Unexpected Blessing!

My parents have always loved the Primitive Quartet.

They had recently bought tickets to go see them while

they were singing nearby. As it turns out, the night of

the singing was at the same time that Daddy would be

the hospital from his bladder cancer surgery. My nephew,

who had planned to attend the singing with my parents, decided to see

if they could arrange a visit from a couple of the fellows

who sing with them to come by Daddy's room. My uncle,

who knows the Primitives fairly well, worked out all the

details. Last night, two hours before the singing was to

begin, Daddy got a visit from Bro. Reagan and Bro. Norman.

I cannot tell you how much this meant to my parents.

The look on their faces was priceless. It was such an

encouragement to them. They both spent a few minutes

encouraging them in the Lord, shared some scripture,

and then took the time to pray with them before they

left. I am sure that they had a lot to do before the singing

but, what a blessing it was to my family for these men

to do this. Here is a picture I got on my phone.

Bro. Reagan and Bro. Norman

of the Primitive Quartet visit

Daddy in the hospital.

Prayer Request

I haven't posted in several days. Not that there

hasn't been much going on, I just haven't felt

like sitting down and putting it all into words.

Tomorrow, exactly six weeks to the day since

my mom had her mastectomy for breast cancer,

my dad will will have surgery for bladder cancer.

We do not, at this point, know much of anything.

Hopefully, after the surgery tomorrow we will

know alittle more of what we are dealing with.

Thankfully, though, my mom is now regaining

some of her strength and feels able to "take care"

of daddy the way he has "taken care" of her the

last few weeks. I just haven't felt up to saying

much about it all yet. This I DO know, our family

has been very blessed, we've had very little serious

illness to deal with, so this is a first for us. BUT, my

first thought and prayer, of course, is that we will

be just as thankful in our trials and difficulties

as we have been in our blessings. Please pray for my

dad, as he faces these uncertain days that the Lord

will give him the strength and courage he needs to

get through it all and for my mom, who is really still

recuperating from her own ordeal. I have others in

my family who need the Lord to work in their hearts.

Pray the Lord will be able to soften their hearts to

know how truly blessed our family has been. Most of

all, if there are some who have never REALLY accepted

Christ as their personal SAVIOR, that this will be the

time that they do. My parents have been wonderful,

godly, christian parents. They did their best to raise

us to the best of their ability to love and serve their

God. I am thankful for them, as they have lived their

faith before us continually. I am truly grateful that

I know my parents are believers and that they

have pointed the way to us, as their children. Another

thing that has helped me is that they have always

tried their best to honor God with their lives, thus

it doesn't leave us questioning if they really know God.

They have a true testimony of their life in Christ.

Knowing this, that they are christians, has made it easier to

face these trials. Anyway, I hope this all makes sense.

My thoughts are alittle scattered. I do appreciate your

prayers during this time.

King James Bible Conference at FBC

We are having a King James Bible Conference

at our church this week. Dr. James Jones,Jr.

has been teaching (preaching) this week. He is

our pastor ( from our home church where we

attended before my husband began pastoring

our church). Pastor Jones is a great authority

on the King James Version of the bible. He has

done MUCH study on this subject and has

preached this series of messages in many, many

churches around the country. Bro. Jones stays

very busy, preaching in meetings almost every

week of the year, this in addition to pastoring

his church. We feel so blessed to have had him

with us this week.

And on a more personal note, Bro and Sis Jones

have been a tremendous blessing to us over the years.

They have taught us so much, much more than they

could ever even realize. They took us under their wings

when my husband was a young preacher, still "wet

behind the ears", if you will. My husband learned a great

deal about being a pastor, from being under the ministry

of this great man. Bro Jones is a tremendous pastor. He

never ceases to amaze me with his great knowledge of

the Word of God. He always came to the Lord's house with

something that would feed and nourish the flock with just

what we needed. His passion for serving the Lord and

His people is a great inspiration. His love for his church

is truly a blessing. I am thankful the Lord allowed us to

be a part of his ministry for nine years before calling us

to serve in another church. And I, have learned so very much

from his precious wife, Sis Sandra. Everything from how to

conduct myself as a pastor's wife, how to properly iron my

husband's dress shirts, and how to be hostess to the

many families that will be gracing our table at times. She

is, to me, the epitome of what a pastor's wife should be,

and I am grateful for the years the Lord allowed us to

learn under them. She is kind, compassionate, and

gracious. I could never say from my heart, how much I

love this precious couple. They have had us in their

home literally hundreds of times. They were there, praying

for us, when we faced some of the most difficult times

of our lives. It means so much when you have dear friends

who care about you, and love you through the trials.

Since we have had them with us this week, I guess, it

just got me thinking about how much they have meant to

us and I just thought that I would share it with you.

More Baking

Emily and I decided to make Banana bread. I needed

to make a visit to a couple of our shut-ins and I

always try to take them some kind of goodies when

I go. Emily loves to help with baking. She is

very good at following directions. We love

to do these things together. Plus, it makes

the house smell sooooo good.

( I am trying to lose weight again, though, so

it makes it awfully tempting. It helped that as

soon as the bread cooled, I left for my visit)

;)

Here Emily is mashing the bananas

Scooping the mashed bananas into the flour mixture

Using the mixer, she actually prefers to

do the mixing by hand. But, we couldn't get

it mixed well enough. What did they do in

old days before electric mixers?????

The batter just before we put it in the oven

The finished project.

In my busyness, I forgot to get a picture of the

loaf as it looked when it came out the oven, but

take my word for it, it looked very tasty. I

DID, however, remember to get a picture

of it sliced.

(And by the way, I DID take one teeny bite~just

to make sure that it was going to be good)

I make it a practice to taste everything that

goes out of my house~just in case~I wouldn't

want anyone to think I was a terrible cook!! ;)

Emily's Science Project

In Emily's last Science Pace (A.C.E.),

she had to do a project where she

listed several different animals that

God created, and then tell how they

are useful or helpful to us. Here she

is holding her finished project.

(Doesn't she look happy??) Anyway, the

bottom picture is not that great, could

not find a good way to get it all in.

We had to look in several places to find all the pictures.

It was a fun project, though, and she really enjoyed

doing it. It serves as a reminder that everything

that we have, we have because of our God

who provides it.

Day Book

Outside my window… It’s a cool and drizzly day.

I am thinking… How I have so much to do around the house today.

I am thankful for… My family and knowing the Love of God.

From the learning rooms… We will begin a new study in Social Studies about when immigrants came to America, about the Statue of Liberty, and the difficulties of becoming an American as an immigrant. I LOVE history, I am hoping to make history come alive for Em so she will LOVE it too! In Math, Emily is learning some Pre-Geometry (which she is really enjoying, especially having spent the last few weeks in long multiplication and long division)

From the kitchen… Going to make a Banana Bread to take to some shut-ins later

I am wearing… denim skirt and t-shirt.

I am creating... Going to try to do some more quilting on the quilt Emily and I did in the Quilting class...getting closer to finishing it.

I am going… To visit some shut-ins later today.

I am reading… My Bible and a Karen Kingsbury book-Take One

I am hoping…To get the homeschooling done alittle early today, soooo much to do.

I am hearing… The whirrr of the ceiling fans and Emily's pencil finishing up Math.

Around the house… Everything needs done today, probably not going to get it all done :/ Oh well...

One of my favorite things… Listening to Emily practice her music lessons

Here are three pictures for thought I am sharing…

Emily recently began taking violin lessons in

addition to piano lessons. Here she is practicing.

Here is a picture of our new fellowship hall. This is

looking into the kitchen area.

This one is looking at the side south wall in the
dining area. We are so excited it. We're getting closer to
finishing it up. Next week, the tile goes in,
then painting, then carpet, YAY! The Lord
has sure been good!

Corn Maze

Savannah on the jumping pillow

Carrie and Faith

Sister Peggy with her grandsons

Brittney, Emily, Nathaniel, and Savannah

In front of the "spider"

Isn't this thing so cool???