HAPPIER TIMES

November 4th we welcome our newest great grandchild, and namesake for my husband; say hello to Charles Andrew Ray,  weighing in at 5lbs and 13 oz, 19 inches long, a bright and beautifully perfect God created.

 

Psalm 139:14   I will praise thee;  for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:  marvellous are thy work; and that my soul knoweth right well.

WHERE TO BEGIN

It has been months since I posted on my blog; Much has taken place since July...

Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever".

We lost our youngest son in a terrible tragedy; Someone broke into his home and shot him multiple times, it is almost 3 months later and still no conviction, the police said they are pretty sure who did it, but proving it is another story. My heart has a hole in it, and it still does not seem real. I do not feel bitterness, I will forgive who ever did this, I would ask him why?  Jack was a kind soul, would give you the shirt off his back, if he had anything they wanted they should of asked, not kill him for whatever, he did not have a lot of material things, but, he had Jesus.

He was so proud of these fish, and wanted us to see. We love you Jack, maybe he is fishing in heaven, or just talking to Jesus, I know once he seen heaven he would never come back to earth. Rest in Jesus arms precious son.  I claim the prayer David prayed when he lost his son: 

2Sa 12:23  "But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. I shall go to be with my son too one day"..He made heaven a little sweeter.

Our life has forever changed, a branch from my tree has been broken off, I know God will get us through. His grace is sufficient, completely, forever.

God's grace is amazing.  One day I hope I never have to live again, But God took over all was good. Now we have the sweet memories to keep in our heart forever.

Today is a new day, we will never see yesterday again and tomorrow may never come, but today is a beautiful day God created for us...May we thank him and enjoy every minute of it. Tell someone about Jesus today. Love your family while you can.. Be blessed, Be a blessing.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

I am praying that we all fly our flags high and proudly, and that we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
He is the reason our America can freely fly our flag, preach the gospel to all nations, and live a peaceful life. Praise God, and God bless America.

America going on a downhill slope, headed for hell

Pray for our Country United States of America. Breaking news from the Supreme Court in favor of same sex marriages. The Word of God is being ignored by our government. The time is near when the Lord Jesus will return, Christians brought by the Blood of Christ, Born Again, look up redemption is nigh.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28 KJV). 

Those whom continually reject the truth of the Word of God, will one day confess that Jesus is the Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. (Romans 14:11 KJV

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11 KJV)

Hello

Sorry it has been so long, I just do not get here much any more...We have been fishing and taking our new boat out, loving it too.

Took our baby to the groomer and now she is all ready for summer now too.

Also we have been visiting every Saturday for our church, going out two by two, house to house, just as God commanded us to do, very few churches do this any more, they think witnessing in Wal Mart is sufficient, That is good and we need to be a witness where ever we go, but that is not what the lord told us to do to reach lost souls for Christ.

Mark 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

Acts 20:20   And how I kept back nothing that was 

profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,

So let us go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come.

Spring has Sprung, and it is beautiful here in Georgia, all my Azalea's are in bloom, the Wisteria is starting to leaf again, all the wild Jasmine is out all over, Simply gorgeous.

Indeed this has been another awesome week, my visitation partner and I had two men saved on visitation Saturday, we were dancing as we came back to tell brother Chuck. Yesterday one walked the isle and made a public confession that he had been saved and wants to be baptized , he and his wife joined the church, WOW  what blessings are falling upon us, and just for being obedient...Chuck and I are just so excited about all these being saved, that makes 4 I think in 4 weeks. And some in church too. God sure is good to us. 

Pray for Chuck as it is his time to preach in the mission conference Wednesday night, pray God will use him, that souls may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that hearts will lean more toward Jesus in these troubling times. 
I just want to thank you for praying for us as we have had a awesome journey since we went into the Ministry in 1980, we have traveled thousands of miles, seen hundreds saved, and have presented the gospel of our Saviour to so very many, more than we could ever count. It seems it all started soon after Chuck prayed 1 Chronicles 4:10 "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested." This was long before the prayer of Jabaz was brought to light and made much of. God indeed has enlarged his coast, from Miami, to Colorado to NY and all in between.It has been a blessed time, a time when only our lord could care for us, and get us in places to be a witness to him. 
So keep us in prayer as we continue doing what God called us to do over 40 years ago, we may always be found faithful.

It is Mission Month at our church ~Buford Grove Baptist Church, in Hilliard, Florida

We have some awesome Missionaries lined up for the Mission month, Sunday morning started with a family going to Paraguay, Sunday evening was a man from the jail ministry, both were very good, and presented their ministries well. 

I am excited too, my dear husband is one of the preachers in this conference, we are missionaries to small churches,  although we are not on any missions board or ask for funds when we go and help.

We try and be a blessing where we go to help, and we find that most churches are in need of some help, even if it is only in some work around the church, although Chuck fills pulpits, and will start ministries when needed, also we do a scripture memorization coarse too.  So I ask that you keep us in your prayers, for  this month we have much going on, and we pray for strength and the health to keep going as the lord leads, we made a commitment  a long ago, and used the verse  Isaiah 6:8 " Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and  who will go for us?  Then said I, Here am I; send me."

How many crowns can a person earn in the Bible?
Did you know we will get crowns of rewards when we get to heaven, now we all will not get all five, but there are many that can be won for the glory of God, and then we will be able to place them at the feet of Jesus.
REWARDS: FIVE CROWNS
1. Incorruptible Crown -- Separated Living (I Cor. 9:24-27)
2. Crown of Righteousness -- Steadfast Christian Crown (II Tim. 4:6-8)
3. Crown of Glory -- Preacher’s Crown 
(I Peter 5:4)
4. Crown of Life -- Martyr’s Crown 
(Rev. 2:10)
5. Crown of Rejoicing -- Soul winner’s Crown (I Thess. 2:19)

Have a very blessed day, and just remember our reward is in heaven...

ISN'T THE LOVE OF JESUS, SOMETHING WONDERFUL

HAVE A VERY HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

We know all hearts turn to love in this month, it is the month that Valentines Day falls in. Mostly we talk about love in association with our mate, our loved one,  my beloved has been with me for 53 years on this valentines day, praise God for this love and devotion. But now we are going to talk about Brotherly love, and the Love of God. Sit back relax , and pray that God will open your heart to this message as we read his words, and all about His love. I started doing this lesson on love, many years ago, I have used it to teach various ages throughout the years, now I am using it for this February devotion. Visuals always help us to understand better, make us more aware of things being said, I pray you all enjoy it and let the word of God speak to your heart, my purpose is to show how mighty love is, the real agape love God talked about in his word. With each one of my little hearts there is a scripture, but I am condensing it for the blog, it was an hour lesson in person, so cutting back here and there, but in all it will explain the love of God for us, our love for him, and for each other.

1. God is love: 1 John 4:8 "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." That is some strong words here, and we see so many schisms in the church, that is not love, and that is not of God, we see here if we love, we are of God, where is your heart, search deep, find a place and time you accepted Christ and asked him into your heart. That is the very first step to find true love.

2. God Loved us: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave, his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." We see just how much God loved us, now are we going to love him?

3. Love God: Matthew 22:37 " Thou Shalt Love the Lord they God with All thy heart." This is a commandment, and just one of the two Christ give us in the new testament. Let us keep it, let us cherish its meaning, let us love the lord thy God with all that is with in us, that is the agape love he put in us, other wise we could not love him with all our heart. We would love self, and all things concerning us.

4. Love One Another: John 13:34 " A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another. As I have loved you, that ye also love one another." I do believe this is what lacks in most of our churches today, loving one another, for some reason everyone wants the attention, they want to be the head of all, they want to in the spot light, this is of the flesh ladies, it is not of God, he wants us to be humbled and to care and love for others as he always did, you never seen Jesus wanting the attention, he was always giving, giving and then he gave everything he had for us, how can we not be giving to each other, when Christ give so much for us.

5. Love Our Neighbor: Matthew 22:39 " And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love they neighbor as thy self." This is still talking about loving each other, who is your neighbor, everyone around you, not just the family next door, but everyone in your community, love them, reach out to them, and most of all talk to them about your Jesus, let them experience the love of God first hand through you, Lord help us to be all like Jesus, may every one we meet see him in us, reach out and touch some one, tell them you love them, and care for their soul, it will touch them, even if they do not accept it, it will reach the heart.

6. Give Jesus Your Heart: Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." First you have to give Jesus your heart, then he pours love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. So let us LOVE one another. May we go away from this lesson saying, wow the love of God truly is ♥something wonderful, marvelous, and I have it. ♥

Well that is it for our love devotion, hope you enjoyed it, and remember this is condensed, if you want to use it for a SS lesson, and add your own words, and extras to teach your style then you have my permission to do so, I made the graphics, and did the work, but I praise God if it will help one other soul. I can do nothing without him.

HAPPY FEBRUARY 2015

It was over cast here all day, our weatherman said there is 6 weeks of winter left if Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow, lol either way there is still 6 weeks left. 
Went and cashed a check I got yesterday I got back a check for too much money I sent in to my pharmacy, neat eh...It was a busy time in town for some reason, guess many get paid the first, Military town it is. 

So happy every one had a good Sunday, wish it were Sunday again, I love Sundays, but we can have the same Spirit all week as on Sunday's,but for some reason we get busy with other things and forget our worship to our lord. 
Have a really blessed day my friends, hope you are all well once again, praise God I am well and feeling good.

HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW; AND I KNOW HE'S WATCHING ME.
Chuck too this of one of our little fox sparrows so thought I would share with you,
they are fed good here and many gather, we feed our wild birds chicken scratch, it is cheaper and much more nourishing than bird feed, they love it, as the squirrels do.

~IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD~
Every time I say that make me think of Mr. Rogers, anyone remember him?He was on TV daily a kids program, one man you never heard anything bad about, a good simple man who reached
many kids.
Any how, that is why I said that, and it being a beautiful sunny day, it is gorgeous outside, from looking out the window, it is cold in reality though, only a high of 56 today I believe. Still to cold to go fishing, maybe soon, but seems every day sunny and warm enough is on a Sunday, and we sure would never go on the Lord's day, I would be afraid of drowning, or a huge wind coming up and capsizing; lol, he is a jealous God, and we know that, so he would not want us anywhere but at church worshiping him.
Chuck had a good day yesterday, he spent it with our pastor and a missionary planning our visiting program, it will be Saturday at 11 am now, some will still go out Thursday evenings but lord willing many will come out on Saturday. We made out some new flyers to hand out, people like getting things and we are ordering new testaments to make some door hanger items. Everyone is getting excited about this, and it is doing good for Chuck, that is where his real burden is, always has been, so this ministry is perfect for him.

So what is new in your area now, so many are so busy these days, and not here much, so when you come share with us. I love each of you and so want God's richest blessings upon you. So pray one for another. and God bless you.

We had a awesome Monday, got to go to the store and spend lots of money, Chuck got a hair cut instead of a dog tag, and we just had a good time together, we do not do many exciting things any more, but our time spent together is good, and we still laugh a lot. I think that is important, be able to laugh at yourself especially, and we do some silly things we laugh about. God has blessed us with a simple life, and being able to serve him is our goal, we love the lord, we love each other, we love our family and friends, and thank God every day for everyone in our life.

We have bad days we have good days, but we always praise God for each day.
Have a blessed day, remember Jesus loves you, and so do I.
Psalm 5:11
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

Wonderful Saturday, it stopped raining, that is an awesome blessing to me, we live in low lands and when it rains for days on end we flood, never in the home but at times was right to the edge..God is my refuge and my wonderful hiding place, I go to him and pray and he consoles me.

(Psalm 91:1 & 2 ) "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
" I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."
When I was a child I had a special shelter, a secret
place where I would take my books, my doll and maybe
an apple to munch on.

I was raised in a little Country town in Michigan, we lived on a dirt road, with a huge Oak tree across the street, I loved that tree; and would climb it and sit in the cradle of its limbs, I could see for a mile up the road, and felt really safe in this big Oak. I still reminisce about those wonderful times in the innocence of my youth.

Today I have a special hiding place and it is with my
Lord and Saviour. I know when times get rough and
scary that I can slip into my special place with God
and he will comfort and encourage me.

How precious to know that no matter what we are going
though in this life... that Jesus will never leave nor
forsake us. We can rest in the strength and love of His
wonderful arms. We can tell Him all the things that we
are sometimes afraid to say to others.

Father, You are our hiding place. No matter what goes
on around us with the turmoil of this earth today, we
can slip into Your loving and caring arms. Thank You
precious LORD. Amen.

 Praising God 

We were well enough to go to both services yesterday, it was so good to be back in our place, singing, loving and worshiping our dear lord, he oh so worthy. Today I am stuffed up again, ugh not sure why, maybe we got over tired yesterday. Our pastor preached such an awesome message, both services..

Got my blood work back for my Rhuematologist and all is good, praise God, I was afraid all the sickness may of made my tests show up different. It is for Kidney, liver etc functions and level my RA is, even show any infection in the bone. 

The sun is still shining here too, that is a great sight; it is still cold but not dreary any how, it only got to 63 here yesterday, was suppose to be 70, but it was a lovely day. 
So how is all with you here?Any plans for the Holiday? Hope to hear from some today.

Seems we all have a time to wait on the lord, some for health, some for finances, some for homes even. It seems we all have something we are waiting on the lord for. 

When I was a very young Christian God burdened my heart with Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." 

It is a very good lesson to learn, we all spend much time waiting, daily we wait on something, as we wait on the lord we learn patience, we learn how to be still and listen for that still small voice talking to us, there are many reasons to wait, and the best one of all is for God to touch us, to talk to us, and to renew our spirit.. 
I learned to wait, have you...

Wow it has been over a week again; not much new, it is cold here in SE Georgia, and everyone is sick. I do believe half the Country is sick, the virus must of really traveled. I would think the cold temps in the North would of killed it off, but many of my friends there are sick with the same thing we have here. You need a smile right about now?  Well here is Zoie Michelle faring the weather very well. lol

So with cute picture I will close for today, not feeling good at all, keep me in your prayers,  have a very blessed week..

 Happy New Year, I hope you all survived the Christmas rush, and the new year is upon you, ready or not...  We are and have been sick for the new year, I was not ready for this, guess it is the flu, being it has so many aspects, and already ran past the cold time. Keep us in your prayers please, hoping this will pass sooner than later this time.

Well do you want to share how your Christmas went? great, I will too. It was different, nothing earth shattering, but a really good time spent with friends and family, and God has been so good to us, and our family is such a blessing. We ate far too much, and traveled many miles to see our children, it used to be they all came here, so what happened...At any rate  we made our rounds from St Marys Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida, had a good time with all.

So it is a new year with new beginnings, and may we leave the past behind, and move on to today, we cannot undo anything we did last year, but we have control of today.. Use it wisely, let Christ lead you daily, and use his pattern for your life. He has it all written in the Bible, how to live each day, how to grow in Christ, even how to live well with others. Let us all grow into what Jesus wants us to be, so when others look at us, they see him. On that note I will leave you today, with a very Happy New Year and a God bless you real good.