Count Your Blessings

As we enter the Thanksgiving Holiday,  let’s count our BLESSINGS!

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

Happy Birthday, Nathaniel

Happy Birthday, Nathaniel.  You are a joy and blessing to Dad and I and a host of other people.  We love you and we are proud to call you our son!  Have a wonderful day.  I pray that God will shower you with His best in the coming year.

Too Funny!

Nathan and I are in Eminence, Kentucky preaching a 10 year Pastoral Anniversary for Robert and Sherri Eades.  Rob was in our church in Texarkana.  He was 12 years old when we went there and grew up, became a great musician/singer/songwriter and then the Lord called him to preach.  He met Sherri at a General Conference and the rest is history.  They have done a great work here in Eminence and the Lord will continue to bless them. 

Here’s the funny part.  As I mentioned before, Rob is a great musician and songwriter.  I have always loved to sing one of his songs, “I Put my Trust in The Lord”.   So…I had already planned on singing that song tonight.  Well…..Bro. Sean Griffis (MC for tonight’s service) had Rob and Sherri sing too and when they started singing I recognized the song and began to sing along, back in my pew.  Something kept niggling at the back of my mind about the song they were singing…”I just feel it won’t be long now, ’til we see the King of kings….”  I finally leaned over to Sis. Terri Griffis and said, “I think I wrote this song”.  About that time, my husband looks at me from the platform and mouthed, “Didn’t you write this song”?  They kept singing,”……and I will Praise Him through eternity”.  Song over.  People were praising the Lord and Rob looks at me from the keyboard and said, “That’s YOUR song”.  LOL  I got so tickled thinking,  it’s pretty bad when you write a song and can’t even remember.  Well, I finally remembered that I did write that song and was blessed by the way Rob and Sherri sang it.  Put a couple of new twists (jazz moves) in it too.  Made me smile.  Then, I get up and ask Rob to play for me and he said, “Do I know the song”?  I said, “I think you might” and began to sing his song and he and Nathan joined in with me, “I put my trust in the Lord to see me through.  He’s never let me down, even though I thought He would.  And no matter how dark the night, I knew the Son would bring the light. I put my trust in the Lord to see me through”. 

 I guess we had a mutual admiration party going on.  It just struck me funny.  If you don’t think so, that’s okay.  Just let me smile.

Just Thankful

•  Thankful for the man I married 33 years ago.
• Thankful for the children God blessed us with. 
• Thankful for our son-in-law.
• Thankful for my church!
• Thankful for our Sons and Daughters-in-the-Gospel! 
• Thankful for friends!
• Thankful that I live in America! 
• Thankful I have a warm place to sleep tonight.
• Thankful there’s food in my cupboard!
• Thankful  I have served the Lord for 45 years!  I don’t regret one day I have loved Him.
• Thankful for The Truth! 

          I am just….THANKFUL! 

How Many Times?

I took this picture while driving home from General Conference.  We were on Interstate 40 West in Arizona, October 5, 2010.  Nathan was asleep and I was driving.  I held the camera (iphone) over the steering wheel and shot this photo. 

Today (October 12, 2010) as I was driving Nathaniel (our son)  to San Francisco so he could catch a flight  for a business trip, we began to talk about the day I took that photo.  I asked him if he had seen the picture when I  put it on my Facebook page and he said he had.  I then asked, “Do you know the next morning, Dad and I heard on the news that a tornado had touched down right close to where this picture was taken?  The wind so fierce it destroyed a mobile home park and other structures”.  And he replied, “I know!  It makes me wonder just how many times God has kept His hand on us and we didn’t even know it at the time”.  I began to think about “how many times…” and it would resurface in my mind off and on all day.  As I begin to settle down for the night, I am still thinking, “how many times…”  I sit here with a very thankful heart for the “how many times” God has kept His hand of protection on my life, even when I didn’t realize there was any danger.

The following blurb and photo was taken from Yahoo News:

 For most of Arizona, the first week in October will be remembered for its tornadoes, hail storms, and other severe weather.  The National Weather Service has officially reported five tornadoes in Northern Arizona this week and a fierce hail storm pushed through metro Phoenix on Tuesday.

Arizona Tornado and Storm Photo.

Thank you, Lord, for your protecting hand! 

General Conference Time

Thinking about what I need to get finished before General Conference I began to feel excitement rise within me.  I paused for a moment  and asked myself this question, why am I excited about conference?  I’ve been going to General Conferences since 1973 so you would think I would be tired of it by now, or at least NOT excited.  Hmmmm….so what is it about the United Pentecostal Church International General Conference that puts a smile on my face and a pep in my step?  First of all I thought, I will get to see my two sisters and their families.  Since we have moved to California I do not get to see them as much as I use to, so I’m excited about that. 

2.  I enjoy the large crowd of pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists, preacher’s wives and preacher’s kids, of which a lot of them are my friends.  We will sit and talk and I will enjoy every minute. 

 3.  Walking into the large arena and hearing the music and singing of such a large audience is always a pleasure.  Sometime during the week I will stop and just listen as someone from the podium says, “Let’s give the Lord a hand clap of praise” and I will think, WOW! That sounds like a mighty rushing river!  There is nothing like it in the entire world.  All of these people clapping and making a joyful noise unto the Lord is incomparable. 

 4.  Wednesday morning I will be with Ladies Ministries Presidents and Secretaries from all the districts of the United Pentecostal Church for a meeting.

5.  I will look forward to hearing the General Superintendant’s message on Thursday night and hear the direction he is setting for this great fellowship.   

6.  Thursday morning as my husband attends a business session, I will attend Ladies day with many other ministers’ wives for a time of refreshing.  On Friday Morning as my husband attends more business, I will be meeting with friends and family for the ministers wives breakfast with the General Superintendant’s wife as our hostess.  Oh!  And then, there is Youth Day, Home Missions Service, Foreign Missions, Sunday school and Sunday Night Crusade!  These are just a few things that I look forward to at our annual United Pentecostal Church General Conference. 

I am thankful to be part of such a great body of believers and men and women who are giving themselves to ministry in some way.  Some are pastors.  Some are missionaries.  Some are evangelists.  Others are in children’s ministry, music ministry, teachers, youth pastors, and the list goes on. 

God, please bless Your people as we gather in Houston, Texas for our General Conference.  We need Your touch.  We need Your guidance.  We need to hear from You.  Thank-you for being mindful of us and sending us exactly what we need.  In Your precious Name.  Amen!

Remembering

I will never forget

9-11

Hungry

There is nothing like a delicious bowl of soup, stew or chili on a cold day.  It’s not really cold here today but it’s overcast and cool and looks like the beginning of the Autumn season,  so I was thinking of a good vegetable/beef stew.  Yum!  Just sounds good about now.  Of course you can’t have stew, soup or chili without a BIG slice of hot cornbread, fresh from the oven, with a big dollop of butter.  Have a good day and cook up something yummy.  I think I will.  🙂

Corn Chowder

Beef Stew

Yummy Chili

And of course….CORNBREAD!

Enjoy yourself!

God Likes People

Yesterday I found myself humming a tune.  As I realized what it was, I began to sing, “God likes people…”, softly at first.  However, by the third time I sang the chorus I was singing rather loudly.   

“God likes people, any shape, any color, any size.
You don’t have to be an angel to be really special in His eyes.
He said it in John 3:16 and He proved it on Calvary, too.
God likes people, ordinary people, people like me and you”.

This is a little song the childrens choir use to sing many years ago, but somehow it made its way back into my conciousness yesterday.  God likes people!  It doesn’t matter your color, your status in life, your shape, skinny or otherwise, where you live or anything else.  If you are a human being God thinks you are pretty special.  “God likes people, ordinary people,  people like me and you”! 

Thirty Three Years

Has it really been thirty three years?  I still feel like I’m that young blushing bride.  I was so excited for this day to come, 33 years ago.  As I was waiting to hear the organ play the introduction to the song I marched down the aisle on, “Here Comes Heaven”, I remember Daddy asking me, “Are you sure about this?  Are you sure you love Nathan enough to live with him the rest of your life”?  I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I’m sure”.  Little did I know at that time how much love can grow.  Looking back, our love for each other that day was nothing compared to what it is now.  All the things you go through together makes love grow deep.  One of the songs sung at our wedding was “Walk Through This World With Me” and that is what we have done.  We have walked together, flown high sometimes, crawled and sometimes just had to stand still, but we’ve had each other.  I’m thankful for the journey and I am looking forward to the future with the man of my dreams.

Our Wedding Party: September 2, 1977

Our Wedding Day September 2, 1977

On our Honeymoon, September 1977

Us Now!

Our Family: August 2, 2010