonderful news of another pregnancy. I'm so excited for them!! They are of course a little apprehensive about it since Jessica has miscarried the past two times. We are praying this pregnancy will go full-term. Her doctor put her on progesterone in hopes that this will help the baby to implant in the uterine wall as it should. That is what didn't happen the last two times. Please pray that God's will be done in this pregnancy and that He allow this pregnancy to go full-term. Ronnie and Jessica have been very patient and are fully trusting God for each pregnancy.
As you pray for the baby please pray for them as well. I'm so proud of them and how they have handled the two prior pregnancies and miscarriages. God has truly blessed them and helped them in ways that only He could.
Thank you all so very much!!
Thank you for all of your prayers for Bro. Joe Arthur's family in this time of mourning over the death of his father Bro. J.B. Arthur.
The family is doing quite well. They are a very close-knit family and although they are sorrowful about their husband and father not being with them here any longer...they rejoice that he is with Jesus and other old-time preacher men who have gone on before. Yesterday was a time of tears and praise for the family and our church. Bro. J.B. would always sit on the front pew and root on his son Bro. Joe. He is very much missed on that pew. One of Bro. J.B.'s bibles is not sitting in the spot where Bro. J.B. used to sit. Both services yesterday consisted of Bro. Joe recalling memories of his daddy and he also preached two of his daddy's messages that he found in one of his daddy's many bibles.
We laughed...we cried...we praised the Lord and we remembered Bro. J.B. as the tremendous man of God that he was. He will be missed very much but we are so thankful that he isn't hurting anymore and he has his full vision back now and can walk without his walker now.
Tonight at Harvest Baptist Tabernacle in Jonesboro, GA there will be a viewing of the body and receiving of friends from the family at 6:00pm and a memorial service will be held beginning at 7:30pm. The Rochesters will be singing and Bro. Joe Arthur will be preaching. If you are in the area and would like to come and pay tribute to this great man of God that has gone on to be with Jesus....please feel free to do so. It would be such a blessing to the family to see the church packed out. They desire to give Bro. J.B. a send-off like the family feels he deserves. If you cannot come...and I know that most of you live too far to do so....please pray for the family. I know that would mean just as much!!
We had a great time at the Sword of the Lord Conference. God moved in our midst and touched the men of God who preached. We rejoiced and praised the Lord but we also sat and were still as He did a little digging in our hearts. Our hearts also broke as our pastor (Bro. Joe Arthur) told us that his daddy is somewhere between here and Heaven. He is still in ICU and is still not responding much to what is said to him.
He told us how when he was up at the hospital last weekend that he told his daddy he loved him and then his daddy said "Love you too boy" and Bro. Joe asked him how much he loved him and his daddy responded "Bunches". That was just before he slipped into a coma. He said those may be the last words he gets to hear his daddy speak to him. Then yesterday he called him and his momma put the phone to his ear so he could tell his daddy he loved him again and his daddy let out a grunt. Bro. Joe's heart is so heavy and broken. His daddy was a tremendous man of God and he will be greatly missed by our church and all that know him. He would sit on the front pew as Bro. Joe would preach and when he would hear something that he wanted to "amen" to or something he would raise up his cane in the air and wave it around. It was said last night that it was to the equivalent of one of us running laps around the sanctuary several times. Bro. J.B. Arthur is a sweet godly man and has such a sweet spirit.
Please continue to pray for Bro. J.B. as he makes his crossing (if that is what happens) and for his sweet little wife Mrs. Janet. Also pray for Bro. Joe, his wife Mrs. Julie, their son Joseph and their daughter Joanna. Also please pray for the rest of Bro. Joe's siblings and their families. This is a very difficult time for them all as some of you already know having been through this yourself. Those who have experienced this know the hurt associated with such a thing and can pray in a different way than those of us who have not experienced the death of a parent.
I'd like to ask you to please pray for Bro. Joe Arthur and his family. They left Saturday morning to go to NC to be with his wife's (her name is Sis. Julie too) family in the passing of her grandfather. They also got a call Saturday that Bro. Joe's father was in the hospital in ICU. Thankfully he is also in NC. They later found out he had a major stroke. This is not his first stroke. He has had several in the past. This one seems to have been the worst one yet.
Bro. Joe preached his wife's grandfather's funeral yesterday and is now back with his daddy to be there for him and his momma. Please remember their entire family in prayer. Bro. Joe has had a heavy heart lately yet he continues to be used of the Lord across this nation. He is definitely God's man....but he is still a man and has real emotions and feelings. His heart is even heavier right now and needs much prayer.
Thank you to all who will be praying for this need!! I love my pastor and his family and have a great burden for them. May God strengthen them with the strength and comfort that on He can give!!
I want to thank each and every one that has prayed for Ronnie and Jessica and their baby. I got a call at 3:15am this morning and it was Ronnie letting me know that Jessica miscarried shortly after 3:00am. He said Jessica is doing okay and he sounded fine as well...but I know this has to be very difficult for them. Although our hearts are broken...I know that God makes NO mistakes.
Please continue to pray for Ronnie and Jessica as they mourn this loss of their little one. Thank you so much!!!
I'm asking all my readers to please pray right now for Ronnie and Jessica. For those of you who don't know....this is my son and his wife. They are expecting a baby. They miscarried a baby in March of this year and the dr is watching her very carefully. She had her first doctor appointment on Monday and they drew blood. They had her to come again yesterday to draw more blood. They are keeping a watch on her HGC (pregnancy hormone) count. The numbers dropped from Monday. They called her and told her that she is a miscarriage waiting to happen. I know they are doctors and they know their business...but Ronnie and Jessica know the Great Physician!! And He is able to keep that baby and make everything alright according to His will.
They are very tore up right now and they need your prayers. We are asking God for a miracle!!
Thank you my dear friends for taking the time to pray for this young couple who are doing their best to trust the Lord in their young marriage.
I want to thank everyone for their prayers for me and our family. Things are definitely getting hard to handle during this time. Sometimes you wonder if the trials are ever going to stop coming. To have three major ones right in a row without coming out of the previous one(s) is a bit trying on a person's faith. I find myself weak and not really wanting to do much of anything at all. That concerns me I have to admit. I don't like feeling this way. But just when you think things are getting hard for you an email or a phone call comes to show you there are people that are facing much more difficult times than you. That is what happened this morning.
I got an email from a friend of a dear friend of mine. My friend's name is Sis. Lori DeLange. I have known of Sis. Lori for many years but have only gotten to be closer to her in the past three years or so. Her daddy has a big part in the campmeeting in Resaca, GA that I go to each year. Her husband, children and her are missionaries to South Dakota. They have faced many trials in the past year and now they are in another one. Her family and her were traveling last Friday and her husband lost control of their Suburban and they wrecked. Her husband Bro. Matt and one of her daughters Haleigh were airlifted to hospitals in Ohio. They are reported to be in bad shape.
Her friend Angelia has started a blog (go here) to report and keep us updated on their recovery. I would ask that you all go visit the blog and leave a comment of well-wishes and prayers for them all. Bro. Matt and Sis. Lori have 5 children. They are all going to need our prayers as they go through this time. Thank you all so very much!!
Thank you so much for all the emails and the comments letting us know you are praying for us. This has been a very difficult time for my parents, sister and myself. I'm so thankful I have God's grace to see me through these times.
My parents are holding up remarkably well although they are not the type to show emotion in front of others. My sister and I had the harder time because we show our emotions. My sister has taken the bulk of everything on herself contacting those that needed to be contacted and getting things taken care of. I stood in amazement at how God was helping her to have the wisdom of what to do. Yesterday we saw things come about that it was taking so long to happen. God had people that knew my brother who knew someone that had the answers of who to contact and such about a funeral home and about contacting the medical examiner and not the crime lab about releasing my brother's body when we were told to contact the crime lab. His body was released yesterday and is going through the final processes today.
Seeing my brother's house was VERY difficult. I was numb at first but after about 10 minutes of just standing there and praying....I broke. I began to cry uncontrollably just from the overwhelming emotions that were welling up inside of me. My nephew came and embraced me and hugged me tight and kept saying it's okay. He is 18 and blew me away at his compassion for an aunt he barely knows. We inventoried what was in my brothers shed and determined who wanted to keep what to take home. We went back yesterday to pick our things that we were getting to bring home. I lost it again when we went to leave. It was a difficult thing to say "good-bye" in a sense. Just knowing my brother lived there and was killed there was very upsetting.
My sister and my parents hope to be able to leave Mississippi tomorrow to head home. Today is a day of meeting with the lawyer and making more phone calls. Everything else can be done from their homes by phone calls. Please pray for them as they travel back home and also in the coming days as this is still going to be hard to fathom and get past.
Please continue to pray for all of us. I'm sure this is going to be hard to get over. But I know the Lord can certainly help us to do that. We have a busy week here at our house which will help me to not think about it all. We are having a youth conference at our church that is running tonight through Wednesday night. You can listen to the service on the internet beginning at 7:30 PM or so by going here and clicking on the "Live Webcasting" box.
I will post last week's puzzle results hopefully later today. I haven't had time to deal with that yet. Thank you to those that participated. Check back to see how you did.
All I know to say is Wow!! I've never had to experience this kind of grace. We hear preachers preach that there are different kinds of grace. I believed it because I believe God knows just what we need for every situation. He does say in II Corinthians 12:9 "...My grace is sufficient for thee:..." and He does not specify what kind of grace that is. Then in Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." I've heard so many times this verse preached in relation to physical need. I believe God is saying that He will supply ALL our need. No matter what the need is. And right now I NEED His grace!! And you know what...He is supplying it.
There is an update in the case concerning my brother. I mentioned in my previous post that they had a suspect in custody. The update is that they have charged him (after questioning him) with murder and arson. He is a 48 year old man and did sustain injury to his face as a result of the attack on my brother. That shows my brother did try to defend himself. It has also been released that my brother was not shot but sustained multiple stab wounds to his chest. We are still awaiting autopsy results to determine the official cause of death. My brother was killed before the house was set on fire so the man is not being charged with capital murder. If he had killed him then set fire on the house with my brother inside it would be. I have forgiven this man for what he has done to my brother and our family. He needs Jesus!! I would love to have opportunity to talk to him and witness to him but I'm not sure that will be possible. Please pray that he get saved through this as well as others.
Thank you so much for all the comments and emails I have received expressing condolences and prayers. They mean SOOOOOOOO much!! I have my moments when I can't believe this is actually happening...but as I read the Meridian, MS news I see that it actually is.
We are leaving tomorrow morning to head to Mississippi. We will be staying overnight until Sunday since my husband has to work on Monday. I just need to see my sister and my parents right now....so that is the only reason for my going there.
I love you all and thank you very much!!
To read the news and see the video you may go here WTOK Newscenter 11.
I need my readers to please pray for me and MY family. My sister called me this morning to tell me that my brother was killed last night. His house was burnt to the ground and they found gas cans outside the house so they suspected arson. Once the fire got contained to where they could go in and look they went looking for his body in the house. They did not find his body. They then searched his property since there were pop-pops heard either just before the fire or during the fire. My brother was a hunter and had lots of ammo and guns so they thought maybe it was the ammo reacting with the fire. Upon searching his property they found him in a ravine behind his house and they say it appears he had been shot. He died in that ravine. He was not saved so that is more devastating than his death to me.
My parents are still not saved and I'm praying that the Lord will use us as we go to Mississippi to be with them to be of help and a witness to them. My sister is headed that way with her husband this afternoon. My parents are headed that way as well shortly. We won't go until we get word to go. Please pray for traveling mercies for our family as we travel there and that God would help us while we are there.
Thank you so much!!
I Thessalonians 1:2 "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;"
There will be two posts today...this post and my puzzle of the week post. I want to share my heart in this post this morning.
I want to tell each of you that come by here (and especially those that leave comments) that you don't realize what a blessing you have been to me. Just you coming by has encouraged me more than you know. I have thought so much lately of quitting my blog and just not doing it anymore. I've been having a bit of a pity-party I guess you could say.
I've been feeling like a bit of a failure lately. More so in the days leading up to my youngest daughter moving out of our home. I feel as though I have failed as a parent...as a Christian and as an example of what I post on my blog. I realize what we as parents do to raise our children and to teach them with the Word of God as our guide that in the end they will be faced with choices to continue that as an adult. The choices they make is not always the correct ones that are God's will.
I can say that the choices our children make definitely break our hearts when they go against what God's Word teaches. The choices our daughter is making is very hurtful and has caused me to question my ability to teach others what God's Word says. That is where I've been. God has been helping me to look at our son and other daughter and rejoice that I haven't been a complete failure. Also...the comments and the little red dots on my map in my sidebar has been more encouraging than any of you will know.
I may not be posting much but with the heartbreak that I'm experiencing I have just been withdrawn a bit. For this I apologize since there are still some that are coming by looking for encouragement and whatever God might have for them for the day. My desire is and always has been for this blog to be a blessing each and every day to someone. Please forgive me for my lack of posts lately. My husband...Kristina and I need your prayers. We are all hurting right now. Our youngest daughter is leaving Friday on her 18th birthday. We will especially need your prayers that day and in the days to come.
A big thank you goes to all my readers for being the encouragement I've needed even though you had no idea you were. I love you all in Christ!!
I wanted to blog about this before now but wanted to wait and see if Jessica was going to say anything on her blog about it first. She blogged about it yesterday so I thought I would go ahead and let everyone know today.
To read about the prayer request and to leave a comment of encouragement for them please go to her blog here.
I appreciate your prayers during this difficult time as we prepare to move and set up our new home and deal with this situation that has taken place. It has been difficult for Ronnie and Jessica but also for all of us parents. I love and appreciate each of you!!
I first want to thank each one of you who have been praying for me and my family during this difficult time. I also want to thank each of you who have taken the time to leave me a comment and the sweet and encouraging words that each of you have had to say. I thank God for each of you and am overwhelmed at the support that has come through this. I have sensed the prayers and it has been such a help to me to know that so many are praying for us....and that you care enough about me and my family to pray for us.
I can tell you that we are still going through this thing. I have cried till I can't cry anymore.
Thank you for your continued prayer for us!! I love you all!!
Psalm 54:2 "Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth."
I was introduced to a family's blog some months back by another blogger (Sis. Kristi). This family has been going through a terrible ordeal for quite some time now. They are the Douglass family in Florida. I have been praying for them and their situation since I came to know the situation. I should have requested prayer and brought their situation to your attention a long time ago. For that I am ashamed and very sorry.
I was at their blog yesterday and was viewing their videos of what is going on and how things are going and was brought to great tears once again over it all. I would like to ask you to go to their blog and and read their story and view their videos. There is a video in the first post you see and there are more videos at the bottom of the main page. Once you read their story and view their videos...please leave them a comment with a note of encouragement and also add them to your prayer list. This family is being done wrong by the DFACS system and the state. They need grace...peace and comfort during this Christmas time of year and every day.
Click here to get to their blog.
James 5:16b "...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
First of all I found out about a situation that needs our prayers over at Sis. Meghan's Site. Please go here to read about it and to know what to pray for. As I was reading the posts the Lord let me know that this could very well have been me and my family. Although my situation wasn't the same it was similar in that there was opportunity for accusation. My youngest daughter Michelle was very clumsy growing up. We always said she would trip over lint if there was any on the floor. Our entire family knew this about her. And we've had her to the doctor more than any of our children for injuries inquired just from her being so loose-jointed or from just being clumsy. The doctor would always ask us how it happened and we would tell them and they had this look in their eye of "Yeah...right!". Knowing how this world we live in today and all that takes place in it I always waited for a call from DFACS (Department of Family And Children Services) or a visit from them to check our home and/or how our children were treated. But thanks be to God that never happened. Well it has happened to Bro. Joshua and his family. Please earnestly pray for them and that God's will would be done in the situation. And pray as if it were you going through it.Second of all...it is campmeeting time again. My daughter Kristina and I always (Lord-willing) go to the June campmeeting and the August campmeeting in Resaca, GA at Faith Baptist Camp. The August campmeeting starts tomorrow at the campgrounds. Kristina and I will be leaving after our afternoon service tomorrow to head to the campgrounds and will return on Saturday morning around noon. That being said I won't be posting on my blog for a week. I will miss each of you and will be catching up on your posts when I get back home. Please pray for us that we would get the help the Lord has for us there and that we would be receptive in our hearts to the preaching of God's Word while we're there. We'll be enjoying much singing, preaching and Christian fellowship while we're there. Please pray the temperatures would lower and/or that it would rain while we're there. The August campmeeting is typically the hottest one and the most uncomfortable temperature wise than any of the meetings. But God is usually faithful to grant us some relief and I pray He'll do it again this year. Y'all have a great week and keep the comments coming. They really are an encouragement to my heart and a blessing to others as they read them. Y'all are what keeps me going with this blog...especially when I get discouraged about it and just don't feel like messing with it. Yes I get that way too just as some of you do. So these breaks that I get are needful for me. I love you all and will be in touch when I get back home!!
