Jeff & Angie

Y’all.  Really.  I never appreciated the camp cooks.  (Pictured, Chef Donece and counselor assistant, Heather.)

Today—totally I do.

My feet are killing me. The kids are precious.  The counselor assistant’s we have for the kitchen—are off the CHAIN! Totally.  But I’m still beat.

I’m going to show just a few highlights…mostly because I have GOT to get horizontal.  Really.  My feet may not cooperate tomorrow.  They almost didn’t want to move today!

The memories of past camps—when I came as a counselor have come back…did I tell the cooks “Thank you” enough?  Did I clean up after myself?  Did I teach the kids to be appreciative?

I went home for an hour this afternoon—and showered and changed before supper—we had an air conditioner go out…and it was HOT.  Put yourself there if you can…mentally.  Turn your oven on, turn off the air conditioner, and just keep the oven on…and stand CLOSE while the oven door is open…and it’s on HIGH.  Now don’t leave it when it gets warm…stay.  Feel the heat.  Feel the sweat pool?  And run??  Uhm…yeah.  So did we.

My awesome husband brought us HUGE fans this evening for the supper meal.  (Which was homemade lasagna—Donece recipe!!) 

Thank you to the dream boat of my LIFE!  I am BLESSED!  We will celebrate 29 terrific years on the last day of this month—terrific you say? Yes, I say.  Battles have come as they have in most lives, but the Anchor holds…if you hold to the right One.

Oh, sorry.  My mind wandered…I’m too tired to type more….

I will later.  Come back soon.  Thanks Heather for taking pictures for me again…I was

…busy.

I have to admit —my reason for NOT being present and accounted for here—has been the steady activity of getting ready for camp meeting, district council, kids camp, youth camp…and uhmm. Life.

I had written a post for Internet Café a few weeks back and FORGOT it was “airing” today.  So…here you go!  Hot off the press—or, straight out of the pot.  Standing out in the crowd.

God has been SO good to us—in so many things.  Health wise—ministry wise—He get’s all the credit for ANY good thing that comes from Jeff or myself.  It’s certainly not us. 

IF you have nothing else to pray for on Saturday, please pray for me as I will be speaking at our Women’s Ministry Missions Dinner (raising money for our missions projects) “Tables of Love”.  This message—is one that I sort of argued with God about delivering…needless to say, He won.  I repented…MUCH.  See, the thing is, I thought He wanted something “cute…fun even….”  No.  Not happening.  What HE gave—I will deliver.  (Thanks in advance for praying)

I hope all your graduates have walked that long walk—tossed those tasseled hats in the air –and stepped out into an adventure with God!  Wait—didn’t they read the sign?

“ADVENTURE AHEAD—CALLED—LIFE”.

Just one thing…in life, sometimes you just have to stand up in the boat.

Copyright 2011 The Knightly News.  All rights reserved.

Dear ones.  This has been a week of tears—not the hormonal kind..but the “prayerful” kind.

Without telling you what God showed my heart and mind—know this:  He will reveal things to you when you “box” yourself in with Him—every—single—time. 

I read an account of William Seymour from the book “They Told Me Their Stories”, by Tommy Welchel and according to several eye witness accounts, William Seymour put a box on his head—as directed by God—which may have seemed ridiculous to many—but the effects of his action of obedience—was  an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and anointing on that man as never before experienced since (my opinion) the message preached on the Day of Pentecost, by Peter himself! Acts 2:1-47.

I sought Him—He showed up.  No, God didn’t tell me to put a box on my head—but He did require me to sit still—leaning hard into His presence—He was here.  In my house.

Some of the tears that fell this week were prayers for those suffering such tragedies as the onslaught of the weather persisted in ripping apart lives across our Nation.

As Jeff explained all the details of the trip to Rainbow City, Alabama, so hard hit by those tornadoes in April, I sat amazed at all the pictures.

Pictured here is a group of men from California, who flew in, purchased all the tools they needed to work, rented a couple of vans and was directed to the sites to work.  They gave all they had in the work—and then gave all they had purchased when they left. They gathered around the homeowner to pray before they left.  Did they know them?  No.  Did they have to know them to help them? No.

Two accounts specifically touched my heart.  One was a father who held onto his son as he was being sucked out of the sunroof of the car they were riding in.  As they saw and felt the tornado, the son began to recite scriptures—over and over.  All those he had learned all his life—and then he was gone.  Right out of his dad’s arms. (From the Joplin tornado)

The other account was one that Jeff relayed when he returned from Rainbow City, AL.  He showed me the picture of the site where the house “was”.  The older couple had been in their living room—praying because of the storm—and then all of a sudden she was sucked out of the house when it erupted and thrown over 200 yards and died.  The house, or what was left of it fell on him—yet he is alive. 

Why did these tragedies and all the others take place?  I have no answers for these—yet I must say this:  Tragedies come to all.  It doesn’t pick and choose by age, sex, race or religious affiliation.  It’s part of life. 

What matters is what we do with such events.  Do we curse and blame God?  Or do we reach out to help those in need?  Friend, if such event strikes my life—and I am sucked from this world to the one waiting—I pray that I am quoting the Word of God on my way up—or having a conversation with my Father in the moments before.

If it takes it, I will put a box on my head to make sure I am where I need to be in Him—daily. I’ve never been more serious about His Work—His Call—and His Word.

If it takes a box—friend, don’t wait a day longer to get connected with Him.

© The Knightly News 2007-2011

Who do you call?

Where do you turn?

The day the tornados hit Alabama and changed it’s landscape forever—everyone was going about their business as usual.  But in a matter of seconds, business as usual changed forever.

Jeff spoke with a young man last week and learned that he lost “30” close friends in the life altering events of catastrophic weather.

Growing up in a faith based home—where we called on God for everything—we saw Him deliver us from many things—walk us “through” many things—and save us “out of” many things.  THIS is something we have never faced.  We have faced fire, deaths, health crisis, family drama, but not this.

In talking with my sister Aimee last week she shared this:  “Everything in our lives has to go through the filter of God first.  Just like Job.  His disaster’s were not a surprise to God— God didn’t keep it from happening.  God filters what happens and what is kept “from happening” in our lives on a daily basis.”

The question for many is “why”.  Why THIS horrendous occurrence.  I have to remind myself—that good and bad rains on the just and the unjust alike.  Just because we serve God with all our hearts does not keep bad things from happening in our lives.  BUT serving God does give us a Rock and Comforter that those who walk away from God does not have.

In my darkest valleys—when I felt all my world was crashing down—I felt God.  I knew God was there—Did the problem go away?  Not exactly.  I had to walk through it just like anyone else would.  But I had a hand to hold me.  I had the knowledge that God was by my side the entire time.  I knew that.  I felt that.

Have there been times when I didn’t feel God in the storms of life? 

Yes.  Truthfully, I have had those days where I felt like I was drowning and there was no hand to save me. 

Yet He was there.  And the moment I took my focus off of all that was “wrong” and put my eyes on Him—He reached down and lifted me up.  Many times He sent “a friend” to help me.  A friend that leant a shoulder—and prayed that prayer of faith when I felt mine was all but gone.

That is what our mission team is doing next week.  Lending hands and shoulders—and backs.  They are going to Alabama to work on the clean-up efforts in some of the areas hardest hit.  They will appreciate your prayers.  Also, if you would like to lend support in other ways, I am sure you can contact the churches in those areas, or the Red Cross to see how you can be effective –in lending a hand and heart to those in need.

Many lost loved ones—their homes—possibly their jobs.  So many lives are changed forever by the winds that blew through Alabama.  But we can extend to them the love of Christ through help with clean up, financial support, prayer—and being there to listen to their story.

I thank Randy Robbins from Alabama—who is one of this storms survivors.  His story is nothing short of miraculous.  These photographs came from his e-mail.

Continue to pray for all those picking up the pieces of their lives.