Wow, What A Great Weekend!

We had a terrific weekend. Several of us have been busy recently, getting things ready for the twenty-fifth anniversary of our dear Pastor and his precious wife being at our church. It was a beautiful day, Sunday, and everything went great. The only thing Pastor asked for, is that we don't allow the special day to get in the way of old time worship. And that's exactly what happened. We had spectacular meetings, both services and it was a blessing to be a part of both of them.

One of the special things our church did, was to make a book of personal letters from the congregation to Pastor Goodman and Mrs. Ava. Along with those letters were pictures of some of the people that wrote letters. I tried to get everyone's pictures, but some of them just didn't make it in the book. We did, however, have a good many to add. We also had some that turned in old pictures, but I didn't add those to the video below. These are just the ones I took. You'll notice I titled the video "Koala Pictures." There's a story behind that.

We didn't want Pastor and Mrs. Ava to know what we were up to, so Brother Johnny asked the congregation to give him a code word, one Wednesday night when Pastor and Mrs. Ava were out of town. The word was "Koala" and given by one of our youth, Jordan L. Jordan's grandmother also came up with "Epistles." Both were great, but people loved using "Koala." So that one stuck.

We had Brother Preston Moore and his wife for the special services. I love hearing him preach. He is a good preacher! Brother Moore was the first Pastor that our own Pastor served under his first associate pastor's job. He learned a great deal about being an under-shepherd from Brother Moore and references him often when preaching. Pastor Goodman loves and respects Brother Moore very much.

I have more to tell and lots of pictures to share, that I'll post later. It was a busy and wonderful weekend! One I am trutly thankful to have taken part in.

Bus Ministry and FBC Fall Festival

Here are a few pics from our bus ministry fall festival. I have a lot more, but for sake of time, I'll just post these.
We had games outside and also a bouncy castle and bouncy slide. The kids had a great time! The teens in our youth group helped with the games and handed out candy. It was wonderful seeing them pitch in and have a good time doing it! What great spirits!!


There was face painting and hair coloring, which seemed to be the favorite booth among the little ones.


Several of them wanted clown faces and they looked so cute!


They smaller ones enjoy the bouncy slide, but keeping them at *one at a time* is difficult. haha

And who doesn't like a jump in the bouncy castle?

You can see more pics from the bus ministry by clicking here. If it doesn't work for you, let me know and I'll fix the link. It should, though.

We always have the bus ministry fall festival on Saturday and the church's fall festival on Sunday between services. Here is a video of that....Enjoy!

Last Night of Revival

We had another wonderful night with Brother Hutson and thus concluded our revival meetings this week. Sure do appreciate his old fashioned preaching!!

Last night we had some special singing. All the singing at our church is special to me, but the Philbecks were there and they are just wonderful to listen to. Brother Philbeck is the pastor of Love Valley Baptist Church, a neighboring church in our area. His wife and children were there and did a fantastic job singing. I do have a video of them below. The song in the video has become my new favorite song. LOL I've been humming it in my head all day.

Today is my beautiful mother in law's birthday. I went out this morning with Justin to run some errands and while we were out I got her gift and we'll be taking her out to supper tonight. She went out to eat with her sisters today so I'm sure she's having a good birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIE!!! You've been the best mother in law I've ever had. The only mother in law, but the best, nonetheless.
:)

Enjoy the Philbeck family singing I Just Wanted You To Know....

No Apologies and Some Videos

Obviously someone took offense to my last blog post. Which is fine. Sometimes the truth rubs people the wrong way. Bruce and I were accused of being fundies. If standing on the fundamentals of Scripture makes us a fundy, we stand guilty as charged. Thank you, Anonymous for pointing out a good characteristic you see in us.

And to clear things up, I was not preaching to men or women for that matter. Just simply stating my opinion which was made obvious to me by the preaching of a real man of God, whom I admire greatly. In all honesty, I was preaching to myself if anyone. There was a young man that left our church to join the army and I had written him a letter of encouragement while he is in basic training. I received a reply to that letter, which Bruce and I read together, the same day Brother Johnny preached his message and hit on that. I determined that I would not send anymore letters to this young man unless they were sent by both Bruce and me. So, you see, I can find the fault in myself and am not so full of myself that I cannot correct that fault in the name of Jesus, that His name be not blasphemed. And while I'm at it, clearly it is stated here that this blog is set up in mind for ladies. Men are welcome to read, but it's addressed to women in general.

That being said, I have no apologies to make to ANY man, seeing I am under the authority of my OWN husband. Who, by the way, approved of the last post. SO! If anyone owes anyone an apology, it would have to be the one making false accusations. Which I seriously doubt will ever happen. And that's ok. My conscience is clear.

Now! Last week we were in revival with Pastor Goodman at Bright Light Baptist Church. It was a GREAT week. I was so proud of my Pastor and the meaty messages he preached. I was also proud of our young people. They have come such a long way as a whole in the last year. And even more so this summer. I've seen changes in some of them I thought I would never see. And God is blessing!!

When the youth choir came Thursday night to sing for Bright Light, Spencer, Gary, and Justin had something to say. Each video is just a couple of minutes. Enjoy these young men...

Pee Wee Pirates

The Pee Wee Pirates came down to the service last night and sang some songs for the congregation. The kindergarten pirates quoted the ten commandments. They all did a fabulous job.

I wish that I had gotten a video of them singing the "sing and shout" song. That was hilarious. I loved it. But here's a video of them singing Read Your Bible, Pray Everyday. It's cute too.

I Just Stopped By...

Here's a video of our Youth Choir singing, I Just Stopped By On My Way Home. Enjoy!

Don't Get Used to the Dark

I started feeling sick with the stomach bug yesterday. It's been nagging at my stomach for about 24 hours now with no reslove. I am considering chugging some milk of magnesia and kicking it into high gear. I don't know if that would help or not. I suppose it's worth a try. That stuff is just so nasty.

Justin is working at the church today helping to clear some trees or something like that. Hannah is with him. She'll be doing her school work up there, helping Mrs. Janet if she needs help, and then Justin will take her for an appointment she has and then a quick trip to the library to pick up some books.

Harrison is working on his studies as well. I can hear him reading aloud. He's so funny.

I think I'll lay my head back here on the couch until he's ready to discuss what he's read and answer some questions.

This is a video of Brother Humphries singing a song he wrote, Don't Get Used to the Dark. He didn't come in when he was supposed to and we got a little tickled at the plunk plunk from the bluegrass group. LOL

"Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk
while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in
darkness knoweth not whither he goeth...I am come a light into the world, that
whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."John 12:35

Valentine's Banquet, 2010

The theme for our Valentine Banquet was Winter Wonderland. We had a good time with a LOT of good laughs. It was great!


Pastor Goodman gave a good sermon on LOVE and then introduced our talent for the night. We always have a skit or something going. This year we had.....


...the Joebob Brothers, who sang to us.


And also the Bluegrass group that sang some funny songs.

I still was not able to get up and take a lot of pictures as I usually do, but I did get a few. I like this picture of Joel and Pam. They look playful, don't they? :)

Brother Dusty and his friend. I can not for the life of me remember her name. But she has the sweetest smile and seems like a very sweet girl.

And I love this picture of Mrs. Linda. So pretty!!

I thought this was a good one of Ted and Rebecca too.

I liked this one of my Mander and her Chris. I think this is the nicest pic of them.

My buddy Dana and her Chris looked dashing too.

And then of course, there was Bruce and me. I love him.

Jennifer, Johnathan, and baby Owens were attendance as well.

I think this is a sweet pic of Pastor and Mrs. Ava.

Kelsey and Nathaniel were decked out in their purple and sliver.

And Bradley's Melissa was able to join us. It's always good seeing Melissa.

And let's not forget Taylor and Evan.

And of course, Evan's parents, Teresa and Greg. They are so funny. I would love to spend more time with them!

Justin invited a friend he knows through Jeremy.

I did grab a picture of Brother Wayne and Mrs. Vicky before they headed out to go home.

Here are a couple of videos of the Joebob Brothers. This was so funny...


....and little bit gross. LOL

Revival Night 4

Thursday was the closing night of our revival and I must say this has been a wonderful week! What a great time we had with Brother Davis!

He preached on A Troubled Christ. In the first three books of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, never mention Christ's troubles. But in the book of John, John exposes Christ being troubled as the Son of God.

In John 11:14 He was not troubled with death. He knew where the saints would be. But in John 11:33, when he saw Mary weeping, His heart grieved for her. He felt her sorrow for her. The Bible says He groaned in His spirit, and was troubled. He is troubled with funeral proceedings. He hurts for us when we lose our loved one, and although we may be joyful in their home-going, our hearts ache in knowing that until we get to Heaven, there will be sorrow in missing them. He understands that and He is troubled by it.

John 12:27, He was troubled in His soul for what He was about to face on the cross. He did not want to face the pain and suffering. He experienced more physical pain than our bodies will possibly ever know. Hebrews 14:15 says that He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He knows when our body aches and the pain seems so bad we just want to quit and give up and sometimes even die. He knows the pain. He understands it and He is troubled by it.

Then in John 13:21 He was troubled in His spirit that He would be betrayed. He was troubled at false professions. Judas kissed the Door of Heaven and went to Hell. Not even the other disciples, followers and friends of Christ, knew that Judas would betray Christ. They did not know that Judas was not a true follower. Some believe Judas did not even know it himself and that's why he committed suicide. I don't know if that's true. But I do know that Christ was troubled in knowing that Judas said and did all the right things but saying and doing the right things were not going to get him to Heaven. He never made that true profession of faith. Christ is troubled by our false professions.

This was a great sermon. Before our revival I had heard Brother Davis one time before at Love Valley. I really enjoyed him then. But it was so good to get several days of his preaching and I'm pretty sure our Pastor will have him again. I hope so. I hate it for those who were not able to be there. My parents for one. They needed these sermons so much and were stuck at home due to weather and illness. But I hate it more for those who could have but chose not to. They missed so much more.

Here are a few more videos of our revival. Hope they're a blessing.
Sons of Faith, I'm Gonna Drop My Anchor


Staff Trio, God Is So Good


Staff trio, Someone Is Walking With Me In The Flames


Brother Davis, Christ is Troubled

Revival Night 3

Wow, I've been working on this blog forever today!! Blogger was running so slow uploading my videos.
But anyway, Brother Davis preached a GREAT message last night. One that really spoke to my heart in so many ways. About going the second mile.

His text was from Matthew 5:41 "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain."

There was a time when the Romans would ask a Jew to go a mile with them, to carry their belongings. During those times, the Jews would have their mile markers so they would know how far they were walking with the Roman soldiers. And when they go one mile, by law, the Jew was allowed to stop. But because of what they were taught by Christ, some of them would walk an extra mile to show the Roman soldier there was more to them, than JUST the law. And a relationship would form between the two that would not be forgotten.

One point he brought out as a Christian today, is that the first mile we walk in our Christian walk is a walk of surrender. In other words, we don't have a choice. We're captured by Christ and we have a walk we must walk. There's no pleasure in doing what we HAVE to do. But when we go that second mile because we want to, there is joy in our serving.

His outline was:

• The design of the second mile is for our happiness. The first milers have surrendered. The second milers have submitted. And there is happiness in submission.
• The delight of the second mile and its desire to help.
• The deliverance of the second mile, involves hope.
  

The Lord dealt in many of our hearts last night to go that second mile.

The alter and isles were full. Praise God for revival!

I'm so thankful Brother Davis came. I told a friend today that I have been chewing on this message all day!!


And ladies and gentlemen, might I present our dear brother, DUSTY BRACKETT. I was afraid if his picture was not included in my blog post, he would cry. We can't have that. Thank you, Bruce, for taking his picture.
Bruce and I are going the second mile to show recognition for Brother Dusty. ha haaaa

OK, all joking aside, we do love Brother Dusty. He's a blessing. Please don't let him know how we feel. It would ruin everything. :)

Here are some more videos from the service last night. The Owens boys and Brandon played for the offertory. They did great.

Voices of Faith sang a couple of songs. This one is I'll Stick With the Old Stuff. One of my favorites. :)

And this one is I Know Him. Another favorite. The first time I heard it Brother Robbie Mullinax sang it and I fell in love with this song. I'm glad I know Him, but I'm more glad that He knows me!!

Here is Brother Davis talking about the first miler Christians.

Brother Davis using Justin in his example of the Roman soldier asking a Jew to go a mile with him.

Brother Davis saying if you can get one Christian to go that second mile....

I got so tickled during church last night when I looked down and Harrison had on Nike play socks and dress shoes. Where was I when he walked out of the house???


Had another good crowd. The Associate from LV was there and others we enjoy seeing when we have special services.



My Mander and her Chris. :)

My Sweetie-pie!!

Brother Davis

I've uploaded several videos from the service. Some of the music and a couple of Brother Davis. Enjoy!!

The orchestra played It Is Well....

Sons of Faith sang He Broke the Chains. I'm glad he broke my chains!!

Tradition sang When I Wake Up....

Vintage sang God Saves Old Sinners. Someone said last night they were glad God saves young sinners too. I'm glad He'll save all sinners! :)

This is a portion of the sermon where Brother Davis was talking about his daughter who had just been told that her baby would be born with downs and have a number of health issues. The doctor had been pressuring her to abort the baby because she didn't realize how awful it would be.

Brother Davis was speaking about how in the OLD TESTAMENT times they spoke of their sins being as far as East is from the West and in the depths of the sea, but that was only for the Old Testament times when sins were forgiven once a year by the blood of doves, and goats, and lambs. But when The Lamb of God died, the sins were GONE forever. No where to be found. GOOD STUFF!

Bruce and I went to the Mayflower Restaurant last night. It was good, but it just wasn't Love's. Around here, Love's Fish Box is the place to go if you want fish, shrimp or chicken. We had a great time out together and some good laughs.

We went to Big Lots after we ate and walked around there for a while. Nothing brought enough interest to purchase. Except, of course, a pez dispenser for Harrison. I looked all over and I'm pretty sure it was the only pez dispenser in the store. He didn't have this particular one so we got it for him. This made #31 for Harry. And yes, he collects pez dispensers.

I've done a lot of thinking over the last several days. I'm so thankful that God's hand is not so short that it can not reach the soul closest to Hell.

Brother Mark and Mrs. Amy were at our church over the holiday season and Mrs. Amy sang this song, I Know What A Savior He Is.

I hope it's a blessing! It sure was to me.

A Visit With The Folks

I put some ribs in the crock pot for supper, had school with the kids, and then took off to mom and dad's. I took some cleaning supplies with me but got very little accomplished. I did get her kitchen cleaned and mopped and the sheets on her bed changed. But I spent most of my time talking with them. We had more than a few giggles and laughs today. It was nice.

When I got home I took the ribs from the crock pot and made BBQ with them. I fixed some cole slaw, rolls, deviled eggs, raw veggies, and cantaloupe to go with it. The kids took their supper and a plate over to my mother in law's house to eat with her tonight. She's been having problems with her knee. We're hoping she doesn't have to have surgery. Poor thing, she's scared to death of that.

Bruce left for work early tonight and so I'm home alone....in the quiet. I really need to clean the kitchen. So I'll leave you with this video.

Of all the ways my daddy could think of to save money, he is fixated on watering down the dish detergent. This drives my mother nuts and she has threatened him more than once not to do it again. But he just keeps doing it. Knowing this, I was surprised to go in and find that a very large bottle of Dawn had been, almost, completely used and had NOT been watered down.

Christmas Play

A few posts down I forgot to post pictures of our Christmas play. We had our play two weeks ago on a Sunday night. Everything went smoothly. I had problems writing this one this year. It wasn't really one big play but rather three small skits with verses, singing, and narrations in between. The theme, however, was all the same. "Everybody Ought To Know." Throughout the year and, especially at Christmas, it is important to know and share Jesus Christ with others.

In the first skit was a couple with their newborn baby. They realized the importance of raising their son in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They pray over that child that God would save him at an early age, showing him saving grace and a desire to share Christ with others.

The second skit shows that baby as a teenager, called to preach. He's on his way to bus ministry to preach to the children before their Christmas party when he runs into some other teens from school. They've just gotten out for Christmas break and want him to go to the City Park with them to play some ball. But he declines because he wants to preach to the children. His desire is to share with them, not only God's saving grace, but his sovereign grace also. The teens call him a fanatic and go on about their way.

The third skit is a grandmother that calls the director of their church play to see what time the play will be. The director tells the grandmother what time and says how thankful she is that the lady's grandchildren have been raised to love the Lord and love to serve the Lord and not just sit on a pew and do nothing. The grandmother mentions the importance of seeing her grandchildren serve the Lord. That they had received his saving grace, his sovereign grace, and because of that, they will experience his sustaining grace through life.

The last part of the play, I think, was the most powerful. The narrator said, "The world needs Jesus. We can begin evangelizing our homes, which will extend to our neighbors, and all those we come into contact with. The world needs men, women, boys, and girls, to take a stand for Jesus and NOT be ashamed to tell others the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ! The world needs Christians to tell them the true meaning of Christmas. That Christ came to this earth to die for THEIR sins. The world needs Christians to be soldiers of the cross. The world needs YOU and ME to accept the challenge. Will you go and tell others? Will YOU stand up for Jesus?" When he said "Will YOU stand up for Jesus?" several people got up from the congregation and lined up across the platform holding signs of what they did in the church or what they did for a living. The first few people/families sang the first few lines of Stand for Jesus.

Stand for Jesus
Don't be ashamed
Stand for Jesus
Praise His name
For He loved you on a rugged cross
With arms held open wide
Stand for Jesus
He's standing by your side....

At the last minute (the morning of the play) we asked Tammy to hold a sign in memory of her mother, who was saved in the bus ministry as a little girl and worked the nursery at the bus ministry at church before she passed away suddenly just four days before this play. Tammy is her daughter. Brother Ted, Tammy's brother, sang one of the verses of Stand for Jesus while his wife, Rebecca, held a sign in memory of Mrs. Barbara Weathers.
It was very moving!!




The songs Mrs. Carolyn chose were wonderful:

• Everybody Ought To Know ~ Youth Choir
• What Can I Give Him ~ Pee Wees
• Into My Heart ~ Pee Wees
• Help Me To Walk ~ Youth Choir
• Win the Lost at Any Cost ~ Sons of Faith
• Amazing Love ~ Justin, Hannah, and Kelsey
• It's All in the Name of Jesus ~ Youth Choir
• Stand for Jesus ~ Youth Choir

Everything went great. The youth choir and Patch children, Mrs. Carolyn and musicians, all did a wonderful job. I love my church family!

Click here for pictures from the play.

This video was not taken during the play, but it's Sons of Faith with our Youth Choir singing Win the Lost at Any Cost.

God Will Make This Trial A Blessing

Bruce works with a man whose son-in-law was killed in a motorcycle accident yesterday. The newlyweds have only been married a week.

As this weekend approaches, the family of this young man and the families of the two teens that drowned Sunday will have many prayers lifted up on their behalf.

My heart has hurt deeply for these families as they bury their children just a few days before Thanksgiving. Each of these three young men were someone to somebody. They were sons, grandchildren, nephews, a husband, a son-in-law, a friend. Thankfully, they all have testimonies of knowing the Lord.

I was going through my videos today and found this one of Missy singing God Will Make This Trial A Blessing. God WILL make these trials a blessing. I don't know how. I don't know when. But He will. In His time and in His way, He will make a blessing out of all of this.

God Will Send a Moses

Here's Pure Harmony from church singing, God Will Send A Moses.

Bus Ministry Fall Festival

The Wilderness Within

Mrs. Ava has been doing a series of a Bible study from The Wilderness Within, a book by Mrs. Beneth Peters Jones. It has been a wonderful series and it was an honor to have her with us. When she spoke to us it was something my heart needed to hear. I appreciated what she said about us as women and our wilderness within.

Here we are playing an ice breaker game. Each lady was given a small phrase from a hymn. They were suppose to find other women who also had phrases from that same song. The first group of women to get together and sing their song, won. We picked this game up at Mrs. Amy's church in West Virginia the other week.


It was good seeing Lisa and her daughter, Katie. Holly is a student at Bob Jones University and was home preparing a presentation for a class so she missed it. And we sure missed her!



Tammy gave her testimony at the meeting. I tell ya, you just never know what another person's wilderness is like. Her testimony will be with me for a very long time.

Mrs. Carolyn sang, All I Need, and did a beautiful job as always.

Then Mrs. Jones spoke. If you haven't heard of her book or you've heard of it and have not read it, you really need to get it. It brings things out about yourself that will take you by surprise and humble you to the very core. On a side note, she REALLY knows how to twitch her nose like a mouse. I have never seen anyone do that the way she can. Funny!

In case you did not know, October is National Dessert Month. Mrs. Ava had us bring in homemade desserts. There were some yummy desserts on that table too. Our ladies know their way around the kitchen!

We had several visitors and enjoyed having each one of them!

Our Pastor's son, Andy, just got married back in May. This is his Mother-in-law, Mrs. Jacobs. She is such a sweet lady. We enjoyed having her with us and hope she will join us again one day.

Me :)

Ladies were in several different rooms of the church supplying a fix for their sweet tooth. I won't dare tell you what Linda and Sandra were discussing. Sandra might hang me up by my toes. Sandra, if you're reading this, I'll be watching you Sunday if you kneel at the alter.

Two of my favorite ladies here. I love these women. They are so precious!!

This was a visitor, the caretaker to the Emory twins. She was so nice. I enjoyed meeting her.

Discussing stuff....

And Mrs. Parish! She is so fun to talk to. She has a wonderful sense of humor and smiles like that all the time!

Mrs. Hazel (left) and her cousin were there together. It's always fun seeing these two ladies.

Mrs. Marlett had some visitors with her. They were very sweet.

Tammy was telling a story about Abigale. I won't repeat the story on here, but I'm sure she'll tell you if you ask her about it. LOL

Mrs. Catfish didn't want me to take her picture but I did anyway. She's a precious Senior Saint in our church. A faithful prayer warrior. A sweet and genuine lady with some very interesting stories from her childhood.

Lisa and her beautiful daughter, Katie!

Lisa's beautiful daughter, Katie, and me!

My dear friend, Teresa, also did not want me to take her picture. But everyone knows I take my camera everywhere I go and that it is to be expected they will have their picture taken and end up on the blog! HI TERESA! :D

My darling and beautiful daughter, Hannah, Kelsey, and Teresa. Quite the three stooges here, I tell ya!

Here is Jennifer and her baby bump. Isn't she lovely? Her birthday was yesterday. Happy Birthday, Jennifer. We love you so much and appreciate everything you and Brother Jonathan do at church!

Mander's sweet Mother-in-law, Sylvia, was there. I just love her personality and enjoy seeing her when we can get together. She and I share the same birthday too. July 1st, in case you want to put that on your calendar. Just saying....

Hannah and Kendra stopped long enough to cheese for the camera. Thank you, girls! Y'all are beautiful!!

Here's the skit from the meeting. Enjoy!