Two and One

I preached 2 sermons and attended 1 retirement party today. The plumber and his helper showed up on time this morning and got right to work fixing the leak under the slab. We also had a stopped up drain line and they fixed that while here. The broken line was a 1/2 inch line that ran from the closet where the hot water heater is over to the kitchen sink. They ran a new line in a ditch from the main line in the front of the house to the side where the kitchen is. They brought the line up out of the ground and into the wall behind the kitchen sink. All is well with the plumbing now and our water bill should be back to normal.

There were about 50 people at the nursing home service this morning and about 75 at the funeral which I preached this afternoon. It was an exceptionally sad funeral for you could tell that the woman who had died was greatly loved. Her husband and her five sons were all in tears nearly through the whole service.

I worked this afternoon on the ladies Bible study lesson for in the morning. I will be presenting the seventh trumpet post tribulation pre-wrath rapture position. I plan to preach on this in the spring of next year.

My oldest daughter called last night thinking that I had made a mistake on my Tribman blog. She has been under the impression that "K" was a man so when I put "K" in a wedding dress she thought I made a mistake. I had been concealing "K's" gender in the story planning to reveal it in this last episode. It appears I may have done a good job of it.

We are expecting cold and rain for tomorrow and Wednesday. Depending on the weather we may or may not go down to Lorena for church services tomorrow night. They need some more CD's of our services so I plan to burn those tomorrow afternoon.

I chose this picture of the camp fire that my brothers and I had when we went hiking together because it has been cold today and I was constantly thinking about how nice it would be to start a fire. Well its off to bed. God bless you.

Bye Bye

Our company left about 5:00 this afternoon. I finished composing the next episode of Tribman and got it published. Took a walk and reviewed the sermon for Sunday while Janie worked on her lesson for Sunday and washed clothes. All in all it was a good day. We had breakfast at 11:30 this morning and Lunch about 4:00 this afternoon. We made us a BLT for supper at 10:30 so now it is time to head for bed. I am not sure which sermon I will preach Sunday night so will have to make that choice tomorrow. I preach at the nursing home on Monday morning and have a funeral Monday afternoon after which I plan to work on my thesis. Tuesday we have Bible study and will go down to Lorena for services Tuesday night. Wednesday should be quiet and Thursday I plan to visit with Bro. Davis and with my mother on Friday. Its back to Hillsboro Friday night with a stop in to see the lights at Athens. Hope you all have a great Sunday. The picture is of the praying at the children's table at our Thanksgiving meal at Janie's parents. God bless you.

Thanksgiving day 2

We had a good time today with our family. Jason called and reported that all went well with their Thanksgiving in France. He said they had 14 guests and they loved the skit that the kids put on. The pictures below are some I took today. God bless you.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great Thanksgiving even if we did spend six hours of it driving. We Arrived about 11:30 this morning and there was a massive amount of food there. I fixed my father-in-law's plate and took it to him back at his easy chair. I returned to the kitchen and fixed my own plate then went back to eat with my father-in-law. We were joined by five others for there just was not enough room in the kitchen and dinning area for all 21 of us. I enlisted the help of my two oldest grandchildren to clean up the kitchen. With the help of others we got the kitchen back in order. We took a long walk with my son-in-law and the grandchildren. It was a beautiful day as you can see from the picture above. We returned to Hillsboro and are waiting for my oldest daughter and her family to arrive. They should be here shortly. I am making chicken and dressing for tomorrow's lunch. Our youngest daughter and her husband will be here in the morning. It will be a good time and would really be great if Jason and his family could be with us also. Perhaps through skype they will be able to be a part of the action. This second picture is of my mother-in-law and her brother (Janie's uncle Trenton) enjoying the Thanksgiving meal together. God bless you.

Thanksgiving services

We had a special Thanksgiving service tonight at church. I consisted of a testimonial time and then a short lesson from the book of Ezekiel. I took the kids for a walk this afternoon and got this picture of them standing by what we call the horse nursery. Little Jonathan, whom I have taken to calling Joe, took to the game "where's that hand" really well. He gave it a new twist which my children and other grandchildren ever did. He would jerk his hand away from mine, stand still as I kept walking and say "Hand?" We have really enjoyed their stay with us.

The plumber came back again today and worked. He put a new valve outside so we can cut the water off during the night and when we are away. He also took out the hot water heater and cut a hole in the wall behind it to see if he could determine which pipe was leaking. He could not tell for sure but is leaning toward it being the main line coming from the street. If that is so it will be a big project to fix and take two days and about $2000.00. He will be back on Monday to tear into the job.

We will rise at 7:00 in the morning and head for Henderson about 8:00. I made rolls this afternoon and they look good. It was tough to have the house smell of homemade rolls and could not eat them. Janie is in the kitchen now making a cake for tomorrow and I had better head for bed. This second picture is of the kids eating supper which consisted of salmon patties, broccoli and cheese, and sliced tomato. God bless you.

Leak

We have a water pipe leaking under the slab of the parsonage here in Hillsboro. I called the plumber and he took a look at it this morning. He was able to narrow it down to the cold water and that it is somewhere near the hot water heater. Which line it is will have to be determined and then bypassed. If it is the main line it will take two days to repair. He is going to start on it Monday. We will shut the water off at night and when we are away.

The picture is of a game I was playing last night with my grandchildren. It was fun. Hannah the youngest granddaughter did not have the patience for the game like her older siblings so she gave up and went to play with Jonathan. Joshua won and Ruth (pictured) came in second.

I have been nominated and elected to make homemade rolls for Thanksgiving at Janie's parents house. These were always made by her mother before and I would never have dreamed that making them would fall to me. I enjoy making them and so tomorrow night I will get them ready to go. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and hope each of you who read this blog have a great one as well. God bless you.

Grandkids Visit

We had a really good day with the grandkids today. They are older now and take care of themselves very well. The older two help take care of the younger two. They were a big help today cleaning up after themselves. They helped clean up the kitchen including sweeping the floor. They actually seem to enjoy working. I am going to miss them when they leave. My daughter and Son-in-law have raised them very well. They have just about worn out the words "Thank You." I don't remember my kids saying "Sir" and "Mam" as much as they do. Joshua did not cook breakfast this morning as planned but did cook supper for us. We had some leftover vegetable lasagna and a salad. Joshua put the lasagna in the oven for 30 minutes and it was ready to go. The picture is of Joshua and Ruth doing the dishes.

I went to the Church office this afternoon for an appointment there. I received a phone call shortly afterward saying that at least part of our pray had been answered. I should not be so shocked every time God answers prayer. He does it all the time but it still fills me with joy. I have another appointment tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 and another at 5:00. God is really working at our church people are being saved and baptised becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.

The kids are in bed and Janie is in our room changing the sheets on our bed. She went to Curves today while the kids and I watched "Horton Hears a Who" and "The Grinch That Stole Christmas." We took a walk (pictured) this afternoon while Janie worked. A neighbor pointed out a water leak in our yard and I have called the plumber in our church to come and take a look at it. He will be here tomorrow to check it out. Our bill has been high but the only sign of water is that which is trickling down the neighbor's driveway coming from our side. Well I had better get ready for bed myself. God bless you.

Seven Years

I have been pastor of Walnut Street Missionary Baptist Church for Seven years as of today. We had a fellowship meal right after our morning services. I got to eat anything I wanted to which means I had lots of corn on my plate. The food was outstanding. The services were great and well attended. The grandkids gave us no problems at all. They are very, very well behaved. We could not be prouder of them. This picture is of our granddaughter, Ruth, fixing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for supper last night. She is quite the cook. She made breakfast for us this morning. She put the frozen biscuits on the pan and put them in the oven. Joshua, our oldest grandson, wants to fix breakfast in the morning. I think we will try waffles in the morning and I will try to get picture of that.

We have a busy week and I may not blog as much because we have the grandkids until Thursday and then we will have them and their parents at our house on Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow I have to do some counseling and again on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday I need to make a trip to Waco to help a church member and that should not take over two hours. Thursday morning we plan to head over to Henderson and then back to Hillsboro Thursday night.

I really enjoyed playing with the 2 youngest grandkids tonight before bed. They just laughed and laughed. They sure are sweet. The second picture was taken at the recent syrup festival in Henderson. It is the blue grass group in which my brother-in-law and sister-in-law sing. They are the two on the right. God bless you.

Friday

Janie's uncle did not and has not felt like getting out and going for a ride. We had a good visit. One of the phone jacks in his house quit working so I called the phone company and they sent a man out to fix it. He must have been in the neighborhood cause he showed up within 10 minutes of my phone call. His physical therapist showed up and put him through his exercises and then left. The phone man had the jack repaired in short order and also left. Since I could not talk him into taking a ride I left him to eat his lunch and headed for Bro. Davis' house.

Bro. Davis was not doing well. He was not physically able to take his Chemo treatment Wednesday. His legs are swelling but not from a blood clot according to the doctor. He is very weak. His wife had a doctor's appointment so I stayed with him while she was gone. I preached my Sunday sermon to him and it met with his approval. It is a Thanksgiving sermon and while I preached it to Bro. Davis it caused me to weep. It took me several minutes to get control of my emotions and I hope that Sunday I will not run into that problem. God has done so much for me and I have done so little for Him.

Janie's parents are doing very well. We will spend the night with them again tonight and then head for home in the morning. You can expect to see on this blog in the next few days some pictures of my adventures with the grand kids. I am going to sign off now and work on the next episode of Tribman. The pictures are ones I took of Janie working on our way to Henderson Wednesday night. She is able to go on line via a cell phone modem and do her work for Sullivan Supply. The back lit keyboard on my laptop comes in handy at night. God bless you.

Mother

My mother had a visitor today. He stayed for about five hours and they had a really good visit. Mother showed him her birthday cards and had him to read a letter she had gotten on her birthday from her youngest daughter. She seemed very proud of this letter. As he read it aloud to her she seemed to love hearing it again. Her visitor had intended to take her out for lunch for her birthday but she insisted on cooking lunch and just enjoying the company. They sat outside and watched the sky turn from clear and sunny to gray and cloudy. The conversation ranged from 1924 to 2009 with several stops in between. She reviewed with him many of the changes she has seen in her lifetime. Her generation truly is amazing and unique. It truly was a memorable visit.

Janie spent the day with her parents. She took her mother to the doctor's and all went well there. They took some lunch home with them to her uncle and to her dad. She was napping when I called to see if they needed anything from town. They did but I was very glad when Janie wanted me to come and get her first and we could go together. It was worth the drive out to Chapman so that we could be together. We walked the isles of Wal-Mart and at one point she made me laugh out loud. This Thanksgiving season I will say a very special prayer of thanks to God for her. We are back now and in the morning while Janie takes her mother to the hair dresser I will go by and visit with her uncle. I plan a trip over to see Bro. Davis tomorrow and run my Sunday sermon by him. The picture above was one I took today of my mother and her visitor. This second picture I took of Janie as she was adding to the grocery list for her parents. God bless you.

Persimmon Cake

I took this picture this afternoon of the cake that I made out of those persimmons we got Sunday. It turned out real good. The cake and the icing were both made from scratch. I pealed the persimmons then grated them into a measuring cup. It took 2 cups of persimmon pulp. Now I need to take this cake to someone so I won't eat it. It is very rich.

The Bible study went well this morning. We expected a small number due to some having doctor's appointments but instead all but one were there. We went over the various views concerning the timing of the rapture of the Saints. Next Tuesday we will start looking at the "Seventh Trumpet, post tribulation/pre-wrath" timing of the rapture.

The second picture here is of Janie and I at the Syrup Festival in Henderson on Saturday. We were waiting for her Sister and brother-in-law's Blue Grass group to sing.

This week, so far, has been a visitation week. We have made a lot of visits and tomorrow I have some more visits planned. I would like to take cake with me tomorrow to leave with those whom I visit. We plan to leave for Henderson Wednesday night. Janie will be taking her mother to the doctor on Thursday and I plan to take my mother out to lunch for her birthday. This last picture is one I took as I headed over to a little town just north of Hillsboro called Itasca for a visit. God bless you.

Chicken Salad

We started our day with a trip to the nursing home. The services and visits were all good. I took Janie out to eat at a place on the town square that makes really good chicken salad. Instead of the sandwich we had a pile of chicken salad on top of a bed of lettuce and sliced tomato. If you are ever in Hillsboro you should give it a try. The post office was our next stop then back home to get to work. I took a walk while Janie was at Curves. After the walk I took a short nap and then went to work on the lesson for tomorrow's ladies Bible study. I finished decorating the website for sullivansupply.com and cleaned up around the house a bit. The thesis saw no progress today and most likely will see none tomorrow. After ladies Bible study I have some visitation planned and that should take up most of my afternoon. Wednesday should see the Thanksgiving sermon ready to go. I plan to put a hold on the Revelation series just for this Sunday. It is my seventh anniversary at Walnut Street Missionary Baptist Church. I have much for which to be thankful. I am thinking about using the text where the ten lepers were cleansed and only one returned to give thanks.

Tomorrow is my mother's 85th birthday. She is doing well and will get a phone call from me in the morning. I will try to see her on Thursday and maybe take her out to eat. The picture was taken in 1972 of my brother Ralph, me, and Mother. God bless you.

St. John Baptist Church

The young girl in the center of this picture was saved and baptized recently at our church. Today the young man on the left side wanted to speak with me after the services. It seems he has also trusted in Jesus Christ as his savior and wants to be baptized. He came forward during the invitation after the sermon tonight and joined the church. We will baptize him soon. It is always exciting to see the lost turning from their sins to seek and receive God's forgiveness and mercy.

Some good friends of ours who are members of the church in Hewitt came to visit in our services today. They are the ones who fixed the seats on our church bus. I gave them a copy of our latest church directory. The directory contains a page of pictures of our bus before and after the seats were redone. We are so thankful for them and their hard work. We hope to have that bus back on the road picking up kids again soon.

After our morning services we had a quick lunch and went to visit with one of our shut-ins. We had a good visit there and were sent home with a sack full of Japanese persimmons. I tried one when we got home and it was really good. Janie and I attended a special women's day service at St. John Baptist Church in Hillsboro. A friend of ours had invited us to hear her speak at this special event. We went to St. John's about 3:00 and there was a boy sitting on the back steps of the building near where we parked. He got up and followed us into the building. We chose to sit on the back pew because we thought we might have to leave before the service was over. The boy sat with us on the pew. No one there seemed to know the boy. He never said a word. We were asked by the Pastor to move to the front pew. It was as if the church would be mistreating us to have us sit on the back pew. We moved to the front and listened to some music from the sound system that took possession of my foot and leg causing them to keep time. The church building was very small and old. There was a choir loft and a piano, a small pulpit, and a deacon's bench on each side at the front. The service began with three ladies leading what was called a devotional. The oldest of the three ladies spoke the words to the song and then the other two led the congregation in singing the words the elder had spoken. The congregation sang with all their heart. It was amazing to see and hear such enthusiasm in a worship service. The lead singer in the choir was outstanding! She sang a song I had never heard before and the words were very moving. A visiting choir took the loft and sang two songs. This choir also sang as if the Lord were present in the room. They truly sang with everything that was within them. The first of the two ladies to speak was our friend, Annette. She did a wonderful job putting forth a message from the book of Esther. The second lady to speak also did a wonderful job. She told some of her life's story and I thought as she drew near the end that she ought to write an autobiography. I was asked to speak a few words and did. Janie was asked to speak and she did. It was uplifting to be in a service where people truly seemed excited about their God and so full of joy. If they ever have revival services there I plan to attend. I sat there wishing I could preach to that crowd. It was a breath of fresh air indeed. The cares of this world have choked a lot of Christians. They have been robbed by the world of their joy. I pray that revival would come to the people of God and that His house would be filled again as in days of old with joyful heartfelt praise. We had to leave before the service was over and the boy which had followed us inside got up and followed us out. I shook his hand and told him I was glad that he had come with us to church. God bless you.

Night Walking

My wife and I just got back from taking a walk by flashlight. We walked about a mile and a half down the country road on which my in-law's live. It was cool outside and we talked just about all the way. I remember when we first dated struggling to come up with something about which to talk. Now 36 years later that does not seem to be a problem at all.

We went to see the movie "2012" this afternoon. There were a total of four bad words that I noticed and one obscene gesture all of which could have been left out of the movie and it would have been just as good. The movie was good and had incredible graphics. The end of the world is portrayed and the seventh vial of the wrath of God may look something like the scenes from this movie. When 2012 comes and goes without incident like Y2K people will go back to marrying and giving in marriage, IE business as usual. I did notice that in the movie no mosques were shown being destroyed only Christian and Buddhist sites. I am not a movie critic but I will say I am not disappointed that I went. By the way, I ate half a bag of popcorn while the movie was going, this is a thing I have not done in over 20 years due to food allergies. It was so good. I took Janie out to eat when we got to Henderson and I enjoyed our little date.

This picture is of the officers of State Ladies Auxiliary of the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas. My wife is the one on the far right side of the photo. She is the Second Vice President which means she will have to do a "Workshop" for next year. Usually this is a skit or a speech on some much needed topic related to Christian service. In my opinion Janie is very gifted at doing these and I am anxious to see what she will come up with for next year.

Next Saturday we will be picking up our grandchildren and keeping them through Wednesday. Wednesday night we will take them to Henderson where we will have Thanksgiving with Janie's parents and then return to Hillsboro Thursday night, at least that is the plan right now. I like Thanksgiving. The food and company are always good. I have much for which to be thankful. I responded to a comment left on my last blog post that I am truly blessed. God has done so much for me and I have done so little for HIM. Tomorrow we are off to take in the Henderson Syrup Festival. God bless you.

Christmas in November

We left Denison and went home by way of Gainsville. There is an outlet mall just north of Gainsville which is bigger than the one in Hillsboro and we wanted to do some shopping there. The mall was almost a ghost town. It looked about 70% empty. The economy is bad and I don't know how those few stores are surviving. We stopped in Fort Worth for lunch and got home about 2:30.

Janie went right to work and I Skyped with Jason for a little more than an hour. They are doing well and the temperature and weather there are about the same as here.

After my chat with Jason I did some work for Sullivan Supply. I decorated their Online store with a Christmas wreath, tree (pictured), and lights. I also sent out a promotional email for them. I need to work on Tribman next. We are going to go over to Henderson Friday night to attend the Syrup festival on Saturday. I am going to check to see if the movie "2012" is showing and if it is we may go to the movies. God bless you.

Clerking

I am not sure that clerking is a real word. I am one of the two clerks who keep the minutes of our State Association meeting. I am sitting at a table facing about 250 people. They are watching a video so I thought I would blog. The meeting has gone well. Two requests for support were turned down much to my surprise. We will take down the booth tonight after the evening service is over. I should be all through clerking by 9:15 this evening. We are a little bit behind schedule so it might run a little later than that. The pastor who is hosting the meeting looked at his watch this morning at 8:45 and said to me "Twelve and a half hours to go." I knew exactly how he felt.

No one came prepared to invite the 2011 meeting so I spoke up and invited it to Hillsboro. This will be the third time it has met at our church since I have been pastoring there. We have two years to get ready for it so when I get back home I will make a trip to the Chamber of Commerce. We are hosting our local association meeting in October next year. I am hopeful that the church will not tire of hosting meetings.

We will head home in the morning. I have a lot of work to do as does Janie. We plan to go over to Henderson Thursday night and stay for the Syrup festival in Henderson on Saturday. The first picture is of Janie manning Jason's booth at this years meeting. The second is of me at work as the clerk of the MBA of Texas. God bless you.

MBA of TEXAS

We made it to the meeting in Denison, Texas. I left my cell phone at home but Janie has hers. We had a really good Texas style BBQ at the TBI Alumni banquet. The program afterward consisted of three former students sharing their thoughts about TBI. It was good. They elected me as the assistant moderator for next year. We will set up Jason's booth in the morning before the meeting gets started. We do not expect any problems so the meeting should go well. Janie and I will be back in our room for lunch to let her work on her orders a little before returning to the afternoon session. Janie is the parliamentarian for the State Ladies Auxiliary and I will be anxious to here if she had to make any rulings during their meeting. I will keep you posted as to how the meeting is going. The picture is of Janie manning the booth at last years MBA of TEXAS meeting. God bless you.

It has been about four days since my last blog post. Thursday last week we went over to Henderson and I left Janie with her parents while I met up with my older brother. We visited for a few minutes with mother and then headed for Tyler State Park. My youngest brother met us there and already had his tent setup. We soon had a campfire going and were enjoying our supper. I had chili and crackers, Steve had chicken and noodles, Ralph had beef stew. The food was good and conversation was stimulating. The topics of our conversations varied greatly. We talked about our memories of Dad and of our childhood days. We talked about the bride and the second coming of Christ. Ralph walked us through the years of his life and answered questions about life on an aircraft carrier. When the fire died down we went to our tents for a rough nights sleep. Friday morning we had oatmeal and bananas for breakfast and then hit the trail. The temperature was perfect and my new hiking shoes gave me no problems at all. I really like them. When we got back to camp after walking 8.6 miles we sat down in our lawn chairs and propped our feet up. We had lunch then took a short nap. Before dark we took a two mile walk around the lake and then returned to the camp site where Steve cooked our supper of rice and chow mien. While he cooked, Ralph and I started the campfire. We agreed to break camp in the morning and head for IHOP. Breakfast was wonderful and we all wanted to do this again soon.

Janie had somewhat of an ordeal with her parents on Friday but they got through it. I felt bad for her and wished I had been there to help. We headed back to Hillsboro about noon and it was good to sleep on a bed after two nights on the ground.

Our services today were very good. Jack Story, the travel and logistics expert for the American Baptist Association visited our services to thank us for our support. We took him and his wife out to lunch and got to visit a little more before parting ways. We have worked most of the afternoon on Jason's booth for the State meeting which we will be attending this week. I am going to run over to the Church to pick up something for her and then will head for bed after packing a box of goodies for Jason and his family. I will be helping in the services at the nursing home in the morning and afterward we will pack and head off to the meeting.

The first picture is of me taking a break right before I got stung by a bumble bee. The second is of Steve standing amid our tents, the closest is Ralph's, Steve's is next, and mine is in the distance. The third is of my brothers leading the way to the trail. The fourth is a creek we crossed and followed along the way. The last is of my brothers taking a break along side the trail. God bless you.

New shoes

We made a quick trip over to Mount Pleasant, Texas and then down to Henderson on Tuesday. This morning we went by TBI and paid for our tickets to the alumni banquet. We got home this afternoon after stopping by Sam's Club for a few things and by a sporting goods store to pick up a pair of hiking shoes. My hiking shoes have about 500 miles on them now and they were starting to bother my feet. Its hard to grasp the fact I have walked over 500 miles in less than a year but when you consider I walk about 15 miles a week the miles start to add up. My old shoes were actually running shoes but worked very well for hiking. The pair that I bought today look a lot like the ones I had except for 2 things. These have a hiking boot sole and a wider toe box. I expect to put about 10 miles on them when I hike with my brothers on Friday. I'll try to remember to let you know how they worked out. I have loaded my day Pack (pictured here with my new hiking shoes) for Friday's hike. I have my tent and sleeping bag ready to go and all I lack is gathering what I will need to bring for supper Thursday and Friday night.

Janie will spend Friday taking her parents to Tyler. Her dad has a cancer treatment and her mother a beauty shop appointment. I suppose she will drop her mother off first and then go with her dad to the cancer center. She talked with them this evening. They had an exterminator come and spray their house for bugs. While he was doing that they sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful day. Tuesday night right after we went to bed Janie sat up in a panic saying there was something on her. It turned out to be a lizard. It got away and the exterminator said the spray would not harm him. So if he finds his way into my in-law's bedroom they might have an exciting night. Well, I am going to go load up the car with some of my camping gear. God bless you.

Mowing

Well it finally stopped raining enough to mow the yard. Janie is outside mowing right now. The lawnmower would not crank so I worked on it a bit and finally got it started.

The services at the nursing home went very well this morning. I got to preach to over 50 people and that is always a great blessing. I am blogging from Janie's computer because mine is tied up with a lengthy download from the Internet. Tomorrow is voting day and after the ladies Bible study we will go and vote then head for Mt. Pleasant, Texas for a meeting. It will be late in the day by the time I am through with that meeting so we plan to drive down to Henderson and spend the night there. The picture is of Janie holding our grandson Caleb (I think). God bless you.