Mercy Drops

Ministry Update

The Lord allowed us to fill an open date almost at the last minute.  Sunday, we were in Twin City Bible Church in Nitro, WV preaching and ministering in music.  The Lord really met with us.  On Sunday morning, the Lord really got hold of hearts and many came and made key decisions in the area of interpersonal relationships.  There were those that were making things right with each other after the service and others that couldn't wait to see someone who wasn't there so that they could make things right.  It was wonderful to see God work. 

After a youth rally on Friday night in Morgantown, WV, we quit the Mountaineer state, heading West to IN.  Thank you so much for your prayers for us.  The emphasis of Friday is to be an evangelistic one, with the promise of lost people present for the rally.  Please pray that God will save souls.

Blessings, Superheroes, and Government Procedure

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a great month of ministry last month. Every Sunday except one, I was able to preach at the Bible Baptist Church of Spencer, NC. In addition, we were also able to minister in another church and gain another good contact for the future. The Bible Truth Music Leadership Conference was a highlight last month as well. This month will find us in West Virginia (hence the need for the passports, see below) and on into the Midwest. Thank you all for your prayers as we continue to travel and preach the Gospel.

Paul

Family Update

We know you are all eager to hear what has been going on at our house lately, so we will present the latest episode of “As the Trailer Turns.” Things have been quite busy since the first of the year with the general things of life, church, school, etc. Perhaps the most important thing was Josiah making a public profession of his faith before the church and getting baptized. How wonderful to see our son following the Lord in this first step of obedience. While we were waiting in the baptismal dressing room on Sunday morning, Josiah said to me, “I know that if I die before I get baptized, I will still go to heaven!” I responded that I hoped we wouldn’t have to test that statement. He stands firmly on the Bible for assurance of his salvation. All of his grandparents were present for this momentous occasion, and there were very few dry eyes. That evening, he was able to partake of his first communion, too, which was very exciting for him. We did substitute an unleavened potato chip for the bread, but I am sure the Lord understands. When you can’t eat bread, there just isn’t much choice! Some of you may take theological offense, but I am sure that with counseling you will get over it.

Josiah also had a great loss this past week when his first tooth finally evacuated his mouth. Only two small yanks and that baby was out of there. No, I did not use the doorknob method of extraction alluded to in an earlier update. Nor did I use the pliers as some suggested, or tie his tooth to the bumper of the truck and drive away. It was all very humane. He did ask if I was the “tooth fairy” when he put it under his pillow that night. I pretended to be offended and asked if he thought I looked like the tooth fairy, at which question he dissolved into uncontrollable giggles. I wonder what that was supposed to mean!?

Last week, (yes – everything happened last week, in case you are wondering, and we are glad that nothing has happened this week because it gives us time to recover between disasters) all three kids came down with the stomach flu. Esther was first, then Abigail caught it, and finally, Josiah. It was fortunate for me that I was gone for the day when it struck all three of them at the same time. Paul could hardly keep up with the cleanup, if you know what I mean. I did offer to come home, but he told me he preferred playing the martyr. Apparently, the penchant for drama runs in the family, because Josiah told Paul during this rather traumatic event, “I think that this is going to be my last day on earth!” You have all probably heard of the acclaim of Superman – “Faster than a speeding bullet…Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound…” With slight modification, these can now be applied to Paul. “Faster than a puking child in the middle of the night…Able to leap from bed to the other end of the trailer in a single bound, while grabbing the trashcan on the way…” Thankfully, his cape did not get snagged in the door of our phone booth-sized bathroom. I am happy to report that our health is back to normal, although we still start in fear when anyone coughs or burps. Just today, I caught Esther hanging over the Lego box, pantomiming throwing up. The drama gene again, I’m sure.

We also took the family to apply for our passports last week. This will enable us to continue taking mission trips with the family. The last time we went out of the country, we had a difficult time with the officials because all we had was our birth certificates. Now they won’t accept that either, so we really had no other choice. Paul went Thursday, and applied for his, and then took the rest of us on Friday. First we had to get our pictures taken. Trust us to pick the only Wal-mart in the area that did not have a digital camera. Instead, we had to wait for the Polaroid pictures to develop, and then discard them all because they were too small. Esther had her picture taken four times, and Abigail had hers taken three times. After we finally got done there, having had nine pictures for the price of four, we went to the passport office.

To call the esteemed establishment an office is really a grand flattery. It was just a room off of a maze of corridors in the post office. The fact that it had five chairs in it, seeing that there were twenty people waiting, was not of much consequence. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, we gathered all of our papers and offspring and herded them into the “office.” Esther took this opportunity to further advance her career in espionage by opening file drawers while we talked to the lady in charge. Since her reading skills are not all that they should be, she gave up on the state department files, and began hacking into the computer at the next work station. We barely intervened before she tested out their brand new digital camera. I think the passport official was relieved to have real Americans sitting before her, with real papers. We overheard her say while we were sitting in the waiting area, “Well, if you decide to become a citizen, then you can come back.” Apparently, it isn’t as easy to get a passport as some people might think. I was rather disgruntled when the woman told us that Josiah’s photo may be sent back because it is too small. Back to the Polaroid studio, I guess.

We are quite ready to get back on the road again, and ask that you pray for the Lord to continue to open doors for us in the next few weeks and months. Our summer is already full, for which we are grateful, but we still have several openings throughout the year. Our desire is that God would lay it on the hearts of good men to have us into their churches, and that we would be effective ministers at each opportunity.

Sarah