Great Things Happening

Time flies when you're having fun! I was going to post last night after church but I was way too tired to do so! WOW....what an incredible move of the Holy Ghost we experienced in Life Tabernacle all day Sunday. Sunday night we baptized 2 and Leslie, a girl who has been coming with Jessica, received the Holy Ghost! It was absolutely phenomenal seeing her response to God. I enjoyed as the saints prayed and especially as I watched some elder saints praying with her. It was almost more than my heart could hold! The POWER OF GOD kept coming in wave after wave! We were all filled with so much excitement after church and went home feeling completely satisfied in our spirits. After service LIFEalive served Mexican spaghetti, and Italian spaghetti with breadsticks and salad, and it was delicious! We then had a Youth Auction so we could buy one of the youths to come work for us and I ended up getting 3! I would have bought all of them if I could have. I love our young people!! I won't tell you how much was raised, though. I know Bro. Andrew will want to do that. But, I will say....you all did a wonderful job!

I was in Ranger, TX. on Friday evening and Saturday morning speaking at a Ladies Revival for the church there. We had a wonderful time and God blessed us with His presence. Sis. Brenda Elms always is a gracious hostess and a lovely Pastor's wife. She is great up front leading in worship and praise. I really enjoyed being with the ladies of Ranger! There was a very special time on Saturday morning when a beautiful elder saint of God prayed for me. I received a wonderful touch from God! I am thankful for people of God who know how to pray and give encouragement to a Pastor's wife. Of course, I got to spend time with our "kids" and Savanna and Scarlet! I loved every second of it. The girls are growing up so fast! I would like to put a "brick on their head" to keep them from growing so fast, but I don't think it would work!

I am leaving in for Texas Women's Conference and will not be posting until I get home, so please do not think I'm just not posting. I will return in a few days and will have more to write about! Love you all and have a great week!

Relaxing Memories

Since Spring has Sprung I started thinking about the fun times we've had on vacations and on fun days with friends and family. Hope you enjoy the slide show and look forward to a time of relaxing with your loved ones!

Note: The question came up after seeing the pictures of the Hoodoo Country, wondering what it is so I gave you a link.

Remember These?

"Had a little rooster fed him on peas. He got so fat that he couldn't see his knees!" (Daddy use to say this when I was a little girl.)

"There was a wise old king, who had 10,000 men. He marched them up the hill and then he marched them down again. When you're up, you're up! When you're down, you're down! When you're only half way up you're neither up or down!" (Grandpa led this song in the "switch over" from Sunday School to Morning Worship and yes, we had to do the motions!)

I just had to write and see if anyone knew these. LOL! It takes the stress off to remember silly things you said, sung, or did when you were young! Maybe we need to go back to just being a little "silly" at times? It would make life a whole lot more fun! There's nothing like a good hearty laugh. It cleans out the cobwebs of your mind.

Count Your Blessings

I've been a little bit blank since my sisters left. It was so nice being with them in Austin and then being here for Karla's birthday. It was so special. It's strange how life takes so many turns. I never dreamed us "girls" would be left by ourselves this early in life. I know I sound sad, but it's "just life", as Mother use to say.

On the other hand, I think of all the blessings I have in my life.
* A wonderful husband/friend.
* Fantastic children and grandchildren.
* Friends who love me through the tough times and make me laugh.
* A great church and saints who love God and us.

The list could go on, but that's just some of my "top of the list" things to be thankful for. I know I'm rambling a bit, but I just had a thought and wanted to write it down. Maybe someone will stop and count their blessings.

Couldn't Resist!

I've been trying to figure out what to do with the blogs that I go to and nothing changes for several weeks, so I have started me a new "Link List"! I'm calling it "Bloggers At Rest"! LOL!! If you find yourself on that list you can't be too upset with me, because I kept you on my blog so we can see if the "Blog Patrol" has given you a ticket. Once you start paying your tickets and reporting on your blog you can be put back on the "regular list" of bloggers. I think that sounds fair enough, don't you? LOL! I did check with one person and told them that I was thinking about doing this and they said to put them on the list, so.......I did! Well, that's probably all I'm going to blog for tonight. I love you all! Happy blogging.......

Two New Blogs Added

I wanted to let everyone know I have added two new blogs. I know some of you have found them already, but just in case you haven't..... here they are! Of course, they are very precious to me. The first one is Andrew and Mandy's blog where they share a lot of pictures of my wonderful grand-daughters. The second one is our youth group at Life Tabernacle. I know you will enjoy both of these. I'm just a LITTLE proud of them! Enjoy!

#1 The Elms Extra

#2 LifeAlive Online

HAPPY 40TH

Karla....I'll never forget you coming into my life when I was almost 14 years old! You were so pretty and I had a "real doll" to play with! I remember so many things that you would do that made us all laugh. One time Bro. A. D. Spears was preaching us a revival and you were just learning to talk. Bro. Spears taught you to say "shut up", so one night while he was preaching and getting his breath you stood up on the pew and yelled, "SHUT UP"! He almost lost the whole service and Mother and Daddy told him, "that's what you get for teaching her to say shut-up"! There were many things you did that I can't tell here, but one of the funniest things you did was when Wendell and I were taking care of you when Mother and Daddy went to General Conference. You were sitting on the floor doing homework and Wendell asked you if you were in your "multiplication tables" yet. You looked up at him and said, "No, we're still at our desks!" You didn't have any idea of what he was talking about! LOL! We laughed uncontrollably! You are beautiful and you are a wonderful sister and friend to me! I'm glad you came along so "late in life" because you have brought much joy to all of us! You are a blessing to the Kingdom of God and I want you to know that I love you and I'm proud of you!

Who's Responsible?

I received this in an email and checked on Snopes.com to see if a school actually put this on their automated answering service, and found out it is a false story, but I'm wondering if it just might ought to be done! It's amazing how many parents will not take responsibility for their children's actions and will not teach their children to take responsibility. Always blaming someone else for what happened to their child! I thought you would find this comical. Enjoy!

"Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting to the right staff member, please listen to all the options before making a selection:

* To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1

* To make excuses for why your child did not do his work- Press 2

* To complain about what we do - Press 3

* To swear at staff members - Press 4

* To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed
in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you - Press 5

* If you want us to raise your child - Press 6

* If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone -Press 7

* To request another teacher, for the third time this year -Press 8

* To complain about bus transportation - Press 9

* To complain about school lunches - Press 0

* If you realize this is the real world and your child must be
accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework, and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!

Note: I will be gone to District Conference this week and will not be able to post much, but I will return! Please keep the "blog patrol" off of my trail. LOL! Have a great week!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is my husbands 58th birthday. I fell in love with this wonderful man when he was 17 years old!! What a fun life we are having together. My dream came true that "I would one day marry this man I loved", and I have enjoyed every minute of my life with him. Wendell, you are a fun, loving, sweet husband and my dearest friend. You are a loving, caring father to Jonathan and Andrew and they think you "hung the moon"! Your "daughters" Brenda and Mandy love you so much. What can I say about your 4 grand-daughters? Their eyes light up when they see their Papa! Thank you for loving all of us the way you do and for being "true-blue" in your walk with God, your love for your family, your friends and for the love you give to the people we are privileged to pastor. I love you with all my heart!

Dad at Comedy Barn

My cousin from California sent this to me and I just had to share this with you all. If you're sick you will be well SOON! Enjoy!

Convertible Trip

I received this picture from a friend in an email. You know the ones that go around about "friendship". It had a poem attached to it, but I just wanted to share with you the picture. Wendell and I LOVE going on "convertible trips". One of the greatest ones we ever had was when we drove from home to Niagara Falls in a Miata!! We took the "back roads" all the way to Niagara Falls. The only time we got on the interstate was when we HAD TO, because the back roads ran out for awhile, or when we wanted to get a room for the night. That is, if we were close enough to the interstate. We saw some of the most beautiful country we had ever seen. We drove through the Amish country in Pennsylvania. We didn't stay where all the "tourists traps" were, we drove through the back country where they actually lived and worked. What a great time we had!

We went on another "convertible trip" to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, "Going to the Sun Road" outside of Kallispell, Montana, across the Kananaskis Hwy. into Banff, Canada up to Jasper! What a DRIVE! The beauty we saw was breath-taking! Every way we turned was beauty!! What a magnificent God we have! We have done this trip a couple of times. We want to do this one again.

Another "convertible trip" we took was all the way to Prince Edward Island! We had a beautiful and great time! This trip was the one we took that our church gave us for pastoring here for 20+ years. They were so kind to let us be gone for a total of 2 months! We missed everyone terribly, but we had a nice, relaxing time.

We have made a lot of memories in a convertible. Our rule is: "The top has to stay down all the time, unless the weather is too HOT or too COLD!" You have to understand, too cold is "below 32 degrees and too hot is over 90 degrees! If it's either one of those we might put the top up! What a great way to travel! I could go into more trips we've taken, but this is just a "sketch" of a few major "convertible trips".

Maybe you ought to think about buying a convertible and try it. If you're anything like my husband and I, you will love it! Have a great day!

Parent Talk

Today was a great day here at Life Tabernacle! We had all morning and part of the afternoon full of teaching to parents about how to SAVE OUR CHILDREN! Parent Talk is what we call this day, and it has been very successful in helping parents understand today's children and teens.

Bro. Joseph Ouellette taught on "Spiritual Reproduction". He had some great insight on this subject. Joseph is a public school educator and always delivers his message well.







Bro. Andrew Elms
taught "Lost In Cyberspace". There was some SCARY stuff in this. We want our kids to be saved, so we better sit up and take notice of what they are getting involved in on their computers! We've heard about the internet before and all that it has to offer, both good and bad, but it hit home again today. Pray saints, pray, and do whatever you have to do to SAVE OUR CHILDREN!

Pastor Elms taught "Fourteen Rules of Child-Raising".
This lesson is the one his mother, Mom Elms, taught when she was asked to teach on how she raised her boys. She was a very successful Mom and knew how to raise kids! Her four boys all grew up to live for God and become preacher's of the Gospel. I'm privileged to be married to one of them and be a part of a great family!! After Bro. Elms finished I interviewed Sis. Johnnie Hale.
Sis. Johnnie is a beautiful lady, who has raised her FIVE children (three boys, two girls) to be responsible and respectful. Life Tabernacle loves her and her family very much! We always enjoy it when her "kids" come to visit. What she had to say today was so rich. She told us the "bottom line"....."I'm MAMA, and whatever MAMA says, they do!" Her adult children know she's MAMA and there is no fussing about what she has to say and what she expects out of them to this very day! (they range in ages 27 to 43) It was GREAT! If parents would raise their children like she did hers they wouldn't have the trouble they do with them.

Besides having wonderful teaching, the fellowship was great, and Bro. Andrew and Sis. Mandy had delicious snacks and drinks. Sis. Mandy did a beautiful job of setting up the "food table". I'm so thankful to be a part of a church who loves their kids and young people enough to spend the time and energy to train both parents and kids.

Note: I'm sorry I didn't have a picture of my husband teaching. I was too caught up in what he was saying and didn't think about the camera, but during a break I did catch this one of him and little Ashlyn Kate! Isn't it sweet?

Special Friends

Sometimes in life, you find a special friend;
Someone who changes your life
just by being part of it.
Someone who makes you laugh
until you can't stop;
Someone who makes you believe
that there really is good in the world.
Someone who convinces you
that there really is an unlocked door
just waiting for you to open it.

Nothing Like It

This morning Scarlet woke up and was wandering around the house saying, "Mimi, Mimi". The only problem is that she is at HOME, almost 2 hours from here, and I'm not there with her! My phone rings at my house and it was Scarlet. She was talking to Papa! I wasn't quite awake so I called her back and her sweet, soft, voice said, "hi, mimi, 'ov you", well.....that just sent me into a missing mode for her and Savanna. There is nothing like waking up to the sweet voice of one of my grand-daughters saying, "Mimi", except holding them in my arms. I haven't quite decided whether I'm going to visit today or not, but it sure is a nice thought.

All I Can Say is......WOW!

Do you hear the sound of abundance of rain? God's Spirit is being poured out in magnificent proportions! Sunday was another wonderful day "in His presence" at Life Tabernacle! Souls are being touched by the power of Almighty God. Over the last several weeks we have had a break in our altar service. Thank God! For so long there has been a vice on anyone who was hungry for God, and even though the spirit of God was moving on them to come forward to talk to the Lord they couldn't move and wouldn't move. Now, the Spirit draws them, and people who are hungry for God and a change in their lives actually come to the altar to pray! Again, Sunday morning was a wonderful time around the altar. Jesus must be getting ready to come and take His children home, so He is drawing hungry hearts more and more.

Sunday night we had Missionary Hemus and his beautiful family with us!
When I walked off of the platform after choir warm-up I went to speak to Sis. Hemus and welcome her to our church. We visited a few moments, and when I turned around a lot of the young people had come over to the orchestra area and was talking and visiting with Haley and Patrick Hemus. It was like they were "old friends". I felt UNITY flowing from the group and was so proud of them. It was more than them being friendly, it was an awakening in the spirit to UNITY once again! Then the service started and from the first word of "Oh Magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His Name together...." the presence of God was moving and people were in "one mind and one accord"! The choir sang, and it was wonderful. Bro. Elms then introduced Missionary Hemus. He is from the United Kingdom, (Liverpool) so he definitely has the English broque, which was fun to hear. (even though I couldn't understand him at times) He told me, "You American's just need to think faster!" LOL! They gave their presentation along with a fantastic DVD of the work there. As we were watching it you could feel the power of God moving throughout the congregation. Bro. Hemus went back to the pulpit to preach, and then I saw my husband do something I've never seen him do before. He stepped up to Bro. Hemus and asked him for the microphone, then told him "you can be seated". Then, he told the church that he felt we needed to bless these missionaries with a "special offering". He had an amount in mind, but didn't tell the church what it was. We took an offering and during the offering there was prayer going on. You could feel it building, and building, and building, until there was a MIGHTY MOVE of the HOLY GHOST! There was tongues and interpretation from God to the Hemus family, and then intercession was made for them. I feel the presence of God as I'm writing this today! It was so powerful and needed. You never know what a Missionary family may be going through when they come to your church. We need to be sensitive to them in every way when they are with us. They are not just "another missionary" coming to our church. They are "men and women and children of God" who have been called, chosen, and faithful. We should honor them, bless them, and take care of their needs as much as possible. Doing this requires us all to be "senstive in the Holy Ghost" so that God will flow through us as a church body to bless them. I don't know why I'm writing this, but maybe someone will read it and re-think their "lost burden" for those who are serving our King. Now, I will go on.....after the time of intercessory prayer, Bro. Hemus told us while he was praying that he knew God had sent angels from this service to go and bring victory to the United Kingdom! Our church secretary then came in to tell Bro. Elms how much had been given in the offering so he could tell the church, but I can't tell you.........that may be posted later.........all I can say right now is it was far more than what we expected! Thank God for saints who love His work and want to give time, money, prayer, and care to those who are called of God to bring the gospel to the lost and I give honor to men and women who preach the gospel no matter where they are! They may be here in America or on foreign soil. God BLESS PREACHERS of the WORD who bring TRUTH to the world!!

Yes, Mimi's Bragging

It's been awhile since I posted any pictures of our little sweetheart Ashlyn Kate. So, I thought I would show her off a little bit tonight. This is her with her first Valentine Bear.

Every little girl needs a First Baby and she loved her. She was giving her kisses! LOL!! Really, she was just hungry.





















She's already learned to pray! I was holding her and Aunt Sharon said, "Look at her! Where's the camera?" So, here is her first time to have her picture taken when she was in "prayer".


I didn't leave Alayna out! Don't worry she still gets a lot of attention from everybody! Here she is with her little Valentine Poodle who gives a lot of love.

Jonathan and Brenda came and this was her first time to get to hold little Ashlyn Kate. She was so happy to have her in her arms.

Here's Mommy and Ashlyn. Such a sweet picture. Mandy is a wonderful mother.

Just one more of Ashlyn in pink, then I'll quit bragging!

Don't Lose Hope

Just before retiring for the night I wanted to write something that came to my mind and I hope will encourage you to keep walking with the Lord.

Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

I sometimes can't hardly wait until this great day comes! I know many people who are going through so much hurt, sickness, pain, and sorrow, but I want to remind you that we have a HOPE! Our hope is that someday.....SOMEDAY we will never have to go through anymore pain or sorrow. There will be no more tears. No disappointments! No sickness! Our HOPE is HEAVEN!

When Mother was in her final days in this life she said to Daddy, "Murray, will you tell me about Heaven, again?" Daddy would sit by her bed, holding her hand, and he would talk about Heaven. How beautiful it was going to be. Jasper walls, gates of pearl, streets of gold, a chrystal river, the Tree of Life, and the greatest part of it all was Jesus sitting on the throne and when we all got there we were going to "meet in front of the throne". She would relax and rest for awhile longer knowing that her HOPE was steadfast and sure!

All my life I remember sitting around the family dinner table, or the fireplace and Daddy would start talking about Heaven. He made it so beautiful that you wouldn't want to miss it for anything this world had to offer! We would sometimes be standing outside, and he would look up in the sky at the white clouds sailing across the blue sky, and he would say, "I wonder if that's the cloud Jesus will be coming on?" He kept heaven in our minds. He never wanted us to forget where our HOPE was.

There is a song Daddy and Mother use to sing and it was simply called "Heaven". As they lifted their voices together in harmony, I felt my heart longing to go there.

Since childhood I've heard of a heaven. And I wondered if it could be true. That there were sweet mansions eternal. In that land beyond the blue. I pondered could people really go there, then one day sweet Jesus came in.
And I caught a vision of glory, my heart with all heaven did blend.

Heaven.......happy home above.
Heaven.......land of peace and love.
Oh, it makes me feel like traveling on.
Heaven.......eternal.
Heaven.......supernal.
Oh, I'm so glad that it's real!

My dear friends and loved ones. Don't get burdened down with this world. Don't be discouraged with your life. Jesus knows exactly where you are and how much you can bear. It will be worth it all when we see Him!

There'll be no sorrow there. No more burdens to bear.

No more sickness, no pain.

No more parting over there.

And forever I will be with the One Who died for me.

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see.

When I look upon His face, the one Who saved me by His grace.

When He takes me by the hand, and leads me to that Promised Land.

What a day, glorious day that will be!

If Jesus should come today I want to remind you that I will meet you "in front of the throne"! Are you going to meet me there?

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS

YOU'RE THE GREATEST!

IT'S SNOWING!

(I can't believe it!)

5:50 pm

GO TEXOMA!

Country music radio station KLUR 99.9 FM still isn't playing music by the Dixie Chicks, despite their overwhelming win at the Grammy's Sunday.

"The trio won every category in which they were nominated, including three of the most-coveted awards - Album of the Year for "Taking the Long Way" and Record and Song of the Year for "Not Ready to Make Nice," the group's defiant response to negative feedback from their anti-Bush comments. KLUR pulled the Dixie Chicks' music from the rotation in 2003, soon after lead singer Natalie Maines said on the eve of the Iraq War at a performance in London, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." The group was banned after listeners called in to vote on whether or not they wanted the group's songs played." Go here for the rest of the story.

My thoughts on this article: I don't listen to KLUR but I was so happy to read about this in our paper this morning. Anyone who would speak against our President should not have the privilege of singing on America's radio stations! It's sad to think that some in America have already forgotten the "slam" to him from the Dixie Chicks! Thank you TEXOMA for voting against their music being played. I now think that the "sister station" to KLUR ought to take the same stand! Don't let those who are disrespectful to our nation and our President make you bend to their disloyalty!!

So Blessed!

"I'm saved and I know that I am! I'm saved and I know that I am! I'm saved and I know that I am! I'm so glad to know that I am, oh yes, I'm so glad to know that I am!

I'm blessed and I know that I am! I'm blessed and I know that I am! I'm blessed and I know that I am! I'm so glad to know that I am, oh yes, I'm so glad to know that I am!

Satisfied and I know that I am! I'm satisfied and I know that I am! Satisfied and I know that I am! I'm so glad to know that I am, oh yes, I'm so glad to know that I am!"

For some reason this song popped into my head tonight. We sung it when I was a teenager. I know it's repetitious, but it tells exactly how I feel this evening. To think I have found salvation in the power of repentance, baptism in Jesus Name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost is the greatest realization that a person can have! Now, all I have to do is cultivate my relationship with God, love Him, live my life to please Him and I've got it made! I am SAVED from this old world of sin, and I'm glad that I am!

What a peace and joy fills my heart as I sit in my lovely home listening to the wind blow outside. It is bringing in another "cold front" and I'm warm and cozy as I write this post. I thank God for His BLESSINGS! He has given me so much! The material things are very much appreciated and I tell Him "thank you" all of the time for those things, but the reality of my blessings are, that I have two sons in the ministry, married to gorgeous girls who love the Lord with all of their hearts, and want to please Him in everything they do! They are beautiful examples of what a Christian should be. Then, of course, my wonderful grand-daughters! I will just say this tonight about them....the two oldest ones LOVE to worship the Lord in church and it thrills me when I see their hands lifted in praise to God, or see them singing to the top of their lungs as the congregation sings. The two youngest ones will learn soon.

I also have two beautiful, loving, caring, and fun sisters who are married to preachers and they both pastor growing churches! Ronda and her husband Nathan pastor in California, and their "kids" are living for God and working for Him. Karla and Gene are pastoring a thriving, growing church here in Texas and their two boys are living for the Lord, and love playing the drums and bass for the church services.

And of course, I must mention my Godly husband! I don't have to mention him because "I don't want him to think I left him out", I have to mention Him because he is the greatest man in the world! Every lady should feel that way about her husband! I sure won't argue with you about that one. :)

I'm just overwhelmed with the "goodness and blessings of God" in my life!! We have a wonderful congregation to pastor. They "love" God, they want to "please" God, they are "willing" to do anything they can for God. So, what better combination can you get? I just have to say it again.....

I'm blessed and I know that I am!

Now, in the last part of this post I want to say...

I'M SATISFIED! I wouldn't trade my life with anyone, anywhere, anyplace! God has been so good to me! I'm not bragging..........I'm giving HIM PRAISE!