Friday, October 31, 2008

The Sweet New Family of Three

Below this article, I posted a "Smilebox" photo album of our former campus daughter with her husband and their brand new daughter, but I have to post a BIG picture here and write a little bit.

Becky came to us as a campus daughter the 2nd semester of her freshman year. She was a good friend of Sarah P, a campus daughter, and when Sarah learned that Becky didn't have campus parents, she asked if we would consider adopting Becky into our campus family. We did and enjoyed Becky as a daughter for 3-1/2 years of her college life.

Becky was our first campus daughter to marry which meant we now had a campus son-in-law. And now two years later, they are parents to their brand new baby daughter, that means we now have a campus grandbaby!!!

We waited until all of the REAL grandparents (from GA and from SC) had come and gone before we went over to Becky's and Paul's to take supper last evening and to meet precious little Aleana. She was born nearly 4 weeks premature and had to stay in ICU for her first week of life relating to her immature lungs and then had a big bout of jaundice which landed her back in the hospital to get that treated,but she is now home and thriving. She was enjoyed her "dinner" when we arrived and was so sweet to hold and cuddle after she had eaten.

We shall pray for Paul and Becky as they raise their beautiful baby daughter in the Lord and shall enjoy watching Eleana grow up. God is good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Thursday, October 30, 2008

Our First "Campus Grandbaby"

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

THIS PROJECT WAS FOR THE BIRDS

Isa 46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east..........

I have always wanted to have some colorful and decorative bird houses/feeders to hang on our back fence. Well, Richard got a "wild hair" today and went out and made 4 birdhouses!! They are as cute as can be and hopefully the bird seed on the front ledges will attract some birds. It touches my heart that Richard knows my small dreams as well as my big dreams and always does his best to make them happen. He is my love and my hero all rolled into one!!!








Sunday, October 26, 2008

A New Week

Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

This is the last week of campaigning for the two men who are running for the office of President of the United States. I simply cannot fathom that Americans could and might elect Barack Obama to this position. I just keep praying, "Please God, No Obama." All in all, I know that God is in control matter who is elected president, and that is my greatest source of comfort in these last days before the election on November 4.

The last week of October. Amazing!! Where has this month gone? The first half of it. we were on our big trip so I guess that's why the 2nd half has seemed to pass by so quickly. When we returned home on the 12th, we hit the ground running. We got involved with a soul-winning booth at the fair on the night of the 16th and worked there once more and got rained out the other night we had signed up to work. We have attended Granddaughter Isabella's Cross-Country Meets on Saturday mornings. They are out of town and take up the entire morning but it is well worth it to watch her run AND to spend time with Brian, Amy, and the kids. We ride with them and so have lots of good fellowship in the vehicle and have enjoyed the pretty Saturdays of being outside for the meets. We attended a wonderful recital at the college and were proud of our campus daughter Jennifer who played in it. We made and took lunch to Dorothy and Dan last week. Dorothy is recovering from her 2nd knee replacement surgery and is doing well. One of our first campus daughters who graduated, married, and gave birth to a baby daughter last week was in the hospital for most of the week as her baby was a preemie, had breathing problems and then was jaundiced. We visited Becky in the hospital but have yet to see and hold our first "campus grandbaby." Baby Eleana had to be re-hospitalized on Thursday for her jaundice and they came home on Saturday night. Both sets of out-of-town grandparents were here but have returned home now (South Carolina and Georgia) so perhaps we can meet Miss Aleana this week. I hope so!! Our friend Peggy Pirkle in Tennesse is having cataract surgery on Monday so we will be praying for her. My dear friend Wilma (age 83) has a doctor's appt. on Wednesday that I am taking her to. Time spent with Wilma is always time well spent. She is a lovely and gracious lady who served on the mission field in Haiti with her husband. She is Godly and wise. I always learn something from Wilma. Last Friday, Richard and I ran by our doctor's office to have our lab work done. I have my appointment on Friday to see what is what with my high triglycerides. I hope and pray the fish oil has done some good because I certainly haven't stuck to a low-fat diet very well. Also on Friday at our Retirement Center Bible Study, it is hoped that our teacher, Carol, will be back with us. She and her husband Jim have been gone on a big RV trip since his retirement at the end of May. We look forward to having Carol back at the helm on Friday's. And then on Friday night, we are having our 9 campus daughters over for supper and fellowship. Makes me wonder how we ever had time to work jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

FACE TO FACE WITH A FRIEND!!!

Luke 11:6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me,

This article will be copied over to the blog I made during our 35th wedding anniversary trip, but it first HAS to be posted here for it is far to important to be only posted on our trip blog.

It is so much fun to have pen pals and, in today's world, online friends. You learn so much about each other sharing anecdotes about life and prayer requests as they arise. You really grow close and truly do know each other even though you haven't met face to face. That is how it is with our Lord Jesus. We grow closer and closer to the Savior throughout our Christian lives and then have the blessed day of meeting Him face to face the moment we close our eyes in death on this earth.

Well, I didn't have to go so far as to close my eyes in death to meet this dear friend, but I did have to jump into the car with Richard, drive 1,206 miles, catch a cruise ship in Brooklyn, New York and wait until the 2nd day of our cruise when we were docked in Boston for the big moment!

Meeting my friend Chickie in Boston was all that I had dreamed about and so much more. To see that dear friend in person, to hug her, to talk in person, to laugh together, to ride in her car, to eat lunch (her treat!) at a wonderful restaurant, to go sight-seeing with her as our tour guide.... to feel her love and the complete connection of our hearts..... it was so very exciting and made for a wonderful day that I will always cherish.

Chickie and I are opposite in so many ways: she is Catholic and I am Baptist; she is a Democrat and I am a Republican; she speaks with a Bostonian accent and I have a Southern Drawl..... the list could go on. The thing that totally bound our hearts together was our love and respect for one another.

Chickie, I love you so much and thank you for the wonderful 4 hours we spent together. It was a special treat to meet your dear friends Cindy and Lorrayne, too. Richard sat there amazed at how well we knew each other. What a hoot!!!

Take care, Dear Friend, and always know how much you are loved by this Southern Gal. I count it a joy to post the pictures of our meeting that you shared with me.

Love Always,
Susan

Our first of many hugs!


Richard was happy to meet Chickie, too!


Here we are at the wonderful "Phillips" Restaurant where we had lunch (Chickie's treat) and there she gave me some very nice gifts.... including this cookbook that Chickie was the chairperson of putting it together.


Chickie's dear friend, Lorrayne (whom Chickie had lovingly spoken of so many times in her emails) came out to the restaurant to meet us. Another nice and fun Yankee!


Chickie took us on a wonderful tour of Boston... and this was in the section where she lived as a child. Here she is at her childhood home.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Campus Daughter Doings This Weekend

Rewind.......
Back in May 2006 when we were up in Indiana to visit Chip and attend his graduation from Southern Seminary, we were also privileged to hear him preach at a high school graduation. One of the girls in his youth group (Emily shown on the left) was in Chip's student ministry group at church and that was his connection in being asked to bring the graduation message to the grads. Notice the girl shown on the far right..................................

Fast forward to September 2007. Chip had called us a couple of weeks earlier to tell us that a friend of Emily's was coming down to go to college here. Chip knew that we have "campus daughters" which is a program of the college whereby church families "adopt" freshman students and give them some much-needed support and love shown during their freshman year of college. From talking with Chip, we had a new daughter even before school started. We made a contact with this girl (Jennifer, the girl on the right in the picture above) and made plans to pick up her at the airport and drive her to the college upon her arrival from Indiana. At the airport, we had "spied" another girl who looked like she might have just flown in for her freshman year as well, so we inquired with her and, since we already had Jennifer in tow, asked this girl (Jessica) if she would like a ride over to the campus with the three of us. She did.... and she became another freshman daughter. We took them to the college, treated them to a meal at the campus grille, and they were on their way. That is Jess next to me and Jennifer next to Richard.


Fast Forward to the present: Jennifer did fantastic in her freshman year of music and it seems she has been recognized as having great talent. Anyway, she was hand-picked to perform in a "Strings Concert" on this pastSaturday night so Richard and I attended. There were eight students who played a solo. Jennifer's talent was so evident as she played
"Synropation" (no, it wasn't entitled "sycopating") on her violin. She played eloquently and her grace and beauty on stage didn't hurt a thing either!!! We were blessed to be there and to watch her in concert. There weren't any pictures made during the concert, but this one was of Jennifer with her sister Sarah, her parents, and with Richard and me after the concert. Sarah is in the long black dress:


At the Saturday night concert, we met her parents from Indiana: Bill and Lee Stone and their eldest daughter, Sarah, who came to hear Sarah and spend the weekend here. We had emailed them a few pictures each time that we had an activity with the campus daughters and they emailed back a time or two so we knew each other briefly that way. It was a delight to meet Bill and Lee at the concert and to put faces with their names!! In talking to them, we learned that they were staying at the motel on campus but that they had to find another motel for Sunday night as they weren't able to get the third night at the motel on campus. We
immediately invited them to come to our house on Sunday afternoon and to spend their last night in their home.

On Sunday, we went out together for Sunday lunch (which they treated us to ~~ we weren't expecting that but enjoyed the blessing) and then they came over and we had good fellowship with them all Sunday afternoon long. Jennifer was able to get a nice long nap here which was a needful thing for her so that was a blessing. On Sunday afternoon as we were leaving for church, I snapped their picture out on our front porch. L-R: Jennifer, Sarah, Bill and Lee:


After church that night, they took Jennifer out for a last meal together and then returned her to the college. By the time they got back to our house, we were ALL tired and didn't visit too long before we turned in.

We had a leisurely Monday morning breakfast and then they took off on their long drive back to Indiana. We shall be praying for them throughout the day for safety and a good return trip home.

Those were our campus-daughter doings this weekend, and we are fully blessed!!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

OUR CROSS-COUNTRY GRANDDAUGHTER, ISABELLA

Hebrews 12:1~~ ...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us...

It was a beautiful morning to be make a 30-minute ride to another school to watch Belle race in a cross-country meet this morning. Because we were gone the first four meets of the season, we
were mighty glad to be back and able to attend this one.

Belle beat her personal time this morning at 24:57 ~~ beating her personal record by40 seconds. She ran her heart out and did great. We were so excited to be there. We stayed and watched the boys race and then left and had brunch together as a family. Richard and I rode with Brian, Amy, and the family which afforded us 4 hours together. You better know I enjoyed that!!!

Better than Isabella doing well at running her cross-country race this morning, we are seeing much fruit in her life that she is running her Christian-life race as well. She is a lovely teenage girl who seeks to please her Savior and her parents. We love her dearly and pray she will always keep Christ #1 in her life.

Here's a picture Brian snapped of Isabella with us after her race this morning.


Friday, October 17, 2008

BUSY DAY TOMORROW........

We will leave the house at 7:15 to go to Isabella's Cross-Country Meet in the morning. Due to our being away for a month, it will be our first one to attend. Wanna bet whether or not I will have pictures to share?

After the meet and then brunch with the family, I want to go to the hospital here to check on our former campus daughter, Becky, who is in the hospital as of tonight ready to give birth to her's and Paul's first child. "Alaina Lynn" will be my first Campus Grandchild!!

In the afternoon, Richard and I will enjoy watching the BAMA game on TV. ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!

On Saturday evening, one of our current campus daughters, Jennifer from Indiana, is to be featured in a Strings Quarter performance on campus so Richard and I want to go be a part of that and to meet her family down from Indiana for the performance.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

We Had a Wonderful Evening At the Fair

It was a lovely evening with the full moon and temps in the 70's. Being the first evening of the fair, a lot of people attended. Here is what we experienced working in the booth:

It was a real nice set-up at the booth. As people are walking by, we offer them the little "Smiley face" booklet that is approved by the fair to give out. From that we point over to a box that is sitting on a table in front of the booth. It is a big wood box with 3 doors on it and a big sign on it that reads:

DO YOU KNOW THERE ARE THREE THINGS GOD CANNOT DO?

We invite the person to open door #1. When they do, they read the following:

God Cannot Lie. And there is a Bible verse printed there: Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

The person will agree that God cannot lie." This may seem rather obvious or even a trick answer, but nevertheless absolutely true. According to God's own Word in Titus 1:2 we see "God, that cannot lie." God, and God alone, can make that claim.

Then they are invited to open door #2. When they do, they read the following:

God Cannot Change. And there is the verse from Malachi 3:6: For I am the LORD, I change not;

"Oh, sure," they say, "I believe that God cannot change." This is also a rather obvious truth and is another characteristic which is unique to God alone.

Finally they are invited to open door #3 and find this bold statement:

God Cannot Allow Sinners into Heaven. Included is the print out of the verse from John 3:3,5: "Verily, verily [truly, truly], I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

"Hmmm," you say, "I'm not so sure about that one. I don't know that I believe that." But, do you know why we know that this is true--absolutely true? Because God Himself tells us, and God cannot lie and God cannot change. So, if God said it, it is true and it is true for all time. man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Hanging across the back of the booth is a large vinyl sign that we point out to them which reads:

"Are you 50%, 75% or 100% sure you will go to Heaven?"

Most people say 75%, one or two said they had no assurance and some Christians who came by assured us they have 100%. But for who say they have less than 100%, we then tell them that we can show you how to be 100% sure if they will give me 5 minutes.

If they agree to that, we take them into the booth where there is a table set up with a large print Bible and the Roman's Road of salvation marked in it. (You cannot talk to a child less than 13 w/o a parent being with them.) We go through each verse of the Roman's Road explaining each step thoroughly and making sure they understand as we go along. At the end, we ask if they would like to pray admitting their sinful condition, repent of their sins, acknowledging that Jesus Christ paid the price for their sins on the cross, ask for His forgiveness and invite Him to come into their heart to be the Lord and Savior of their life.

One couple I dealt with let me take them all the way to that part. They were very attentive. But when it came time to pray the prayer, they shook their heads "no" and walked out.
But then I had the precious privilege of leading a woman and her teenage daughter and the daughter's friend to the Lord. They were right with me, looking at God's Word, reading along with me, listening as I explained the verses, acknowledged they were sinners and desire to be saved and so prayed the prayer. They were all three as happy as could be to have the matter settled.

Richard handed out a lot of the "Smiley Booklets" and talked to some folks but didn't have the opportunity to deal with anyone in depth.

When we left, 7 people had prayed to receive Christ. It was a wonderful experience. Thanks for praying.

We are scheduled to go back and work two evenings next week but may call Bro. Ralph and schedule some more times in there as well. What better way to spend our time??!!

AMAZING GRACE: The "Fair" Ministry


Please pray for Richard and me. We are going to opening day of the Interstate Fair to work in the "Amazing Grace" tent where fair-goers come in and learn about God's plan of salvation. When we are there tonight, (4:00-8:30) we will sign up to work more nights during the nearly 2-week fair.

Apparently a lot of folks come to know the Lord through this ministry, and we feel very blessed to be able to experience a night in the Amazing Grace This ministry is not connected with our church but is a world-wide missionary endeavor. You can take a look at the Amazing Grace website: http://www.agm-ffci.org/ tent to learn more about it. Please pray for us as we are given opportunities to witness and for those with whom we will come in contact.

For our local friends reading this and who might have an interest in taking part in this soul-winning opportunity, we have the cell phone number for Mr. Ralph Copeland who is scheduling workers for this year's fair and will be glad to put you in touch with him if you will call us (944-8155).