Trip to Aggieland and another excellent Sunday in church

After work this past Thursday evening I had the opportunity to go visit Adam in College Station. It's just a little over 2 hours from Ennis so it was a fairly easy evening drive. We went out to eat at Fish Daddy's, a local place specializing in--guess what?--BBQ! No, they do fish and do it well and at a reasonable price. Afterward we just relaxed at his place and watched some football. On Friday morning Adam took me to work out with him and his boss at the Texas
A & M football players training facility. It's pretty impressive. Many of the players were there...those are some big ol' boys! In the afternoon Adam toured me around the new renovations at the Association of Former Students where he works. It is all first-class. In the evening we went to a German restaurant in Bryan. According to Adam, the dishes were very authentic. He should know after spending 6 weeks in Germany last summer. It was really good, particularly the sauerkraut. Saturday was chore day as I had taken my dirty laundry to do at his house. That's a switch, isn't it...the parent bringing the dirty laundry home? Anyway, I was glad to get it done. Adam and I ran around town doing errands and in the evening, he grilled us some excellent pork chops. It was a great visit all the way around. As I drove back to Ennis between Hearne and Buffalo on Hwy. 79, it was an hour or so before dark and I saw deer in two places and a coyote standing on an abandoned railroad track. Pretty neat!

God is continuing to bless us and encourage us in the work with the church family at Ennis. We had very good attendance yesterday, an excellent adult Bible class and morning worship assembly, and we had at least ten adult visitors from the local area including one former deacon and his family. Everyone in the congregation seems to be excited and upbeat as we see things moving in positive directions again. God is good!

Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 106:1)

A break!

Woo-hoo! It seems that the scorching heat is going away for a little while at least. The temps were still in the low 100's yesterday but a cool front has moved through overnight so there is a decent chance of rain today and the temps for the next week are supposed to be in the high 80's and low 90's. I may have to find a sweater!

Today is unpacking day for me in the office. Since last Saturday when Adam came up to help me unload, all my books and office stuff have been sitting right where we put them. My goal is to get it mostly, if not totally, put up and the office arranged in a respectible fashion.

Speaking of Adam, I am excited to be able to go down to visit with him this weekend. I will leave after work today and get there in time for us to have supper together. It's just about a two hour drive from Ennis to Aggieland. In Texas, that is hardly any distance at all. Now if I can find one of those folks who drive 90-100 mph on the freeway, I could get behind them and get there even sooner! (Just kidding!) Hope everyone has a great weekend!

A remarkable lady

The process of settling into my apartment and office continues. Last night I got a new curtain hung in the bedroom, cleaned up & carried out some trash, and fixed a bookcase that Sarah used in college (it is definitely on its last legs but I can squeeze a little more use out of it!). A few days ago I also met one of my neighbors. He is a super nice Hispanic man. When we met, we introduced ourselves. He said, "My name is Santiago, but you can call me Jimmy." I think I could have handled Santiago OK, but Jimmy does have fewer syllables.

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to visit a couple from church. I've been trying to see them for about two weeks but she has not felt like a visit until yesterday. Her husband takes her nearly every day to Baylor Medical in Dallas for radiation treatments. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on July 11 and it has spread to various places in her chest. She knows that the prognosis is very poor for survival, but she is like so many faithful Christians who I have had the privilege to see over the years. She has a great attitude: upbeat, positive, determined to fight, and able to find peace through her faith in God. As we were wrapping up our visit with prayer, she told me, "You know, I'm not afraid. I know the Lord and I know He is going to take care of me." I affirmed for her that is true, no matter what happened. God is going to take care of her if she survives and God is going to take care of her if she dies. That is the kind of faith that brings peace. May we all keep our eyes and hearts focused on God throughout our lives so we can have the joy and peace that comes from faith!

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for He has said, "I will never fail you nor forsake you." Hence we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

A P.S. to the folks in Springdale: Please feel free to share my blog address with anyone you think may be interested in reading it. I did not have email addresses for everyone. Thanks!

Oops!

In the last post I said the National Polka Festival was on Memorial Day weekend, but it is during Labor Day weekend. Hope I didn't mess up anyone's travel plans!

HOT in Texas!

When I say it is HOT in Texas during the month of August, you may say, "Well, duh!" Most of the time I make a point to stay inside where it is cool. I sure am grateful that God gave somebody sense enough to invent air conditioning! My big problem with the heat yesterday was that I needed a place to exercise. I used to go outside to exercise all the time but when Merilyn and I bought a treadmill a few years ago, I've gotten to where I exercise indoors almost all the time. The treadmill is back in Arkansas so I went outside at 4:45 p.m. to a nice walking/jogging trail that has been built around a lake and park here in town. It was 102 degrees when I started and it was 100 when I finished 45 minutes later. It was a good workout but I think I'm going to start looking around to see if I can find a good, used treadmill to stick inside some place!

Here's a bit of information that may be of interest if you are looking for something to do during the Memorial Day holiday: The National Polka Festival is held here in Ennis during that time. There is quite a large Czech population in this area. I don't know if that has anything to do with the Polka Festival being here or not, but it may be part of their heritage. At any rate, there will be lots of activity and good ethnic foods to enjoy. And who knows? Maybe Steve Urkel will show up! Hope you have a great day today! Give God first place in your life.

A 10-day weekend

Have you ever heard of a 10 day weekend? Me either, but that's what it has felt like since last Wednesday. I drove home to Springdale on Wednesday evening, cleaned out our storage unit and loaded a U-Haul trailer on Thursday with the help of my son-in-law, Blake, finished loading the trailer and packed on Friday, came back to Ennis on Saturday with Merilyn following in my loaded car (and her new puppy, Mollie) and then unloaded at the office and my apartment on Saturday afternoon and evening with the help of our son, Adam, who came up from College Station and one of the elders from the church, and then got back to work on Sunday. I will be more regular in posting items to the blog, but that is my explanation why there has not been one for several days. Everything has gone very well, though, and it has been especially good to be able to spend some extra time with Merilyn and to get to see Adam.

We had another excellent worship assembly yesterday morning. Good attendance, several visitors, marvelous fellowship, and two outstanding young families placed membership. Everyone is excited about the progress that is already being seen. God is blessing us in wonderful ways!

Yesterday morning in my sermon I used the example of Aron Ralston, the young man who had to amputate his own arm in a mountaineering accident back in 2003. It still just amazes me that he was able to do that, but he got to the point that he had to do it in order to survive. There are all kinds of temptations and challenges that could trap us and lead to losing our spiritual lives. Be careful. Resist the urges to do wrong. Be faithful. Honor God and trust His way for your life. Do what you have to do in order to survive spiritually. God bless you!

Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood around the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, establish and strengthen you. (1 Peter 5:8-10)

A beautiful morning in Texas!

God is good to us all the time! (Did I just hear you say, "Amen?" Good!) Let me try to give you a snapshot of the past few weeks. I started preaching for the Gilmer-Baldridge church in Ennis on August 2, arriving to a warm and humbling welcome. After a wonderful introduction by one of the elders, the congregation gave me a standing ovation! I almost got choked up and couldn't preach. It was an excellent day. I came just in time to get to enoy a Community Carnival and kick-off to VBS that was planned by Tim & Deb Paden along with help from a youth group from Brownsville, TX which is led by Tim's brother-in-law and his sister. The whole church did a super job of working together, but no one knew what to expect for this first-time effort. The church provided free food, free soft drinks, free school supplies, carnival style games, three huge blow-up toys for the kids and free ice cream from one of the members who owns an ice cream truck. Well, Monday, the night of the Carnival came and so did the people. Nearly 600 people came to the event! It was fantastic and what a way for me to begin a new ministry. That event was as much a blessing and encouragement to me as it was for anyone. Then after the Carnival and VBS, Al Batten, one of the elders, and his granddaughter contacted over 40 additional families and provided school supplies for their children. What a great ministry outreach!

Since then my weeks have been a combination of preaching and teaching on Sunday, working in the office for several days, going back to Arkansas to take care of things at home and prepare to move and then coming back to Ennis on Saturday afternoon to be ready for Sunday. It's been kind of a grueling pace but it is going to let up some soon. I've finally gotten an apartment. Merilyn and Adam, and maybe Sarah, are going to help me move in this weekend (8/22). It's going to be a bit hard to go to my own place because I've been staying with one of the elders and his wife, Dr. Bill and Maryann Kinzie, and they have been treating me like a prince.
The work in Ennis is getting off to a good start. Attendance is already starting to creep up. The spirit of the church family is becoming more joyful, hopeful and optimistic. Dr. Mike Armour, a well-known retired preacher who lives in Dallas and is now president of Eastern European Missions, has been the interim preacher in Ennis. The church had an appreciation luncheon for him and his wife, Fran, this past Sunday. I got to have lunch with Mike. One thing he said that was very encouraging to me is that he could see that there is a major difference in the attitudes and outlook of the membership just within the past 90 days. There is goood reason to be excited and optimistic about the future!

Just a few highlights from the past few weeks. Getting to visit with a wonderful 96 year old lady from the church; she lives by herself and has a marvelous, upbeat approach to life because of her faith. Visiting Baylor Medical Center in Dallas with Dr. Kinzie while we went to visit one of the members who was there for some tests and treatment, then coming to tour the new regional medical center in Ennis. Hearing from others that news is getting around that good things are happening here at the church and people are already coming to see; two new families have said that they want me to announce that they will place membership this coming Sunday. Being able to continue my Thursday night Bible study group back in Springdale; I still love all the members there so much and miss seeing everyone.

Today one of the members, Bill Lewis, who has served as mayor of Ennis, is taking me to the noon Lions Club meeting for lunch and to meet some of the community leaders. The speaker is high school head coach Sam Harrell whose son, Graham, was the quarterback for Texas Tech last year. Sam is a fellow Christian and is now fighting Multiple Sclerosis. Be sure to keep him in your prayers. This afternoon I will head back to Springdale to get things ready to move into my apartment. Please remember to pray for my safety in travel, for my family during these times of transition, and especially for God to bless the work we are seeking to do for Him in Ennis. God bless you! Have a great day in the Lord!

Welcome to my world!

This is my first try at blogging, but so far I am finding it is so easy that a caveman could do it! (Maybe GEICO will send me a royalty check!) My idea with this is to be able to have an easy way to allow family and friends to keep up with what's going on with Merilyn, the kids and me as we make the transitions that have become our lot over the past year or so. Of course, I am speaking primarily about transition(s) involved in my job change and me moving to Texas while Merilyn stays behind in Arkansas waiting for our house to sell. While we may not always understand the things that are happening to us right now, we are confident that God has a plan for us and that He will always give us the guidance and blessings we need. He always has and I know that He always will. In the meantime, we will have to try to figure out what good lessons we can learn from all this stuff!
I will have lots more to say in the next post to catch up for the past few weeks that I have been in Ennis. Thanks for reading. God bless!