ARCHIVE GALLERY
April 2007
April 3, 2007
Saturday, we arrived in Adrian, MI, at the Church of The Nazarene. Pastor David and Melinda Fulks pastor this church and we enjoyed being with them last year on Mother’s Day so much that we planned a little extra time to be with them on Saturday night. As a side note, if you remember or if you care…Saturday night was the NCAA Basketball Championship game and Ohio State was playing. Now, most of you know that Randy is a die-hard OSU fan and he is committed to his teams. But, he was willing to miss the game to be with friends and I must say, I was really impressed with his attitude. I kept telling Randy that I thought the Lord was going to bless him for his positive spirit and that he was going to get to see the game…somehow. As we planned our time with Pastor David, he invited us to come to his house for dinner, instead of going to a restaurant. When we arrived, we found him with an OSU sweatshirt on and the pre-game already on the television. Not only so, but sub sandwiches to be eaten in front of the TV. What a happy husband I had... until they lost. I think he can finally talk about it.
Much more importantly, when the Pastor opened the door, he was holding the most adorable seven-week-old daughter in his arms. My mind started spinning backwards trying to remember if Melinda was pregnant last year…as we usually remember these kinds of things. All I could remember were two adorable little boys around Kadison’s age who all had the best time together. She became pregnant soon after we had left them last year. What a surprise blessing! Now, if you know Melinda, you know she is the kind of mom who NEEDS a daughter! She is as feminine as a woman comes…and just beautiful. We are just thrilled for this family. Kennedie’s eyes lit up light a Christmas tree when she saw how she was able to help with this precious little girl. The entire night consisted of Kennedie and I taking turns holding and playing with her…and then it was time to leave.
I had taken all three boys to the RV for a little tour and after a quick ride around the block; KC had an invitation to spend the night. Then came an invitation for Kennedie to stay as well. Knowing that the next morning would be Melinda’s first time getting all three kids ready for church on her own, there was no way I could leave my two there as well. So, we brought two boys into the motor home, and Kennedie stayed in the house. We parked right in front of their house and slept there! I don’t think I will ever forget the look on Kennedie’s face knowing that she was going to get to help get the boys and the baby ready for church. She was quite a trooper. The morning went great and everyone was to church on time. Unfortunately, our perfect pictures of this night will not download onto our computer, so you can’t see just how much fun and fellowship we had! (As far as you know, this weekend never happened.)
The two services were wonderful and we were even blessed by a great message in the first service by Pastor David. A very good preacher and encourager, he shared the time with us, and gave us the second service. Their interim worship leader, Joshua, led worship as well, and did a great job. That was a real treat for us, as we are usually the ones leading.
My parents and Blythe (one of our life long friends) came from home and attended the second service. They even brought Sammy, our dog, and left him in the car. Being gone for three months, we were excited to see all of them and it was perfect as it was my father’s birthday. Being Palm Sunday, the kids waved palm branches and marched around the sanctuary as we sang worship songs. Kennedie and KC loved this and they fit right in. My heart always leaps whenever the Lord provides a special memory for them. We got so much joy out of watching them participate in this way.
We look forward to going back to Adrian and spending more time with these loving people. There just never seems to be enough time, but we are grateful for what we do have!
Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Happy Palm Sunday!
April 14, 2007
Well finally, I am caught up in our journal entries. I apologize to those of you who have been checking back regularly to see where we are at! We have had more RV issues and repairs…one of the challenges that the Lord is allowing into our lives! All in all, we are grateful as so many people have much more pressing problems than motor home repair bills. We ended up staying with my parents so that the RV could be repaired and a couple of nights turned into almost two weeks! I can’t even begin to explain the mechanical problems, but I do know that the engine is just fine. With an RV, you have the issues of a vehicle and the issues of a home all in one. So, there is a lot that can break. I think we are getting to the bottom of the list.
We were so excited to spend Easter Sunday at our home church, SoulQuest Ministries, in Waterford, MI. We just love Pastor Dave and Connie and our precious church family. They are so supportive of our ministry and they send us out to encourage the church body at large. We were able to give a report of the last three months of ministry and lead them in worship. Pastor Dave then preached a short Easter message, which was awesome, and then we celebrated the resurrection of Christ with our family and a wonderful brunch. We got both of the kid’s new Bibles with their names on them as well as a bit of candy. It was a fantastic day of worship, catching up and celebration.
On Wednesday, Randy and I went to the Gesu Parish in Detroit to sing for the Leisure Group who was celebrating their 33rd year of ministry. This group plans all kinds of activities for senior citizens and we were honored to participate in their celebration. They catered lunch and gave us an hour to do whatever we wanted. They were just a really sweet group of people and were just thrilled with the day. Many of them came to us and told us how they felt the Spirit of the Lord as we were singing. There is no better compliment that we could receive than this! One 87-year-old lady, Mary, came to us and said in a very thin, broken voice, “Don’t stop praising. When you began to praise, I saw the Spirit come down as the praises were going up.” Now, no matter what your theology is, here is lady who has walked with the Lord for years and she recognizes the need for praising the Lord. I am sticking with her! That was such an encouragement to us! We only have occasional opportunities to minister in the Catholic Church but we are grateful when we are invited. We just stick to the main message of Christ and His plan of salvation for each one of us. The joy we saw in so many of these people was exhilarating.
Friday night we were blessed to have dinner with Randy and Debbie Osterlund, dear friends of ours, who have been a great support to us in this ministry. They take care of sending posters and CDs out to churches when we are on the road. It has been a huge help to us, and a blessing to spend some time catching up with them.
Now, we prepare for tomorrow, another chance to declare God’s faithfulness and love for His creation. We hope you have a wonderful weekend worshipping Him.
On Sunday we participated in the service at Warren Community Church, Warren, MI. We have been with this body several times before and each time we are there, we are so encouraged by the fervor with which they worship! Pastor Jim Thompson is wonderful and he is an awesome preacher. He always gives some type of short message and shares the time with us. Their service is always relaxed but reverent and there are usually testimonies of what the Lord is doing in individual lives. The service went great and Pastor Jim surprised us with telling the people about our RV repairs and asked them to help. Help they did! What a blessing to us this church was, as they gave more than enough to take care of our weekly bills and RV repairs! We cannot thank the Lord enough for His abundant provision and constant supply. After church, John and Cindy Winter, a sweet couple that we knew from college days, took us to dinner and we had a great time catching up with them. When we look back over this last week, we are so grateful for God’s direction and His unfailing guidance. Hopefully, you are experiencing that as well!
April 24, 2007
We had a full weekend with a marriage seminar on Friday and Saturday at Howell Nazarene Church, Howell, MI. We have good friends from years ago who attend this church and made the contact for us. So, we always want things to go well, especially when friends bend over backwards to bring us in.
There were about 10 couples at the seminar and the staff was a bit disappointed more did not come, but by the end, they enjoyed the intimacy that a small group offers. There was great discussion and excellent questions that really made us think. The feedback was fantastic and, of course, it was wonderful to be with Bill and Chris Schuster and Tim and Emily LaPlante. We were all great friends early in our marriage and before kids. It just seemed like time had stood still and we picked up right where we had left off. Between all three couples, there are 7 kids all around the same ages, which made the weekend really fun! I think that I saw the most change in Chris, as her relationship with the Lord has just blossomed. I loved her before, but now the Spirit of the Lord is evident in her life and her words spoke of life and grace. Very exciting!
Sunday morning we took the main service at Howell Nazarene and so enjoyed encouraging this congregation. We played a couple of worship songs with their worship band (very good, by the way) and then had the rest of the service. The associate pastor was really touched and he had wonderful words of honor for how the Lord spoke to him throughout the entire weekend. Another huge blessing was that about 15 people came to the service just to see us…we know them from other churches and all of them are friends that we have made throughout the years. After church, we all went to dinner and had a huge table. I cannot believe I had forgotten my camera! Anyway, it was an awesome day and following dinner, we spent more time with Tim and Emily and their kids. The whole weekend was just fantastic and we are praying that the Lord continues with the work that was started this weekend. How sad it would be if it were all for entertainment! That is why we continuously ask the Lord to change lives for eternity through this ministry. Please continue to pray for us as we minister to people who need to hear the message of hope. Have a blessed week!