October 22. Waited until 9:30 this morning to see if Jimmy would come, but he didn’t show up. We are sad that he didn’t. That being so, however, we headed right out for EBC and arrived in plenty of time. Talked for a few minutes with Kathy B. Then Pastor’s mom came along, and I gave her a hug. As we were talking, the men gathered to start their Sunday school class so we hastened off to the other building for the ladies’ Sunday school class. Something hadn’t gone right for getting printed notes for our class so Mrs. Surrett handed out sheets of paper for us to write notes on. Her lesson today was “Godly Desires Lead to God’s Will” based on Proverbs 2. Three key words she covered are found in this principle: Godly desires lead to discretion which delivers from evil and leads to God’s will. Pastor Ogle’s message today, from Acts 3, was “A Deflection of Praise”. “In order to do something great for God, we must give Him the proper glory.” The preaching was great, but I got so cold during the main meeting that I hurried on out as soon as the preaching was over. I was thankful for the warm sunshine outside and in the car. Mrs. Bissell stopped by the car for a few minutes after church, and it was a delight to chat a bit with her. Did a few little things after nap this afternoon — read evening Bible passage; looked at a video with Connie; made a chocolate/coffee/banana smoothie; took down summer door décor and found an autumn one…. This evening, I did dishes and crocheting, and Daddy preached to us from Romans 16:25,26, the brief message he is preparing for the missions conference next week. “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1
0 Comments
October 21. Lots of excitement at D B’s house in the night last night. Several police cars came and a tow truck came and towed away a vehicle that had somehow “parked” itself in DB’s front yard. Daddy and I never woke up until almost 6:45 this morning. Needed to make pancakes for Daddy this morning. Then I cooked a panful of bok choy for myself. So it was after 9:00 before I finished my quiet time and breakfast. Then I made the bed, sent an e-mail to Connie to send to the company who sent me the free bottle of liver cleanse, washed out and disinfected a basin that had been sitting out on the back porch for a while collecting dirt and spider webs, set combs and brushes to soak in disinfectant water in the basin, swept off the fans in the office and kitchen, swept the kitchen floor and spot-treated it. This afternoon, I finished an MTC lesson, did a little crocheting, and went out to a couple thrift stores with Christy. Connie tagged along too 😊. “21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. 23So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.” Ezra 8:21-23 If we diligently seek the Lord to show us the right way and to take care of our needs, He will be intreated of us.
October 18. A very chilly morning. In the mid-forties again. Nice weather for sleeping. Woke up yesterday morning with the middle finger of my left hand hurting. Didn’t think much about it because it didn’t hurt that much, and I often have various parts of the body that will hurt for a while and then stop so I figured it would go away after a while. This morning, however, the pain in the finger was much worse, so much so that I couldn’t hold onto anything with my left hand, and could hardly even touch the middle finger without feeling severe pain. We thought of all kinds of things—sprain, strain, fracture, out of joint, pulled ligaments, insect bite…. Couldn’t remember having hurt it in any way. No sign of a spider bite or anything. Nothing seemed to fit. No swelling, until late this afternoon when not only was the middle finger swollen, but also the back and the palm of the hand just below the fingers. By the time we got home from church this evening, the swelling had increased, and the pain was quite intense, and I was ready for ibuprofen. After breakfast and quiet time, most of this morning was spent writing e-mails, getting the updates sent out to supporters. Later in the morning, I made up the weekly shopping list. This afternoon, I went through some of our old journal notebooks and found one of Daddy’s notebooks that covers April ‘82 to April ‘86. Otherwise I haven’t been able to find any information on those years, except for one letter that Daddy wrote to his mother. Then I did the dishes and had supper so we would be ready to go to church. C&C left a little early so they could pick up Cindie. On the way down the road as we headed for church, "Jokay" was at D B’s house and waved us down. He said he would come and see us tomorrow. Pastor Ogle taught from Exodus 30:17-21 on the brasen laver. Such a good message, bringing out the need to be clean before we can have fellowship with the Lord. The once-for-all cleansing took place at the brasen altar with the shedding of blood. The daily cleansing took place at the brasen laver with the washing of the hands and feet. The brasen laver was the only piece of furniture that was never covered, signifying that one can come at any time and wash. The laver was made of the ladies’ looking glasses (Exodus 38:8), reminding us that as we look into the water of God’s word, we can see that we are dirty, and we can wash and become clean. There are many New Testament references to our being cleansed through the word and being clean for fellowship with the Lord—John 15:3; II Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:26: Hebrews 10:22, etc. How we appreciate the time and effort Pastor obviously spends in studying and organizing these lessons from the Old Testament! “26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:26,27 October 19. Took a while for the pain in my hand to subside last night so I could get to sleep. Woke up this morning with less pain, but the hand still swollen. Doesn’t hurt quite so much to touch it and moves a little more freely. Pain starting to go up the ring finger now. Before bed last night, Connie suggested an auto-immune problem. This seems more likely, especially as we think back to my having a similar type problem with my left foot a couple months ago. Soon after quiet time and breakfast this morning, we went out shopping—to Aldi and WalMart as usual, but making an extra stop at Dollar Tree on Marion for a few items that are hard to get anywhere else. It was just about noon when we got home. Put away food and had lunch and nap. Finished writing up yesterday’s journal notes after nap, but still having a hard time using my left hand to do typing so am not doing much on the computer today other than today’s journal notes. “And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.” Ezra 6:22 October 20. Well, just as he said he was going to do, Jimmy (or "Jokay" as we thought his name was) came by early in the evening (yesterday) to see us. How we desire to be able to share more of God’s word and purpose for our lives with the people around here, but something turns them off from wanting to hear. Kyle said that was so even with him. Many people in the area know him as “preacher” and will ask him to pray for them, but they don’t want to listen when he starts talking about their need of salvation. Satan has such a strong hold on people’s lives here, but not so strong that God can’t break it. Didn’t sleep very well last night, but am thankful that my hand is doing much better today. After quiet time and breakfast, I put a load of laundry in to wash, made the bed, folded and put away Tuesday’s laundry, hung out clothes, and put a second load (small load) in to wash—Connie’s blanket, our bath mat, Lew’s cap, and my nightgown which I forgot to put in the first load. Then I set to work in our bedroom and spent most of the day in there, putting things out of sight that we have been collecting to pack but haven’t had time to pack yet, plus secret sister gifts that I’d been getting together. Trying to get things as neat as possible as it looks like a missionary couple will stay here with C&C while Daddy and I are away. They’ll be coming for the missionary conference at ABC which will be the same week that we are at the missions conference in Michigan. We are thankful that someone will be here with C&C a good part of the time we are gone. “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra 7:10 Before we can teach others, we must prepare our own hearts to seek God’s law and do it. We cannot expect others to do what we are not doing.
October 16. Turned cloudy last night and also very muggy. Had a hard time getting to sleep until I finally got up and opened windows/blinds to let fresh air in and turned the little fan on in the bathroom. By that time it was about 12:30, but I was thankful to get to sleep after that. The weather is cool, cloudy, and drizzly today. This morning, with a prayer in our hearts for God’s mercy, and the memory of God’s promise in II Chronicles 25:9, we sent the check off to Carolinas HealthCare System for Lewis’s medical attention last January. Included a cover letter explaining a bit about our situation and our ministry, and also a gospel tract. We pray that somehow God will use this to help someone come to repentance and salvation. Also got journal notes and pictures ready to send off to Connie. Daddy and I went out for a short walk. It turned out to be a very short walk as a chilly breeze was blowing. Sent journal notes to Connie after we came back. Also wrote a couple other e-mails. After that, I fixed a cherry-banana smoothie to drink. Then it was time to make soup—green soup today—millet, spinach, collards, green beans, carrots, and onions, well-seasoned and creamy. Enjoyed a cupful and a half after it had cooled a bit. This afternoon, I printed fourteen monthly updates and envelopes and gave them to Connie to fold, stuff, seal, and stamp so they can go in the mail in the morning. Then I made a batch of Annie’s brownies. Yum! (Too sweet 😊 but yum.) Must be healthy though—they’re all organic 😊. “6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” Psalm 33:6-11 God’s word is mighty and powerful. God’s word never fails. God’s word stands forever. Let us fear the LORD and stand in awe of Him. Let us magnify His word which abides forever. October 17. A very chilly morning—in the mid-forties. and a cool wind blowing. Started wash right away this morning, put rice on to cook for my breakfast, had quiet time, hung out clothes (Lew & I bundled up—didn’t worry about mosquitoes today 😊). Ate breakfast after hanging out clothes. Then Daddy & I headed for Forest City to shop at J’s, a couple thrift stores, and Mighty Dollar. Don’t know what time it was when we got home—maybe around 1:30. Daddy went down to Subway and brought home a sub for lunch, and I warmed up some soup. It was 2:15 or so when we went to nap. This afternoon, I finished another MTC lesson in the course Missions Around the World, and in the evening did some research on an unreached people group. “13The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.” Psalm 33:13-15 God sees and knows everything. He knows everything we do and everything in our hearts. We cannot hide anything from God.
October 15. Mrs. Surrett began teaching on Proverbs chapter 2 this morning. Pastor Ogle preached a very good message from Acts chapter 2, “The Fire Begins”. “We must allow the Holy Spirit through our lives to impact our world!” This afternoon, Jokay came by. That was a surprise. It had been over a year since we had seen him. He had walked his moped quite a ways and was quite tired. Stopped here to see if Daddy would give him a jump. Asked about C&C and wanted to see them. So they came out to say hello. While Daddy went to get the van, and after he had gotten his moped running too, Jokay talked with me and the girls. He wanted to know if he could come and visit C&C. We told him that would be okay as long as Daddy and/or I were here. He asked Daddy again what “born again” meant because he remembered that Daddy had told him a long time ago that his daughters could not date someone who is not born again. Christy and Connie went to visit Mrs. Mauney this evening. October 13. Finished up the baby layette yesterday evening before bed — jacket, hat, and booties. Thank the Lord for His help with that project. I do want to make a little blanket to match. Have some yarn left to start that but will need to get some more. A very cool, damp, cloudy day. Daddy spent most of the morning in bed with vertigo. I washed and hung out clothes, wrote up September progress report, and fixed a couple old picture files and sorted them into my current files. Our new pressure cooker arrived this morning, and I took time to look over it and see how to use it. This afternoon, I cleaned it up so I can try it out later. Also swept our bathroom and bedroom floors and washed the bathroom floor. Wrote monthly update this evening and started crocheting the baby blanket to match the layette. “And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man….” Genesis 39:2 “But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy….” Genesis 32:21 “….because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.” Genesis 39:23 No matter what circumstances come into our lives and no matter how impossible the situation looks, we can always be certain that the LORD is with us, will show us mercy, and will prosper us. October 14. Started the day with quiet time and breakfast. Wrote a couple notes to special people. Looked for receipts to return a couple items to WalMart. Swept dining room floor. Transferred pictures from a CD to computer, fixed them, and filed them in their proper folders. Did a little crocheting on the baby blanket before lunch. Pretty blue sky this afternoon. Spent some time on the next lesson for the MTC course , Missions Around the World. Crocheted a little more on the blanket this evening. “He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.” Psalm 33:5 Lord, help me to see your goodness in all the earth.
October 11. I had started making up our shopping list this morning when Daddy and I decided that we would go out and do some of our extra shopping today so we wouldn’t have so much to do tomorrow. First of all, we took some bags of goods to donate to Crossroads and shopped there for a new vase for the utensils. Next stop was Verizon to pay the phone bill. Then Mighty Dollar to find some embellishments for a baby layette. Daddy also got bread there, and I got a gift bag. Ran over to Big Lots to use the restroom and get a snack. Had a nice chat with the cashier Kim as we checked out. Last stop was the discount food mart where we got some protein bars, cereal, and ground beef. After we got home, I made a casserole with the leftover chicken and mashed potatoes and a few veggies. While it was cooking, I put the embellishments on the baby hat, finished making up the shopping list for tomorrow, printed the list out, and wrote down some notes for a friend about sites to look at for insurance. This afternoon, I started looking through Pidgin Acts to see how the grammar and sentence structure is so it will be ready for us to proofread together. Had an early supper and then did the dishes. Christy left around 6:00 for church so she could pick up Cindie, and we left about 6:15 so we could pick up Sara W. Good teaching this evening from Exodus 27 on the brazen altar. Brass— a symbol of judgment. Acacia — the only type of tree growing in the wilderness where they traveled; water and insect repellent; dense and strong. Largest piece of tabernacle furniture and first piece to be seen. Place where sin was judged; constant reminder of cost of sin. Ever smoking, ever blood-stained, ever open. The sacrificial lamb had no sin of its own. The work of the priests in offering sacrifices was never done. The lamb — a picture of Jesus, the Lamb of God; a lamb of sacrifice, a lamb of sustenance, a lamb of service. A sweet smell to God and satisfaction for our redemption. “You must never minimize God’s holiness or His demand for righteousness.” Don’t ever let the sacrifice at Calvary get old. How has the Lamb of God not impacted your life? “7Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: 8With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” II Chronicles 32:7,8 What a wonderful example for us to rest ourselves upon the words of our God, the King of kings! He is always with us to help us and to fight our battles. October 12. As soon as I had finished quiet time and breakfast this morning, we headed out for Aldi and WalMart to do our weekly shopping. After arriving home and getting our food put away, I spent the rest of the morning updating the e-mail section of our newsletter address list. Christy had given me a list of all the e-mail addresses she had, and I found that quite a few of them weren’t on my list and a couple of them needed to be deleted. Daddy printed out a form today for financial assistance for the medical care he had this past January at the emergency room of the KM hospital. He found out that they want to know, not only our total income, but the total amount we have in savings and checking. Since we have been saving up quite a bit for our return to PNG, we saw that they would surely believe that we have sufficient funds to pay the bill. Therefore, resting on God’s promise in II Chronicles 25:9, we made up a cover letter to go with the payment which we will send. Have sent a copy of that letter to Pastor Ogle to see what he thinks. We want the letter to be kind enough to be able to send a gospel tract with it. Cooked up a large skilletful of zucchini, mushroom, and onions for supper. Yum! Quite a mountain of dishes to do this evening. Had to have Daddy dry a few so I would have room for the rest. “1Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 2Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. 4For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.” Psalm 33:1-4 If we are upright, we should rejoice, because praise is comely for the upright. We are to sing unto the LORD a new song, and play skilfully with a loud noise (if we play an instrument) because the word of the LORD is right, and all his works are done in truth. Truly we have much about which to sing and praise.
October 9. A very warm night. Still rainy and very humid this morning. In the mid-seventies already when we got up this morning. Daddy called the PNG embassy in Washington today to see if there was any word on our visa, but nobody answered the phone. Come to find out a little later that today is a holiday — Columbus Day. First order of business this morning (after quiet time and breakfast) was to get journal notes ready for Connie. Then I spent extra time changing the color and size of my pointer and size of cursor so I can see them better. And we all searched to find out how to change the background color behind document pages because the background was so light, I could hardly distinguish the edge of the page from the background. The only choices were white, black, and dark gray besides the setting that it was on, which was called “colorful”, but there was nothing colorful about it. It was just white like the page. So I chose dark gray which, along with the change in pointer and cursor, makes everything much clearer and easier to work with. The second half of the morning, I made my weekly soup and made a jug full of senna/reishi/chamomile tea. Then I answered Pat’s text messages that came yesterday. And last for the morning, I started on a pastor appreciation card so I could make cards for each of our pastors. It took most of the afternoon to finish the four cards, but it was fun making them. This evening I called a lady I had met at WalMart quite a few weeks back and we had talked about going to Trader Joe’s. Since we are planning to go tomorrow, I called to see if she would like to go. She was hoping to go, but her daughter reminded her that she is to start on a new medication tomorrow and didn’t think she should go. She is going to be having foot surgery later this month so she asked me to pray for her and also to remember to call her next time we go to TJ’s. Then Cilla called this evening, and we chatted for quite a while. She said she is doing a lot better, but Brittney has started having some trouble with allergic reactions to something. She will be going to an allergy specialist for some tests. “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” Psalm 32:11 Those of us who are righteous and upright in heart are commanded to be glad, to rejoice, to shout for joy. October 10. Very warm and muggy today. The day began with quiet time, breakfast and doing laundry. Then I had to make the TJ shopping list since I had forgotten to do that yesterday. Gather stuff together to take in the car and head for Charlotte around 9:30. The highway was very busy today and lots of crazy drivers. We are thankful to the Lord for safety to Charlotte and back. Made use of the time along the road by praying and crocheting. It didn’t take us long to finish our shopping at TJ’s. On the way home we stopped at Neighborhood Market WalMart and Ingles in Kings Mountain. It was about 1:00 when we finally got home, and 2:00 by the time we finished putting away food, eating lunch, and then going for nap. After a nice restful nap, I made a pineapple crisp with the fresh (well, not too fresh anymore) pineapple that C&C had bought and cut up a couple weeks ago. It still smelled good so would do for a yummy crisp. Tasted good too, with yogurt and pecan pieces on top. The rest of the afternoon, I worked on ladies’ lessons. And there was quite a mountain of dishes to do this evening. A few extra kitchen utensils since Daddy accidentally knocked the vase on the floor that held a bunch of large utensils. The vase smashed to smithereens and all the utensils had to be washed. Relaxed and crocheted some more before bed. Daddy called the embassy again today, but they do not have any paper work for us yet. “And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.” II Chronicles 31:21 We can learn from Hezekiah that every work of service that we do for the Lord should be done with all our heart in order for us to prosper.
October 8. Praise the Lord for His word today. Mrs. Surrett was here for Sunday school and continued the lesson on the three admonitions in Proverbs chapter 1. Pastor Ogle preached today on Acts 1, “The Continuation of the Story”, more about Peter. It was a great message reminding us of God’s promises in verses 4-12, the importance of prayer, in verses 13,14, and the importance of preaching in verses 15-22. We need to be careful we don’t lose our passion. We have the most exciting message in the world and the privilege to share it with others. Would you commit to asking God if you’ve lost some or all of your passion? Would you pray that God would light a fire in you that nobody could put out, even if that meant that you would literally be put on fire? “The Christian who isn’t different enough to die for his faith isn’t different enough to make a difference.” This afternoon and evening, I did a fair bit of crocheting, and also washed the dishes. It was a warm and very humid day. The Lord was sending rainstorms and tornadoes all over the area. There were pictures on Face Book, and on the news, of a cloud seen by many people at the Cleveland County fair. The cloud looked like it was going to turn into a tornado, but thankfully it never did. What would all those people have done? Although we had a good amount of rain, we are truly thankful that there was no severe weather right in this vicinity. Other parts of Cleveland County and counties north of here had significant damage from tornadoes. “And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.” II Chronicles 29:30b Oh, that I might sing praises with gladness and humbly worship the Lord who has put the songs of praise and the gladness in my heart! “Thou hast put gladness in my heart….” Psalm 4:7a October 6. Another chilly morning, but the days are getting a bit warmer. It was so nice to get out in the fresh air and hang clothes. After washing and hanging out clothes, I looked through some listings of houses for sale and wrote down a couple that would be in Christy’s price range. Had started doing some of that last night before bed. Then I went through the presentation once more to make sure there weren’t any pictures that needed stretching so they wouldn’t have white edges (found a couple) and to see if any other changes were needed (found a couple). This afternoon, I made up November’s schedule because I saw on October’s schedule that some things would need to be changed. This evening, I spent time going through more of my picture files and transferring some to this computer. Was happy to be able to talk with Bonita a few minutes also. Did a little crocheting the rest of the evening. “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” Psalm 86:5 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18 “48He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 49Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.” Psalm 18:48,49 October 7. This morning, I made oatmeal for my breakfast. After quiet time and breakfast, I cleaned a bunch of e-mails out of the inbox. Later in the morning, C&C went out to do some special shopping; and Daddy and I had some time to talk together. Time went by too fast, and I missed getting a dinner made so Daddy had his lunch at noon. I got potatoes washed and peeled and covered with water in a pot to cook in the afternoon so he could have a good supper this evening. After nap, I cut Daddy’s hair and looked for music that might go well with our presentation. Connie and Daddy helped me figure out how to put a couple songs in a playlist that hopefully can be imported to the presentation. Then I did some crocheting before preparing chicken and getting it on to cook, and after a while starting the potatoes cooking. “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant.” Genesis 32:10a I too am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and truth which the Lord has shown to His handmaid. |
|
newsletterfebruary2024.pdf | |
File Size: | 1988 kb |
File Type: |
islesaresingingchapters1to15pdf.pdf | |
File Size: | 395 kb |
File Type: |
Archives
March 2024
January 2024
December 2023
September 2023
July 2023
June 2023
April 2023
March 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016