Busy Days

I have not blogged for many days. Just too busy. I took this picture of my father-in-law last Friday while he was taking one of his cancer treatments. I had a good day with him and he seemed to be feeling good.

Sunday was great and Monday was really good. I spent several hours in my office at the church on Monday getting some studying done. I walked over to the church taking the long route. I walk down to the hospital and then over one block and went under the freeway. I crossed over the hill on top of which is Hill College. It was 80 degrees and sunny. It took me 45 minutes to get there. I really enjoyed the study time and have the sermon for this next Sunday about ready to go. I will finish typing it up tomorrow. I plan to be finished with the prospectus tomorrow and will print it out and put it in a binder for turning in on Friday. It will not have been proof read as extensively as I would have liked but I am up against a wall so will go with what I have.

We had the Ladies Bible study at the parsonage this morning and thoroughly enjoy it. We are going over what the Bible says about end time events and it is thrilling to think that the Lord may be coming soon. I plan to preach on this subject some more this summer so stay tuned.

I have discovered today that the ABA national meeting falls on the day I have jury duty. We may have to miss the first day of the meeting which is the best day to miss for most of the important business is taken care of on Wednesday.

We just got back from the services in Waco and had a good time there. One of the ladies gave us some produce out of her garden and we will sure enjoy those fresh veggies. They are still looking for a pastor and I pray God will send them a good one.

I am going to work on the church bulletin now and then head for bed. The lady who has been publishing our bulletin for the past year has resigned and someone else has stepped up to take her place. Thursday I have a meeting in Corsicana to go over the articles of agreement for our Local Baptist association with the other committee members. After that meeting we will head to Henderson to help out there. I hope to spend Friday afternoon with Bro. Davis but so far I have not been able to reach him by phone. May have to try for next week. While I have been blogging here it has been raining cats and dogs. There was some hail mixed with it and a lot of thunder. God bless you.

We Are There

Well my sister is back in Denver and we are back in Hillsboro. We went by to see Clint and Janie and I both dressed up and went into the burn ICU. He was sitting up, though asleep, he looked real good. His vital signs were all good and they were about to put him back to bed. He had been sitting up for 3 hours.

Tomorrow is Sunday and I am looking forward to the sermon and the services. I will be preaching from Daniel 9:24-27 and Matthew 24. As far as Matthew 24:12 is concerned I think we are there.

So far next week looks like a quiet one so I should be able to turn in that prospectus Friday.

My first time to serve on a grand jury went well. We started at 8:30 and finished at 4:00. It was an interesting experience. Two of our church members also served on the jury with me. I had a bad cough and almost lost my voice. My voice is better and should be just fine by sermon time tomorrow. The picture is of my oldest sister, mother, oldest brother, and me taken at my mother's house on our place in Henderson. God bless you.

Email

I am trying to blog via email. So this is a test to see if this works. There would normally be no reason to blog by email for if I have internet access for email I should be able to go directly to the blog and post. But there may be a use for this so here goes. I have not heard from Clint today. I sent an text message to his brother but have not gotten any response. I spent today with my father-in-law at the doctor's office. He had lab work and then saw the doctor. His PSA is 1.9 which is great. He is doing well. He had a Zomata treatment today and then we had lunch together with Janie and her mother (Pictured). Well here goes my first blog by email. God bless you.

Cough

I coughed a lot last night and have not felt 100% today. My voice is very low and I led the singing in our services tonight. I sang 2 octaves low. I have not heard from Clint today so assume that things went well. Got some work done on the prospectus today and though I have not had it proof read yet I plan to turn it in next week.

I am curious about serving on a Grand Jury. Tomorrow I will let you know how it goes. I am going to preach from Daniel 9:25-27 this Sunday. Friday will find us in Henderson and Saturday at Love Field and Parkland Hospital. The picture is of hands that have seen over 84 years of life and 62 years of marriage. Staying close to the Author of the book on which these hands are resting makes the journey worthwhile. God bless you.

Another Surgery

Clint had another skin graft surgery today and he came through it just fine. His father called me this morning as he was headed for the hospital. He called me again after the surgery was over. I feel for him and for his wife as this whole experience has shaken their whole world. This picture is one I took of me baby sitting at the blood drive. This little girl's grand parents were in the chairs giving blood at the time and she kept me company.

Janie and I did not try to go up to Dallas for the surgery but went ahead with our plans for the day. We had Bible study here at the parsonage and then went down to Waco to pick up the driver's seat of the bus. It is the last seat to be recovered and it looks great. I felt like it would be good to take a break so after picking up the bus seat we went out to eat and saw a movie. We have dropped the seat off at the bus and are now back home. I have grand jury duty Thursday and after I am dismissed we will go to Henderson to help out there and Saturday morning we will take my sister back to the airport. We plan to stop by Parkland Hospital while we are in Dallas Saturday to check on Clint.

I am planning to preach a sermon Sunday on the great tribulation. We will be in the book of Second John this Wednesday night. I would encourage everyone to begin reading and studying what the Bible tells us about the future. The time of Jacob's trouble is drawing near. Please make sure you are ready. God bless you.

Blood Drive

We had a good crowd at church today and a huge crowd at the blood drive. There were way over 100 people who showed up for the blood drive and the nurses from Carter Blood Center were overwhelmed by the response. It was a really big success. The picture is of our fellowship hall during the blood drive. We had to wait a couple hours but the company was good and I got some Bible reading done. Clint sat up in a medical chair for three hours today. He nodded his head and even smiled. He had a really good day. He will be amazed when he sees the photos of the blood drive. He has lots of friends and loved ones who care about him. I thank everyone who made this blood drive the huge success that it was.

On Saturday there was a birthday party for one of our church members (pictured). She turned 95 and there was a good crowd there to celebrate with her. She is a really sweet lady and we enjoy visiting with her at the nursing home on Monday mornings.

We have enjoyed visiting with my mother and sister. We went by the church to let them see the bus. They were very impressed. This last picture is of the three of us sitting on the bus. God bless you.

Home again

We are back home and tomorrow morning I will drive over to Love Field in Dallas to pick up my sister Jean. I have not heard from Clint today but I have prayed for him. They say no news is good news so I expect that was the case today. Based on the phone calls I have received the blood drive is going to be a big event. There will be tons of food and drinks for those who come to donate.

The picture was taken this morning while we were out walking with the grand kids. It was a beautiful day. God bless you.

Clay Fite

Yesterday we visited the hospital to check on Clint. He is doing well and came through his surgery yesterday ok. We had a good visit with Clay Fite's mother and dad. Clay is 5 years old and was burned, I believe, over 60% of his body. He has been in the burn ICU for 90 days. They started a blog about Clay's experiences and I am now following that blog. I would encourage you to go there and read his story: http://www.claydavidfite.blogspot.com/ The Bible says that it is better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. It will lift your spirits and put your life into proper perspective when you read about the faith of others as they go through the storms of life.

We are in Henderson and I have worked this morning on my doctoral prospectus. I hope to get some more done tonight and then work on it again tomorrow morning. I really need to get it done and am pushing myself to do so. I have not gotten the sermon ready for Sunday night as yet and plan to work on that this afternoon.

I talked to Jason and Angie on Skype today and they are doing well. Got to speak with the grand kids and that was fun. The picture is one I took the other day when we were talking to them on skype. God bless you.

Saw

This picture is of the back of our house in Ayer, Massachusetts. You can see the firewood pile in this picture, it was here that my father introduced me and my brothers to a 2 man cross cut saw. At the time we thought it was fun but it did not take long for the fun to wear off.

I will be preaching about prayer this Sunday. Prayer is powerful. Clint is doing well and will have surgery tomorrow morning. Janie and I plan go over in the morning to check on him. The blood drive will be Sunday at our church and the preparations are well under way. I expect it to be a huge success.


We had a really good Bible study this morning and I hated to have to stop but we ran out of time. We are studying about the end time events and it is an exciting subject. We had good services this evening in Waco and am looking forward to our Wednesday night services where we will be in the book of 1st John. We plan to drive about 350 miles tomorrow so I had better head for bed. God bless you.