All Day at the Dentist

It seemed like we spent the whole day yesterday at the dentist office.  We arrived at the dentist at 10:45 after having a lot of trouble finding the place.  I went there to have a broken tooth looked at and fixed but ended up having my teeth cleaned and a really bad cavity in a completely different tooth filled.  After my teeth were cleaned we went to lunch and then returned to see if they had room to work me in to have the cavity repaired.  They had time for me so we ended up leaving the dentist office about 4:30.  Dr. Worsham is a very special lady.  She loves politics.  My first words to her was that I had voted on the first day the season opened.  She loved that analogy, equating voting with hunting and killing prey.  If it can be fun going to the dentist then this was fun indeed.  The tooth she fixed sounded like it was in bad need of fixing. Janie and I both will return to the dentist in a few weeks.  Janie for cleaning and me to have another cavity filled and to have the broken tooth crowned.  It is odd that I actually enjoyed spending the day at Dr. Worsham's office. 

Today Janie is taking her mother to the hair dresser and I am off to take care of some business in town.  I need to register my flatbed trailer so that others can borrow it.  I currently have no way of hauling a trailer and I am sure that our little VW could not drag that heavy thing.  I plan to go by and visit with my mother and then get some work done this afternoon.  We will head back to Hillsboro as soon as Janie and her mother get back home.  I have been emailing my older grandkids.  They write me a few lines and I write a few back.  It's fun and I enjoy it as much as I imagine they do.  The picture is of my brother, Steve, visiting with my two daughters and their husbands at the reunion.  God bless you.

Dr. Worsham

I have a dentist appointment in the morning in Center, Texas with Dr. Worsham.  We have known her for several years.  The church of which she is a member goes to the same week of camp as our church.  Her husband is the superintendent of schools in Joaquin, Texas.  My dentist here could not get to me until the end of November so Janie called Dr. Worsham. We are leaving tonight so we can make an 11:00 appointment. We had a good day today.  I spent a couple of hours at the hospital visiting today.  I wish I could have stayed to help out but had to leave for our mid-week services.  We are going to have to return to Hillsboro on Friday so we can be ready for the work day at the church on Saturday.  I took the picture at the cemetery in Hillsboro on my way home from visitation the other day.  God bless you.

Siesta

The Ladies Bible Study was good but we did have 3 absent.  I was listening to a preacher on the internet who was doing a terrible job and I kept pausing his sermon and expressing my outrage.  Janie came into the room and suggested I turn him off because I would be in a bad mood when the ladies arrived.  She is most wise and I turned it off.  After the ladies left we went and got a hair cut.  We had a sandwich for lunch then I took a siesta.  We went down to Lorena for services there but due to some confusion we had a good visit but no services.  Janie and I went out to eat afterward having one of our favorite meals, beef stew, at the Cracker Barrel (pictured).  When we got home we watched some news and then we went to the gym.  Janie got a headache while on the first exercise machine.  She took it easy for a bit and the headache went away.  We are home now and I will do my French lesson and then head for bed.  The siesta was good but you can't get any work done sleeping.  No siesta tomorrow.  God bless you.

Cockscomb

I did not do my French lesson this morning but I plan to work on that tonight after I get back from the gym.  We helped in the nursing home services this morning and then went to visit one of the shut ins of our congregation (pictured). 

We went shopping at Wal-Mart and the Outlet Mall to get gifts to go in the box we mailed to France.  We took the box over to the Post Office and the lady behind the counter exclaimed "This is going to be expensive!"  I had told Janie that it would cost $120.00 so when it cost just $101.00 we told the lady that we saved money so now we can go out to eat.  She liked our logic flawed though it may be.  I then proposed that we had actually saved $2000.00 for that is what it would have cost us to take the box over there ourselves.  Talk about looking on the bright side, I am eat up with it.  While Janie napped I took checks over to our mission treasurer and visit with him and his mother.  I got to their house just a few minutes too late to do the supper dishes.

I was going through a box of 35mm slides that belonged to my dad.  I want to convert these to a digital format so I have ordered a devise for doing just that.  I will be posting some of those pictures here on this blog and will share them with my brothers and sisters.

I fixed the burned out brake light bulb on the car but now the car says its front left park light is out.  I had to take it to someone when the front right park light went out.  Janie and I both attempted to replace it but just could not do it.  A true mechanic seemed to have no problem at all fixing it so he will be seeing me again shortly. 

The lady in the picture above has a beautiful flower bed in front of her apartment.  The cockscomb pictured is one she grew.  It is the largest I have ever seen.  The bachelor buttons behind it were also beautiful wouldn't you agree.  Her 95 year old green thumb is still a good one.  God bless you.

The Red Fish Is In The Car

We had good services today.  We had some returning visitors who had come to our services while we were on vacation in France. It is always good to see visitors in our services.  This afternoon we talked with Jason, Angie, and the kids in France (pictured).  It was good to hear from them.  All is going well there.  Arianna (pictured below) slept for 10 hours strait the other night so they were happy about that.  They sent some real good pictures of her smiling.  I spoke to each of the grandkids and made up a sentence in French to try out on them.  The first one was rough but Lilia understood what I was trying to say.  The second one was for Caleb and he corrected me big time.  The third one was Micah and he said "Yes that is French." I had to repeat it again for him and he translated it just right.  It makes me want to get back to those lessons.  I think it impressed Janie that I could say a whole sentence in French and the grandkids confirmed that I was at least a little close to being right.  Here are the sentences I tried out on them.  "The black dog is in the car."  "The black cat is in the car." "The red fish is in the car." "I am a grandfather."  The last sentence came out "I am a big rock."  But Caleb set me strait after having a big laugh at my expense. 

I broke a tooth today.  I hate it when that happens.  I will have to see a dentist now and no telling what it will cost to fix.  I don't want to have it pulled so I am hoping the dentist can cap it or something. I plan to call for an appointment tomorrow.

My daughter just got high speed internet at her house.  I hope this means she will blog more often.  I love reading her blogs they are always so good, though the pictures she posts usually end up costing me a 4 hour car trip to Moss Hill, Texas. 

Tomorrow we plan to help out in the nursing home services first thing and then mail a box to France.  I am going to check on my minute books to see if they are ready to go then I will work on the sermon for Wednesday night.  On Tuesday I need work on a ramp for the church so we can stain it on Saturday when we have the church wide work day.  Wednesday will find me working on MBA of Texas church letters and then on Thursday we are planning to head over to Canton.  I want to call Sister Davis and get by to see her Thursday evening if possible and then Friday will be spent in Henderson visiting and helping out there.  Saturday is work day at the church and there is much work to be done.  Sunday the Mattingly Family will be at our church to sing and we will have a time of food and fellowship afterward.  It is shaping up to be a wonderful week.... except for the dentist part.....  God bless you.

iPhone

I am trying to blog with my cell phone. The picture is of my firefox browser with the new persona I made which is made up of pictures of Janie. God bless you.

Where did the Week Go?

I last blogged on Tuesday and here it is Saturday.  Where did the week go?  We went over to Henderson on Wednesday night and spent Thursday morning with my mother.  We took her to Lowe's to pick out carpet for her house we then took her out to eat.  She had lost her glasses and ordered some new ones.  She called me today and said she found them under the bed covers at the foot of the bed.  After a good visit with her we returned to my in-law's house where I left Janie and headed over to the state park to meet my brothers.  We hiked Thursday afternoon and then enjoyed supper together which consisted of chow mien and rice.  It was really good.  Ralph and Steve both had tents that would sleep 4 so I did not set mine up.  We talked well into the night and then bedded down for a good nights rest.  The park is on a power plant lake and we could hear the power plant off in the distance.  Every hour or so a train could be heard approaching the plant.  It did not bother our sleep we all had a good night.  I had brought an air mattress and it was very comfortable.  

We had fried Spam and pancakes for breakfast and then took off hiking.  We hiked around the shore line of the lake and the weather was perfect.  It had rained during the night and was still cloudy.  We left the shore line to hike the actual trail.  We were not on the trail long before we encountered a man on a bicycle.  He worked for PBS helping to produce a show called Texas Parks and Wildlife.  He met us later at our camp site where he interviewed us on camera about our thoughts on the park and its trails.  He also took video of us hiking the trail and left with us some DVD's of the show he helps to produce.  After parting ways with this TV producer we headed off for another hike and the trail was really good and very easy. 

While I was with my brothers my brother-in-law, Steve, called me on my cell phone.  He told me he had fallen and hurt himself.  He had to be taken by a neighbor to the hospital where it took 2 stitches to close the wound.  He asked me to pray for him about that and some other things. 

I left my brothers at the camp site mid afternoon on Friday and headed for home.  We got home Friday night and this morning went to the district ladies auxiliary meeting.  The program was excellent. It was a skit that had a character who was carrying around a cardboard image of Jesus.  A mother and her son were the actors and they did a good job.  Her little girl was sitting near the front and when she kept calling her son "Jerry" in the skit the little girl called out to her mother "Mama that's not Jerry!!!"  Everyone laughed.

  

Janie is taking a nap.  I stayed up to work on the sermon for Sunday night and I have it all ready to go.  I also studied the Sunday School Lesson and have it ready.  The sermon for Sunday morning will be from the Psalms.  I am going to wait for it to stop raining then I will awaken Janie and head for the gym.  The first picture is of my brothers by the lake, the second of Steve cooking our supper, and the third of my brothers on the trail.  God bless you.

Work Out

"And, behold, there came an old man from his work out ..." That is a quote from scripture.  I challenge you to find where it is in the King James Version of the Bible.  Janie and I went to the gym for a work out and it was a work out. We took it easy for our first visit.  We started with an elliptical machine which is something like riding a bicycle standing up with ski polls.  We did that for a while then moved to the other machines.  I did most at 50 pounds; those related to the legs I did at 100 pounds.  I curled with my arms 60 pounds and I curled with my legs 90 pounds.  We spent 45 minutes exercising and my heart rate was 141.  I don't know if that is good or bad but I could tell I was an "old man" coming "from his work out." 
Our youngest daughter called when we got home from church services at Lorena tonight.  The services there, by the way, were excellent though one person was missing.  Sarah said that they had gone by to see Janie's Uncle Trenton and Janie's parents. They had a good visit and went out to eat with them.  We were excited to hear that they felt up to going out to eat.  Sounded like they had a really good time.

I had a headache when I got up this morning.  I made it through the ladies Bible study which also went very well.  Whoever invented Cinnabon's did not do me any favor. The lady who brought the refreshments for the Bible study brought them and they were warm and wonderful.  I only ate half of mine.  These headaches that I get every now and then are some how connected to my stomach for they cause me to fell nauseated.  After the Bible study I took a long nap and felt much better.  I was back to 100%, which was an answered pray, by the time we left for Lorena.

Well I have gotten very little work done today so I had better stop this blogging and get busy.  God bless you.

Exercise

This picture shows our church sign without the bushes in front of it.  I have wanted those gone for some time now and only recently realized that most every one else felt the same way.  So the chairman of our deacons and his wife brought their pickup truck to the church last Wednesday afternoon and pulled them up.  It looks so much better.  I did not notice they were gone when I got to church on Wednesday but Janie saw it right off Sunday morning.  We are going to see about putting the times of our services along the bottom of the sign.  We also need to put the name of the church on the backside of the sign.  
Our services Sunday morning were not well attended.  Sunday night we had business meeting and a youth fellowship afterward.  The youth fellowship was well attended.  They served hot dogs and showed Christian music videos on a big screen out on the south lawn of the church (see picture).  We did not stay for the whole thing but left early due to work that needed to be done at home.  I was up until midnight getting the bulletin ready for next Sunday.  It has to be ready to go by Wednesday night so I get it done first thing.  I composed a poem for the bulletin and have pasted it in at the bottom of this blog.

This morning I lead the singing and preached the message at the nursing home.  There were about 30 in attendance.  Our neighbor came for the service.  She often listens to our radio broadcast on Sundays.  It is so easy to preach with enthusiasm when the audience wants to hear and loves the Word of God.  You can see it in their faces as they are enjoying the service.  On a scale of 1 to 10 that service was a 10.  There is a man there who use to pastor who is now wheel chair bound.  I can see such joy in his expression as I preach the Word.  Its just wonderful.

Janie and I went to visit a shut in of our congregation but she was not home.  We went then and got our keys to the gym and received instructions on how to use the equipment.  I used muscles today I have not used in years.  They are asking me even now why I have awakened them.  I can tell this gym is going to be good for me.  Janie and I will go together as many times a week as we can fit into our busy schedule.  I do not want to go without her and she does not want to go without me.  I like that.

Tonight while Janie is at the Ladies Auxiliary meeting I will work on the MBA of Texas database program.  It is very complicated and mind boggling at times.  I often have to walk away from it and let my head clear.  Computer programing is excellent exercise for the brain.  In that department I can use all the exercise I can get.  God bless you.

Where Did They Go?

By Paul Clark

Where did they go one asked of me.

Those crucified on Calvary.

One has gone to a place called Hell.

The anguish there no tongue can tell.

He suffers all alone you see;

He suffers there so needlessly.

He could have been oh so redeemed;

Repentance was for fools it seemed.

But now in Hell he does regret;

His mocking he will not forget.

In torments he will always be

For it is Jesus who has the key.

One has gone to a place of rest

A place of comfort its the best

They call this place a paradise

The joy up there is very nice

They praise the Lord without a care

There is no loneliness up there

For mercy this one, he did plead

For his salvation Christ did bleed.

He will rejoice eternally

For he believed on Calvary

One has gone to the throne on high

He's coming again you can't deny

He wants to save us all from sin

If you believe he'll come within.

Your heart he wants to clean, make new

Salvation comes to such a few

So when you're gone what will I say

What answer can I give today?

Lights Out

Our lights went out today for about 30 minutes.  It was a blown fuse somewhere down the street from us.  This has been a busy day.  I only spent 45 minutes on French this morning.  I needed to get a lot of other things done.  I finished typing the sermon for Sunday and the one for Sunday night.  I studied my Sunday School lesson and did some Visual Basic programing.  I am making a major change to the software I wrote for the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas.  That needs to be finished and tested so I can give it to the two men who make up the enrollment committee. They are a big help to me in getting my part of the State minute book ready.  17 churches have filled out their church letter form online which is far short of the 286 churches listed in the MBA of Texas minute book.   
Janie has been working a lot today.  The picture is of her office here at the house in its new location.  We called and talked with Janie's sister who lives in Mississippi.  I had been thinking about them off and on all week.  They are doing fine.  They were babysitting their granddaughter.  My brother-in-law is getting ready for deer season which will begin in November.
I am getting ready to go hiking. Hiking season, at least for me, is in the late fall and throughout the winter. Winter hiking has the advantage of no bugs and no heat stroke.  Janie and I will head for Palo Duro Canyon some time between now and Christmas.  After a hike with my brothers Friday next week and again the first Friday in November I should be primed and ready for the canyon.  God bless you.

This Day Off

A day off should be filled with fun and relaxing things.  This day off was just that.  This day off began without an alarm clock going off.  It contained a relaxed French lesson which was joined by a cup of hot Bob.  (If coffee is called a cup of "Joe" then a cup of fake coffee should be called a cup of "Bob" or some such name).  This day off contained real good Chinese food eaten with the best of company, a beautiful loving spouse.  It had with in its hours time for shopping at Gander Mountain, assembly of a fire pit purchased there, and a review of hiking equipment and preparation of same for a much anticipated adventure.  This day off had to be focused and concentrated upon so that it would not loose its status.  It is within two hours of being over and it has been allowed to be a day off indeed.  It took much diligence on the part of its main benefactor to keep it and he has done so admirably.

Tomorrow will be a work day indeed. Much, much, work to be done.  My mother wants to have new carpet laid inside of her house.  She wants help picking out the carpet so that will be a task for next Thursday, Lord willing.  Thursday night and Friday should find me camping and hiking with my brothers, which constitutes the a fore mentioned adventure. I look forward to cool evenings in the backyard with my grandkids keeping warm and toasting marshmallows by the fire. God bless you. 

Boiled Steak

My mother's house in Henderson

I got up early again this morning and did my French lesson.  I worked on the sermon for Sunday and after a battle with the Holy Spirit of God over what text to preach I feel good about the sermon.  I was working on a text and it just did not feel right.  I tried to make it feel right.  This effort took about an hour then I gave up the battle and found the text that did feel right.  I have peace about the sermon and can't wait to get behind the pulpit Sunday.
I mowed the yard and worked on the database for the M.B.A. of Texas.  For supper I boiled a steak.  It turned out really good. I cooked carrots and rice in the same water while the steak was boiling and it all came our real good.  Our church treasurer sent me a text message that the printer at his office at the church was not working so I went over there and worked on that problem.  It's all fixed up and ready to go.  Janie and I will not be going to Henderson as we had planned.  I am not sure what we will do tomorrow but we will find something to occupy our day.  God bless you.

Lilia, elle est une tâche maître

Lilia is a task master.  She has her own email address now and sent me a most difficult text.  I had much difficulty translating it. But I got it done and did the best I could to send her back an email in my very poor French.  My French lesson went well this morning, except of course the grammar and spelling part.  It is my goal that when I see her next 90% of our conversation will be in French.
It has been a good day and our services tonight were good.  An odd thing happened at our church tonight.  We had four in my class tonight and that includes me.  There were Five in Janie's class counting Janie.  There were seven in the teen class counting the teacher.  It use to be that my class was the largest but that was not the case tonight.  We took two girls home after the services which took an hour.

We are not going to Henderson tonight so tomorrow I will get some work done here at the house and head for Henderson tomorrow evening.  I made an interesting tamale casserole for lunch today and it was good.  Well its off to bed now French lessons come early.  French, Song of Solomon, mow the yard, MBA of Texas, makes for a busy day.  I will take Friday as my day off this week and spend it in Henderson.  God bless you.

Lilia, Le Professeur

Ma mère et sa sœur Maxine

I got up early this morning and after breakfast I checked my email.  I got an email from Brother Tony, the retired pastor of the church in Carcasonne. His first sentence is always in French and he gave me a long one this time.  I knew every word but 2.  I was so proud of myself and excited that the lessons are paying off.  I started my French lesson with great confidence but soon the wind was let out of my sails.  I had left off in a grammar lesson and I never do well with that.  I had to repeat that lesson 5 times before a made a passing grade.  I am not a good speller in English never mind in French.  Jason called just as I was finishing my lesson.  They are doing well.  I asked if he could have Lilia email me a message in French.  I got that email a few hours later and I did not do as well understanding it.  I did get it translated and I sent her back a reply in French.  It was tough to come up with a sentence made up of words that I knew.  I went to Google Translate for help and it was a big help.  It is going to help me a lot to have someone to talk to in French.

My mother and her brother A. T. at the 2010 Nutt reunion.

We had a good ladies Bible study this morning.  The lady who brought the refreshments brought Cinnabons, fresh and warm.  Wow, they are something else! I used the afternoon to get some work done and get my walk in. We had outstanding services at Lorena this evening.  I took Janie out to eat at the Cracker Barrel in Waco.  We enjoyed a bowl of soup and some corn bread together.  It was very relaxing.  We are back home now and just saw them bring up the first of 33 trapped miners in Chile.  When I think I have it tough I just think about those miners being underground for 69 days.  The title of this blog in English is "Lilia, The Professor" cause she is helping to teach her grand-père French.  God bless you.

Sarah's little pot bellied pigs.

Ok, I'm Back

My sister Jean, Me, my brothers Steve and Ralph at the Nutt family reunion

I have been absolutely too busy to blog.  I mean not even 60 seconds of spare time for it. Sunday I got up at 6:00 and went to bed at midnight.  It was non stop all day.  After church we took a young lady home.  She lives 30 minutes from the church way out in the country.  That took us an hour of driving.  We grabbed a quick hamburger and then rushed to the hospital to check on one of our church members who had been taken to the emergency room right after church services.  We went from the hospital to the nursing home for services there then back to the house.  We gathered our things and went to the evening services.  The deacon's meeting after services was very long and so I missed most of the choir practice.  We got home about 8:30 and then we had a visit from a widow whom our church helped with a love offering.  She came by bringing us some homemade bread to thank us for the offering.  She was deeply thankful and really needed the help.  We will share the bread with our ladies Bible study group tomorrow. 

Me and No. 9, Elijah at the family reunion

Saturday was filled with the family reunion.  We went to bed at 3:00 Saturday morning.  I was working on my computer and figuring out how to use my new cell phone while Janie worked on financial things for her mother.  We got up at 8:00 to cook the food we would take to the reunion.  It was not well attended in my opinion.  It was good to visit with those who were there.  After the reunion we return to my in-law's house and visited with them and our daughters and their families.  We went back to Hillsboro by way of our youngest daughter's house.  They have it all decorated for the Fall season and it looks really nice.  We ate supper together and the returned home to Hillsboro.  I stayed up till midnight reviewing my sermons and lesson for Sunday. 

My son-in-laws and Sarah

Friday I took my father-in-law to the doctor's office.  I took a walk with Janie afterward.  We then went into town to buy the food we would need for the reunion and to upgrade Janie's cell phone.  We got to the cell phone store 1 minute before closing time.  The lady was at the door with the key when she saw us drive up.  She waved at us to come on in so we did.  We were there for an hour and a half.  After getting Janie a new phone we decided to upgrade mine as well.  Janie likes a pretty phone and I like a practical phone.  Hers is pretty yet up to date.  Mine is an Iphone and I like it a lot.  We gave our old phones to Stacie and Scott. 

Planning next year's reunion, mother and her sister Maxine on this side and my uncle A.T. Nutt and his wife June on the other side

Well that catches you up with what we have been up to.  My sister Jean came to the reunion and it was good to see her. She invited mother to come and live with her in Denver.  Mother told her no.  I think that is for the best.  I advised mother that she should keep her independence as long as she can and as long as she is able.  I got tickled with mother a little.  She rebuked me for not coming by to see the carpet she had installed with her own hands on her back porch.  I told her that I was sorry about that and said that I should have told my father-in-law that his doctor's appointment would have to wait because my mother needs me to see her carpet.  Mother smiled and patted me on the back and said "I understand."  I could tell by her expression that she understood indeed.  It is past leaving time for the nursing home service this morning so I must run. God bless you.

A Cappella

The Nutt Reunion from three years ago.

I got up this morning and checked my emails while I was eating breakfast.  Our music director had sent Janie the songs for Sunday.  Among those songs was one called "God Give Us Christian Homes."  I could not remember how the tune went so I googled it and found a choir singing it.  The choir was about the same size as our choir.  They sang the song very well and "a cappella." If you want to argue the spelling of the word or words that mean "without musical instruments" just go to this website http://www.singers.com/a-cappella.html and take it up with them.  Anyway, I notice that this choir only had three male members.  Our choir has only three.  I wonder why our churches, for I have found this to be the case, have fewer men attending than women.  I know that as a rule women outlive men and that could account for it but when you look at the crowd at a baseball game its not that way.  It leads me to believe that on a whole women are smarter than men for "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." 

I am taking my father-in-law to the doctor's office in Longview this morning.  They may be taking a biopsy if the sore on his gum has not healed after taking antibiotics for the past two weeks.  Janie will be with her mother at the beauty shop in Tyler.  We are going to have to go to town this evening to get what we need for food to take to the reunion.  We will cook it Saturday morning and then head over to Carthage for the reunion.  God bless you.

Moving Day

Yesterday we worked on moving the furniture in the living room.  We were up until 3:00 this morning getting it done.  We are going to head for Henderson in just a little bit.  I wanted to blog and let you know I have not dropped off the face of the earth just been busy.  I am looking forward to the Nutt family reunion in Carthage on Saturday.  I will post pictures of that event here.  Meanwhile here are some pictures of the fruits of our labor yesterday.  God bless you.

Central Expressway

As I sat in a long skinny car parking lot called "Central Expressway" it made me wonder where they came up with that name for this road/parking lot.  The "Central" part I get because it goes through the center of Dallas.  But there was little in the way of "Expressway" about it.  We were not late for the meeting in McKinney but almost.  It was a good meeting and the lunch served by the ladies of the church was good.  Judging from this pre-association meeting I would say that our messenger meeting in November will go smoothly.
Janie and I went home by way of Fort Worth.  It was about 30 miles out of the way but Cabelas is worth it.  I enjoyed walking around and shopping.  I bought a hat, shirt, soup mix, and 50 feet of cord.  We made it home about 4:00 or so.  There was a problem with the copy machine at the church, a paper jam.  Janie and I went over to fix it and to take care of a few things.  It was a good jam, requiring the removal of 4 screws to clear it.  Its all fixed now and new toner is on its way.
The data base software that I wrote for the MBA of Texas needs an overhaul.  It is very major and I will need a whole day of uninterrupted focus to get that done.  I want to develop a web based database so that churches can go Online and maintain their information themselves.  That is going to be a big job but one I think well worth the effort.  This year the churches can fill out their forms online but so far out of 285 churches only 11 have done so.
I was talking to a pastor today who said it won't be long before churches will have to accept credit cards.  I can just picture a credit card swiping station in our foyer.  I am afraid he is right about that.  Cash will one day be a thing of the past. It is not far off that you will be buying things at a garage sale and paying for them through your cell phone.  The picture is of Janie holding number 9 with her parents looking on.  God bless you.

Anytime Gym

The picture is of my hiking cook pot. It is light weight and something about cooking outdoors with this pot just makes the food taste good.  I suppose it is really because when I use this pot I have hiked all day and anything would taste good when you are that hungry.  Janie and I are planning a hike but we will not be cooking outdoors.  Just a sandwich at lunch on the trail and then supper in a nice cafe and a soft bed at a hotel room some where close to the trail.  I don't mind sleeping on the ground and ruffing it but Janie's not really into that so it will be the best of both worlds.  Click on the hiking tab above to read more about where we are planning to go.  The picture below is of me and my grandson Caleb hiking in France.

We had a really good Lord's Day today.  Before I went to church this morning I sent out some text messages from my cell phone.  I was praying for the people in my cell phone's contact list and I felt led to text some words of encouragement to some.  Two of those I texted responded with "who is this."  One was no longer a good number so I deleted that one from my phone.  Our attendance was up and we had visitors. I preached about the Sabbath and tonight the sermon was on "The Fear of The LORD."  A two hour nap was in order for this afternoon and though interrupted by a phone call it was still refreshing.  Tonight after I blog I will get some work done.  I have not seen a french lesson in four days though I have been listening to the CD in the car.  This evening after church we went by to take a love offering to a lady who lost her husband to cancer.  She was very grateful and gave me a hug.  

I preach at the nursing home in the morning. Tuesday Janie and I will head for McKinney for the State Pre-Association meeting. That will consume most of that day.  Since I won't get much work done on Tuesday I will have to double up tonight and tomorrow.

I am considering joining a gym.  There is an "Anytime Gym" opening up in our town in a very convenient location.  My legs are in good shape from all the walking that I do but the rest of me could use some work.  Typing is just not enough exercise. I will keep you posted as to how that turns out. Janie goes to Curves and one big thing I like about Curves is that it is for women only.  She is not exercising with men.  The thing I don't like about Curves is the limited hours they are open. It is just not convenient for her.  We might consider the anytime gym route and go together.

God answered a prayer for me today.  I should not be amazed by that. He does it so often. Sometimes I pray for something and when it comes to pass I am not amazed.  I think to myself, "Well that worked itself out."  I should not think that way for God is answering even when the answer does not seem like a big deal.  Sometimes things are impossible but God can do the impossible and when He does that is when I am so amazed.  I am currently praying for a miracle.  The thing for which I am praying only God can do.  I think today's answered prayer was God's way of telling me to be patient and His will for which I am praying is also going to be done.  My prayer for you is that you will see God working in your life and you too will be amazed.  God bless you.  

Paul's Guardian Angel Here...

Paul, today at Canton

It is quite a chore keeping Paul safe with as much driving as he does. He started his day with a prayer to God for safety in traveling back home.  I had to slow him down a bit and that is not so hard he is not very daring when it comes to passing cars.  If there is a car in sight he will not pass the car in front of him.  So for his safety I got a little help from other angels in the area.  He followed a very cautious driver for 50 miles and was just as patient as he could be.  I was so proud of him.  He was distracted for just a moment when he saw his daughter and son-in-law walking on the side walk just as you come to the main stop light in Canton.  I had cleared the way in front of him and behind him so he would neither hit nor be hit by anyone.  He wisely pulled into the corner gas station to use his cellphone to call them.  They went their separate ways and did not get to see each other except for that horn blow and wave exchange.

Watching out for him while he walked around Canton was easy.  He is, after all, 57 years old and walks with caution being very aware of those around him.  When he left Canton I arranged for a cautious driver to lead him for about 30 miles and with a little tag team maneuver I kept a slow driver in front of him for another 30 miles. He was in hurry to get home but he rightly assumed that God was working all things together for his good and so was content to follow my carefully chosen pace car. I got him home safely in answer to his prayer. They needed to go to Wal-mart for a few things they would need for the local Baptist association meeting.  He ended up needing my help there just a little bit. I moved him over just a foot so that the large vase he knocked over was the metal one and not the ceramic one right beside it.  The loud noise it made was embarrassment enough.  It would have been extra hard on him if he had, along with the noise, sent shards of ceramic all over the isle. I led him to Lea's cash register.  I knew he would want to talk to her since she is one of the ones he enjoys visiting with.  She is an Episcopalian and attends when she does not have to work.  She works most every Sunday though.  Lea had just had a birthday and treated herself to a trip and while scanning away she told him about it.

Janie about to head for Curves one day last week

He is home safe so I can take a break for now. Let me end this with the same prayer for you that he would make.  God bless you.

Taylor Visit

Our trip to Henderson has gone well.  My Father-in-law's doctor's appointment went smoothly.  Janie took her mother to get her hair fixed and that also went well.  Janie, her sister, and her mother watched a "chick flick" in the kitchen while my father-in-law and I watched the Texas A&M/ Oklahoma State football game.  I took a break from the game to check on "the girls" and took this picture.  The movie was "Ever After." I had a wonderful dream last night.  I dreamed bro. Davis came down from heaven for a visit.  He could not tell me how wonderful heaven was for there were just no words for it.  He said the 7th trumpet rapture was the correct one. I also dreamed that in the future you will buy movies in a bottle. You will get thousands of movies in one bottle and you take an eye dropper and put one drop into a DVD like player it plays a movie.  When the movie is over the drop will have hardened and you put it back in the bottle.  I woke up with a thousand questions about how that could work. 

We are heading back to Hillsboro this morning via Canton.  Its trades day and we are going to pick up something there for a friend. 
I will be preaching from Isaiah 58/59 on Sunday. Tomorrow is our local Baptist association meeting and that should consume the whole day.  God bless you.