Weight loss

 

The photo on the left is me about a year and four months ago at a whopping 230lbs!  No, I am not pregnant...baby Beckles is in the photo with me at a antiques sale. The latter is me in the 160's club!  If you have never heard of the trim healthy mama way of eating, let me introduce it to you! CLICK HERE! My husband bought the book for me because I was discouraged about my weight.  I would gain 40 - 60 pounds with each pregnancy (3) and I would work hard for about a year just to loose all but about 10 pounds before I became pregnant again.  We would like to have as large a family as the Lord allows...I'm  thinking 8 to 10 kiddos...but I just can't imagine what would have happened to me at the aforementioned rate of weight gain. I am SO thankful for this knew knowledge about food and health.  Should you choose to try it, Remember to keep it simple!!!  We have a VERY limited budget. (My husband is the pastor of a small church and works part-time at Wal-Mart to make ends meet.) I mention our budget because there are a lot of things recommended, but not necessary to follow this eating plan. I follow the principles taught by Serene and Pearl and add the "extra" or "special" things as I am able.  Thank you Lord (and Serene and Pearl... and their families who sacrificed time with them for our benefit!)  for helping me to get control of my weight!!!

Until Next Time,
 

Lead by Example

One lady that I have a lot of admiration and respect for came to visit us a few weeks back.  For  three years I was able to observe Mrs. Theresa Lucas in action.  Her husband, Leon Lucas, was our pastor when we lived in North Carolina.  A more diligent, thankful, and sweet woman you will never find; but the characteristic or attribute I want to thank her for demonstrating to me is in the area of prayer.  Proverbs 8:17 says -  I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
 Mrs. Lucas always encouraged everyone around her to pray before you began anything...and I mean anything and everything.  Before we began any activity- she prayed, before she turned the car engine on to travel anywhere -she prayed, before we began to practice for a song- she prayed, before she began to cook dinner- she prayed. 

I don't know if it's just my personality, or pride, or what; but I tend to dive into things that I think I am capable of handling without prayer; forgetting that the scriptures tell us that ...."I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5
Thank you Mrs. Lucas for the reminder!
Until next time,

 

 

Ressurection Sunday

We LOVE celebrating the Ressurection of our Savior on Easter morning! Something about Easter every year just make me want to get an early start to the day...believe me - that is saying A LOT!  Here are a few pics from our Easter.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all and your loved ones are doing well.  I am enjoying my Valentine's day. 

How do you like my photo for the back cover of my book?  I had about 15 to choose from and this I thought made me look "approachable" and happy.  I had intended to straighten my hair then curl it; but I am glad I didn't because it was extremely windy and cold that day so I am sure I would have looked a mess! 
Hubby and kiddos are doing well.  So thankful for the family God has given me.  Raymond and I were talking the other night about important choices that we have made in the past that we are glad about.  Both of us concluded that it seems that some of the small ones have turned out to be the most important. 




My challenge for you today is to make good small choices!  They make a big impact on your life in the long run!

2013 Prayer Letter

Dear Pastor and Church Family,


Looking back over 2013 brings a flood of memories to mind. Some are good. Some are bad; but each memory represents a lesson learned.

We are currently averaging a solid 30 on Sunday mornings and our Thursday evening attendance has doubled. Several souls have been saved; a few baptized. One couple who had been living together for over five years decided to get married. Quite a few missionaries have come through and been such a blessing to our people; and our L.A.F. activities (Lighthouse After-church fellowships) continue to be a blessing to our people. Once every two months we have our L.A.F. services. Some people come to the service visibly heavy hearted, but it is so amazing to see them loosen up and the burdens seemingly melt away after some good preaching, good fellowship, and good food. Sometimes we even have to start giving hints so people will pack up and go home!

We have also had a few interesting people visit our services and one interesting person nearly visited; but I gladly took him back where I picked him up from after his unacceptable behavior on our church van. Everything seemed fine that morning when he got on the van until I picked up one couple who attends our church pretty faithfully. He said, “Oh, no! You pick those wicked people up! Those evil people go to your church. No! Take me home now!.” Then he turned to them and started threatening to kill them and kill the baby that the young lady is expecting. I suspect that his behavior was influenced by drugs or alcohol. After all that excitement I had to stand up and preach to our people. It was a little bit of a challenge to get back in the “Spirit”; but I believe the Lord blessed that day. We had a really good Sunday with several visitors and some have returned every Sunday since.

One sad memory I have is the death of a young man whom I invited to church a couple of years ago. He finally attended our church last summer and seemed to enjoy the services. I continued to visit him and try and encourage him in the Lord, but he eventually fell away. Well, lst month we found out that the young man was shot and killed in a neighboring town. So sad; but I can’t help but wonder how differently his life would have ended had he given it to the Lord.

Family News and Prayer requests:

Everyone in our family is doing well. Me, my wife, and the kids are all in good health and excited about what the Lord will do in our family as well as in the church this year. Please continue to pray with us about the following:

1. A tractor to keep our land maintained.

2. Provisions for the nursery. Our people have done a great job in giving for that and it has come a long way; but we still ask you to pray for our nursery as we select workers for it and such.

3. Wisdom regarding our ministry for the children.

In His service,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

Prenancy survival guide

Recently I was invited to speak at a baby shower for one of our faithful ladies.  We had a great time; but one of the things I really enjoyed was this game.  I put together a list of ten things that I consider "must have's"  while I am pregnant.  The mother who could match the most home remedies with the correct symptom won a batch of homemade laundry soap.  Can you match the remedy with the ailment?



Remedies                                                             Ailment
Red Rasbery leaf tea                                           Fatigue
Almonds                                                             Forgetfullnes
Black Tea                                                           Constipation
Castor Oil                                                           Hormonal swings
Yogurt                                                                Yeast infections
Ginko                                                                  Heartburn
Cranberry                                                            Nasea
Mint                                                                    Diaper rash
Protein                                                                 Bladder Infections
Vanilla                                                                 Indigestion


Answer key coming soon!
Until Next Time,

                                                           

So You Want To Win...

When I say Win a bus kid, I don't mean to lead them to the Lord as far as salvation is concerned; I am talking about keeping them in church through their teenage years and even through adulthood.  The things I plan to share are things that I believe won me.  They don't specifically apply to Black children; but I will address that for those of you who are in predominately White churches; but reach out to the Black community.

Tip #1
Remember that not every kid that that comes on the bus will serve God.  Do your best to share with them about salvation; but realize that most of those kids we pick up today but we don't even know where to find them tomorrow.

Tip #2
Look for a child that seems really hungry for the Word of God and start praying specifically for them.  It really sends chills down my spine when I think that I might be the only person praying for that child and their family.  Note:  It is important to realize that praying for their family is vital as well.  Several members of my family have been saved since I have been in church; to be honest it really all began with my Grandma.  She was the first to attend Windsor Hills and commit her life to Christ.  She gave our address to her bus captain, who gave it to the bus director, who gave it to the Jackson's, who visited us and invited my whole family to church.

Tip #3
Once you have selected a faithful child and have begun to faithfully pray for them; make sure they attend at least two out of three services a week.  This is VERY important.  I don't know any serious Christian who ever did anything for God that only attended church once a week.  I would add that I think it is important that the child ride to church in a car, rather than a bus, for at least one of the services.  This gives the child (and their family) the opportunity to see faces other than those who work on the bus.  In my situation, my mom became good friends with several people in our church.  She knew that their was a whole host of folks who cared about me and my family other than just the bus workers.  She often cooked for them on the holidays to show her appreciation for them transporting me and my siblings to church and caring for us.

To be continued....

Until next time,

Confession #3 - Afraid

This confession may be a little bizarre; but I don't like dealing with children at the altar.  So many people, myself included, have the testimony that they prayed when they were a child; but doubted and had to pray again later to be sure they were saved.  Well, like it or not; I am the first altar worker my husband calls on when a child or young lady raises their hand for salvation. 

The Sunday evening before last we had a little visitor in church.  We have been praying for some time for a single mom that lives in Newport to come to our church and let the Lord do a work in her life.  She is a close friend of one of our faithful members and has visited before; and she is very friendly when we see her around town. Well, it was her little five year old daughter who came with a friend to our service last week.  I don't remember what my husband preached about; but at the end of the service he invited those who wanted to pray to be saved, as he always does.  I was sitting directly behind her and saw her raise her hand; but my husband didn't see her.  Well, she must have been really serious because after he prayed the closing prayer she walked right up to him and told him she wanted to be saved!  I dropped everything and took her to my Sunday school classroom and VERY CAREFULLY and with fear and trembling shared with her verses and explained the best I could about God's gift of salvation.  I asked her if she was a sinner- if she had ever done anything that was bad; and with a look of severe concentration on her face she confessed, "Yes."  I told her that she could ask Jesus to forgive her for any bad thing she has done and will ever do and he would forgive her and take her to Heaven when she died.  She understood that people who didn't pray for Jesus to save them went to Hell.  She very sincerely prayed to become a Christian. 

She left that room with a HUGE smile on her face and went and told her friend that she got saved!  What a blessing.  Now if we could just get her mom and dad (and step mom) to understand that they need Jesus too!

Matthew 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Until next time,

Confession 2 - Faking it!

I was recently talking to a lady and she made the comment that she just couldn't "fake" liking someone or something when she really didn't.  I thought to myself... "You better never become a pastor's wife. I sure have.  Sometimes in the ministry 'faking it' is a must."  Right after I said it (to myself) a still small voice said to me, "O really, think about that."  So I have been thinking about it for about a month now.  Do you know what the Lord said to me....'Faking it' is only necessary when I am in the flesh.  If I am "walking in the Spirit" I don't have to 'fake' anything...I can react or respond in every situation with boldness. 

Let me explain a little bit further what I am talking about.  Sometimes we encounter people who are just plain selfish, or moochers, or  dumb"simple", etc.  Sometimes you just want to "give it to them RAW"; but instead you smile and be sweet and help them, or promise to pray with them about a certain situation. I am not saying that I should always respond how I would like.  Sometimes it is right to keep quiet.  But it is important to BE REAL.  So often when we have been at this thing for a while we know what is expected of us so we do that; but that which we do is not what we wanted to do or what we had or felt in our heart and mind. 

Romans 7:14 - 25

 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Real live example

Recently we met with a couple who has been having a difficult time financially.  We explained to them about tithing (for the third time), talked with them about offerings and explained in detail about the importance of establishing and sticking to a budget.  They nodded their heads and when the conversation was over they handed us some money (Evidently they didn't get that a partial tithe is not a tithe; but at least they are making an effort) and seemed encouraged.  The next day they called and asked for a ride to the store and after that a ride to Burger King - where they spent almost 1/18th of their total month's income on one meal.  I wanted to refuse to taxi them and then give them a piece of my mind; but after some prayer, I decided instead to let them make their own decisions without my input. I had to go to the store anyway, and even though that fast food sure smelled good, I had chili cooking at home! These are professing Believers. I was reminded that some folks learn best from the school of hard knocks and the Holy Spirit is able and willing to help us when and if we allow Him. If they won't allow God to help them, what makes me think that anything I say will change them. Initially I slapped a fake smile on my face and demonstrated a fake willing spirit.  Then I whispered a little prayer of thanks for the work and grace of God manifested in my life and asked for Him to do a work in their lives as well.

There was a time when I was a new Christian that all I could to was take.  I simply had nothing to offer; but to grow in the Lord I needed a Bible.  Someone bought one for me.  I needed a ride to church.  I was bussed to and from church sometimes five times a week and all I could offer was a shallow thank you-if I said that.  I went to a Christian school for five years; my family may have paid 5% of the bill.  I did do some work scholarship; but I am sure it didn't cover what was lacking.  Some faithful college students paid my school bill for a while; but they couldn't support me forever.  Mooch. Guilty! Selfish. Guilty! Undeserving. Guilty!  I could go on. 

I hope this little post will encourage you to BE REAL.  Let the Lord work through you in the lives of others.  The world doesn't need any more phonies.

Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Until Next Time,

Coming soon..."So you want to win a bus kid?"

September, October Prayer Letter

October 22, 2012

Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,

Praise the Lord that the three digit temperatures of our Arkansas Summer have ended and Autumn has brought with it some beautiful, cool weather. We also praise God for His goodness to us and our church and this season of blessing. Since our last letter we have seen many souls saved and baptized.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and , lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” - Matthew 28: 19,20

Two of the people who were baptized I met one Saturday while on visitation. The girlfriend and her sixteen year old “step-daughter” called us for a ride to church about a month later. We continued to visit them on Saturdays and eventually the man joined his family in church.

I often preach about God’s desire for our homes. By that I mean God desires for there to be a saved and surrendered husband and wife first and then children to follow. You can’t unscramble eggs, but you can make them better. After attending several services and hearing this type of preaching; this couple approached me about getting married. During the process of marital counseling I asked them their salvation testimonies and found out they had a Church of Christ background. The lady thought she had lost her salvation and the husband couldn’t give me a clear and sure testimony of having been previously saved either. To make a long story shorter, they both received the Lord that day and were scripturally baptized the next. Two weeks later we had a beautiful wedding at our church.

Another one of the people who were baptized is a young lady in her twenties. (Her brother and niece were saved and baptized here in July.) She came for a visit and raised her hand for salvation during the invitation. My wife took her out and talked with her. She prayed to be saved that Sunday! The next day she called us about her twelve year old son. He had asked why she left at the end of the service and what the papers we gave her about baptism meant. I told her to read the papers to him and that we would talk with him later to make sure he understood about salvation and baptism. The next Sunday we showed him from scripture how he could know he was saved and he prayed and received the Lord as well. Afterward he said he wanted to be baptized because now he was saved just like his Mama. So, that day we had two baptisms instead of one. This young lady’s zeal and trust in the Lord has been a real blessing to all of our church family.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundatly.” - John 10:10

These families represent the burden of our ministry here. There are so many people in Newport shacking up – some in their forties and fifties who just never thought it important to be married. There are even more religious people here who are on their way to Hell. Thank you for your prayers and financial support which enables us to show them God’s desire for their souls as well as their lives.

Prayer Requests

· We are asking God to double our number by next Fall. This would give us about fifty souls on Sunday mornings.

· Wisdom and provision as our family moves from the church into the parsonage.

· That God would bless us with good health. Recently our whole family was down with some type of sickness. On top of the sickness I had an allergic reaction to something and it turned my eyes fiery red. After I preached Sunday morning one of our members (who is a nurse) came to me and said, “You look awful!”.

In His Service,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

May-June Prayer letter

Dear Pastor and praying friends,

“And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” Ezekial 34:26

Normally this time of year people start disappearing, the church’s giving dies down, and we seem to have to work hard to keep everyone’s morale up; but these past two months have definitely been a season of blessing for us. Two adults have been saved, three families have started attending regularly, and three children were saved during one of our Thursday evening Bible studies. The Thursday that those children and one gentleman were saved we had a college singing group with us and they were a tremendous blessing. We don’t know that this is our “due season”, but we do praise the Lord for His blessings thus far.

Another blessing we have noticed is that the people here in Newport have changed drastically in their demeanor toward us. Previously they were cordial, but kept their distance. Recently people in the community have asked us whether or not we lived in Newport and how long we have been here. One lady in the care home expressed how sad she was to hear that we were leaving. The talk around town is that a lot of new churches start here; but they don’t stay long; and the pastors of these new churches never live here in Newport. It is blessings to have the people of Newport realize that we are here to stay and that we are here for them. Please keep our ministry in your thoughts and prayers as we endeavor to be a church where people will be introduced to Christ and taught Biblical truth that will break the cycles of sin in their lives. What a blessing it would be if the three visiting families would become active members and if two other families that we have been in close contact with would come to church. We know that the Lord can do a mighty work in their lives; but the Devil knows that as well and he is working overtime to keep them away.

On a personal note…

Our family is doing great! Just this week we celebrated Fathers’ Day, Cassidy’s first birthday (June 17) and Aaliyah’s birthday (June 18). God is so good! Thank you for your prayers and financial support.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

Sincerely,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

Lighthouse Baptist Church

Newport, Arkansas

Who is this man!?!

My Beloved preaching at Lighthouse Baptist Church

Last night my husband preached an amazing message about prayer!  As I sat in the back with my two little hooligans princesses I was amazed at the preacher and man of God he has become. Anyone who lives in or around Newport and missed that message truly missed something special. When I left the service I felt like I was ready to change in my super soaker for a fire engine and charge the fires of Hell -through prayer- for our Lord.  Of coarse all you blessed ladies who have a husband who is also your pastor probably know exactly what I mean.



My Beloved at home in California



 I married a man of integrity and I am so thankful for that; but I also married a man who truly loves God.  I am not afraid to trust him with my future and with the future of my children because I know that he strives to depend on the Lord to direct his every step.  Because my husband does not like for me to blog about him I will close now by saying I am SO blessed and God is SO good!!!

Sunday is Funday!

Cassidy helping Daddy during the opening exercises before Sunday School

"From now on I am going to call Sunday 'Funday'.!"  This is what one of ourHispanic kids said on the way home after church.  Occasionally I get to drive the children home after our Sunday or Thursday service and I always enjoy that because it gives me a chance to get to know the kids a little better (especially the boys) and it give my husband a chance to take care of things with the adults or spend time with the girls.  The kids don't always feel excited about church as this one particular boy did on Easter Sunday; but I enjoy it when we hear that they enjoyed Sunday.

Our family lives for Sunday.  Literally.  All week long we prepare for Sunday be it through prayer, visitation, preparing lessons, laundry, cooking, etc.  All of you who are in the ministry full time know what I mean.  Most people look forward to Friday's because it is pay day. Well, Sunday is our payday.  Sunday is the day when all of our work throughout the week comes to fruition.  I hesitate to say it that way because some Sundays it is just our family  (in Sunday school) plus one (during the main service).   I say that I hesitate in putting it that way because we cannot measure here on earth what has eternal value. It doesn't always show up on  the Sunday after.

"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." - 1 Corinthians 3:13-15


BUT Sunday is a day of celebration for our family.  We have purposed to make it that way.  Undoubtedly one or both of the girls will do something that deserves correction - I warn them in my most severe mommy voice and put off what we call "MRS. Rosey" if at all possible.  Undoubtedly my husband (who is focused on his message and the events of the day) will be a little curt with me or say something that down right hurts my feelings; but I smile and give him a sincere hug and kiss anyway.  I don't bring up heavy {or even light} topics that can wait.  ( If it's really important I try to write it down on our dry erase board on the frig. so I don't forget.)  I try to make the most of our crock pot for Sunday's lunch.  And last but not least, I cook - I use that word very loosely - a light and quick breakfast {lately its been Smoothie Sunday - I throw a some fruit, yogurt, and juice in a blender and pour!}.

We have been in Newport as Pastor and Pastor's wife and kids for nearly two years now (August is our official anniversary).  We have had some very exciting Sunday's and some that have left us a little discouraged.  People have made promises and not kept them, while others have not promised; but have been a tremendous blessing.  In our personal lives we have seen the Lord do some wonderful, and I would even say miraculous things; but the church has seemingly been in a dry spell.  No souls saved (at church and those who do pray on soul winning and visitation disappear).  No one baptised.  No one making earth shaking decisions for Christ.  No visitors. No one joining the church.


These past two week have definitely been different.  One family of four has been visiting and has talked to my husband about joining our church! One of our church members has had a very close friend visit, get saved, and ask about getting baptised possibly as early as this coming Sunday.  (We have been praying for this particular friend for about two years.) Another family of four has visited us two weeks in a row!  No one in our number invited them.  They just showed up and have been a blessing during the services - even their teenagers have been a blessing and seem to enjoy church!  Our members have been faithful and almost on-time two weeks in a row.  (If you go to a "Black" church you know that is  truly a blessing!)  Their are other things I could list, but I won't because they are private or because I don't want to steal all my husband's thunder for the next prayer letter.

As far a I know my husband and I have not changed anything.  We still go visiting two or three times a week.  We have still been praying for each of our services and Newport in general.  It seems God has decided to open up a window of blessing, now all we have to do is try and be ready to receive it.  We covet your prayers!

Until next time,  

Dear Pastor and Praying friends, April 18, 2012


He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

We are so thankful that Spring has sprung. It is such a joy to go outside and feel a cool breeze blowing, hear the birds chirping, see so many beautiful flowers in bloom and smell the fragrance of food cooking on the grill. Our family sure did our part in contributing to that aroma on Ressurection Sunday. What a blessed Sunday it was for us. All of our members were in attendance and several children came as well. I preached a message that was inspiring to me, if no one else, about the power of Christ and His resurrection. After the service we had several activities for the children and their families including a scavenger hunt, Peter and Paul relay race, and family photos. When that was finished we gave all who attended “Ressurection bags” filled with treats and trinkets. What a blessing to know we serve a risen Savior!

I am also happy to report that we have detected some spiritual growth amongst our members and to share the story about the salvation of a precious seventy-eight year old woman by the name of Bobbie Jean. As we began visitation we asked the Lord to send us to someone who was hungry for the Gospel. My wife visited her home and she almost begged her to stay and talk for a while. My wife asked her the question that we so often ask those we visit, “If you died today are you sure you would wake up in Heaven?”. Her husband died just last October and Mrs. Bobbie began to cry and comment that she prayed everyday that God would show her how she could know that she would be in Heaven with her husband when she died. By the answers she gave to our questions we detected a Church of Christ background. Sure enough she said she had attended a Church of Christ just down the road before her husband died. To make a long story short, she confessed that she was lost and on her way to Hell; but wanted to ask Jesus to save her soul and take her to Heaven. She prayed to receive Christ and was saved that very night! What a blessing!!! I am not sure if her husband is in Heaven or not; but I am so glad that Mrs. Bobbie now knows that she will wake up in Heaven when that time comes.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. John 3:5-7

We truly have sensed the Lord’s presence with us this year and praise Him for His provision and blessings. We hope you are having a blessed year as well and want to thank you for your prayers and financial support.

In His service,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

(For photos go to our church blog...here

Our Church Blog

Nursing Homes

One of the joys of our week is going to the Care homes in our community.  In Newport there are two.  One my wife goes to weekly to read scripture and sing to the residents.  On occasion I preach there also.  The other our whole family attends.... Click here to read more.


Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” Psalm 122:1
We are excited to begin a new year in the ministry here in Newport, Arkansas. Recently our church had its first ever conference entitled the “Faith, Love, and Family Conference”. The purpose of this conference was to provide the people in our community and around us with sound biblical teaching about Faith in the Lord, Love for Christ and others, and proper relationships with those in our family... Click here to read more.

Therapy

In about ten minutes we will be leaving to go to our second care home ministry today.  I love Tuesdays because it is an opportunity for us to minister to people who cannot come to our church but are often VERY hungry for the Word of God.  My husband and I agree that often we sense the Spirit of the Lord moving in the care homes because there are people there who come expecting to hear from the Lord.  We especially love this ministry now because we have two little girls who are special therapy to the residents.  Every now and then I have to go without them and every time this happens they always say "Where are the girls?". As if to say, "Oh, it's just you today."  Some have cautioned me not to take my girls into places like that; but my response is to think about all the grandmothers who reside in these facilities who never or seldom ever see their grandchildren.  My girls have several adopted grandparents, aunt, and uncles.  Plus people are hearing the word of God.  Besides all this prayer and soap and water still work. 

Until next time,

Busy, Busy, Busy

This year has been an extremely busy one thus far.  That is a good thing.  Recently we heard a preacher challenge the congregation to get worn out for the Lord, I think my husband decided to take that challenge.  This past week we had our first ever conference, The Faith, Love and Family Conference, which went extremely well.  Saturday my husband took a van full of our people to a youth rally in Conway, Arkansas while I took the girls to a birthday party.  Sunday was our church's five year anniversary service.  What a wonderful Sunday it was!  We had over fifty and maybe even sixty people in attendance.  I was so busy I didn't take a count; but every pew was almost full!  This week we get a break; but next week we head to Virginia for another missions conference.  Please pray with us that the Lord will bless us with safety to and from the conference and that we will be a blessing to the people of the church we are going to.  This particular conference is special to us because it is the church of the pastor who was my husband's first independent baptist pastor in Marysville, CA so many years ago, Pastor Brad Weniger. 
Until next time,

Faith, Love, and Family

Last night was the first night of our first annual Faith,  Love and Family conference.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Pastor Patterson of Jacksonville Baptist Temple preached for us and he will be speaking tonight as well.  Bro. Patterson preached about how Adam chose Eve over the Lord when he decided to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree, how that if your home doesn't have the Lord there cannot be harmony and peace in it, and how that God introduced grace in the garden (to be continued tonight!).  In attendance we had one of our faithful members, one adult visitor and several of our children.  After the meeting as Raymond was dropping off the children he said they had some interesting conversations.  One I am excited about sharing with you today.  We will call the young boy (age 10) Carl.

Carl:          He is a good preacher!
Raymond:  Yes he is.
Carl:          Where is he from?
Raymond:  Jacksonville.
Carl:          How does he know about this church?
Raymond:  He started this church.
Carl:          Oh, so he is like the boss of this church.
Raymond:  I guess you could say that.
Carl:          What happened to that other guy?
Raymond:  Who?
Carl:          The tall guy who used to preach here?
Raymond:  You mean Bro. Parker?  He went to start another church in Alabama.
Carl:  Oh, he left.
Raymond:  Yes.  He is starting another church just like this one.
Carl:  Are you gonna leave too?
Raymond:  No, I don't plan on it.

That just blessed my heart.  This little boy, by the way, started out as one of our "problem kids", but is becoming Raymond's little helper and every time the doors are open (and he is not grounded for fighting at school) he wants to be at church.

Raymond knows that there is a strong probability that the majority of our services will be attended by mostly children.  He is not disturbed by this.  He has asked our speakers not to be disturbed by this and not to hold back any punches.  These children are taking the messages they hear at church back to their homes.  We know this for a fact.  One parent told us that her daughter said that if she was going to have boyfriends and children then she needed to get married.  What a blessing!  If the parents won't come to church to hear the truth, then maybe God will use these children to take the truth to their parents.  They got an ear full last night and I am looking forward to the rest of the week!
Until next time,

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  We sure did.  It was more a day of relaxation and refreshment.  We also had a wonderful New Year's Day.  All of our members were in church!  What a wonderful way to start the new year.  I am so thankful that the first day of the year was a Sunday.  We also had a wonderful Sunday yesterday.  A couple of weeks ago we visited the home of a woman who recently moved to Newport.  She saw us at McDonalds and told us she wanted to come to our church.  (We've heard that before!)  Well, she called me Friday and said she needed a ride.  (Surprise #1)  Then when I went to pick her up on Sunday she was waiting by the door (Surprise #2)!  When I dropped her off after church she was so excited.  She said she will be back next week with her daughter.  What a blessing! 

The purpose for this post is to tell you that I will probably be MIA for a few weeks.  We have a couple of meetings to attend out of town so I will be away from my local library.  Please pray for us as we share our burden for Newport with those who may never visit; but will possibly be pledging their support and prayers.

Until next time,

Christmas Cookie Help

Every year we decorate Christmas cookies as a family and give them away to the kids in our church.  One year we invited the kids over to have a cookie decorating contest, and then let them eat the cookies.  This year we invited the girls to decorate cookes at church  while the boys went out and collected food for the orphanage.  We had a blast!  The girls did a great job and I am looking forward to eating them at our Christmas party; but maily this post is to share with you what I have learned over the years from baking cookies for Christmas.  I have now picked out my favorite recipe for Sugar cookes as well as my favorite icing to decorate them with.  This recipe for cookies tastes sort of like pop tart dough to me {which I like!}; but mainly I chose this recipe because it uses less eggs, it is a joy to work with ( the cookies hold their shape really well after they are cut and baked), and did I already mention that it tastes good! I chose this icing recipe because it is very easy and keeps a nice gloss, it also tastes good!

Cookie recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• Tinted icings, colored sugars, edible glitter and nonpareils

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut out with Christmas cookie cutters of your choice. *Using a floured spatula, transfer cookies to greased baking sheets.

• Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

• Decorate cookies with frosting, sugars and candies.

*Tips: I prefer to lightly flour wax or parchment paper to roll my cooled dough onto for cutting. This allows me to “plop” the shape onto the cookie sheets. If necessary sometimes I cut the paper around the cut dough, then plop it onto the cookie sheet. This prevents me from disturbing the shape. I also line my cookie sheets with foil instead of greasing them in order to save my cookie sheets and my oil.   Another thing I like to do is cut a small shape inside of a shape and fill it with crushed hard candy after baking the cookies for about six or seven minutes.  I then return the cookies to the oven and let the candy melt for about three or four minutes.  This give me the stained glass window look inside a cookie. 

Icing recipe:

1 cup powdered sugar (C&H truly is the best; but others will work)
1TBS.  milk
1 TBS.  light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring (drops or gell)

Directions

1.In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup and/or milk 1 tsp. at a time. Keep in mind that the corn syrup is what allows the colors (when using dye) to stay nice a bright. Add flavoring to taste once you get the amount of icing you want before adding color.
2.Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

This will ice about a dozen cookies.

Photos of our adventure

My Favorite!  She is really concentrating.

Un-decorated Christmas tree cookie pops!

Alliyah enjoyed eating all of her cookies.

Cookie icing color palate!

Patiently waiting to get started.

The brave boys who went out in the cold to get food for the orphans.