Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Traveling Circus

Family Update

We had a good service again last night, where the Lord worked in many hearts. It was also a rather eventful night for us as a family. Abigail sang in the service for the first time. She and Josiah stood on a chair behind the pulpit, and with Paul for background support (No, he did not sing “doo-wahs” in the background), they sang “Little Things,” a song that tells how God delights in using little things to do His will. Abigail only managed to get the last few words of every phrase, but it was a real accomplishment to even get her up there.

After the service we fellowshipped for a long while. It was during this time, that Josiah came to me with a bloody nose. This was the result of putting a stick in his nostril while playing outside. I had to explain to him why he should not do it again – somewhere in his head is a brain, however large or small, and he might hurt himself badly if he continued to perform such daring feats. Abigail sat in a briar bush. Esther had her first taste of chocolate in the form of an Oreo cookie. If we had been a traveling circus (no comments, please), the sideshows might have been advertised something like this:

“Come see the world’s greatest brainless boy – he carries his brain on an ordinary stick!”

“Don’t miss the incredible howling, jumping girl! She can leap small fences at a single bound!”

“See the amazing bearded baby! Even though she has a beard, her head is as bald as a jug! Scientists are baffled by this seeming anomaly!”

We put the children to bed before they could do any more damage to themselves or anyone else.

Paul is complaining of needing a haircut, so I will add him to the circus bill.

“The one and only six foot plus Preaching Hairball!”

And of course, you know the show isn’t over until the fat lady sings…

I guess it is a good thing that we aren’t a circus after all.

Monday, March 26, 2007

From Southern Indiana

Ministry Update

After a good close to our meeting in Greer, we had a very action-packed week off, complete with unexpected doctor’s visits in Charlotte and unexpected ministry opportunities. Now we are in Laurel, IN at First Baptist Church. Yesterday was a good day with a man named William Teagarden walking the aisle to trust Christ in the morning service. After the service, he informed his relatives that he had to go home and pour out all his beer that he just bought last week. He is planning to be baptized on Wednesday night. In the pastor’s opinion, last night was a particularly good service in which some people really got some things right with God. This meeting is supposed to go through Friday of this week, but there has already been talk of extending it if God begins to break things open. Please be in prayer. I don’t know if I have ever been in a church that worked as hard as this church does. They seem to all be involved in the ministry in some way, even though the pastor is the only full time staff member. It is such a blessing to be able to be a part of their ministry here. Please be in prayer for the services at 6 o’clock EDT each night.

Family Update

We have finally done it – allergy testing for Josiah. While at the doctor’s office in Shelby, his pediatrician recommended that Josiah be tested for allergies. I agreed to set up an appointment if possible while we were in the area. When I went to schedule the appointment, I told the secretary that I had a window of three days the next week that we could have it done. She was aghast, and told me that it usually takes about two weeks to get in to the allergist. I left, and went home, where I told Paul about it, and we agreed that if the Lord wanted us to have it done, He would work out the timing. To be honest, I really didn’t think about it again, because I didn’t think it was going to work out. The following Monday, I received a call from the doctor’s office, asking if I had received any paperwork in the mail. “No,” I said. “Why?” The receptionist proceeded to inform me that Josiah had an appointment in Charlotte in two hours! Talk about high gear! We raced around the house, getting everything ready, and took off as soon as possible, making it in the nick of time for the appointment!

They performed a skin test, or scratch test on him, with 74 different substances, mostly trees, pollens, weeds, grasses, molds, with a few foods thrown in for good measure (we made sure that neither peanuts nor eggs were in the lineup). He came back very high in almost all the trees, grasses, and weeds, as well as several of the foods. His back was just a mass of welts, but he was very brave, and we were proud of him. The allergist told us that he wanted to have a blood test done for the food allergies, because it is more accurate than the skin test for foods. So, three days later, we had blood drawn for that in Shelby. Josiah did not do very well on that day. He made more fuss over that one needle than he did over the all 74 of the others. We are now awaiting the results of that test. Please pray with us that the results will be very definite, with no “iffy” reactions. This will help us to better control his asthma, hopefully, and stay far away from the hospital. The allergist was convinced that if we can keep his allergies under control, we would have no issues with his asthma. He wanted to start allergy shots right way, but because of our travel schedule, it was not possible. I was relieved, but I am sure that Josiah would have been more so, had he known what was in the works – shots three times a week for six weeks and then decreasing over time. Anyway, for now, we are done. Pray that the Lord would give us wisdom concerning further treatment.

The whole family was able to go fishing the other day. This was quite an event for us, as you might imagine. Abigail ran around with a stick and splashed in the water “catching” leaves, while Esther sat on the bank and played with her cheerio container. Paul, Josiah, and I caught fish. I would like to tell everyone that I caught more fish than Paul, and that mine were bigger, too…but that would not be true. He threw half of mine back, saying that they were “borderline” keepers, but between just us, I think he was worried that I was going to school him. I forgot to mention that Paul also caught the smallest fish. Josiah caught a nice-sized bluegill. He had been casting, and was upset because he couldn’t reel in his line. No wonder – there was a fish on the other end. He was rather excited about it. We caught a total of 13 fish, which we summarily devoured that evening for dinner – after cleaning and cooking them, of course!

Esther is nine months old and such a cutie! She is not crawling yet, but it probably won’t be too much longer before she is. She still has only two teeth, and her newest trick is “kissing.” She puckers up her little lips and goes “pk, pk, pk.” Then she gives the cutest little grin. Her favorite trick, though, is blowing raspberries (this is also known as the Bronx cheer). I think she takes great delight in spraying spittle all over our faces. Abigail always says, “Essa pitted on me! Eew! Das yucky!” Josiah is almost through his first year of school (six weeks and counting). He has learned so much this year. He is all boy, though, and we rarely have a chance to forget it. He informed us the other day that burping makes him happy. Relieved, I might understand, but happy?? Abigail is finally taking the initiative in potty training. We have seen so much success this week, that I have great hopes of this being the last package of diapers for her. Rejoice, but keep praying!

We have a lot going on right now, which is why the updates haven’t been as regular as we would like. Please continue to pray that the Lord would use us, and that we would have safety as we travel. We had several close calls on our way to Indiana. Paul would probably attribute it to all those “Yankee drivers,” or worse, “crazy woman drivers,” but whatever the case, the Lord kept us safe. When I suggested to Paul that it might be his driving that was the problem, he looked at me in horrified astonishment, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. Now he said I am not allowed to write any more updates as punishment for my insulting him. Well, so long until the next time!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

God's Blessing

The Lord has been giving us a great meeting here in Greer. Last night there was a girl that came forward visibly broken. She ended up trusting Christ as Savior. Tonight there was a couple that came to me after the service and told me that they had come intending to ask me for counsel. They had been involved in a problem for about a year with someone else and they were unsure of how to Scripturally deal with the problem. After the service, they told me that the Lord had used the message to answer all their questions and all their prayers regarding the situation.

Please pray for the service tomorrow night. It is school night and there seems to be an air of excitement in the air. Pray that God will give us a good service with many trusting Christ.

Paul

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Good Start

The Lord gave us a good start to our meeting here in Greer, SC today. We saw a young married woman come and trust Christ in the morning service. Her husband was a relative of one of the ladies in the church and the young couple had been the objects of prayer for quite some time. I have a lot of family and friends in the area (I was brought up just 15 minutes down the road in Taylors, SC), many of whom need to get right with God. Please pray with me that they will both attend and be saved.

This morning in Sunday school, I preached a message entitled "The Glory of His Presence." It was a message from Luke 24 about the two men on the road to Emmaus. After Sunday school, an elderly gentleman came to me and told me that he was a Catholic. He recounted how he would pray often for others and frequently his prayers would be answered, but he said that he could not feel the presence of God when he prayed for himself. After explaining that God's presence is not necessarily perceived by the physical senses, I began to inquire about his salvation. He told me that he was trusting in Christ and the fact that he had been a good person. I answered from Luke 18 with the story of the Pharisee and the publican. I counseled him to begin reading his Bible, telling him just where to start and outlining a simple plan for him. While he is not saved yet, I have confidence that he will be saved soon. He told me of Catholic Bible studies that he sometimes attended and asked me if it would be better for him to attend a Bible study or read the Bible on his own. I suggested that he read on his own. I told one of the saved couple who had brought him, "I have staked his eternal destiny on the power of God's Word to convince a man of his need for salvation." It would not surprise me if this man is in his Bible right now doing just what I counseled him to do. Please pray for George, that the Spirit of God would illuminate his understanding as he reads the Scripture and that he would give up Roman Catholicism and trust Christ alone for salvation.

The meeting is to close Friday night with a special School Night. Please be in prayer that many parents and students will be saved at this special service. God is doing great things already and we look for Him to continue.

Paul