Open House

There is so much great news at our church right now. The new church wing is getting closer to being completed, people that have left the church are coming back, and we've got a load of brand new members. It is great to have so many new members, and it is such a blessing to see some former members come back home.

I haven't posted on our new church building in a while. Last night we had open house before the evening service. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but the men in our church that have been working on it have worked non stop and they're doing a wonderful job.

This post is for everyone, but mainly the people in our church that weren't able to be there for the open house. A few of them that couldn't make it asked me to post pics for them so here we go on the tour. And I hope y'all are feeling better soon.

This will be the foyer. Just as you walk in, and to the left, there are two bathrooms. If I'm not mistaken, all the plumbing is finished and installation will be done soon.

This will be the kitchen. There will be several stoves, two large microwaves, and I think she said two giant refrigerators. I can't remember what she said on those. Lots of counter space and Brother Wayne will be making a large double island that can hook together and come apart for serving in the banquet room. That'll be nice.

This will be the banquet room. I can not WAIT to see this room set up for its first fellowship.

This will be the kitchen pantry. Lots of room and a place for deliveries to be made directly into the kitchen.

The window there where Harrison is standing, looks out into the gym. It will be great for concession.

Left side of gym...

Right side of gym. This gym is massive. I couldn't believe it. There will be lots of fun activities going on in here with all the children in the ministries we have going on. It will be SO NICE to have this facility.

There were, if I remember correctly, four or five classrooms that will be used for Patch and bus ministry.

This room will be the prophets quarters. The room over in the back is the bathroom. Lots of room! There is also another room that will be for children when a visiting missionary or evangelist brings their family along.

This room is off the banquet room and will be used for storage.

And this is the hall coming out of the gym towards the classrooms.

This last pic is for Brother Wayne. He liked how the old building and the new building match perfectly, even though the old building was built a long, long time ago! Here's your pic, Brother Wayne! :)

I still need to get new pictures of teacher's workroom, music rooms, and bathrooms that were added to the original building. It looks so good.

And thus concludes your tour. Can't wait until everything is finished. Gonna be nice!

God is good. He has blessed us with a way to expand our ministries and I am looking forward to seeing what happens over the next several months and years.

Ladders, Giggles, and Demonstrations

And there she is! Our pink helmet-wearin' firefighter. She has a great smile and seemed to be a very nice girl.

The other female in the group might have to drop out because of a severe case of bronchitis. I hope she recovers quickly. Bronchitis can be so bad for some people.
ETS: This IS the female that was sick with bronchitis. For some reason I thought there were two girls in the academy, but when Justin read this post he said no, it was just the girl above. So obviously she is feeling better. That's good.

Justin called me today and said to come take pics. I told him I'd be there if I could, but was doing pictures for a little cutie pie, on top of school work. Fortunately everything was completed by a little after 3:00 and I was able to get to the academy just as they were getting ready to do the ladders.

I didn't mind it at first, but when my little boy started climbing up...and up...and up...I just aimed the camera and closed my eyes to shoot. I couldn't watch. Ok, not really. I watched. Of course I watched! They would climb one ladder and enter a window, walk the floor, then climb out another window onto another ladder. Now, the climbing up and into a window wasn't so bad. It was watching him climb out of the window onto the ladder that gave me the heebie geebies!




This is the part that got me. Ugh! He seemed to like it. Even though he's never been one for heights. I was proud of him.



Did I already say Ugh?



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This is the little girl I took pictures of today. Isn't she adorable? She was so cute. I've only got to see her a couple of times and I really enjoyed having her here. She's a sweetheart.




We got so cracked up at this picture below. There was a neighbor's dog that came into the yard and she thought he was hilarious. She would hold her hand over her face and giggle. It was just so cute!






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Justin has his state test for his EMT tomorrow. Which if you remember from an earlier post, we were praying they would let him go from the academy in time to make it for the test. They did! His papers were signed and he'll be able to go. Praise the Lord! So now, please pray he'll do a good job and pass. He made it home just in time to shower, eat, and head out to his study group.



Bruce is working a lot of overtime. The company that bought the company he works for wants production tripled, if not more. Which, if you live around here, you most likely need a job. So I'm thankful that he has steady work and even overtime coming in and it would be great if some people in the area were hired to fill some positions. Right now they have a freeze on hiring. Maybe when things settle from handing the business over to the new company, they'll lift the freeze. I don't know about right now, but I know that at one point our county had the highest unemployment rate in the state. I'm eager to see how this new company handles things.



I'm a little nervous about Saturday. I'll be giving a demonstration for a publishing company to a group of people from local churches in the area on the publishing companies VBS curriculum. I like the curriculum I'm demonstrating. It's fun, it's cute, it's exciting, it has some awesome craft ideas with it, and best of all, it is a clear presentation in giving the gospel to children. So I'm a little nervous but I'm ready. I think it'll be fun.

Give Me TWENTY!

I'm assuming they're using the torch here.

I went to the fire academy to take some pics. They were all out on the back of the property. I saw sparks and fire. Later Justin told me that they had learned how to use a torch. So I'm going to assume that's what they were doing here.

This is what he looked like when I left the academy.

He looked way different when he got home. Poor guy. He was whooped. Apparently there was a lot of trash talk and a lack of teamwork among the students during the day. So before they were released for the evening, the instructor decided to give them a lesson that would help them remember to leave the trash talk at home and bring more teamwork to the academy.

He had them do twenty push ups, slowly, then a ten second break. Followed by more push ups, a break, more push ups, break, etc. After the last set they had to run sprints. Justin said they ran so many sprints he doesn't know how many they ran. They were all exhausted on the last sprint and ready to fall down. But nope. The instructor wanted more push ups. By the time they were finished they had done about 250 in total.

Justin said after that they all huddled together and vowed to be nicer to one another and work together. I guess the instructor got his point across.

Bless his heart. Every muscle in his arms and legs were throbbing. I gave him three ibuprofen, told him to take a hot shower, and had him use some icy/hot before he went to bed.

Hopefully today will be a much better day in the life of my cadet.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

Of Steps and Pink Helmets

They told Justin I could come to the academy and take pictures when I wanted to, seeing they could use the pictures for a presentation at the end of the nine weeks. I would have liked to have gone today and I might still try if we can get all of our home schooling finished for the day. Harrison seems to be dragging and daydreaming a lot. I think this weather has affected him this afternoon. I should probably send him outside for a little bit and let him get some fresh air.

Anyway! I had my mom and mother in law over to eat supper with us last night. I fixed a pot of chili, mom brought cornbread, and I made pecan pie for dessert. Just about the time we were finishing up supper, in walked our cadet. Covered from head to toe in fireman gear, carrying oxygen tanks on his shoulder, ropes, belts, a duffel bag I could hide in full of equipment, books, etc. You name it, the boy had it. When he walked in the house I greeted him at the door and he said, "What is that I smell, mom?" "It's chili with all the fixin's." His eyes rolled back and he smiled, "I am so stinkin' hungry." He dropped most of his gear, put away the rest, and washed up to eat.

As we sat with him around the table talking and listening to his stories from the day, he mentioned that one of the things they might make you do is run steps several times. Now, that doesn't sound too terrible, does it? I mean, I'll be the first to admit that running up and down steps is not something I'd want to do or have a desire to do, but if I had to, I could do it.

However....

The steps he's talking about are in this building from the ground floor, up....

uh-huh. I know that's right. You'd have to have a rescue squad waiting at the top for me. Ha! Top. I give myself too much credit. I do admire these young men and women, though, that put all they have into this training. It's not easy physically or mentally. And I pray for them, that the Lord gives them strength as they push through it each day.

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You all know pink is my favorite color. If you click on this pic you can see that totally awesome pink helmet! If I were a firefighter, I'd be wearing the pink helmet. You can fight a fire and look prissy too!

Yeah, I'm diggin' it!

Choose You THIS DAY...

Our Pastor was preaching a fiftieth anniversary for another church Sunday night and our associate pastor was very sick, unable to preach, leaving the pulpit open for Brother Troy. Troy is one of my most favorite preacher boys. He has the type of character that "....maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." Although I don't think he has any enemies. He's just one of those people that if you WERE going to be his enemy, it sure would be hard to do. lol Everybody likes Troy and we love him around these parts.

I took notes on his sermon last night and thought I would share them here. The Holy Spirit dealt with my heart, for sure. I hope the notes are a blessing to you as much as his sermon was for me. That's all I will say. The rest is straight from Brother Troy....

Joshua 24:1-15, text vs 15 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve. whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

1. It is an urgent choice to serve he Lord. Not tomorrow, not a few days from now, not when we're ready, but NOW. "Choose you THIS DAY..."

2. It is an unbiased choice to serve the Lord. What have the gods of this world done for us? Nothing at all. What has God almighty done for us? Everything.

3. It is an undaunted choice to serve the Lord. We need to make the decision to serve the Lord in the good times and in the bad times.

4. It is Unpopular choice to serve the Lord. Not everyone will choose to serve God. Believing Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven in unpopular, but it is right.

Why can't we have it both ways? Why can't we be called a Christian and live like the world?

1. We have a command to serve the God. We must yield our flesh to God. Why?
a. it affects our allegiance. Does our allegiance lie with the King of King or with the world?
b. it affects our associations. We're suppose to come out from among them.
c. it affects our attire. We're to put on the uniform of the Lord.
d. it affects our actions. Do all to the GLORY OF GOD.
e. it affects our aims. The things we desire, are they of the Lord or of the world? Are our aims directed toward the things of Christ.

2. Caution to observe. God is Holy and will not allow you to get by with sin. Because He is a jealous God, He will not allow you to serve and live in sin. We need to avoid things that offend God. you can not have it both ways. Why?
a. because sin will hinder our service
b. because sin hinders our prayers.

3. Consequences to obtain. (Deuteronomy 11:26) We get a blessing or a curse, depending on who we choose to serve.

(II Corinthians 5:9-10) Our sins, as Christians, will not be judged at the judgement seat of Christ. But we will be judged in our service for Him. And if we are in sin, our service is hindered, which will affect the rewards we will receive to give back to Christ.

(Revelation 20:11-15) Is your name in the book of life? Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? Whom will you choose to serve THIS DAY?

"Sin does not affect our relationship to God. But sin will affect our fellowship with God."

I Ain't Never Gettin' Saved Again!

Our baptism has some heating elements in it so when we baptize someone the water is always warm. Definitely not like the good ole days when they baptized in the creek! Although, there are some churches that still do that today. I'd love to see one sometime.

Anyway! This little boy that use to come to our church moved away with his family to Canada. Since they've left, the little boy accepted Jesus into his heart and when they were down visiting he told his family he wanted to get baptized by Preacher Goodman at Faith. So his grandpa and the little boy talked it over with Pastor and set everything up. But this particular Sunday the heating elements were not working and the water was ICE cold. Mind you, we had just had our first big winter snow for these parts.

At first the little boy got in and it was just too cold and he was fixin' to back out and Pastor told him it was all right to back out if he wanted to. The little boy had mixed emotions about it. He wanted to get baptized, but that water sure was cold.

Finally after deliberating on it a few minutes the little boy's grandpa pushed him in the water to Pastor (with the boys consent, of course), pastor dunked him, and it was all over with as quickly as possible. It happened so fast I didn't even see it happen and I was on the front pew! You couldn't see the little boy but we all heard him proclaim, "I ain't never gettin' saved again!" We've had a good laugh over that. Kids are the best! You can't help but love 'em.

Of Eggs and Whoopin's

Harrison had a Science experiment yesterday involving an egg, a jug, and a match. We did not receive the results we had anticipated and so we plan on doing it again soon. But after the experiment I gave the egg to him and told him that he could have an egg toss with Hannah. She wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but she participated anyway, as to be expected from a big sister.


On the final throw it was from Hannah to Harrison. The egg busted in Harrison's hand and he threw it back at Hannah anyway. You can see by the look on her face that she was none too pleased with her younger sibling. LOL Harrison on the other hand got a good laugh out of it, as to be expected from a little brother.



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Mom came by last night toting Krispy Kream doughnuts. We sat around the table munching on our sweet snack and playing a few games of Uno. Mom won the first two games and Bruce told her if she won the third one he was whipping her with a belt. Needless to say, she won the third game. So he gave her the option of which belt he would use for the whoopin. lol


She protested at first, but what could she do against her much stronger son-in-law (the bitter loser), her grandchildren (the youngest losers) cheering on the whoopin' and her daughter (the eager loser) ready to snap pictures of the whoopin'.

Eventually she gave in to her sorry plight. It was so funny. She was a good sport.

DISCLAIMER: No grandmothers were injured during the photographic journaling of this incident.

Pictures

I've been playing with the equipment Bruce bought me for Christmas. I had fun shooting my kids the last couple of days.

Still wanna get some with the white and stone backgrounds. Hopefully I'll do that over the next couple of days. I want to get Justin too, but his schedule has been so weird it's going to be hard to get that time with him.

Cadet

Justin started training at the fire academy last week. He was supposed to have started last Monday, but because of the weather and roads they did not start until Thursday. He left out of the house that morning grinning from ear to ear with a little nervousness behind his smile.

And after ten or eleven hours in school and physical training, he came home one tired cadet.

It's good to know, though, that one of the verses Brother Johnny preached from last week helped him through the three mile runs, the climbing up and down the stairs of "the building" and all the other PT.

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." I'm sure that verse has been part of his devotions since beginning the academy.

He's been in school to qualify for EMT. His state test is during his training at the fire academy. He is hoping they will let him leave in time to make his test. He's worked hard and studied hard. If he passes he will be a certified EMT and it will help him with the rest of his training. If he misses the test he may have to do it all again. Pray they let him go for the test. We're pretty sure they will, but it's all up to them.

Here he is with some of his gear.

See the red rope around him? He has to have it with him at all times. If he's caught without it at any time while at the academy, they make them do certain things that require physical exertion. So he keeps it wrapped around him all the time.

He is into his second week and loving it. I'm proud of him. I know he will do great.

Blessings Upon Blessings

Sunday morning our church was so packed we were over flowing into other areas for seating. It was such a blessing. We've had several saved recently, baptisms, and people that use to come to Faith, came back "home" and joined Sunday night. I was very glad!

I met a friend on fb through a mutual friend of ours. Her mother-in-law and father-in-law were on vacation and came this way to see their good friends, the O'Malleys. Brother Groves played the guitar and sang for us. It was another added blessing to our day.

I didn't know they would be there and when I walked in before Sunday School they were standing in the foyer. Mrs. O'Malley introduced me to Sister Groves and she immediately handed me a little bag of those caramel and cream cow's tails. The minis. There was also a card inside from their daughter-in-law, whom I've never met but have a kindred spirit with on facebook. She is a sweet friend and it made my day that she thought of me. Yes, Sunday was overflowing with blessings.

Brother Tony Hutson is preaching revival in a church near by so me and my two younger ones met up with Mander and her two babes and headed out to hear him. We met Dana and a lot more of our people there. He preached on the calling of the Saint. It put some things about soul winning...Heaven and Hell...into perspective.

Great sermon! So glad we were able to go.

A Little Spot of Joy

This weekend, our family had the privilege of taking care of a beautiful little angel. And that's what we'll call her...."Angel." Because she absolutely was just that. Sent straight from Heaven to our arms...mainly my arms...and brightened up my days, even though it was just a few.

She is the foster baby of a family in our church. They went to see their son in college play a couple of basketball games this weekend and asked if we would like to take care of "Angel." Of course we said YES! And I'm glad. But now that we've fallen head over hills in love with her, we had to give her back this morning. They were going to pick her up Saturday night, but were kind enough to allow us just one more night with her. It's been a long time since I've had a baby to get ready on a Sunday morning, but everything went GREAT and we still made it to church on time!

Tonight I found out that "Angel" could be going back to her parents sometime this week. When I look into the eyes of that little face I just pray that the Lord's will be done and that His hand of protection covers her. Look at her. Absolutely precious.

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Bruce bought me some backgrounds for Christmas so I decided to do a Valentine's Day special for KLM. The special is $30, runs through February 7 and pictures will be back before Valentine's Day.

You get one pose of your choice and that pose comes in:
Three, 8x10s
Three, 5x7s
and twenty wallets

I've received several messages for this special, so if you're interested, let me know ASAP before I book up!

Veni, Vidi, Vici

I came, I saw, I conquered.

My brother in law had this posted on his facebook status. When I asked him what brought on that quote he said nothing, really, it just popped into his head. Little did either of us know that this Latin quote, added to the sermon I heard tonight at church would be a remedy for my heart sick self.

Here I am in a new year and what will it bring? A Valentine's Day where my dad will not show up on my front porch with a little box of chocolates or a card the size of a poster board. Birthday parties where my dad will no longer take part in the smiles and laughter of the celebration. The grill that my dad would fire up for patriotic celebrations or other parties will go unlit. My children will not receive a call from my dad to run to Grover for gas and an RC cola. This is how I am seeing my new year.

Right now I'm still trying to conquer everything that happened last year. More precisely, everything that happened between October first and October fifth, when my personal hero went home to be with Jesus. Has it only been three months? It seems like an eternity since I heard his voice.

My heart breaks new every morning. Tears fall off and on through the days. Sometimes when I least expect it I will find myself wiping tears. Sometimes they fall with no warning and sometimes with an uncontrollable sting, giving warning of their presence.

But it's all good. At least that's what I keep telling myself. Someone mentioned to me not long ago that tears are God's way of helping to wash the pain away. If that is true, I have many tears that have not yet fallen.

For the most part, my heart is at peace knowing where my dad is and that the legacy he left behind will touch lives for a very long time. But for the other part...the lesser part, if you will...my heart aches beyond what any words can describe.

I feel that I have shut down some of my emotion. I find myself quieter than usual these days. More contemplative.

I want to come into the year, 2011, and see the many opportunities the Lord has in store for me, both physically and spiritually. And I want to conquer the pain that has taken up residence in the very depths of my heart.

But how?

Brother Johnny preached tonight and the verses he used were not just for the sermon he preached, but for what I have been going through. And Christ used those verses to open my eyes to get through this coming year and to conquer. I was raised in a Christian home. I know I must lean on the Savior. But sometimes when we are in the darkest valley, we need to be reminded how to get through that dark and lonely valley.

Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." I can face each new day knowing that God is walking in front of me. He created my valley and He knows the way out. All I have to do is follow Him. And as we walk through the valley together, He will continually fill me up with His strength. I can not walk it without Him.

Romans 8:37, "..in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." God loved me long before my daddy did. And, though it almost seems impossible for me to believe, God truly does love me more than my daddy ever did. And because of that love for me, I can conquer this pain I feel and triumphantly rise to the very top of the mountain that overshadows this valley. My valley.

Sometime in 2011, I will be able to say, "I came, I saw, I conquered....by the grace of God!"

Fun in the....SNOW!

When I got up this morning, the kids were already outside playing in the snow. It doesn't come much here so when it's here we take advantage. Well, THEY take advantage. I stay in where it's warm. If I were an animal, I'd be a cat. Me no likey wet and cold.

Justin likes making mega snowballs to kill his siblings.


Hannah keeps her distance. She likes to stay in the "safe zones."



Harrison is your front-line warrior. He'll stand close and then run if he needs to. In this pic, he had just thrown a snowball at Justin. Just as I took the picture, the snowball lined up in front of Hannah's face. I didn't white her out. I promise.


There are some icicles hanging off our back porch I thought were pretty. I was able to get a few shots of water dripping from them.

This afternoon we were just sitting in the house doing whatever. We heard a loud noise out front and it was our neighbor. He had his tractor out scraping the ice off of our driveway. That was so nice of him. I'll make him and his wife some goodies soon.

Isn't it great to have friendly neighbors?

Proverbs 18:24, "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

Let It Snow, Let It Snow....

Let it snow.

We've been anticipating snow for a week or so now. It started early this morning and we woke up to everything covered in white beauty. Hannah and Harrison couldn't wait to get out and play in it. We don't get much snow around these parts so when it does come we're very happy.

We took a snow day, like any other school. We slept in, I cooked a late breakfast, and we've been watching old movies most of the day. I have a lot of Christmas movies and one we didn't watch this year was Miracle on 34th Street. So we started with that one. We're watching musicals now. I'm sure my kids are thrilled. ha!

Trying to figure out what I'm cooking for supper. I have no idea. On days like today I want something warm and thick that sticks to the ribs. But what? Any suggestions? Mom has my mouth watering for cornbread from an iron skillet. So I know we're having that. But man can not live by bread alone. :D

Justin had his orientation yesterday afternoon at the Fire Academy. He was suppose to start today, but the weather closed his classes. He was so disappointed. Last night he was all pumped up and ready to go. Under normal circumstances he enjoys the snow. But it kind of threw a wrench in his plans so I don't think he loves it as much today as he did the last big snow we had here.

Hannah has been enjoying her Kindle most of today. I found a zebra print skin for it at Amazon. It was $20.00, but I got it free with my swagbucks!! :) I love swagbucks. If you don't know what swagbucks are, you can check it out in my sidebar.

Harrison has had fun playing in the snow with the neighbor. The one bad thing about living in the south where you rarely see snow, is that snow gloves are hard to come by. Bless his heart, his fingers are red and icy when he comes inside to warm up. Knitted gloves just don't do the job!

Bruce started a new schedule for the next six weeks or so that will bring him some overtime. It is a "curse" and a blessing at the same time. I say curse because he'll be away from the home more than usual. We miss him when he's not here.

We had two people saved at church last night. A fourteen year old boy and a visiting lady that came with another member. The services were great yesterday. Especially last night. I love it when the Lord moves and souls are saved.

I finished editing the wedding pics from last week. I can't wait for the bride and groom to see them. I think they'll be happy.

I hope you have enjoyed your day as much as I've enjoyed mine.

New Year's Eve 2010, New Year's Day 2011

Mom left her bingo game at our house the other week so for New Year's eve we invited our moms over for supper and bingo. Bruce had gone out and bought some prizes and we had a great time. He was our game caller and he was a riot.


Bruce's mom had a good time. I think this was the first time she had ever played a game with our family. We'll have to do it again.


My mom won the first four or five games before Bruce made everyone change cards. LOL


Bingo...who would have thought it was so much fun?

They didn't stay 'til midnight, but that was ok. When they left we watched a movie with the kids. It was over five minutes before midnight. So we counted down the minutes and HAPPY NEW YEAR! It was 2011!! Can you believe it? Wouldn't it be great if the Lord came back this year?

For New Year's Day we went to Bruce's mom's house for her traditional New Year's Day meal of ham, blackeyed peas, and greens...with other fixin's of course. I do not like blackeyed peas, but if you'll look closely you will see my one little blackeye pea I ate. I didn't even chew it. Just popped it in my mouth and chased it with water. LOL

Bruce's oldest brother and his family were bringing in the new year in England and his younger brother and his family were bringing in the new year at their home in Virginia. So his oldest middle brother and his boys were there. This is Barry. You'd never guess he was Bruce's brother, would you? ;)

My sweet Hannah-girl.

My nephew, Elijah.

My nephew, Zach.

My silly son, Harrison.

My sleepy son, Justin. :)

My sweet mother in law, that cooked all that good food....and the blackeyed peas. haha

My silly husband. Like father like son. You know?

Bruce and his baby girl.

It was a great couple of evenings with our families.

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S TO YOU TOO!!!