Birthdays

North Wing of our church is being repaired ever so slowly

The repair to our church building is going rather slowly.  The weather has been cold but clear and perfect for working but the contractor has other jobs in the works and gets to our church when he can.  I as so looking forward to having things back to normal at our church building.

Playing Wahoo with Cole a 4 year old and he won

Cole Rogers and his mother came by the parsonage and while his mother practiced the special music for our Sunday services Cole and I played Wahoo.  He won the game and I was very impressed with his ability to concentrate on the game.  He such a smart kid for a 4 year old.  He is a really sweet boy!

Cole giving us some really good news!

One of the main reasons Cole and his mother came by was so that Cole could let us know that he is expecting a little brother or sister in September.   This was exciting news and we are so happy for him and his mother and dad!

Janie's class Wednesday night

Our attendance was outstanding Sunday morning and that was followed up by an good attendance Sunday night.  Wednesday night was good also and we had to take care of some business.  The church voted to permit the Junior college to put a sign on our property that will inform truck drivers of a turn around point that is just up the road from our church and the college.  They as well as we are tired of having trucks ruin our properties trying to turn around.  The sign should be up soon. 

89 year old showing a 1 year old how to eat birthday cake

We took my mother-in-law to Palestine to Hot Rod Burgers for a birthday party.  Our daughter's mother-in-law made a cake for each of them.  I had a piece of my mother-in-law's Italian Creme cake and it was the best I have ever eaten!  Christie sure can make good cakes!  They both had a happy birthday.  The hamburgers were excellent and the cake afterward was wonderful.  It was a good time.  James is ever bit as sweet as his great grandmother.  God bless you.

Mother and grandmother helping with the presents

Baptism

Baptized Moses Rangel today

We had a great day at church today.  Our attendance was way up and I baptized a youngster who was saved just a couple of weeks ago.  My favorite thing to do as a pastor is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost and to see them be saved and baptized. 

My semi-automatic water trough for the chicken tractor works great

I installed the water trough in the chicken tractor.  It works really good and I can use just about any size bottle including a one gallon jug.  The chickens seem very happy in their new home.  They are doing a great job getting my garden spot ready for this spring. 

Feeder and water trough will keep them fed and watered for several days

With the feed shoot full and the water bottles full I can be gone for 5 days and the chickens will not miss me except for the eggs stacking up on the nest box.   Our neighbor next door said she really likes the chickens and enjoys seeing them.  I am sure she will have no problem gathering and enjoying fresh eggs on those days we have to be out of town.  God bless you.

The inside part of the water trough. The chickens took to it right away.

Snow

Visited with my mother today and she is doing good all things considered

We went to Longview to visit with my mother today. She was doing good.  She was napping when we arrived.  It snowed today but the ground was way to warm for there to be any accumulation.  We went by the cottage to check on things there.  There was tree down across the driveway and I had to deal with that. You can't see it in the picture but it was snowing.

Clearing the driveway at the cottage

The water bill at the cottage is going to be huge due to a leak.  I shut the water off at the house and at the meter.  Other than that all was well at the cottage.  We went to the shop and worked on the water trough for the chicken tractor.  It was 33 degrees outside and snowing and it was cold in the shop.  Janie hugged the heater while I worked on the project.  She took pictures and videos of what I was doing.  We finished it up and headed to her mother's house.  It has stopped snowing now and we are snug and warm indoors.  God bless you.

Made these 2 brackets for the water trough

 

Truck and Tractor

Chicken Tractor #3 in the backyard in Hillsboro

It is good to have our truck back.  It has a new windshield and a new driver's side mirror.  The inside smells like glue and I guess that is from the windshield.  The chicken tractor is painted and working really good.  The feeder that I added to the side of it works good and I am going to add an external automatic watering trough to it this week.  I painted it white and it was beautiful weather outside for painting. 

New feeder for the chickens

I was remembering the good time Janie and I had making this chicken tractor. We worked together in the shop the weekend before Christmas cutting up the boards and assembling it.  I made a video of it and put it on YouTube (click here).  Janie is not in the video but she was there and was a big help.  I love working with her she makes the job fun and interesting. 

Work has begun on our church building! It has been 6 months since it was hit.

 The work has begun finally on our church building.  They worked Monday but not Tuesday or Wednesday.  At this rate it is going to be a while before the job is done. 
I had municipal court jury duty last night.  This was a new experience for me.  It was a case where a man was given a ticket for not wearing his seat belt.  The fine was $50 and I am sure he paid the lawyer way more than that to take it to court.  Something I read on the court's website still amazes me.  It gives a list of clothing that is not appropriate and on the list was "flip-flops."  I can't imagine here in Texas the court not allowing people, especially women, to wear flip-flops.   I was seated on the front row and was chosen for the first jury and they elected me as the jury foreman.    While waiting for things to get started the child within me wanted so bad to lean down and look under my chair at the feet of the ones seated behind me to see if they had flip-flops on.  I suppressed him successfully. 

Me preaching at a nursing home this past Sunday.  I enjoyed it so!

I am looking forward to the services this afternoon and tonight.  We are doing a survey through the Bible and will be in Genesis again tonight.  The attendance was really good last Wednesday!  Janie and I checked on several of our shut-in members this past Monday.  We enjoy visiting and having prayer with them.  Tomorrow its off to Longview to see my mother  and then over to Henderson to see Janie's mother.  We will stop by our house and cottage in Henderson and check on things there and will also work on the automatic water trough for the chicken tractor. 
God bless you.

Hot Rod's Burger Shop

Our grandson, James at Hot Rod Burgers in Palestine

We went to a funeral in Palestine on Tuesday and afterward we went to eat at a hamburger joint called Hot Rod's Burger Shop which is owned and operated by the parents of my son-in-law.  The food was outstanding and the company even better.  James and Naomi ate with us while their parents worked behind the counter.  If you are ever in Palestine Texas I recommend you stop by and have a really good burger.  The deserts are outstanding as well for Justin's mother is an outstanding baker.
Our services tonight were really good.  We have begun a survey through the Bible where I give the students in my class one question from each chapter of the Bible.  They bring their answers and we discuss them in class and seek to answer any questions they may have from those same chapters.  We do 11 to 12 chapters a week and at that rate we should finish the Bible in 2 years.   The past 2 Wednesday nights our attendance was very low but tonight we had just about everybody back, really good attendance.
I need to post some pictures of my new chicken tractor but I want to wait until I get it painted.  I have to install the water trough and I still need to put wheels on it but the wheels can wait.  It is light enough to move without wheels so I am in no hurry for that.  God bless you.

Our Son-in-law, Justin working the counter at Hot Rod's Burger Shop

Truckless

A future wood project

Staying home is not normal for Janie and me.  We have put over 70,000 miles in two years on our truck and you can't do that staying at home.  It has been good to stay home.  It is nice to see what normal people do.  The truck will be ready by the end of next week. 
We will be attending a funeral in the morning and then we will take my cell phone to be repaired.  It's odd how much we become dependent on a thing that did not even exist a few decades ago. I will praise Apple for this one thing.  My cell phone broke 4 days after the warranty expired but they have consented to make an exception and cover it under warranty.  Thank you Apple!
Janie and I visited one of the shut-ins of our church on Thursday and she had this small rocking chair on her front porch.  I took some pictures of it and plan to make one some day.  I may make a couple of small ones and couple of medium ones for the grandkids and maybe a large one to see if an adult size would work.  That should be fun.  God bless you.

Lost One

Janie's view Last Sunday Morning

A young boy was saved Sunday before last at the close of our services.  It is always exciting to see a lost one come to accept Jesus as their Savior.  I had a long talk with him after the services and told him what he had to do to be saved and he understood it clearly and asked Jesus to save his soul.  He is now a saved one and not a lost one.
I lost one of my chickens.  I found it dead Sunday morning.  I am down to five now.  The others seem to be just fine.  On the morning that it was 14 degrees I went out to check on them and they were all five in the nest box.  The nest box was designed for two but when its cold it seems to hold five just fine.   I have to keep checking their water because it keeps freezing.
I lost one half of the day today with a headache.  I slept in until 11:00 and by 2:00 it was gone.  I hate to lose time.  I did some work for the MBA of Texas today and am just about ready to send off the files for the minute book.  I should have them emailed off tomorrow for sure.
Our truck is in the shop waiting to be repaired.  It lost one side mirror and lost one windshield.  God bless you.

Art Rangel, our Spanish teacher sings for us each Sunday Night.

Saturday Journey

Me and our Grandson, James

Janie and I had a good visit and stayed 2 nights with my mother-in-law.  We returned to Hillsboro by way of Palestine to get a short visit in with the grandkids there.  Our routine will be disrupted next week due to our truck being in the body shop all week.  A deer hit our truck and took out the driver's side mirror back in the first week of December and it is scheduled to be fixed next week.  God bless you.

Janie has her arms full

Janie Helping her mother in the kitchen

A Winter Wonderland Walk

Janie and I went for a walk late this afternoon

I believe you could probably count on one hand the number of snow blowers in Texas.  I love winter here.  I lived in Massachusetts for 10 years and I'll take winter here any day.  It was cold outside as we walked but not life threatening. This truly is a winter wonderland. God bless you.

A day with the girls

Janie and her mother looking at pictures on the laptop

Today it is off to the hairdresser's with my wife and my mother-in-law.  It is quality time with both of them and a time to relax.  I need to catch up on some reading and studying and in this world of technology I carry with me on my cell phone a whole host of book resources and multiple translations of the Bible which allow me to study anywhere.  It is nice not to have to be confined to an office or library in order to study.  I am looking forward to enjoying this beautiful day!  God bless you.

Visit Mother

Me and my mother earlier this evening.

New Years Day was uneventful as far as days go.  Spent the day working on various chores and getting ready for the midweek services.  Our attendance was down but we did have a visitor in our early class.  A Jewish lady stopped needing some gas money and she stayed for the class.  Janie and I took her to get gas after the services and bid her farewell.  We have 3 classes on Wednesday nights at our church and this Wednesday night we had 3 teachers and each had 1 student.  When we got home from church I stayed up until well after midnight finishing the task of entering all of the church letter forms for the MBA of Texas.  I am glad to have that chore done.  Janie helped me with the last 5 of them.

Janie and Cole in class Wednesday night

We got up this morning and got to work.  I prepared an article for the Baptist Monitor and got that sent off.  I did some work for Sullivansupply.com then fed and watered the chickens who are really liking their new home.  We left Hillsboro around 2:00 and went strait to Longview to visit with my mother.  She is doing well.  They had put her in the secure wing of the facility thinking she might be a flight risk after she told the nurses station that she was leaving, but after a couple of days they decided she was not a risk so let her go back to her room.  She has no memory of this at all and though she has had visitors she swears no one has been to see her at all.  My sister, Jean, gave mother a fruitcake for Christmas and it was on her dresser with on piece missing.  When I asked her about it she did not remember getting it from her.  She did not know who gave her the puzzle or the cookies either both of which I am sure came from my brother, Ralph.
We are now at my mother-in-law's house spending the night and will head back to Hillsboro on Saturday.  God bless you.

Happy New Year

My sweet wife reading to three of our 13 grandchildren Christmas 2013

Janie and I started our new year off with a kiss and a prayer for a happy new year.   God was so good to us in 2013.  We started that year off having to live in our living room due to the house being leveled.  I was sick for the first 2 months of 2013 and lost a lot of weight.  Except for an occasional migraine headache the rest of 2013 went well as far as our health was concerned.  We traveled to Denver to see my sister, Jean, in December and from there to Lake Tahoe to preform a wedding.  It was a really enjoyable time.   I made 3 chicken tractors in 2013.  Installed a door on my shop in Henderson.  Was given 6 chickens which now inhabit our backyard in Hillsboro. 
We are looking forward to a good year.  God bless you.