ARCHIVE GALLERY
October 2009
October 15, 2009
Another four weeks have passed since I updated you on our whereabouts. Unbelievable! I don’t know if getting older makes time go faster or if I am just not as motivated as I used to be…but 24 hours does not last as long as it used to!
We are currently in New Stanton, Pennsylvania after a short stint of concerts in area churches. It has been wonderful and we have gotten to visit with dear friends from the past. Right now, we are parked at the New Stanton Missionary Alliance Church with Pastor Kevin Hercula and his wife, Brenda. Randy and I went to college with Kevin and Brenda and were all friends before any of us married and had kids. It reminds me just how important it is to encourage our kids to attend Christian colleges. Some may disagree…but when you really think about it, many of life’s important decisions are made during those years. Kevin and Brenda are both the kind of believers that take their glasses off to wipe tears from their eyes whenever they talk about the Lord. Even listening to an account of how God provided or worked miraculously in someone’s life brings tears…they are very sensitive to the Spirit of God. They are filled with the Spirit and their church will grow deep roots under their leadership.
For those of you who pray for us regularly, we have a request. Randy has been having terrible headaches for the past few weeks. The last few days have improved drastically and so we think he is over the worst…a neck muscle may be to blame. Please ask the Lord to heal him. Many wonderful answers to prayer have come our way and this is just another opportunity for God to work on our behalf.
Thank you for praying for us and caring enough to check in on us. We are all doing great and enjoying the current tour. Please keep praying for the seeds we sow to fall on good soil. We are finding that most people sitting in church pews are very grateful for encouragement. As we continue to seek the Lord and honor Him daily with the simple things in life, join us in the journey and enjoy serving Him today.
October 28, 2009
We are back in Michigan and are enjoying staying at the parsonage at Life Point Church in Waterford. Pastor Rick and Dana have been so kind as to welcome our family to stay here for the remainder of the year!! What a blessing…with colder weather coming, the challenge of living in an RV rises even greater. The first night we were back (Sunday night,) I thought that Kennedie and Kadison would be thrilled to have their own rooms and be thankful to have privacy! But, when we checked on them a couple of hours after tucking them in…we found them sleeping in the same bed. We are very fortunate that they love each so much.
Last weekend was a blast! We sang at The Hartville Marketplace flea market. It is a large mall with private vendors with small stores…very nice. They are Christian owned and have a really nice grill area for breakfast and lunch. We were scheduled to sing at 2:30 in the afternoon and found that Cleveland’s Christian radio station, The Fish 95.5, was hosting a promotional game show for their listeners. Anyone could register to play “The Price is Right,” so Kennedie did. She wanted to be a contestant so badly, but with hundreds of people there, we reminded her that her chances to be called as one of the 8 or so contestants were slim. She wanted to play so badly…so we stopped and asked the Lord for favor and a chance for her to make it to contestant’s row! Low and behold her name was pulled from the huge fish bowl of registrants and she ended up winning the grand prize of the day!!! She bid and won a Dewalt cordless drill. Randy was thrilled…he has regretted packing his cordless drill in storage many times. He has searched for it to no avail and now he has a new one! Then she won the grand prize: a huge gift basket with gifts from many of the stores in the Marketplace along with about $250.00 worth of gift certificates. She had to spend the certificates at the Marketplace and we had little time! We were running from store to store and she purchased all of her Christmas presents for her family as well as a lot of fun stuff for herself! We told her that it was her prize to do with what she wanted and this was one time that she did not have to think about being responsible! Just have fun! But hurry! What a blast! She gave me the certificates to a meat market and an older women’s store…which I still spent on a purse for Kennedie…what a day. As soon as the game was over…we stopped and thanked the Lord for His gift. We were blown away, again, by God’s extravagant love for us and our children. It was a great time to talk about the fact that there were many people there who know Jesus and seek him just like we do. We discussed the idea that God does not show favoritism and loves us all the same, but He does different things for each of us. Just because He blesses my sister in Christ with a home to raise her children in while they are 10 and almost 13…does not mean He has to do that for me. It does not mean He loves me less. It means He is very personal in nature and has an individual plan for each of us.
We were still reeling from the big win the next morning and as I was lying in bed trying to convince myself to get up and shower for our morning concert at Lake Louise Church of The Nazarene, I said to the Lord, “Why is it that I asked you to let my daughter play on the game show yesterday and you said yes. But often when I pray for someone to be healed…it doesn’t happen. Lord that weakens my faith.” The Lord is so gracious and kind in responding…he said to me, “Marli, don’t let that weaken your faith, let it refine your faith.” Thank you, Father, there is a lot for me to digest in that one little sentence. I have been pondering that ever since and I am so grateful that He loves me enough to speak to me.
Our morning concert began and we were blessed by Pastor Dave Gerber and his congregation. He preached at the end of the service and had us come forward to pray over us. That was wonderful. The Lord really ministered on Sunday morning and we are thankful for the comments of those also touched by the Spirit in the service. We love to return to churches we have been to many times and discover how the Lord is moving.
Randy had his first official day in the studio yesterday! Recording for our new CD project has begun! We will record mostly original songs with a hymn and a couple of worship choruses. So far, the process has been much easier than “Home,” our last project. For some reason, we struggled through that whole CD and were exhausted by the time it was finally released. This project will be our 8th CD and hopefully, our favorite! Please pray for God’s inspiration and provision as it is a long and tedious task. We love it, but we are trying to cut corners with cost and time as much as possible. Thank you to our supporters who make our job easier with their giving. What a blessing you are to us!!! God has always provided what we need when we need it and this project will be another example of God’s miraculous provision of creativity and supply. We pray it will be a might tool for worship in many people's lives.
We pray that you have a great week serving the Lord…let us join together and ask Him to set us all apart for His glory. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?