PRIZES AT LIVING WATER!!

This past week, Holly Ward emailed me and asked if I'd ever had a raffle at Living Water. I told her I hadn't, but I was open and asked what she had in mind. She had 6 Wonderland tickets and wanted to donate them. (Wonderland is the local amusement park for those who don't live here.) I told her to be praying and I'd do the same and we'd see how to use them.
As I prayed about it, our Bible verses came to my mind. Each week, we give three prizes for the first three people who can say the new Bible verse of the week word perfectly. Our prizes haven't been expensive prizes, but it's generated enough interest to get people memorizing--my main motive. So this week, I decided to have 4 verses that we've already memorized and give the Wonderland tickets to the first person who could say all 4 verses at the same time word perfectly. Later Gib came to me and told me we had a spiral sliced ham that we should give away. And then Gayle White brought a jewelry cabinet that she wanted to donate. (Both without knowing what we planned to do this week!) So we had our first, second and third prizes!
I wish you could have been there! George Nies was our "listener" and had to determine who the winner would be. We have 45 minutes from the time most people get there and when we begin our service. So people were cramming on those 4 verses those 45 minutes and standing in line to say their verses to George! There were three kids (10-14) who tried so hard to win!! I bet this first boy said the verses about 6 times trying to win.

This boy said the 4 verses over and over trying to win the Wonderland tickets. But he just won the ham...

This young woman was the first to say all 4 verses word perfectly. She was given the choice of the Wonderland tickets or the jewelry chest. She took the chest because she knew the kids wanted the tickets so badly...and she was hoping one of them would win! (So sweet!) And then she found out what a prize she had---it was full of jewelry!!!

But it was this gentleman on the right who won the Wonderland tickets. The crowd erupted when George announced our winner!! It was so much fun---the crowd LOVED it! Thank you, Holly, for such a generous fun idea!

Surgery Over

Andy had to be at Amarillo at 7 this morning and by 8:30, we were leaving the eye surgical unit and heading home. This surgery took a little longer than the first one and he was in pain---which he wasn't the first time.
No, Jason, they don't sedate you for this surgery---just deaden the eye with some kind of drops. They put a stretcher-thingy in the eye to keep it stretched open. Andy thinks he squinted during that which has caused his pain.
We won't know the results for a couple of weeks---after it heals some. But thanks for praying! I'm believing for good results!!

Surgery Tomorrow

Andy is having cataract surgery in the morning---7 a.m. to be exact! I'm sure you'll want to go here and watch a video of the procedure!! LOL! They asked me if I'd like to watch Andy's last surgery....and I passed. Not interested. We'd appreciate your prayers---they say that since he's had lasic surgery, cataract surgery isn't as exact. He was disappointed with his vision after his first cataract surgery a month ago, so we're asking God to make this one perfect!

Monday--Post 3

Monday--Post 2

THIS IS IT----THE BIG 3-0!!

This is our 2nd-born and only daughter's 30th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY RENEE'! I've spent a week just trying to help you get used to that new number. I love you bunches!!!

Mom

Sunday--Post 8

Sunday--Post 7

Sunday--Post 6

Sunday--Post 5

Sunday--Post 4

Sunday--Post 3

Sunday--Post 2

OUR LAST-BORN DAUGHTER-IN-LAW TURNS 24 TODAY!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHANNA!!

Sunday--Post 1

OUR FIRSTBORN TURNS 31 TODAY!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATT!!

Saturday--Post 5

We just found out that one of the guys who came to cut down our tree yesterday died this afternoon. Ronnie Gariepy was his name. His uncle, who goes to Living Water, called me to tell me. Ronnie was very good at what he did. He was the horticulturist who told us we had gall in our locust tree. He also trimmed Gayle White's trees today. We're all just so sad that he died. But his uncle did tell me that he knew the Lord! Praise God for that!!! Just a reminder that we don't know how long we have---and a kick in the pants to be aware to share Jesus with everyone!

Saturday--Post 4

Saturday--Post 3

Saturday--Post 2

Saturday--Post 1

Friday--Post 4

Friday--Post 3

Going....

Going.....

Gone!

All Gone---so sad!

Losing a tree is painful in the panhandle of Texas. But we lost a locust tree to bores. I happen to believe it was an act of God. It was the source of my allergies that caused me to claw my eyes out each May when it bloomed! But I wouldn't have wished for it to die. So...we have some guys here cutting it down. It will become firewood. We also found out it had gall (never heard of that one!). Gall is a fungus and the ground will have to be treated with a fungicide before we can plant another tree. And I just thought we had mushrooms growing!

Now the tree directly behind it, by the garage, has been trimmed for years by one of the guys working for us. (The green sticking up above the dead trunk in front) He informed us that it is the oldest ash tree in Borger. How's that for history?? Apparently, ashes need to be cut regularly to look good---which ours hasn't been. That comes next!

Friday--Post 2

Friday--Post 1

Thursday--Post 2

The best life lesson my dad ever taught me

My Dad (and baby Zach)

I was in jr. high--9th grade, to be exact. And I was in Mr. Vinson's class. He taught me the word "facetious." He'd always use big words and then would tell one of us to look the word up and read the definition to the class. And he wasn't even an English teacher. I loved his class--he made it lots of fun! We had a test one day---a 6 weeks test, if I remember correctly. Mr. Vinson passed the tests out--upside down on our desk--and then began giving us instructions. I tuned him out. I hated when teachers did that. I mean...come on! Let's just take the stupid test! As soon as he gave us the go-ahead, I quickly began my test. I was prepared and I knew the answers. I was an "A" student, after all. I breezed through that test and I was the first person to turn it in. And as soon as I did, Mr. Vinson's face turned red and he screamed at me, "BECKY SANDERS!!! WHERE DID I TELL YOU TO PUT YOUR TEST???" I just stared at him. I had no clue. He proceeded to pick up my test and tear it into about 6 pieces and threw it in the trash. I was stunned! I sat down at my desk and my face was now beet red. (I hated the fact that I blushed so quickly and so deeply--the curse of being a redhead!) Every student in the room was staring at me--I mean, Mr. Vinson wasn't even a screamer! They all took their turns and quietly turned in their paper---in the correct spot. Obviously, they'd been listening.
Mr. Vinson had me stay after class. By this time, I was crying---and that was never a pretty site either. Another teacher walked in and asked what was going on. I think it embarressed Mr. Vinson and he told me if I could find some tape to put the test back together, he'd grade it. I went to the office to find tape. Every adult along the way was asking me why I was crying. Now I usually rode the bus home, but because I had to stay after class, I'd missed it. So while I was in the office getting tape, I had to call my dad and ask him to pick me up at school when he got off work.

Back to Mr. Vinson's classroom I went. He'd gotten the pieces of my test out of the trash and it was laying on his desk. He was already grading the other tests. He acted a little stand-offish and I quickly taped the test together, left the room without a word, and went to wait on my dad. I was so humiliated. I was usually well-liked by the teachers---not someone who was yelled at in front of my peers. I had plenty of time to cry while I waited on my dad to come pick me up.

Dad drove up and I got in his car. He asked me what had happened and I told him the whole sorry tale. Dad didn't say anything for a couple of blocks. Now I'd heard enough of dad's escapades as a kid to know I wasn't going to get in big trouble. Trust me---he'd done far worse things!! But I also knew my dad wouldn't bad-mouth a teacher or take my side in the matter. After a long pause, dad said, "Here's what you need to do. Tomorrow, when you go back to Mr. Vinson's class, you need to walk in as if nothing has ever happened and smile and tell him hello."

Dad walking me down the aisle

That was it. That was the best life lesson my dad ever taught me. He didn't whip his Bible out and preach to me. He didn't even quote a verse. But that life lesson has stayed with me all these years. Basically, what my dad taught me that day was this: forgive .
So I did. I didn't even have to wait til the last hour of the day when I had Mr. Vinson's class. He was hall monitor for the morning and he was the first teacher I saw. I walked right up to him with a smile on my face and cheerfully said, "Hi, Mr. Vinson!" (in a lilting voice) You could have knocked him over with a feather! He looked so surprised. But he slowly smiled at me and told me, "Good morning, Becky." And all was forgiven. It was as if nothing had ever happened. We had a great relationship from that day on. (The funny thing is, I don't even remember what I made on that test!)

I learned a lot through that experience. I learned that my daddy loved me. I learned I could trust his advice. I learned not to hold a grudge and...most of all...I learned to forgive quickly.
And trust me...to this day when someone is giving instructions....I listen! I learned that life lesson from Mr. Vinson--one of my favorite teachers!

Dad & his brother, Glen

Dependent on God's Presence

Last week at our Wed. night prayer meeting, I was so overwhelmed with the thought that God had promised that if 2 or more gathered in His name--He was there in our midst. I visually pictured God in our midst that night. It changed my prayers. And as I spoke it out loud and prayed passionately about needs, everyone caught that same vision. I can't even begin to tell you how much it changed our ordinary Wed. night prayer meeting. God was there. And He accepted each need we brought to Him. And He's already answered many of those prayers!! Amazing!
The next morning, I was reading this and it only confirmed what God had done.

Taken from My Utmost for His Highest:

"When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up "with wings like eagles (Isa. 40:31), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.
Having the reality of God's presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of--"We will not fear, even though..." (Psalm 46:2)--will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God's presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, "He has been here all the time!" At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, "Oh Lord, direct me in this, and in that." Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.

Bless & Release!

Jodina and her 3 sisters are shopping queens! I love going shopping with them--even though my tail will be dragging at the end of the day. They run straight to the bargain bins to start with and find the coolest stuff that I never see. And trust me....they find the bargains! But this morning, as Jodina & I were walking, she told me that her daughter, Miclyn, has surpassed her in her shopping skills. (I can't even imagine!) I laughed and told her that that is a fulfillment of scripture: "Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands." (Psalm 127:4) And I proceeded to tell Jodina what my sister-in-law, Janis, told me many years ago (see, Janis--I never forgot!), "And our children will go further than us!"

I stopped dead in my tracks and grabbed Jodina's arm and said, "I just had a revelation!!" (I scared her to death!) In order for our children to go further than us, we have to RELEASE them! They are our arrows. We can point them at the target of God's will every day of their lives---but until we release them, they can never fulfill all God created them to be. Our entire job as mothers is to work ourselves out of a job. We should be preparing our children to become mature, capable adults who can thrive on their own. We need to be preparing them and ourselves for the moment we release them. And what happens when you release an arrow? It doesn't crawl to the target---it flies!! So when you release them, you can expect them to fly out of your home (excitedly!) and chase the will of God. I can promise you---it will be just as exciting for you if you've prepared yourself to let go.

What happens if you never release your children? You try and exert control over them all of their lives. But you must ask yourself: Who do you want them pleasing---you or God? Some people will break themselves from the control of their parents...and it's never pretty. A torn relationship is never as clean as a released relationship. Do you know someone who was never released--and they're still trying to please their parents, find favor and acceptance? They're probably in a miserable job that doesn't fit them---all to please their parents. Those parents never let go. They never released their arrow to fly and to accomplish all God intended with their lives.

I also hate seeing moms who are so sad when their children leave home. Now I'm not saying it's not emotional for us when they leave. But when a mom is still so tied to a child that it devastates her; she hasn't prepared herself or that child to leave. God has only given us a job for a short time. He doesn't expect us to complete those kids---that's His job! He only wants us to constantly be shaping them as arrows, making them true and straight. And we're to train them to see the true target--God's will. We need to teach them to discern the difference between that target and the targets Satan sets up for them. But some moms think it's their job to complete their children---to be mothering that child until the day they die--they never let go.

I think it's even important to release our husbands and ourselves! Our husbands aren't our arrows, but I think the principle applies. I know a man who came to the end of his life and was filled with regret. He knew God had called him to be a preacher...but his wife didn't want to go to seminary with small children. She wanted him to get a job that would provide for them. So he worked hard at this job he didn't really like or feel fulfilled in and one day quit in a fit of anger. He did odd jobs after that--but never had much and always loved the Word and wanted opportunities to preach when he could. He told me his sad story near the end of his life and he was filled with regret.

So...today, I release my 4 children (again). I release their 4 spouses that I love like my own children. I release my 7 grandchildren. I release my husband. I release myself. And I even release all of you. I shoot you to the target of God's will and I'm giggling as I hear that "whfft" go by my ear as that arrow leaves my bow. Releasing is the best blessing we can give! Aim high!!

Christian Heroes; Then & Now Series--Post 2

I'm going to keep hounding everyone out there who is building a library to GET THESE BOOKS! These books will be particularly good when your children are around 12 years old. They are the Christian Heroes; Then & Now Series and can be found at christianbook.com.
I just finished reading about Cameron Townsend, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators. I was so inspired by his life! The interesting thing about this series is you find out our Christian heroes were human---and faced great difficulties in their lives. But what makes them a hero is that they overcame! I can't say enough good things about this series. Obviously, it's books adults will love, too. We've had them in our church library a long time, but I'm just now reading them. I've loved everyone I've read. They are really good books!

Dr. Phil

This morning, as I was thinking on my last post, I remembered Dr. Phil's famous saying. Remember this: "What's in this for you?" That's another way of saying, "You've got something to gain by continuing to do this." We think there's something to gain when Satan entices us. But it's a way that leads to destruction....not gain...and not life. There's only a narrow way that leads to life....and few find it.

Temptation = Gain

This morning at our prayer time, Jodina brought along a book by Joyce Meyer. It was a workbook & devotional on The Battlefield of the Mind. She read an excerpt out of it. Basically, Joyce said that temptation wasn't presented to us as sin---or we'd never do it. But it's presented as gain. Think about it. Eating the fruit from the tree didn't look like death to Eve, it looked like gain---becoming like God and knowing good and evil. Arguing with my husband doesn't look like pride to me--it looks like being right. Gossiping about someone doesn't look like judgment and destruction, it looks like making myself feel better about myself. Buying something I can't afford doesn't look like stealing--but it makes me feel better about my circumstances.
Interesting. As I wrote out these scenarios, I was reminded about our emotions as women. We want to feel good. And Eve was deceived---by her emotions. That's why the Word says that sin came through Adam. He wasn't deceived. He logically thought it out before he chose to eat of that fruit. Reckon that's why Satan came to Eve? He knew he could get 2 through 1.
Anytime gain is involved, we'd better look closely. God offers great gain---life abundantly. Satan offers a counterfeit that costs!

My firstfruits

The firstfruits of my garden! I'm so excited!! We've already eaten the tomatoes and they were delicious. Andy loved it so much, he's started watering the garden for me.

The Wright's Visit

We just enjoyed a visit with Jay, Amy & their kids. Here are some pictures in no particular order of our time with them. You have to understand that it took me a couple of hours to go through the photos---Isaac & Josiah took a few pictures (359) of my ceiling fan, trash, refrigerator, etc.....So much fun!! We had a wonderful time with them and hated to see them go!!

Our little clown, Josiah. He keeps us laughing!

He's also a little monkey!!

Marcy & Hudson came to visit. Here are 2 superheroes and a dinosaur---Josiah, Isaac & Hudson.

Marcy & Hudson eating dinner with us. We loved getting to see them---all the way from Canada!

After Josiah decided to get wet---he loved shooting the water gun.

Isaac jumped right in.

Pretty little Olivia---it was fun seeing how much she'd changed.

Buff doing his rendition of David & Goliath for Josiah.

2 little monkeys

Three beautiful Wright kids (Notice Ike wriggling that tooth!)

A loose tooth

A lost tooth!

Olivia Talking