Ron and Jerry Ann Guidroz....The Journey Continues

January brings Joyfulness

2011-01-18T17:29:00.005-06:00

Happy Birthday January 3rd to my wonderful husband. He is truly a Christian who loves his God, his family, and preaching the word of God. I am blessed beyond measure to call him my best friend.

We began the year in Meridian, MS with the Anthony Mansfields as has become our yearly tradition the past few years. It is always a blessing to be with them and their family.
The services were inspiring and motivating for the new year ahead.

We drove back to Alvin for a sectional planning session on the 3rd, which was Ron's birthday.

On January 4th, our new granddaughter was born, Brynn Noelle Guidroz in Nashville, TN.
She is beautiful and we are anxiously awaiting the day when we can see her and hold her.
Pictures will follow as soon as I transfer them from my phone.

January 5th, Ron drove to Denison, TX to preach for David and Kay Gilbert, longtime dear friends. I went with my daughter, Ronna, to a retreat for board members of Arrow Child and Family Ministries where I helped her with lunches and Breakfasts. I met many wonderful people and enjoyed my time with our daughter, although we were very busy.

I flew to Dallas on Saturday where Ron had been in great services Wednesday through Friday evening. I arrived in Denison in time to speak to the Truth Ladies on being a servant.
The meeting was well attended and Kay did a fabulous job with decor and planning and the ladies had wonderful finger foods. The fellowship was fabulous.

Sunday morning, it snowed during church and we were unable to have church in the evening.
It was very cold and the snow lasted several days. On Wednesday morning, Darren and Ginger Gilbert were blessed with a baby girl, Amaris Ginger. She was born the day before we left in McKinney and we did not get to see her in person.

What a blessing David and Kay have been to our lives. Not only are they friends, but great supporters of the ministry. The fellowship was fabulous and we appreciate the time we got to spend with them.

Thurday morning found us on the way to McLeod, TX for services. We stopped and had lunch with our friends Bob and Donna Myre in Paris, TX along with their evangelist, Bro. and Sis. Bernadini. What a good time we had being together. As we drove to Texarkana, there was still snow on the sides of the road and hills.

The next blog will be about my trip down memory lane in McLeod and the services there.

A New Year of Promise!!!

2011-01-02T00:01:00.002-06:00

One of my intentions for the new year is to keep up with my blog. I've said this before but will try earnestly to do that this year. God has been so good to us in 2010 and kept his hand on us as we have traveled from coast to coast this past year. We are thankful for our health and excited about
being able to share the "Gospel".

We appreciate our many friends and our family who give us prayer support and encouragement.
May God bless all of you throughout the coming year.

Enjoying the Holidays

2010-12-27T01:09:00.000-06:00

Back to Blogging

2010-10-09T21:52:00.005-05:00

Facebook seems to have taken most of blogger's blogging time. I have been very
busy this summer with planning for our Gen. Conference for the UPCI that was held in Houston Sept.29-Oct. 3rd. Ron and I and our able assistants, Scott and LaWanda Nichols, were in charge of
Gift Boxes... (which T'Neil Walea designed, ordered supplies, and supervised packing.They were awesome)All I had to see that they were all delivered
to the right places.
Ushers (which Scott did a superb job of organizing,etc)
Greeters.....Which Lester Roch did a wonderful job of organizing.
The response from the local churches was overwhelming.
A big thank you to all.
"Ask Me".....Which Karissa Cordell so efficiently scheduled workers
and for the outstanding South Texas Booth that Tessie Gurley designed.
Hospitality Room...Which Hope King helped me schedule.

I had a great team and just had to keep everything rolling.
Thanks to all. I could not have done it without you.

Ron organized shoe shines for the general board on Tues and Wed and moved to the exhibit area Thurs and Friday and he and his helpers shined many shoes.
He also had cadets who transported those who needed help getting back and forth to the Toyota Center from the hotel.

We were blessed to be able to serve our district and the Kingdom. It was a great conference from the beginning to the end.

I was able to squeeze in some time to be with far away friends. I actually went out twice away from the hotel.
We enjoyed having Cameron and his friend David stay with us most of the conference.
They were a great help to POP.

On Mondayafter conference, we flew to Portland, Maine where we were hosted by our friend, Dee Ashcraft Williams. She and her husband, Mike have a beautiful home on the ocean in Rockport, ME. It was a much needed rest and she was a marvelous hostess.
Thank you, Dee, for such wonderful hospitality and friendship.

We hit it running again on Thursday morning very early as Dee drove us to Bangor to meet
Bro. Sully who drove us to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Our first session was 1 pm of the ministers and wives retreat. We met many new friends and renewed several old acquaintances. We had a great time. The scenery up here on the East Coast is marvelous right now.

2010-05-29T01:33:00.002-05:00

This is our grandson, Cameron Lane Ellis, who graduated from Katy Christian Academy this evening. We are so proud of him!!

Time flies when you are having fun!!!

2010-03-15T23:18:00.003-05:00

Where has the year gone? I have missed blogging and always want to post pictures with my blogs, but decided I would post anyway and then catch up with the pictures later.

We were blessed to be at Because of the Times in Alexandria, La for two nights and one day. We left on Thursday because we flew to Savannah, Ga to preach for our friends,
David and Pam Hodge. We had wonderful services and great fellowship. We got to meet up with longtime friend and neighbor when she was growing up, Tina Farmer. It was a delight to meet her husband and son also. We even got to eat at Lady and Sons again.
Fried green tomatoes, Fried chicken, collard greens, creamed corn, and hoe cakes.
What a good southern meal!!!

The last week of January was spent in our section with our dear friends (and our newly elected district secretary) Danny and Barbara Johnson and their great church. I got to stay over on Sat for a ladies service. More friends, David and Gena Caruthers came in that Friday and we had great fellowship and did some work on our upcoming Ladies conference. Gena spoke to the West Columbia ladies Sat. morning.
I rarely get to be in those kind of services, and it was a special blessing to me.
She spoke on the importance of prayer in our lives. There was footwashing afterwards, and oh how we were blessed.

We left and drove to Bay City where we preached Saturday night and Sunday for Jonathan and Rebecca McClintock. It was a joy to be with them and their church.
We had a special treat on Sunday when Ron's nephew, Tripp Frahm and his beautiful wife, Erma, were in church with us.
We drove to Lake Jackson for church Sunday evening with Jeff Smith and the fine church there. There was a special breakthrough in the spirit in the service that night.

February brought a special treat as we drove to Montgomery, TX to have dinner with our dear friends, Jabo and Polly Green. They also had our sweet pastor, Bro. Kilgore, and dear friends, Barclay and Norma Barnett. What a great time of fellowship we had over a good meal cooked by Polly in their beautiful new home.
We spent the night and got to visit with their children, Phil and Lisa.

The first weekend of February was spend in Columbia, MS with our dear friends, the Carneys. We always enjoy being with them. We flew to Houston for a couple of days to pack and fly to the North. We taught a marriage seminar in Flint, MI Friday and a family/parenting seminar on Saturday. Our loooongtime friends, Robert and Shirley Henson are such a joy to be with. We drove to Frankenmuth (a german town) on Saturday afternoon and ate at a famous restuarant there with their family.
After great services on Sunday, we drove to Battle Creek, MI on Monday to meet our friends, Bob and Diane Stroup (Superintendent of IN) to go to Crown Point and be with them for the week.

Ron got a call from the one and only Paul Mooney. He was in Grand Rapids taking a group of Indiana Bible College Students to tour the Book Warehouses. We decided to make a detour and toured the book warehouse which Bob and Ron had wanted to do for a longtime. We met the group for dinner and then went to a local church where Bob and Ron spoke to the students on the importance of books in their lives. We left immediately to make the drive to Crown Point (a couple of hours in black ice and blinding snow at times) We arrived safely.

Our week there was very rewarding. We had great services, taught and marriage seminar, and enjoyed being in the home of our friends. There is nothing more precious than the treasure of true friends.
We flew home on Mon 22nd to League City and a General Conference Steering Committee meeting. We got to see our daughters and grandchildren for a couple of days and flew out on Thursday to Gaithersburg, Maryland. We always enjoy being with the Libbys and their wonderful church. We had a GREAT marriage seminar Friday and Saturday. It was a joy to get to be with my first cousin, Fred Lewis and his wife.
We had another treat on Sunday by getting to be with Jared and Jennifer Gurley, who are attending church there while they are living in the D.C. area with Jared's job.
The Gaithersburg church is in continuous revival and 12 received the Holy Ghost and 9 were baptized in Jesus Name.

We started out March by flying to Nashville to see our son and his family for 2 days before heading South again.
Pictures will follow soon I hope. I have a new computer with Windows 7 and am still learning where all my files are.

A New Year

2010-01-18T18:48:00.002-06:00

The Lord is good and His mercies endureth forever. We began the New Year in Meridian, MS with a wonderful watch night service. We drove most of New Years Day from MS to
Franklin, TN where our son lives. Ron flew to San Diego on Saturday while I stayed in TN and nursed a Sinus/infection/virus.
Ron had wonderful services and was privileged to preach on Wed. night for Bro. Art Hodges III and Bro. Bernard Elms on the Thurs night. He ministered at The Anchor for Bro. Larson both Sundays.
We were able to visit our friends, Charles and Frances Grisham while we were in TN.
Bro. Grisham has had a couple of heart attacks since the first of December and we were happy to see him gaining a little strength. He has been such a ROCK in our lives.
We also got to see our friends, Paul and Micki Mooney before we left the Nashville area.

We drove to New Orleans for the weekend. Bro and Sis. Cupit were both in bed with the flu. We had a great services and are so thankful for the Lord's blessings following us.

I am working on a slice show of some of the highlights of the fall.
We have been so blessed with good health and being able to travel for His Names sake.
May we all focus on doing God's will and meeting His purpose for our lives with passion this coming year.

Happy New Year!!!!

2009-12-25T22:28:00.007-06:00

To all of my blogger friends...Happy New Year!!!! I am hoping to do better on my blogging in the upcoming year.
When Landon got sick 16 months ago, my world went on hold as far as things that took brain power..ha. Thanks to the good Lord, he is better, although not out of the woods entirely.
We had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. It seems that Facebook and Twitter has taken the time of many of my blogging friends, but I really want to preserve my travels and share them with my followers. I am working on a slide show that tells our year in pictures.
Hope you all have had a blessed Christmas and will have a blessed Happy New Year.

47 Wonderful Years

2009-10-18T23:03:00.005-05:00

I am so far behind in my posting. We have been so very busy but I have decided to start from this day forward trying to be current and maybe post a few pictures from the last few months that I have missed.

We are in Ohio and it is already the 19th. (We are an hour ahead) Forty seven years ago today I married my sweetheart. I am so thankful to say that God ordered my steps early in my life and put us together.

As most of you know, my dad was killed when I was three. My mother was left a widow at 22 with two small daughters. She raised us in Beaumont. My sister, Veda, died at 13 and my mother re-married Bro. Guidroz's assistant pastor in Baytown when I was 16. We moved to Baytown where I met the love of my life.

What is so awesome, is that God was looking way down the road and taking care of me before I even realized what He was doing. My mother only lived 3 1/2 years after she remarried Lemuel Creel, who was a wonderful husband to her and a great father figure to me.

My mother died with cancer at 37 years of age, and Ron and I were already engaged and had received her blessing before she died in July. We married October 19, 1962.

It is so awesome to me that our families lives were so intertwined before Ron and I ever met. My mothers parents, Rev. and Mrs. G.D. Harvey, started out in the "Gospel wor" with the Ron's parents in the 1920's. Ron's oldest sister was 6 months younger than my mother. My dad's parents, Dennis ad Lizzie Lewis, received the holy spirit under Ron's dad's ministry in McLeod, Tx in the 1930s.

God was taking care of me all the while. I married into a great family. God gave us 3 wonderful children and 6 adorable grands. God gave me a godly man who has dedicated his live to serving HIM. It has been a great life and we are recipients
of many blessings from our great God.

I love you BABE!!! Life is rich with you. Thanks for loving me unconditionally.

June 2009

2009-09-01T21:36:00.003-05:00

In May, we preached for the Swinfords in TN and were blessed. We also did a marriage retreat for the Vickerys in Beaumont.

We spent the last weekend of May celebrating my sister-in-law's mother's birthday.
Edith Fuller was 90 years old May 31. Robbie Guidroz and Billie Rose Smith (her two daughters) gave a wonderful celebration that weekend. We gathered in Dallas on Friday, May 29th and the ones who had arrived went to Pappadeaux's to eat.
As you know, that is always good and the fellowship was superb.

Saturday, we met at Robbie and Buddy's home to have lunch and practice the "family choir" for service the next day. They were so gracious to invite Bud's siblings also and all of them were there with the exception of Boots who has Alzimers. We took our granddaughter Aunalee Burton and she had a wonderful time with Billie Rose's grands.

Saturday evening, they had a wonderful meal in the backyard with tents and lights.
It was put on as only my lovely sister in law can do it. First class and the food was magnificent. Sunday was actually Ma Fuller's birthday and Aunalee and I went with all the rest with them to church while Ron went to preach in Ft. Worth Sunday a.m. for the Cressman's and Sunday evening for

The first two weeks in June found us in Indiana. Cameron went with Ron and I flew up for the weekend at the Bible church. What fond memories that place holds for me.
Tom Simison was a great host. We went from there to Bro. Jaco's and Kevin Shindolls in Richmond. It is always great to be in Oak Park in service. We enjoyed meeting the Jacos as we had known his folks from Tennessee. We traveled to Vincinnes, Indiana where we were hosted so graciously by Bro. and Sis. Loy Baird in their lovely home.

We flew to San Antonio for our Texas Revival Conference.(dist conf and campmeeting combined) I am over the hospitality and spent late evening putting cards on all the bags delivered that Randa Chance had so beautifully done. Tuesday am found me delivering bags before our LUV committee meeting. (Ladies United in Vision) We had a successful planning session for our upcoming Ladies Conference in March.

The ordination service was Tuesday evening. I think there were 18 candidates for ordination. Our district is growing numerically and spiritually.
Wednesday was airport pickup for the guests and minister's wives meeting while the business was in session for the ministers. Ron is committee chair for Honoring Ministers in our district. We had a wonderful reception for the young ministers on Wed. evening before service. Scott and LaWanda Nichols were so gracious to join in helping with the hospitality room and Scott made airport runs for us. LaWanda outdid herself in the decor department. I wish that part of my brain functioned..LOL>

Bro. Bernard brought a fabulous message. Our friend, Robert Henson from Michigan was the day speaker on Thursday and Friday and Bro. Bill Davis from Georgia was our evening speakers. We were delighted to have them and their wives and they both brought such timely messages.

David Caruthers so graciously lent the district his new church van and Ron chauffeured the guest to eat, etc. We also were hosted by the Caruthers that Sunday
as we worshiped with them and their wonderful congregation. They were meeting in a school but have since moved in their beautiful new sanctuary.
We also got to fellowship with our "spiritual" children, Scott and Kasey McArthur.
It is always good to see them. Landon and Cameron were with us in service on Friday of the Revival Conference and stayed over for Father's Day. Landon was not well, but it was great to be with them.

The last Sunday in June we were privileged to be with Ricky and Diane Treece in Lake Charles, La. We are always blessed by being with that fine group of people and the Bishop Treece and his wife. It was a red letter day for them as the spirit of giving swept in that night (they are in a building program) as Ron was preaching. It was like the early church, people started giving and selling things and over $400,000 was pledged for the building program. The steel is up and it is on a wonderful piece of property and will be a credit to the kingdom.

Hello World

2009-08-13T00:51:00.004-05:00

I don't know if I will ever get caught up on my blog. Between Landon's illness, our travels, responsibilities, and trying to finish my book...I get overwhelmed. Today has been a year of Landon's long journey of illness. We are trusting that he is on the road to complete recovery. He came home July 15th and is slowly recuperating, although he is very weak and still in pain.

I will try to catch up very soon. Thanks to all my friends who have prayed and given us support through these weeks and months. We had a family vacation last week and enjoyed our family. All but Ronna's youngest son, Cameron and Bob's boys.

May 2009

2009-07-09T00:08:00.002-05:00

Please put cursor on picture for title.

Life's Crooks and Turns

2009-07-07T17:19:00.016-05:00

My intentions have been very good and I have blogged in my mind numerous times, but my schedule and Landon's illness has consumed me.
As I write, I am at the hospital with Landon, our 23 year old grandson. He is recuperating from his 4th abdominal surgery in 10 1/2 months. We are thankful that so far there have been no complications.

In April, we went to Denver, Co. with the Hales. What a wonderful church God has blessed them with. It is phenomenal. What a great time of fellowship we had with them. It was April and it snowed several inches the day we arrived.

Their church is a well-kept secret among us. By Sunday the snow had cleared and the weather was beautiful.

We were happy to see our friends Manny and Louise Rameriz who attended Cypress Tabernacle at one time.

We got to visit with Lori Hood and her family while her husband was out preaching the gospel We also enjoyed seeing Heather and Amber Otwell again.

Happy Father's Day to an awesome husband and father.

2009-06-21T01:55:00.009-05:00

It is the wee hours of Father's day 2009. I cannot remember spending a father's day with my father as I was a month shy of four years old when he was killed. God gave me a step father when I was 16 and allowed my mother to have 3 and 1/2 happy years of marriage before she went on to heaven at 37. Lemuel Creel whom I called Dad was very good to me.
I am thankful that God gave me a wonderful husband who has been an outstanding faother to our three awesome children: Ronna, Veda, and Eldredge and POP to 6 fabulous grandchildren: Landon, Cameron, Melody. Aunalee, Emylee, and Caleb. You are the greatest christian I know. His compassion and love for others is known by many.
I love him dearly.

Landon

2009-05-26T10:18:00.003-05:00

Please be in prayer for our 23 year old grandson today as he undergoes yet another surgical procedure to repair a fistula. This is complications from his third abdominal surgery since August. You can access more info at landonellisblog.blogspot.com. We sincerely appreciate all your prayers.

We have been in Mississippi since Wed. and are flying home today and will go straight to the hospital to be with Landon and Ronna(his mother) who is our oldest child.
We had a wonderful time with Bro. and Sis. Turner and their church in Jayess, MS. We did a marriage seminar there Wed. and Thursday.

On Friday we went to Kosciesco(probably mispelled) Ms to be with Bro. and Sis. Shannon Pennington. We knew him when he was a boy in the Natchez church. It was great being with them and their beautiful family. We did a seminar Fri night and Sat. morning, and then was with them for their daughter Laura,s 16th birthday.

We then came to Sebastapol to be with our friends, Mark and Melanie Copeland and their wonderful church. We had a great Sunday and then an enjoyable memorial day of relaxation.

God's blessings are so real in our lives and we are believing Him today to do His perfect work in Landon's life.

There is a song....

2009-05-21T14:33:00.001-05:00

I am way behind in my posting. I am trying to come up with a schedule to post while everything is fresh and go back and do pictures later. We are so busy that I have a hard time finding the time to post like I want to. I do it in my head but never make it to the computer...LOL>
We have been in church almost everynight or teaching seminars. It is so rewarding and hopefully I will catch up soon.
But today....
I woke up with the song on my heart....(I may have a word or two wrong)

There's a song in my soul..
That the world cannot give
There is music no mortal can hear
He has banished my fears,
He has dried all my tears,
He has taken all my heartaches all away.

I'm so glad I know Him and that He helps us through heartaches and disappoints, sickness, and pain. God is truly a remarkable personal God. I'm glad I have a song in my soul.....

Easter, New York

2009-05-10T23:31:00.009-05:00

After our "mini" vacation, we were privileged to be in church twice on Good Friday.
We had a service at noon with Bro. Devon Dawson and his great church.
He has a lovely old building.

Here I am with a new little friend.

A view of the crowd at All Nations at noon on Good Friday

That evening we ministered to Oneness pastored by Bro. Lincoln Graham Jr. We also were there two services Easter Sunday morning.

Mini Vacation

2009-05-03T17:44:00.003-05:00

Instead of flying home from Maryland and back to NYC for Good Friday and Easter, we took 3 days off and had a wonderful time of rest and relaxation. The Plemons took us downtown DC at night and I got some great pictures. We flew to NYC on Wednesday and Ron and I spent the whole day Thursday downtown. We rode the hotel shuttle to JFK and took the airtrain over to the subway station and rode it to Chinatown.
We took a taxi from China town to Manhattan. There we got a pedi cab who weaved us in and out of traffic to Central park. It was great fun being together and enjoying the sights. I'm still glad we like each other.
We walked around Times Square and then took another Pedi-Cab to Penn Station and rode the rail back to JFK and then took the shuttle to the hotel. It was a great day.

Gaithersburg, Maryland

2009-05-03T16:22:00.010-05:00

We began the month in Gaithersburg witnh Ron and Linda Libbey. We did a Marriage Enrichment on Friday and Saturday, the had great church on Sunday. We love being there with our friends and enjoying the presence of God.
It was a privilege to visit with Preston and Jalynda Plemons who are in the area evangelizing. We had great fellowship.
It was cherry blossom festival in D.C. and we got to see the beautiful cherry (and pear) trees in bloom. Quite a sight for these southerners.

When we are in Gaithersburg, we are always glad to visit with my first cousin, Fred Lewis, his wife, Maureen, and son, Matthew.

Friends

2009-05-01T13:20:00.005-05:00

I actually organized my recent pictures while we were in CA. I took a lot of pictures at General conference and other places that I have not posted. Here are a few to share with you.

The last picture is of the two Linda Elms..one from Texas, the other from NC

Photos of Travels

2009-04-17T14:04:00.001-05:00

Blessings

2009-03-31T22:04:00.002-05:00

"When I think of the goodness of Jesus, and all He's done for me...my soul cries out
Hallelujah" God is so good to us. Our grandson Landon is home again, although he still has a long road ahead of him, but we serve a God who is able to do all things well.

When we flew home from Bloomington, IN...we actually got to spend 4 days at home.
Landon was released from the hospital on Tuesday the 17th of March. We brought him out to our house and spent 3 great days with him. Ron took him home on Friday and we flew to Odessa on Saturday to be with Terry and Pam Pugh. Landon was re-admitted to the hospital with another fistula on Sat. evening. We had a great weekend and
a great visit with the Pugh family.

Ron and Terry drove out Monday to the deer lease and spent a day on the four wheelers putting out feed, etc. They had a great time while Pam and I (and Braylin, their 2 year old granddaughter) checked out the bargains in Midland at re-sale shops and the mall.

Tuesday found Ron down with a virus, but he was able to get out and teach on Tuesday evening. Wednesday, I made a big chicken gumbo and we had a great time of fellowship at the elder Pugh's home. They are so precious to us.
There's nothing like our patriarch's who have paved the way for us.
We taught again on Wed night and flew to Detroit, Mi on Thursday evening.

It was wonderful to visit with our dear friends, Bill and Candi Nix in their lovely home in Ypsilanti. Bill drove us to Toledo, Ohio on Friday and we had a wonderful weekend with our friends, Mark and Sandy Jordan. We taught a leadership seminar on Friday evening and a marriage seminar on Sat. morning.

After the Saturday session, we met Lorraine Gustafson and her daughter, Anne Frake, in Grand Rapids, Ohio for lunch. (about a 35 minute drive for each of us) We had a wonderful visit with our dear friends.

Sunday in the presence of the Most High was fabulous. God met us in a mighty way in both services. We thoroughly enjoyed the Jordans. They are great friends.
We spent Monday night with the Nixas again and flew out this morning to come home.
We will fly out again on Thursday morning.

This afternoon has been spent visiting with the grandkids who are around and going through mail, etc. I will post pictures soon....I have lots.

January and February pictures

2009-03-14T01:36:00.004-05:00

We are still going strong and enjoying our travels and God's blessings upon our ministry. We were with our friends, Robert and Shirley Henson in Michigan for our birthdays. Our friends, The Fielders and Stroups in Indiana were the next stop on our journey.

Jim and Wanda Fielder, Portage, IN

Bob and Diane Stroup, Merrillville, IN

We traveled home to be at BOTT in Alexandria, La. We were privileged to take Landon with us.

We pulled out our coats again.

2009-03-13T01:43:00.001-05:00

We have spent most of the winter in the COLD north. We started out in Michigan, Indiana, have been to Chicago, and Minnesota. When we left St. Paul on Thursday, Feb. 26th, it was blizzard conditions. We went home to 80 degree weather and flew up to Indiana to cool weather again. I understand it is cold at home this week.
39 in Houston with rain is cold. The dampness gets to you.

I have neglected our blog, not on purpose, but the cares of life and Landon's illness has overwhelmed me and I cannot seem to get it all done.
Thank you for all your prayers for him. I am trying to keep his blog updated.

We had a wonderful marriage retreat with the Geralds in Shepherd. I left there and went straight to the hospital Sat. afternoon and stayed until Tuesday night.
I had less than 24 hours to get our clothes washed and left for Sugarland and our Ladies United in Vision conference. It was awesome. I was renewed, refreshed, (spiritually...am still working on the physical..LOL)and blessed beyond words.
It ended Friday night, and we flew out early Saturday morning to Little Rock.
We had a family seminar at the Clifford's on Sat. night and church on Sunday.
We flew home Monday and went straight to the hospital.
Tuesday was our day for our yearly physicals and we spent the day at the medical center.
Ron visited Bro. Jack Dool at M D Anderson and he and I went to see Jerry Ward who is in St. Luke's recovering from heart surgery.
We flew out Wednesday and are in Indiana with Bro. Andrew King. Ron went to Illinois to "Passing the Mantle" conference at Bro. Bob Boettcher's church.
I am chillin and trying to "catch up".
I will post pictures soon.

2009-02-25T22:02:00.000-06:00

January and February

2009-02-21T23:16:00.003-06:00

We left Michigan and went to Indiana to preach for our friends, Jim and Wanda Fieldr and Bob and Diane Stroup. Bob is the district Superintendent for Indiana.
There was a lot of snow while we were there. We flew home for because of the time.
Landon went with us and enjoyed the services tremendously. We preached for Ricky Treece that weekend and he was with us. We so enjoyed having him along.
We are so please at what God is doing in his life.

After BOTT, we flew to Knoxville, TN where we enjoyed the Ministers and wives retreat at Pigeon Forge. Bro. and Sis. Ron Brown were our host as district superintendent and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was great to see our friends, Ron and Cheryl Becton and to meet many new friends.

February found us in Burton, Il with Bob and Valerie Boettcher. We had a great time with them and Bro. and Sis. Yonts. We had great services.

We got to be at home for a few days and spent last weekend with our friends, David and Sandra Myer in Groves, Tx.
It is always such a joy to be with them and their church and our buddy Jason.
We flew Wednesday to Minnesota and preached in Duluth Wed night, and was with Tom and Diane Andrews on Thurday.
Friday and Saturday we did a marriage retreat for the section and there were many there from all over the district...about 52 couples in all. We had a great time!
It has been very cold here this week.

Landon is running a temp and we are praying diligently for God to take care of him.
God's blessings on all of you for your prayers for our family.

Praise the Lord!

2009-02-19T23:51:00.003-06:00

Landon came through the surgery with no major episodes. We are so thankful. The dr repaired the hernia and strengthened some weak spots in his intestines that caused the fistulas. He has a lot of adhesion's and at some later date could have another obstruction but we are going to trust God about that also. Thank you for your prayers and support, emails, and test messages. We appreciate your caring.
I will keep his blog updated with his progress. www.landonellisblog.blogspot.com

Prayer request for our grandson, Landon

2009-02-19T09:49:00.003-06:00

Thanks to all my friends and fellow bloggers for their prayer support these past six months for our 23 year old grandson, Landon Ellis. He is having his 3rd abdominal surgery this morning. They are repairing his colon and other complications that have not healed from the first two emergency surgeries. We are in Minnesota for a marriage retreat and preaching. I will fly home if necessary after the retreat but we are trusting all is going to be well.
God is great and greatly to be praised. He is doing a work in Landon's life of which we are thankful for.
Please pray that there will be no infection or complications and that he will heal normally.
Thanks for your concern. I will update his blog as we get reports. www.landonellisblog.blogspot.com. Thanks for caring.

Trust

2009-02-07T22:29:00.005-06:00

I started this blog as a travel log to keep our family and friends posted on our whereabouts. My objective was for those who read it to be able to pray for us and share in our travels and victories, and yes disappointments sometimes also.

This year has already gone by soooo fast and we've been on the road exclusively that I am far behind on my posting. I will endeavor to catch up soon, but tonight had something on my mind I wanted to share.

The subject of Trust has been on my mind so much of late. I have several things that I am having to trust in God for right now and that is probably the reason it is so real to me.

I have always trusted in God since I was a young child. He's been my father, my mother, and my sister for many years. I lost my father at age 3, my sister who was a year younger than me when she was 13, and my mother died at 37 when I was 19. Three of my grandparents died in the next 3 years, so God has truly been my ROCK and MY SALVATION and a VERY PRESENT HELP in time of trouble.

My friend, Vicki Simoneaux, has been on my heart also, as she prepares to head back to Africa with Timo. She will have to trust in God to keep Timo well from infection and disease in their primitive surroundings.

It occurred to me that I trust in things everyday. I was in St. Luke's medical building on the 22nd floor and I thought,(since trust has been on my mind) I am way up here trusting in the structure of this building, trusting in this elevator to carry me up and down.

Every red light or green light I travel through requires trust. I am on a plane almost weekly, and everytime one takes off and we pray for a safe flight, I trust in the pilot and the airplane (and of course the Almighty) to take me where I am going.

When I think of all the tangible things that I trust in, like bridges, ferries, wreckless drivers, light switches, hot water heaters, and many more...I am reminded that it should be EASY for me to trust in the ONE who died for me.

I will catch up on travels soon....but in the meantime...Let me share my favorite song....
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His word,
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know..thus sayeth the Lord...

Jesus, Jesus
How I trust HIM
How I've proved Him o're and ore.
Jesus, Jesus, PRECIOUS Jesus,
Oh, for grace to trust Him more

I'm so glad I've learned to trust Him,
Precious Jesus, Savior friend
And I know that thou art with me
Will be with me to the end.

Thank you for letting me be "spiritual" today.
We are with the Yonts and the Boettchers in Butler, Il near Chicago and I've watched them trust the Lord as the Yonts lost their only son last year about this time. He was 44.
We were singing that chorus last night that says...
He gives and takes away
He gives and takes away..
Blessed be the name of the Lord...
and Sis. Yonts turned to me..and said
"I have a hard time when they sing that song...
but we still know that He does all things well."

May you be blessed by trusting in the One True and Living God and His name is Jesus.

Friends

2009-01-09T13:41:00.001-06:00

These are some places we preached in November. We were with the Bourn's at Irvington and reconnected to old friends. We also preached for our friends the Gurleys.

Create your own Slideshow

Wonderful Day!!!

2009-01-06T23:53:00.006-06:00

Today was my 66th birthday. It was a blessed day. Our neighbors, Jim and Rita Urbanski, who lived next door to us when we pastored in Ferndale in the 70's now live in Troy. They drove up to Flint and took us to lunch. We had a great time visiting and catching up on our families.

Eldredge and Jeff, their son, had many fun times together and Julie enjoyed our girls.

Ronna babysat for them and we have remained friends through the years although we don't see one another maybe every 10 years.

We are still in Flint, Michigan with Robert and Shirley Henson. We had wonderful services on Sunday. Ron outdid himself in both services. The Lord anointed him and the services were mightily blessed of God. Conviction was heavy Sunday morning after he preached "The Road to Hell". The church has awesome worship and Bro. Henson is such a capable pastor. It has blessed us to be here.

The Henson's took us to a wonderful Japanese Steak House for dinner and we had another birthday celebration. Our birthdays are so close to Christmas that they do not always get a lot of celebration, but that has not been the case this year. We have celebrated ever since we arrived.

On Monday, we drove into Troy, Michigan, and they took us to Charley's Crab, a wonderful restaurant that we found when we lived in Michigan. We had a delicious meal and it was very nostalgic. We took Ron's Dad there when he visited us.

The Henson's have been so good to us. So much for the resolution to exercise and diet. I am keeping up with my blog, though. I don't know if I will ever catch up past post but will try to stay current.

I also started reading the chronological Bible through this year. At least I'm staying on track with the spiritual part.

HELP!!!

2009-01-05T23:24:00.002-06:00

Some of your blogger gurus out there help me. I've been out of touch for so long that I no longer can get slide.com or rock you to work for me. The pictures are blank when I try to make a slide show. Also...I have many pictures I would like to post and it would take forever to post them one at the time. Help me out friends.

Birthday Party Pictures

2009-01-04T22:36:00.011-06:00

Here are the pictures I promised. Robert knew that Ron collects hats.

Our birthday hats.

Opening presents

The Hensons

October Photos

2009-01-04T14:33:00.007-06:00

I am batting zero today on slide shows so I am going to try to post individual pictures. I guess I've been off-line too long to remember what to do..LOL!

We traveled to Gaithersburg, Maryland and were with Ron and Linda Libbey for a Marriage retreat and family seminar. We also preached there on Sunday.

While we were there, we had a wonderful visit with my cousin Fred Lewis and his wife, Maureen. It is always great to see them.

My friend, Linda Libbey. She is a sweetheart. I love being with her.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

2009-01-03T19:52:00.005-06:00

Today is my husband's 65th birthday, and yes, he is now on Medicare...LOL!!
I cannot believe he is 65. It seems like it was yesterday and he was 15 and asked me to marry him. (We married right before he was 19 and before I turned 20)
We have had a wonderful week.

We flew out the 27th and rented a car and drove to Shreveport for Lori Hudspeth's wedding to Sean. It was a lovely affair and we drove to Meridian for the weekend and watch night service. Cameron went with us again this year and enjoyed a great time of hunting on the Cooksey lease. They were so gracious to him and he always has a great time.We had a wonderful time with the Mansfields and the church.

We flew home New Years Day and was home less than 24 hours. We had to be at the airport at 4 am yesterday to fly to Flint, Mi. We are with our friends, Robert and Shirley Henson and their fine church.

Ron preached last night and the Lord moved in a mighty way. We were all stirred to start this year "presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to HIM"

After service, the church honored us with a birthday party. (His is Jan 3 and mine Jan 6) There were refreshments, a coconut cake(his favorite) and gifts.
They gave us each a $100.00 gift certificate to Macy's and many other goodies.

The Henson's took us to Frankenmuth(a german town near here) for a wonderful dinner
this evening. It has been a wonderful day.

Please pray for our friend, Larry Gandy. He lost his father on Friday.

I did not have my camera last night and will post pictures of the party when Shirley emails them to me.
Happy New Year and blessings to all our family and friends.

Merry Christmas !!!

2008-12-25T00:03:00.002-06:00

I don't know where the time has gone. They say time flies when you are having fun so I guess that is what is happening to me. We have been unusually busy but I am going to "catch up" on our travels hopefully before the new year. I trust you and your family have a wonderful Christmas. Last Saturday we had the Guidroz annual Christmas party at the Fauss's church. Bro. David was so kind to let us use their facilities. It was perfect in every way. We had gumbo, of course. Chicken and Shrimp and all the trimmings.(for those of you who don't know...potato salad is a must) There were close to 60 in attendance. Then we traveled to Lufkin for the weekend to be with Bro. and Sis. Nathan Scogins and their fine church. It has been a blessed year for Ron and I.

All of our children and grandchildren will be with us tomorrow for Christmas. We are truly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T01:45:00.003-06:00

It has been almost a month since I said I was going to get "caught up" and I still haven't posted. I have no excuse except that I have been extremely busy and have had computer issues.
I have some pressing things on my plate right now, but hope to post of my travels real soon.

Please continue to pray for Landon. He is facing another surgery in 3 months because of the way he is healing/not healing and he has another fistula. The Lord has it all in control, but his situation has occupied me the last few months in my thinking and function.

While we were in Gaithersburg before conference, I had the privilege once again of visiting with my first cousin, Fred Lewis and his lovely wife Maureen. It is always great being with them.

This Thanksgiving season, I am especially grateful for:

My God and His mercies
My wonderful husband who is an awesome "man of God" and preacher of the gospel
My family...3 wonderful children and their spouses
6 brilliant and goodlooking grandchildren

My wonderful friends
Our health that enables us to travel and do the work of God

I trust each of you have a blessed thanksgiving with family and friends!

SO FAR BEHIND IN MY TRAVELS!!!!!

2008-11-02T11:03:00.003-06:00

I cannot believe I have been blogging over a year and have had over 10,000 hits. I am sooooo far behind on my posting that I don't know if I will every catch up. Landon's illness consumed me for a couple of months and I just have not been able to "get it together" with all our travels and general conference.

Again, thanks to all of you for your prayers for Landon. He is much better, but still has an open wound. He is off of his iv's and able to eat small amounts. The way his wound is healing, it has developed a hernia, and the dr says he will have to have surgery on it in 6 months. Please continue to pray that his intestines will heal correctly and everything will return to a semblance of normal.

He is going to church and working with their drama department and we are praying that God will continue to work in his life. (The Pentecostals of Katy, Rob McKee, pastor.

It was wonderful to see my blogger and other friends at conference. When I get a minute I am going to "catch up" on my travels and post some pictures. We are in PA/OH. We fly home Mon and fly out Wed. to St. Paul. Our schedule has been so hectic that all I've had time to do is laundry, visit with kids and grands and take off again.

At General Conference, we celebrated our 46th anniversary. I will post pictures.
My dear "sister" friend, Glenda Hudspeth had an accident on her way to church the Wednesday night after conference. She had to have surgery on her heel that was broken in 3 places. She also had a large gash on her ankle. She will have to have another surgery real soon. Please keep her in your prayers. Blessings to all of you....

Sarah Palin After Debate Rally

2008-10-03T16:03:00.003-05:00

Several of my friends from the St. Louis area went to the place where the debate was held and watched it live on the big screen and then were there for the rally afterwards. They got some awesome pictures I thought I would share with you.

ANOTHER UPDATE ON LANDON...his 23rd birthday

2008-10-03T10:22:00.002-05:00

I have not had a chance to go to Landon's blog and update it today. We are in Gaithersburg with Ron and Linda Libbey. Ron preached last night and we have a Marriage semianr tonight ad tomorrow and church on Sunday.

Landon called us crying as we were leaving for church last night saying he had 102 temp and they were headed to the emergency room. The doctor told him he possibly had another abscess and they might have to do another surgery. The doctor told him last week they didn't want to touch him with another surgery in less than 9-12 months, it was too dangerous. He also told his Pop he was tired fighting and that freaked us out. Thanks Tracie (Kent) Smith for putting a prayer request on your blog. God did hear us.

The cat scan showed no blockage, thank the Lord. They did hospitalize him and are trying to find cause of temp. He is still on ivs even at home and his incision is still open. Today is his 23rd birthday. If you read this blog and get a chance, stop by his blog and leave a birthday wish. When he gets better, he can enjoy the messages.

Landon is so important to us. He is our firstborn grandchild. He is very talented and the devil has tried to trainwreck his life and keep him from doing the will of God. We have held on tenanciously for God to do a work in Landon's life. You never know when you pray that way what will transpire.

If you have followed our blog, you know that Landon had emergency surgery on Aug 13th and had another one two weeks later. Since then there has been many complications. We appreciate every prayer, every phone call, and all your support.
God bless all you wonderful people.

ALASKA WEEK 6 AUGUST 13TH -19TH

2008-09-23T01:57:00.001-05:00

We were privileged to be with Jim and Heather Blackshear and the Elder Balckshears this week. We had a wonderful time, good services, and made wonderful new friends.
Jim and Heather had a lovely family…Mason, Paris, and Jude. We were at Life Church with them on Wednesday night, Eagle River again with the Gallions on Thursday night,
Marriage and family seminar at Life on Saturday, and both churches on Sunday. I also taught the Bible class Sunday morning at Life….so we had a workout..LOL.
Sis. Marshall had us over to her home for breakfast with the Blackshears on Friday, and the Gallions had us over for a wonderful meal Sunday after church.

Jim and Heather treated us to a wonderful meal Friday evening (and many others). As you can see, we’ve been treated like royalty by the wonderful people in Alaska. We’ve been richly blessed by being here.
We’ve made new friends for life and enjoyed the camaraderie of the people of God.
We lost some of our pictures on had one camera and I had the other, and in our transitions, we misplaced his…so I don’t have some of our pictures).
We left Anchorage on Tuesday. Thanks again to Steve and Melissa Sanders and their family for their hospitality and the use of their vehicle for our time in Anchorage and on the Peninsula.
On Tuesday, we flew out to the Tundra….(the Delta region of Alaska that you can only get to by plane) and that is my next post. Our grandson Landon was still very ill from his first surgery and we spent a lot of time praying
for him.

ALASKA WEEK 5...AUGUST 6TH-12TH

2008-09-22T23:55:00.003-05:00

We finished up our time in Sterling by teaching our marriage and family seminar on Monday and Tuesday nights, August 4 & 5th. The Glovers came in on Tueday and we were able to visit with them.
We thoroughly enjoyed staying in their home. Cameron enjoyed his time with the Ickerd boys who took him to the woods bear hunting and then fishing on the Russian river. Although he didn’t catch fish in Kenai at that time,
He was able to go halibut fishing in Homer with the Reagan and Seagrave families. He caught several halibut, including a 30 pounder.
He was overjoyed. The men cleaned and filleted them for him and Bro. Springer packaged them so he could take them home with him.

Ron and I drove to Homer. Homer is one of the most scenic places in Alaska. It is absolutely breathtaking. The Springers rented us a little cabin in the woods. We could sit on the front porch and see the mountains. We even
thought we heard a bear outside one morning. Bears had been sighted a few days before at one of the other cabins. We enjoyed our stay there. We had wonderful services in Homer.

We had met the Springers last year in Bethel and they are now pastoring the church in Homer. I had gone to church with his grandparents , the Canons, when I was a child in Beaumont on Pope street. Bro. R.D. Gibson, Vesta Mangun’s dad, was our pastor.
We had one lady, Toni, receive the Holy Spirit and she was baptized in Jesus Name on Sunday before we left Homer. Cameron enjoyed his stay in Homer. He went fishing, bought him a handmade knife, and teased his grandmother unmercifully. That was joy to him and we had a great time spoiling him even though he is almost 17.

We drove to Anchorage on Sunday afternoon and stopped on the way and had coffee and fellowship with the Glovers. We enjoyed the scenic drive back to Anchorage where we again settled in the Sander’s home for the week. They were so gracious to give us “our room” again and we didn’t have to pack up and move.

On Mon., the 11th, the Churchills took us to Talkeetna to see Denali (Mount McKinley for you non-Alaskans). The Lord smiled on us and we were able to get a good view of it from the restaurant. Talkeetna is about half way between Anchorage and Denali park. It was a beautiful day and the clouds separated enough for us to get a wonderful view while we were having dinner at Princess Lodge. The only bad part of this day is that we lost the camera with our pictures on it of Danali.
We were glad Cameron got to see it also. The locals said it was only the 4th time in two months that it had been visible. The cloud cover had previously blocked the view. IT WAS BREATH TAKING BEAUTIFUL

On Tuesday, Bro. Churchill took Ron and Camo back to Kenai to fish so Cameron could catch some salmon before he flew out Tuesday night. He caught 15 pink salmon (which they do not eat up here….they throw back or the cannery cans them for the salmon we eat in cans. If you ever eat fresh king salmon or silver or red right out of the river, you will never want to eat any other kind. It is delicious.

If you’ve noticed, my weeks of reporting on here our going from Tuesdays to Tuesdays as that is when we left, on Tuesday, July 8th. Ou oldest grandson, Landon had emergency surgery on the 12th, the night Cameron flew home.
We spent the next week…Tues-Tues in Anchorage with the Blackshears. That is my next post. God bless all of you….

Catching up!

2008-09-16T23:47:00.004-05:00

I will post pictures and details of our last 3 weeks in Alaska asap. As soon as we got word about Landon, everything was on hold and I haven't had a chance to put my pictures together between staying at the hospital and going the last 2 weekends with Ron.

The good news, Landon is home. The home health folks were able to get out today and he is settling in at home. After a few weeks, we hope he can go back to his apartment and have home health there. Right now, he needs to be close and have family checking on him often.

Last weekend, we drove to Dallas and had a wonderful service with Tom Foster and First Church. Ron had gone up for Wed. night, but Landon was too serious for me to leave Ronna. We enjoyed the quick trip up on at. evening and drove back Sunday evening to Katy and were in service with Rob and Shara McKee. It was great to be in church with Cameron. Ron preached a great sermon and the spirit of the Lord was present.

I spent most of the week at the hospital and we flew out on the last plane out of Hobby to Nashville on Friday. They were shutting down the airport for IKE.
We had a wonderful weekend with the Becton's, although we were concerned about our family and the effects of the storm. Ron and Cheryl were so kind to us and entertained us for two extra days after our return flight was cancelled because of IKE.

We were delighted to spend some time with Charles and Frances Grisham. Charles has
recently suffered a stroke and was in rehab for a month. He is home and improving daily. They are so precious to us. His faith is strong and he is witnessing to all his caregivers. He was able to go to church on Sunday morning for the first time since suffering his stroke July 3rd. What a blessing that was to him and to us.
Cheryl Becton is their daughter and she and Ron are very good to the Grishams.
What a blessing to have family near.

We also enjoyed being with Ron and Cheryl's son, Austin and his beautiful wife, Kaitlin. I spoke to Women and the Word on Saturday and was delighted to see Janice Foor. I had forgotten they attended that church. They were in our church in Alabama in the 70's. John and Janice took us out to dinner on Monday night at the Cheesecake Factory and we enjoyed a great time of fellowship.
We had another nice surprise on Sunday at church when I turned around and found Ralph Savoie and his family standing by me during the altar service. Ralph is Ron's first cousin. He and his wife moved to Tennessee 3 years ago and attend First Church along with their daughter and her family. It was great to see them.
We also got to visit in their home on Tuesday and were treated to a wonderful lunch of "gumbo". That made Ron very happy and we enjoyed the fellowship.

We returned home on Wednesday and spent the night at Ronna's since we still did not have power at our home. I spent the day with Landon on Thursday.
I will post updates on his progress from now on on his blog.
Blessings to all who have prayed for us.

SAFE FROM IKE!!

2008-09-14T15:31:00.003-05:00

Thanks be to God for safety for our family. Eldredge and family decided to ride the storm out at the house. We are only 18 miles from Galveston and I thought they were very brave, but they remembered the horrors of evacuating for Rita and the 12 hour trips across town. Mark and Sandra Jones, Joy's folks were with them. They lost power about 10 pm Friday night and Eldredge and the kids rode the eye of the storm out under the stairway and Joy and her mother were in the hallway. The winds were over 100 miles per hour at the height.

Comparatively, we lost very little. The roof is intact, the new garage he built only lost tar paper on the roof. He had everything inside covered with plastic so hopefully it will be okay. They lost a few trees, the trampoline and wooden play yard/swing set was demolished. The pond overflowed and the yard looks like a swimming pool, but no water in the house. The small house on the front of the property is beginning to take on water.

Ronna has electricity and they are all going to her house. She is 60 miles nw of us. Eldredge and his family and Joy's folks were headed across town this morning to stay until they can safely go home. They are saying the power will not be on for weeks.
Veda and her family are safe; they had a lot of trees down, but are safe with no electricity.

We are very blessed to be so close to so much devastation and to have minimal damage.
God certainly had his hand on our families.

Landon is faring well, safe, dry, and with electricity at the hospital.

Eldredge said we would be better off to just fly to Dallas from here because of the
closure and flooding of the road. We might could fly in, but could not get to where we need to be.

God bless all of you...

Mixed Emotions

2008-09-12T18:36:00.002-05:00

We got out with out any problem this morning. It was an eerie feeling to see Hobby airport shutting down this morning at 9 a.m. We arrived at the airport around 7:45 and there was no line at check in and they were moving computers, and all outside stuff.
We walked inside and went through security with NO line. What a switch. It usually takes us 30 minutes to get through security. We fly out of Hobby or IAH nearly weekly.
The last flights were at 9 a.m. to all points. We got on the last flight out to Nashville and had to go through New Orleans. It was rough landing in N. Orleans and going out again. It was already raining there.

While I am thankful we got out and will have a great weekend here in Nashville with Ron and Cheryl Becton, I am sad and concerned about my family and friends who are facing
harms way. We are praying for safety and protection.

The hospital where Landon is is on a 72 hour lock down. No one can leave or go in.
Hopefully he will be better off than most because they have generators, etc.

Somehow, we have escaped the bad hurricanes of late. We were in Kenya for Katrina, and somewhere up north for Rita. Our prayers are with all along the gulf coast.

Pray for me as I speak to her "Women and the Word" luncheon tomorrow.
Blessings to all of you....

Good report

2008-09-11T23:23:00.004-05:00

For those of you who are keeping up with Landon through this blog....
the ct scan today showed no blockage in the intestines. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!
We serve a GREAT BIG GOD...He is so mindful of us and our needs. They are running test to see where the fever is coming from. It looks at this point it is from the "pic" line they put in for his medications. The hospital is on emergency mode and is taking in patients from the south of the city hospitals. They will move the patients in the hall tomorrow night and put the hospital in "lock down" mode.

Pray for all of us and our families who are in the path of the hurricane. We live near Galveston and have not been able to go home because of the traffic. We've been at the hospital across town and staying at Ronna's. We were going home today to get more clothes for the weekend, but came to a hotel near Hobby airport so we can be at the airport early in the morning and take the last flight out of Hobby for Nashville. It's always nice to have a good excuse to go shopping..LOL...especially since I don't likw to shop for clothes for me. We did stop and I picked up a new jacket to rejuvenate my black skirt and shell for the weekend.

The Texas District and our district(South Texas) are both having their minister's wives retreat this weekend. I pray all of my friends have a wonderful time of fellowship and blessings.

Good News, Bad News

2008-09-10T22:10:00.002-05:00

Landon seemingly had a good day today. He got up and walked and then got a bath in the chair and shaved for the first time in 4 weeks. The dr even let him have a popsicle at his nurse request. It's the first thing besides a few ice chips that he has had in 4 weeks.
Then the bottom fell out this afternoon. He got a raging headache and spiked a fever of 101. Please continue to pray for him. They are doing a ct scan in the morning.
It looks like infection is going to be our enemy for a long while.
Veda and I have created a blog for people to leave him messages if you would like to do so...www.landonellisblog.blogspot.com.
Blessings

Update on Landon

2008-09-09T10:53:00.004-05:00

This is a picture of Pop and his 3 grandsons. Cameron, Pop, Landon, and Caleb in front. Cameron and Landon belong to our oldest daughter, Ronna. Caleb is the son of Eldredge, our only son. Veda has two girls, Melody and Aunalee, and Eldredge and Joy have a daughter, Emylee.

Thanks again to all of you who are keeping us in your prayers. Today I am really feeling the strength of all the prayers. We have a long, tall, hill to climb but with God's grace, we will do it. In summary...Landon has a fistula(where the intestinal fluid is draining through the skin to the outside)and it will have to heal from the inside out. The incision is open and opens a little more every time they change the bag. He has a colostomy bag to catch the drainage.(but no colostomy) Everything that can go wrong with his two surgeries, has gone wrong.

He still has drainage tubes in his abdomen, but the cultures have shown no infection so the antibiotics(and prayer)are working. Thank the Lord.
The plan now is to get him off the pain pump, do a cat scan and make sure there is no more fluid or obstructions,remove the drainage tubes, and get him set up with home health care and wound care so he can go home by Monday. Unless the plan changes...he will have no food or drink until.....He has not eaten for a month. They have been feeding him bags of tpn(vitamins, minerals, fats, etc) They want the intestines to rest and completely heal themselves.

We serve a great big God and know that His time clock may not be as long as the doctors are predicting. PRAY THAT LANDON WILL NOT GET TO DEPRESSED. Also continue to pray that God will work His perfect work in Landon's life during this time. He has been fighting depression since they told him it could be 6 months without food or drink and the open wound (when they change the bags) freaks him out. It was not easy for me either since I have to hold his hands while they change everything.

We fly to Nashville on Friday. We hope to spend some time with Bro. Grisham and then we preach for Ron Becton on Sunday. We will fly home on Monday and I will be able to help Ronna next week get Landon settled in at home.

I trust I have not bored you with all the details, but I have people asking daily about Landon. I am going to try to get back on my regular schedule of posting and catch up on our Alaska trip, but will update you from time to time on Landon's progress. Blessings to all of you.

I like this!!!!

2008-09-08T18:21:00.000-05:00

This t shirt says it all....

A TRIBUTE TO GRANDPARENTS!

2008-09-06T13:54:00.004-05:00

Tracie's Smith's blog inspired me to write about grandparents and grand parenting.
As most of you know if you've been reading my blog, our oldest grandchild has been critically ill for 4 weeks. Unless you are a grandparent, you do not realize how special grandchildren are. You recognize them as special creatures that God made that you can enjoy and influence without the full responsibility of raising them.
You are so busy trying to do the right things when you have your own children that you don't always value them as you should. When those grandchildren come along, you are mature enough to realize what a special heritage they are from God. I love you:
Landon,Cameron, Melody, Aunalee, Emylee, and Caleb. You all are awesome and so precious to Pop and me.

I lost my parents early in my life. My father, Eldredge Lewis, who was pastoring in Corpus Christi, was killed in an explosion in 1946. I was almost 4 years old and my little sister was 3. My mother was left a widow at 22. My sister, Veda Mae, had leukemia and died at the age of 13. My mother remarried a widower, Lemuel Creel, from Baytown and I received a new family. She only lived 3 1/2 years and died at 37 with cancer. My paternal grandfather died shortly after Ron and I married. My maternal grandparents, Bro. & Sis. Dale Harvey who pastored Mt. Houston UPC died in
1966. That left me with only my paternal grandmother who was the epitome of a godly woman.

She was the only grandparent my children had on my side of the family. MawMaw Lewis made such an impact on their lives as she had on mine throughout my life time. Eldredge and Veda both received the holy ghost in her bed. Eldredge was only 4 years old. I remember her singing by the hour, "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus" and after my grandpa died...."No never Alone". The Lord privileged us to have her until 1985 when both of our girls were teenagers.

I was the only granddaughter and was doted on by her. Her prayer life, her love for cooking and feeding preachers and her family, her worship in her everyday life, and her love for family has left an indelible mark on my life. The graveyard at McLeod, Texas hold beloved saints that will go up when the "dead in Christ" shall rise first.
HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY to all you grandparents.

To all of you who are praying for Landon, thank you. The NG tube was removed today.
The incision is open and draining. We are still praying no more infection will set in. The drain tubes in his stomach will be removed Monday if there is no more infection.
I am at the hospital today and am driving to Dallas with Ron tonight. We will be at Dallas First Church with Tom and Gayla Foster tomorrow and Pentecostals of Katy with Rob and Shara McKee tomorrow night. Pray that we will be a blessing.
I am looking forward to the being in church.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

2008-09-05T17:47:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the drs did an ultra sound and inserted two drainage tubes in his abdomen to reduce fluid and run cultures.
The doctor was more encouraging today. He offered to take the NG tube out but Landon
asked to keep it for 12 more hours. He does not want them to have to put it in again.
Right now...it is a series of complicated medical problems. They are saying he needs to heal. They will probably send him home in a week. They are saying he may have to have another surgery but they do not want to touch him in less than 6 months. If they have to, it is a chance it could be fatal.
Right now, they are saying his bowel will take 6 months to heal. He will go home with ivs, protien packs, etc. and no food or drink until the stomach completely heals..
At this point...we are still taking a day at a time. We are having to trust God
completely. Thanks again for all your prayers. God will give us strength. We are weary but walking in His strength.
God bless all of you..

Frustrated Doctors, Parents, Grandparents and Landon

2008-09-03T23:32:00.002-05:00

Our roller coaster is going downhill all the way. If you've read Tracie's blog, you know that Landon's incision started leaking profusely and coming open this morning.
The dr ordered a cat scan and it is 11:30 and we just got some news. The Dr. basically told us we are in for a log haul. This is only the second fistula that this surgeo has had. He has several things going on. When they fixed the second obstruction, they knew it was very risky and there is a leak in the bowel that is coming outside the skin.
There is also fluid in his stomach that may be an abcess. He said we would have to go day by day. They are not wanting to go in his stomach again before 6 months.
We need desperate prayer for patience, healing, and wisdom.
We are seeking a second opinion of another surgeon also tomorrow. It is very complicated but we know the Healer. God bless.

Roller Coaster Ride

2008-09-03T06:21:00.004-05:00

Roller Coasters are supposed to be fun, but this one we are riding has unusual bumps and a lot of downhill slides. We are ready to climb some hills, rush to the end and get off this ride. I cannot believe this is my 10th post about Landon when I wanted to be posting beautiful pictures of Alaska and victory reports of the work God did during our almost 8 week tour.

We are now in the 9th day after the second surgery. It was 3 weeks yesterday after
the first surgery.

Ron arrived home from Alaska and was devastated when he saw Landon. He has been fasting and praying almost continually since I left Alaska to come home. Landon is so dear to his heart and Ron is so tender. He went outside and boohooed like a baby. I thought he would never quit crying. It is so shocking to see a healthy young man laying there having such a struggle and it was more than he could stand.

God is good and we are believing that things are turning around. Landon received 2 units of blood on Monday and his blood count has come from 7 to 9. His fever has stayed below 101...(no fever until last night and it was 100.6) and the dr says that is good. His vitals are good, they've taken him off the heart monitor and lowered his heart/blood pressure medication. They've reduced his pain meds 75% and the tube into his stomach is driving him mad. They are supposed to unhook it again today from the suction again(but not remove it) and see if his stomach is processing anything. He got real sick when they did this on Monday. The xrays yesterday showed no blockage and we are believing things are going to start looking up.

Ronna and Bob have been very torn about what to do about his care. It does not seem they are being very aggressive so they called in a gastro dr for a second opinion yesterday. For right now we are just waiting and praying.

We had a wonderful worship service in his room last night. His fever was starting to come up, and we gathered around his bed to pray for divine intervention.
When we finished, he asked our friends Quintin and Tammy to sing and we started singing hymns and Landon raised his hands in worship and the Holy Ghost moved into that room with a mighty presence. It was a wonderful and comforting experience to us all. Bro. Lamas and Ron stayed awhile with us after everyone left and we had a better night, no gagging, but he is not resting as well as he would like.

Blessing to all of you. Thanks for the many calls and text. They are appreciated.
Ron will be going to Dallas today to Tom Foster's. I may go with him on the weekend but am just taking it a day at a time. Ronna needs me during the week and she is ony 10 minutes away. I will go to her house tonite and get a good night's sleep and come back tomorrow morning for another 2 day/night stretch.

Urgent Request!!!!

2008-09-01T10:57:00.005-05:00

Thank God that we did not have to evacuate because of the storm with everything else we have going on! Landon's blood count has dropped to 7 and they are going to give him a transfusion today. Also, more xrays to see if there is another blockage. They said no blood yesterday, yet he is losing blood from somewhere. Please keep us in prayer.
The situation is getting grave and we need God's help. Pray also that God will
speak to Him and that Landon is sure he is right with his maker. We gave him to God as a baby and I know God loves him more than we do. Pray that we all have strength and that Ron has a safe trip home from Alaska and that God will give him perfect peace.
Ronna and Bob need wisdom also in how to deal with the drs etc. It seems they are moving very slowly and it is a holiday weekend on top of that.
Blessings to all of you. We feel the undergirding Hand of the Almighty.
I am leaving to go to the hospital and will stay tonite but you can check Tracie Smith's blog for updates as she is staying in touch with us. I do not know what today holds or when I will be able to get to a computer again.

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER!!

2008-08-31T16:39:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all of you for your earnest prayer. We got the first good news we've had.
The ct scan showed fluid in his stomach area. They did a needle insertion to see what the fluid was. It was clear, NO BLOOD, thank the Lord. If he were bleeding, they had told us there would be another emergency surgery.
They are doing cultures to see what the fluid is, and will not do anything until Mon or Tues. This morning it looked possible that we were facing surgery #3 in 4 weeks.
This evening after much prayer, things have seemingly turned around. At least for now.
We are rejoicing in every good thing. God is good and we appreciate His kindness and tender mercies.
His temp, blood pressure, heart rate are all down for the first time since the last surgery. ANOTHER PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING!!!!
What would we do without the body of Christ? I do not want to have to find out.
Love and blessings to all of you.

More prayer, Please!

2008-08-30T14:51:00.001-05:00

We need specific prayer. I was at the hospital Thursday afternoon until last night.
Eldredge came around 10. His father in law, Mark Jones, had a mild stroke earlier in the week, and had to have a pace-maker put in yesterday. He left that Hospital and came to us and stayed with Landon last night. He spiked 103.4 fever yesterday
afternooon around 5. That's the highest it has been. A 4 am this morning he spiked another 103 temp and the dr. is coing a ct scan today to see what is going on.
He is receiving all kinds onf antibiotics, etc by iv.
I just talked to Ronna and they are hoping it is the pic line that they put in last week to put all his meds through.
Please pray with us that it is something simple like that and not complications
with the surgery. He is so very sick. This is the 5th day after surgery and he is showing very little improvement.

I came home and am going to go through mail and get unpacked and do laundry and go back over to Ronna's and the hospital on Monday unless I have to go back before.
I will stay next week when they go back to work. We live 60 miles across town.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers. I have not even had time to think about the hurricane but we are south and will have to think about that if it heads this way. Ronna is on the NW side of Houston and I will be there or at the hospital which is also NW. Blessing to you all!

Refreshed!

2008-08-28T18:30:00.006-05:00

I got a wonderful night's rest at Ronna's last night. I was asleep on my feet...
I fell asleep about 4:30 yesterday afternoon on the couch in Landon's room and even Landon could not wake me up. The nurse came in and changed his bed and I never knew it. I woke up when Bob came in about 5 but was sooo tired. I had been without sleep for two nights. Today when I woke up I got a good shower and washed my hair and felt like a new person.
FYI: I finally learned the name of his ailment...merkles diverticulum.
It is genetic and usually forms on an intestine...like a small arm or growth. They removed 2 ft. in the first surgery. That is what caused the intestine to be twisted.
The removed 10 inches in the second surgery. The dr. is hoping the bowel will not burst or leak from all the intensive surgery.

Landon is still a sick young man. His heart rate is 150+ and his blood pressure was 159/93 and his fever spikes to 102.8. They took his catherter out today but he will have the tube to his stomach for several more days until they see that everything is functioning properly. They shouldn't have let him go home before because he was not well. They are being extra precautious this time.
His color is better, he is more coherent, but he has sept NONE today. Pray that we will have a good night. I am going to stay tonite and tomorrow and Eldredge will stay tomorrow night. Ronna will stay Saturday night. If he is better, I am going to try to slip home sometimes Sat or Sun and get clean clothes and take care of my mail.

THINGS TO PRAY FOR:

That his heart rate and blood pressure will come down(he is receiving meds for this but they are not making a difference.)

That his fever will go away..It is 102.8 again tonite

That they can get him walking around more...he has so many tubes etc.

They were giving ice chips but he was using to many so they have taken all but a cup 1/2 per day

Blessings to all of you and many thank for your prayers and concern.

FROM THE HOSPITAL:

2008-08-27T00:28:00.004-05:00

I had a safe, but very long trip home. Cameron picked me up at the airport and I went straight to the hospital. Landon is still very sick. They are not sure the surgery was successful. He had many adhesions and lots of scar tissue and the surgery was only two weeks ago. I have learned from Ronna that the original diverticuli that they removed was a genetic disorder. She told me the medical name but I do not remember.

They finally got his pain leveled out around 8:30 p.m. this evening. We have a Pentecostal nurse on this night shift...Praise the Lord! She remembers me (or the name Guidroz) from years ago in Pt. Neches. She got right on top of the pain medication (or lack of it) problem and is changing it every two hours as prescribed by the dr. today. God does all things WELL! I never ceased to be amazed at how He orchestrates even small things in our lives.

I am staying tonight and tomorrow so Ronna can get some rest tonight. She has missed a lot of work and she is going to try to go in tomorrow with me here.
Veda will stay tomorrow night and I will go to Ronna's and get some much needed sleep. I slept about 2 hours last night on the leg from Seattle to Dallas, and the way the night is going,,,,,it looks like there will not be many naps tonite. He is hallucinting, either from the pain meds or the fever, or both.

They are worried now about pneumonia. He is spiking a fever of 102.8. He is on iv
antibiotics but he is not moving around yet ....too sick to get him up.
Let's pray specifically:
For the pain
That the surgery will be successful and for healing in his stomach
That he will not develop pneumonia
That his stomach will start functioning soon so they can remove the tubes, etc.

I was able to get a shower while he was resting before he spiked the temp and
get out of my traveling clothes. I feel like a new person. Thanks again for all your prayers and support. Tracie Smith and Vicki Simoneaux came by to visit us today. Their visit was really a blessing to Ronna and me. We're rejoicing with them about the good reports from the neuro doctor and trusting that God will guide the ENT dr
tomorrow to the most beneficial treatment, therapy, etc.
Blessings to all of you..my friends. I appreciate every comment on my blog, every phone call, every visit, and especially your prayers.
Pray that God will give Ron peace as he finishes up his time in Alaska. He is in Tooksook Bay tonite and tomorrow night. They will have a 'Back gto School" revival Thursday through Sunday in Bethel. Look on your map and locate Bethel and Tooksook.
The terrain is very different there and you can only reach Bethel and the villges by air (or boat in the summer)

From Seattle

2008-08-26T00:16:00.005-05:00

I grabbed a salad to eat on the plane. The plane was late leaving Anchorage so only have a little over an hour here and am checking emails, phone calls, etc. I talked with Ronna and Landon is still in surgery. They were late taking him in, but I don't know exactly what time they did take him. She came out to answer my call. Please continue to pray. Blessings to all....

Update on Landon

2008-08-25T19:11:00.002-05:00

I am at the Anchorage airport waiting on my flight to Seattle, then all night to DFW and change airlines and fly to Houston. I should arrive at IAH by 8:35. Landon is in surgery again as I type. Ronna said they had left a small obstruction that they thought would take care of itself but didn't. She said this was more serious. He will have the tube in his nose to his stomach twice as long and be in hospital at least 7 days. I will go straight to the hospital upon arrival in Houston. Please pray for my safety in travel, Ronna for strength and Landon for healing. He is at Cypress North Medical Center which is at 290 and Huffmeister close to where we used to live.
I am going to try to catch up on my blog while I'm having some of these layovers. Thanks for all of your prayers and support. My cell phone is working again now that I am in Anchorage...

PLEASE PRAY

2008-08-22T12:24:00.003-05:00

To all of my blogger friends: please pray for our grandson Landon. He has been taken back to the hospital and they have found another obstruction. He went home Tuesday but has not been able to eat and very nauseous. Ronna emailed me this morning. Our cell phones do not work in the Tundra and we are going to a remote village today where we can receive but not send email. I could have gotten out today but it looked like he was better. I have reservations for Mon and will arrive in Houston Tuesday morning. Please pray for all of us... Ronna needs the strength of the Lord, Landon needs healing and protection and I need peace for I am SOOOOO far away. My mother/grandmother's heart wants to be there. Thank you for your prayers.

About our son...Ronald Eldredge Guidroz

2008-08-18T03:13:00.009-05:00

Where have the years gone? God gave us a male child on Aug.10th, 1971. Dad Guidroz told us we had to have a boy to carry on the Guidroz name. At the time our daughters were almost 5 and 6. I had to talk to the Lord about that and he gave us the desires of our hearts. Ronald Eldredge Guidroz has been a great son and man of God. He's a great preacher of the gospel, a wonderful husband and father, and our beloved son.

He was born before the day of ultra-sounds and we did not know that he was a boy, although my husband had prayed for a boy. We had moved back to my childhood home in Beaumont, Tx and Ron was evangelizing. Ron told the Doctor while I was in labor that he wanted a boy with a bible in his hands. Dr. Todd, the son of a methodist preacher remembered because immediately after he was born, he rolled up a piece of guaze and put it in Eldredge's hand and told the nurse to tell that preacher there was his boy with his bible.

Ron was more than over-joyed. Several of our friends and family had gathered at Baptist Women's hospital in Beaumont for the big event. They said that Ron ran around the parking lot in circles. When they wheeled the baby out, Ron fell on his knees and dedicated him to the Lord there in the hall. He has always been Ron's little (and big) "man of God". The doctor came back into the delivery room after going out to see Ron and told me ..."your husband is having a hallelujah time". My aunt was so embarrassed by his carrying on that she hid behind the coke machine.

Ron called 50 preachers collect to tell them God had given him a man child. He also called the white house and left a message. Nurses and people from the hospital came by my room the next day to see the lady whose husband caused such a commotion..LOL.

We could not decide upon a name, but finally decided to use my dad's name. My father was killed when I was almost 4 years old. He was a great man of God and only 25.
So Eldredge bears the name of two great men, his father; Ronald Guidroz, and my father, Eldredge Lewis.

Before Eldredge's son, Caleb was born, I prayed for God to give us a man child.
He answered my prayers and gave us Caleb Eldredge Guidroz who is the only Guidroz boy of his generation. He also has been a joy to us.

This post is lengthy, but I guess I am homesick and missing my family. They are so important to me. Eldredge and Caleb are in Jayess, Mississippi this weekend. Eldredge preached there for Bro. Turner Friday and Sunday. We are so thankful for his ministry and his love for us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY again, son! We love you and beautiful Joy, Emylee and Caleb!!

Prayer Request

2008-08-14T12:57:00.007-05:00

Our oldest grandson, Landon,on the right in the photo, had to have emergency surgery Tuesday night around midnight Texas time. We are in Alaska and his mom was in Victoria, BC. He had been very sick for a couple of days and went to urgent care. They sent him immediately to the emergency room thinking it was appendicitis. He called us for prayer crying.

After running test, they determined it was his small intestine twisted and they did surgery. I do not know all the details, since his mom nor I were there. Ronna been waiting for airplanes trying to get home today. I do know they untwisted it, removed some diverticulitis and a mass and stapled it off and replaced it.
Whatever they did, it was serious and he needs prayer. He is in quite a bit of pain.
Also, I am praying that this will be a time of healing and God will talk to him and give him specific direction for his life.

His brother, Cameron, on the left, has been with us two weeks and flew home Monday night. We had a great time with him and he caught 15 salmon on Monday before flying out. Thank you Bro. Churchill for a great day for Camo! I will be posting more later about our week.

Pray also that I can make adjustments to my schedule and possible go home earlier than Ron. We are scheduled to fly home Sept. 1. Thank you for your prayers. God's blessings to all of you.

Alaska Week 4

2008-08-11T04:24:00.003-05:00

This was a busy week for us. After church on Sunday evening in Anchorage, we headed to Sterling on the Kenai Penisula. That is one of the prettiest parts of Alaska to me. Cameron was looking forward to fishing and we stopped and bought him some waders and other necessities for the big adventure. Bro. Yonts and his son-in-law, Bob Boettcher and his son Robbie from Illinois were there for their annual fishing trip staying at the camp ground. Cameron and Ron got to join them several times on the river and we took Robbie King Salmon fishing with us but had no luck. We shared several meals with them and the Churchills and enjoyed the fellowship.

Bro. and Sis. Glover had flown to Georgia for their son's graduation from basic training in the army. They were so gracious to let us stay in their lovely home while they were away. We had been scheduled there for several months and they had us come on even though they had to make that unexpected trip. Their assistant pastor, Bro. Ickerd and his wife took great care of us, and the Glovers came in before we left and we enjoyed their fellowship.
We also got to meet Bro. Parrish, the superintendent who was also staying at the Glover's home while working on the camp ground. The Alaska District camp grounds is right outside of Sterling.

On Saturday, Ron, Camo, and I drove to Seward with my friend, Kim Churchill and her daughter Ellis for a district youth BASH back to school gathering. That day they had an outdoor concert by their Alaska Youth Chorale downtown Seward. We had a wonderul time and came back by to see the exit glacier.

On Sunday, we had a wonderful service with a new young man in service. Ron taught him a bible study Sunday afternoon and He and Bro. Ickerd rejoiced as he received the holy spirit during the bible study. We were glad the Glovers made it in for Tuesday Family seminar.

On Monday and Tuesday nights, we did our marriage and family seminar. We left Wednesday for Homer. That will be another post.

One the of the things that is so awesome about the family of God is they are like family even though you may have never met them. We are driving a car of a fellow laborer whom we had never met, and stayed a week in a home where we had not met the owners, the Glovers. The pace is slower here and everyone is so friendly and caring.

Alaska Week 3 July 21-27

2008-08-09T22:05:00.002-05:00

Our third week in Alaska was blessed by being in 3 churches. I am awed by the beauty that surrounds us. Some days the clouds were so thick that you could not see the mountains that surround Anchorage. We preached for the spanish church, Bro. Esparza on Wednesday night and had marriage and family seminar on Friday and Saturday nights.
On Thursday, our friends Eugene and Kerry Wilson from Memphis were in town visiting the Gallions and we had lunch with all of them before they went to the airport.
We were privileged to preach for Jason and Stephanie Gallion in Eagle River on Thursday night. They have a wonderful building and congregation. It was great to be with Sis. Marshall again. We met them in the phillipines 25 years ago.
We had a great service.
Ron got sick on Sat. and had to go to urgent care with vertigo and nausea. He was too sick to go to the Family seminar so I had to go it alone. Instant in season and out...LOL. That paid me back for being too sick the week before and he had to do it by himself. Thank God we are well now.
Our grandson, Cameron, flew in Saturday night. We preached for the spanish church at 10 and went back at 4:30 and enjoyed being with Toby and Ellen Stevens and their group. We then enjoyed the lovely drive to the Kenai peninsula where we were going to spend the week in Sterling. It is some of the loveliest country in Alaska.
Thank God I can get all this posted even if I had to come to the church and get on their wireless. What I don't finish tonight, I will post next week while we are in Anchorage again. God's blessings on all my friends.

I'm holding my breath!!!!

2008-08-02T02:30:00.002-05:00

Here goes a try at posting. We left Anchorage last Sunday and we are on the Kenai Peninsula where there is little connection, even with my air card. I have a feeling
it will be much like this for the rest of the trip. Posting pictures is out of the question because I cannot keep a connection long enough.

The only way I have been able to receive my email is on my iphone. I'm thankful for that. It is difficult to answer my email though or go to anothr site. To go from one site to the other is impossible and if this goes through it will be a miracle because it is telling me that the bloggersite cannot be reached..LOL.

I have been keeping up with Timo Simoneaux's, (a missionary kid whose parents are friends) progress on my iphone. Thank the Lord that he hears and answers prayers. You may go to www.tsmithconroe.blogspot.com for updates.

Our grandson, Cameron,flew in last Saturday night. We came to Sterling on Sunday night. Ron got very ill on Saturday and had to go to Urgent care with vomiting and vertigo. He is feeling much better, but with a little vertigo now and then. The dr. said he had a virus and perhaps an inner ear infection.
Thank the Lord I am better, though coughing some. The weather has been beautiful this week. The first 3 weeks were rainy and cold. The sun has shone and it has been around 65-70 degrees. Perfect weather in my books...LOL.

Bro. Yonts, Bob Boettcher(his son-in-law) and his grandson Robbie have been up this week fishing. We've enjoyed the fellowship and Cameron has enjoyed the fishing although he hasn't caught anything yet. The waves have been to bad to go out in the boat for halibut.

The red salmon have been running, but they don't bite. You have to snag them with a fly rod. Cameron has not enjoyed that kind of fishing much. We went out in a boat for King Salmon on the last day of the season but they were not running.
The silver salmon should be running this week and he will also get to fish for halibut.

We are going to Seward tomorrow for an outdoor concert that is a part of the Alaskan district back to school function. They say it is beautiful.
Hopefully I can post some pictures while we are in Anchorage on the 12th.
I am going to see if I can get this post through without getting cut off.
God bless all of you.

Friends

2008-07-25T16:57:00.004-05:00

A dear friend of ours is down and and I wanted to share this letter I found on Gary Madden's blog with all of you. Most of you know Charles Grisham, a faithful soldier. He recently has suffered another stroke. We have been in contact with him and Francis. Ron actually talked with him on the phone before he left the hospital, but he was very weak.
I thought I would share this letter and address so you all could contact him and bring a little sunshine to his day. He is truly a "man of God" and both of them are precious friends.

Letter I copied:

Charles Grisham,“Apostle of Encouragement”, is recovering from a stroke. He is much improved and is now a patient at a “therapy center” for the next 30 days - near Nashville.Your cards, letters and notes will mean much to him NOW! He cannot receive phone calls.

Who among us has not received a card or letter from him over the years? Now it’s our turn to reach out and touch him with our love and concern. Many of you already have [done so] during his hospital stay. [But it won't hurt for him to receive more than one - let's keep him encouraged!]

Thanking you in advance.

A Grateful Son,

Mark A. Grisham

Charles R. Grisham
Hillcrest Center
111 Pemberton Drive
Ashland City, TN 37015

Rainbows

2008-07-23T21:25:00.004-05:00

I've always been fascinated by rainbows. The colors always blend into one another and it reminds me of happy times. While Ron was traveling to church without me Saturday evening (I am still home recuperating) with Bro. Sanders, they saw this and Bro. Sanders sent me the pictures.
Thank God for a wonderful place to stay and wonderful people to stay with. We have been so blessed to be able to have such comfortable accomodations, especially since I've been under the weather most of the time we've been here.

I am looking for a rainbow this week. I'm tired of the rain and cold and want to get well and outside again. Ron has gone across town tonight to preach for Bro. Esparza. I'm trusting I will be well enough to go on Friday.

Alaska Week 2

2008-07-22T05:02:00.002-05:00

The happenings of this week have been awesome on one hand and frustrating on the other because I have been ill. Thank God today has been better.
The miracles God performs in our lives that we aren't even aware of never cease to amaze me. Last Tuesday night we were off and since it has been mostly rainy and cloudy and had cleared in the late evening, Bro. Sanders drove us out the Seward highway. We were enjoying the beautiful scenery and saw many cars pulled off the road looking up on the high mountain side to the left of the road and we saw the sheep up on the top.
We drove a little further and Bro. Sanders who always takes the tourist down to Girdwood, said I think we ought to turn around. It was around 8:20. The highway is a two lane road and we made our way back and enjoyed the sights. He came in a couple of days later with a newspaper that showed a tragedy 1 mile down the road from where we turned around that happened around 8:22. There were fatalities. It very easily could have been us if we had continued on. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord". I'm so thankful that He does guide our steps daily.
We drove this week up north about 50 miles nightly to Wasilla to be with Bro. & Sis. O'Neal and the church there. I was only able to go Thurs and Friday night.
The services were blessed and the crowds were good and the drive was beautiful.
Most days the mountains were obscured by the clouds. I have been so intrigued by the clouds up here. You have to realized that I was raised on the gulf coast in Texas and used to seeing trees and mostly flat land. The elevation is high here and you feel like you are on the level with the layer and layers of clouds. Some were very dark, and others would be white with the sun shining through.
I feel so close to nature and God up here where it is so open. Thank you for indulging me in my ramblings. Perhaps this week will bring complete healing and more clarity to my posting..LOL.

Not feeling up to par!

2008-07-19T21:21:00.004-05:00

I am up here in this beautiful country and very ill. I have been to urgent care twice this week with a sinus infection. Today they said I was not responding to the antibiotic so gave me another one. I need the prayers of my friends. Thank God we are in a comfortable place. I had to miss church Wed. night and could not do the family seminar with Ron tonight in Wasilla. My voice is gone and I cough when I try to talk.
The cotton wood blossoms are blowing here like snow flurries. This would be like spring in Texas. They have had very little summer...It has not been higher than 60 and is in the 40's at night. The sun came out a little yesterday on our way to church (6p.m.) and is shining today but I am on the inside.
Hopefully I will feel like posting more in the next couple of days and share some beautiful pictures.

Alaska Week1

2008-07-17T03:24:00.003-05:00

First week in Alaska

2008-07-16T02:37:00.001-05:00

We are in the beautiful state of Alaska. We arrived 12:30A.M. last Wednesday morning.
It was 3:30a.m. Houston time and we did not go to bed until about 2:30 a.m. (translates to 5:30a.m. Texas time) We slept all day (l:30 Alaska time) and got up and got ready for church. We are with Steve and Melissa Sanders who are originally from Texas. She was raised in Hemphill and he is Zavalla. They have been up here for 5 years and are doing a great work for God.
The pace here is much slower(which we are enjoying being as we still have our days and nights mixed up.) and it stays daylight until midnight and gets light again very early.
It is also colder than I anticipated. I did not have a "jacket" so had to go to Burlington Coat Factory and buy me a light weight jacket the second day we were here because it was in the 50's.
Ron preached Wednesday and Thursday nights. They have a lovely building and some great people. We did our marriage and family seminar on Friday and Saturday evening and
had a wonderful service on Sunday. The spirit of the Lord was so strong and people were blessed mightily of God.
We will be starting tomorrow night with Bro. and Sis. O'Neal about an hour away from where we are in Anchorage. The Sanders have a nice split level home and the "basement" is on the ground level and has windows. It is their family room, but has a bed, and a little kitchenette with microwave and fridge and the all important coffee pot for those who know me well. LOL
We have been extremely comfortable and will stay here and drive back and forth this next week.
The sun has not come out until about 6 oclock everyday since we've arrived so I have not been able to get clear pictures of the beautiful mountains surrounding the city. Maybe next week.
Blessings to all of my Blogger friends. This is a great way to stay connected to friends and family while we are on the road.
PS I've worked on a slide show all day and had nothing but trouble, then I messed up my blog so am a little discourage with all of this tonight. Maybe things will look better in the morning and I can get the pictures posted.

June and more

2008-07-10T18:00:00.004-05:00

I will catch up on my travels so I can be current with our Alaska trip.
It seems that we've been so busy that I haven't had the time to blog.
We left Odessa on Memorial day and went home.
Ron had his cataract removed the next day and he is seeing the world clearly for the first time in a long time. We drove to Dallas on Saturday to be with Tom Foster
and his great church. He sponsored us to preach in some surrounding churches that week.

We drove to Bossier on Saturday and had a wonderful weekend with Jerry And Gina Dean and their family. On our way to Bossier City, we stopped and met the Gandys and the Zorches at Cracker Barrel and had a wonderful time of fellowship.
We stopped by to see our dear friends, Mike and Glenda Hudspeth on our way back to Houston. I had not seen Katie's baby and she is a year old.

We were only home one day and flew to NYC to be with Bro. Teets and Bro. Edwards.
We had a great time. Our marriage semiar was on Saturday at Bro. Edwards church couples from both churches attending. What a great time we had.

The flight on Monday from NY to San Antonio was delayed because of weather and we spent most of the day in the Baltimore airport arriving in San Antonio after midnight. A big thank you to our friends David and Gena Caruthers who picked us up.

We had a busy week at our South Texas District Revival Conference.(which was a combination of our district conf. and camp meeting) Tuesday night after the ordination service we had a reception honoring Bro. L.E. King, Bro. L.L. Stevens, and Bro. Henry Stevens. Bro. Jackson's church did a wonderful job putting it all together for us.

We are responsible for the guest and the hospitality room at our district functions.
The fellowship was great and it was good to have Bro. Michael and Sis. Vanessa Harris helping us this year. They assisted in the hospitality room and making runs to the airport in the van the district rents for us to transport guest to and fro.

Our conference was blessed by the Lord mightily. We enjoyed the ministry of Bro. Cornwell, Bro. Bernard, Bro. Bill Davis, and Bro. Wayne Huntley. The fellowship was also great.

We flew from San Antonio to Houston on Saturday morning and was home 6 hours...long enough to get clean clothes and fly out to Atlanta for Sunday services with Tim and Kathy Copeland in Buford, Ga. We enjoyed staying in their lovely home and being with their great boys, Jordan, Caleb, Ben, and Clark. What a time we had!

We flew home on Friday and left on Saturday to spend 5th Sunday in Johnson City with Greg and LaKaye Steele and the HOME church. Emylee, our 11 year old granddaughter wet with us and we had a great time.

Ron flew to Mississippi for the weekend and flew in on Monday and we flew out on Tuesday for Alaska and that will be my next blog. Hopefully I can diligently keep up with our travels while in Alaska.
Roll mouse over photo to see caption.

May Photos

2008-07-10T03:39:00.002-05:00

Do not be alarmed. It is not almost 4a.m. I am in Alaska and we are 3 hours behind Texas but cannot figure out how to change the time..LOL.

Missing my blog friends

2008-07-04T02:34:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe it has been almost a month. I've been in the air or on the road.
A slide show is almost complete to be posted. The Lord is good to us all the time.
We were in NY and flew to our South Texas District Revival Conference, then flew to Buford, Ga, flew home, and left the next day for Johnson City where we had a great 5th Sunday with the HOME church.

We are getting ready to leave for Alaska on Tuesday. Ron flies out to MS on Saturday and I am staying home to try to get everything done. We will not return until September 2nd. We were only home 2 days last month, so I am rather overwhelmed with laundry, mail, etc, wanting to be with my grands, etc etc.

How do you pack in one suitcase for 7 weeks? My friend, Sissy Rodenbush has it down to a science and goes overseas for weeks at a time with one suitcase and one carry on.
My day today has been spent (between cleaning and packing and bookwork) making decisions. Do I leave the hot rollers, hair dryer, or hot sticks? Do I have to have more than one pair of dress shoes? You ladies will understand my delima. The airlines now charge for over one bag and I may just have to pay for a small bag for all my hair stuff and toiletries and medications. You try to take everything because things are so very expensive in Alaska. How many cans of hairspray? Such decisions...LOL Back to filing and more decisions tomorrow. Blessings on all of you.

Sobering Thoughts

2008-06-10T00:55:00.002-05:00

I have many pictures to post and places to tell about, but since returning home tonight late, I have been thinking about the services yesterday. We were with Jerry and Gina Dean and their wonderful church in Bossier City. My husband preached on Heaven in the a.m. and his version of his dad's sermon, The death march...last night.
My thought and prayers as I go to bed tonight are...
God...please let me make a difference in my world.
I do not just want to go through the motions of Christianity, but I want my life
to touch others.
I do not want to be just remembered as a good friend, a good mother, or a good wife,
a good cook, a good entertainer, but I want my life to count for the kingdom.
I want my priorities to be correct and I do not want me or my family to go to hell.
Life is too short to waste my time on things that do not make an eternal difference.

After hearing so many great sermons from my "man of God", I am stirred. Our world is in such turmoil...I am so thankful we have a safe hiding place in these storms of life.

May Flowers

2008-05-31T19:18:00.003-05:00

May has come and gone and brought with it many memories and blessings. I made my first trip after my surgery to Savannah, Ga...one of my favorite cities in the USA. It is full of history ad beauty. Our friends, David and Pam Hodge are great host and hostess and we had wonderful services. They took us to Lady and Son's, Paula Deen's restuarant where I was able to eat some southern fried chicken, collard greens, blackeyed peas, creamed corn and of course some of her famous hoe cakes(a cross between cornbread and a pan cake). This was wonderful for me as I had been eating bland food since October.

We flew home on Monday night and preached for Mike and Ginger Wedgeworth in Texas City on Wednesday night and enjoyed the presence of God and the fellowship of our friends.

An early morning trip to IAH the next morning started our trip to the Chicago area where we preached for Bro. Bob Boettut cher and Bro. Yonts in Bartlett, IL. Bro. Yonts went there when he was 65 and started the church which 15 years later runs 450 and has a 4 million dollar building paid for. Their son-in-law, Bob Boettcher and his wife Valerie now pastor the thriving church. The Yont's son Jacko was a dear friend of ours and he went to be with Jesus in February. May 9th would have been his 44th birthday and we had the privilege of being with Bro. and Sis. Yonts that day and enjoyed fellowship and tried to bring what comfort we could to our dear friends.
Ron was mightily anointed to preach to the church Thursday and Friday nights.
I was privileged to speak at their mother/daughter luncheon on Saturday. The gym was beautifully decorated and the food was delicious. I shared about my mother and the things she taught me (hindsight is 20/20 as she died at 37 with cancer when I was 19)

Mother's day was hard for Sis. Yonts but we enjoyed a lovely dinner after church and then we went to the Boettcher's home where I made roux for gumbo and Monday before we went to the airport, we enjoyed a meal of chicken/okra gumbo and some wonderful halibut they had caught in Alaska last summer.

Ron preached for Jeffrey Smith in Lake Jackson, Tx on Wednesnight while I caught my breath and caught up on laundry. We helped my daughter Veda on Thursday get ready for Melody's graduation party. On Friday night, we were privileged to go to Life Tabernacle and be in service with our son and his family and enjoy the ministry of Royce Wilson. We were blessed by the service.

All of our family got to attend the graduation of our eldest granddaughter, Melody Burton on Saturday and her party. We left from the party to fly out to Dallas where we preached for David ad Kay Gilbert and did a marriage and family seminar, We went to their lake house in Oklahoma on Monday night and enjoyed immensely a day of relaxation and food and fellowship. We even found a greasy spoon on our way to Love airport on Wednesday where they made wonderful hamburgers.

We flew to Odessa and arrived in time of service Wednesday evening. It was a blessing to be with Terry and Pam Pugh and their family and get to visit with the elder Pughs. He had angioplasty on Friday and we got to be with them at the hospital when they put a long stint in Bro. Pugh's heart. He did well. Sister Pugh is a sweetheart, although it is heartbreaking to see her body failing frrom Parkinson's disease. Ron preached also on Sunday and did the graduation service for their graduates on Sunday evening. Oh yes I made Ma Pugh gumbo and potatoe salad and we feasted on Saturday while Bro. Pugh was recuperating.
These wonderful people have been very influential in our lives through the years.

I am finally caught up with our travels and have decided I am going to post whether I get the pictures posted or not. I enjoy ready the blogs of my friends and get inspired so I am going to try to do better...LOL. I will post my pictures soon.

The rest of April

2008-05-04T15:05:00.007-05:00

On Friday night, the 18th, Ron drove to Beaumont to the Texas District Conference that was held at the Apostolic church pastored by Bro. Jonathan Elms. He took Bro. Kilgore with him and they had a great time and a great service. They both enjoyed the fellowship

Ron flew out to Kansas City on Sat. morning, the 19th of April to be with Bro. Stan Gleason and their fine church.I was still recuperating at home. He had a great time and a great move of God and enjoyed being with the Gleason family. I was disappointed I did not get to go.

While I was home, I got to be with my children and grandchildren, and rode to Tyler with my daughter. She was helping with another luncheon for Arrow Child and Family Ministries. Michael Reagan was the speaker and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She invited the Gandy's, the Keatings, the Kevin Princes, the Kenny Princes, and the Proctors. Arrow is a great ministry and I think our minister friends enjoyed learning about foster/adoption and hearing Michael Reagan.

We also got to be with our grandaughter, Aunalee, at her end of the year program with their home school group. Our oldest grandaughter, Melody, celebrated her 17th birthday also. There is nothing like grandchildren! We always enjoy getting to see all 9 of ours.

Ron left for Bentonville, Arkansas and had a great weekend with John Dean and his family and church. Bentonville was the home of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal Mart for those of you who do not know.

Ron flew home on Monday and we went by to see our grandson's new apartment. Landon is 22 and moving out on his own...spreading his wings. He has a nice one bedroom apartment and Nana and Pop went shopping and bought him a few things he needed to set up housekeeping. Grandparents are good about that..LOL.

On Tuesday, we drove to Beaumont for the visitation of Justin Myer. David and Sandra have been our longtime friends and we recently did a marriage retreat for them. We were all believing for Justin's healing here on this earth, but God did the ultimate healing and took him home to Glory. We were so disappointed we did not get to be at the funeral on Wednesday as we could not change our flights to Savannah, Ga and still get there in time for church with the time difference.

April Snow instead of showers

2008-05-03T22:30:00.003-05:00

We flew to Houston from Mississippi on April 2 and I had laser eye surgery and we flew out to Minnesota the next morning to take part in ABI's Thirst weekend. This is the weekend of the year where they invite prospective students for a weekend of campus activities and services. Ron preached a SFC kickoff rally on Friday night there at ABI and we went to the brunch on Saturday morning where they answered questions about the school and introduced the faculty. We then boarded a bus with students and prospective students and toured St. Paul and went to the zoo. Bro.
Phil Frankford headed this weekend and was a great host to us.
We returned in time for a great service on Sat. evening and great services on Sunday.

We so enjoyed being with our friends, Gerald and Eleanor Grant My dad, Eldredge Lewis was in the first class of ABI and I had always wanted to visit there. He was killed in 1946 when I was about to have my 4th birthday. My grandparents, Dennis and Lizzie Lewis from McLeod, TX sent Jack Hudspeth with him to Minnesota since my dad was only 16 years old. Bro. Jack (Pawsie) was a dear friend to our family.
The Grants were so gracious to us and we were privileged to have Bro. Ron Brown, superintendent of the Tenn. district in service with us Sat. and Sunday.

We went to Bloomington on Monday and I made shrimp and potato salad on Tuesday for our "other son", Tom Andrews. He always looks forward to coming by on his way to Because of the Time in January because I always make gumbo for him. His boys love it too. He and Ron left on Wednesday to go to Duluth where Ron preached for Bro. Taylor on Wednesday night. They drove another hour north for the men's retreat where our friend, Bob Stroup, superintendent of Indiana and Ron teamed up.

We enjoyed our stay with the Andrews and their family and had wonderful services.
They are like family and we do not get to see them very often. Our son, Eldredge, and Tom are best friends and we've fallen in love with Tom, Diane, Tommy, Nathan and Claire.

There was snow on the ground when we landed and it snowed again on Thursday in Bloomington and Ron saw 18 inches of snow up north. Spring had not yet sprung.
The sun came out the day we left.

God is blessing us richly. We came home from Minnesota and I had gallbladder surgery that Wednesday and have done very well. I am behind on our blog but will catch up soon I hope.

Clarification

2008-04-11T08:14:00.004-05:00

The beautiful blond children that we are holding are the children that Tammy and Quintin adopted that I wrote about in the first part of my recent blog. It was a God thing.
I do not know how to answer on SLIDE so am answering you all here. I have used Rock you in the past for my slide shows but sometime have trouble getting them to post on my blog correctly. I found this site on someone's blog and tried it and it is more user friendly for me.
Also, for those of you who have asked, I have started including our monthly schedule on this site so you can kind of keep up with where we are and where we are headed.
We are in Minnesota and it is snowing. I hope to post about it tomorrow.

March Whirlwind

2008-04-10T01:11:00.006-05:00

We started off the month in Richmond, Indiana with Kevin and Dawn Shindoll. They have a great church and we always enjoy being there. We did our Family seminar on Sat. evening and preached both services on Sunday.
have a wonderful congregation and we look forward to being there.
Ladies United in Vison 2008 (the Ladies conference for South Texas Dist was March 6 and 7th in Sugarland, Tx. Ron went with me to host Murrell Ewing. I am guest relation/hospitality coordinator and was very busy those 3 days. It was a great conference although we had to leave early Fri to fly to Jackson for a marriage retreat for the W. Monroe, La. church with Mark and Paula Foster. We had a wonderful retreat and traveled back to W. Monroe for the weekend.

When we arrived back in Texas, we were privileged to be
in town for the adoption of Peyton Creme to our "other" children, Quinton and Tammy Creme. Our daughter, Ronna, works for Arrow Child and Family ministry and was able to connect the Cremes to their Foster to Adopt Program. They got Halle at 11 months of age and Peyton came home from the hospital to their home. They are beautiful children. After 15 years of marriage, the Creme household is blessed with not one, but two darlings who are natural siblings who were blessed to be adopted into the same family.
We preached that Thurs. night in Shepherd, TX for Greg and Michelle Gerald. The service was blessed and we enjoyed the fellowship of the Geralds and their family.
have a wonderful congregation and we look forward to being there.
. It was a great conference although we had to leave early Fri to fly to Jackson for a marriage retreat for the W. Monroe, La. church with Mark and Paula Foster. We had a wonderful retreat and traveled back to W. Monroe for the weekend.

We came home and flew to Gainesville, Fl for a Marriage/Family seminar and to be with the Arnold's for the weekend. Richard and Rachel Schaffer did a wonderful job coordinating the seminar and we had a great time with the Bro. and Sis. Arnold.
Their church is lively and loves the word. Ron was so anointed! I think he gets better every week. The Lord's hand is resting heavy upon him.

We flew home and then went to Dallas for Wednesday night with Bo Baker.
I had a mild gall bladder attack and did not get to attend the service.

On Saturday dedicated Peyton Creme before we flew out to Little Rock for Easter Sunday. We enjoyed being with Melvin and Peggy Clifford and their son, Mark. Our services were blessed mightily.

We drove to Tyler for Wed night with our friends, Larry and Judy Gandy. Larry is recovering from open heart surgery (5 by-passes) and it was great to be in service with them. We had a powerful service and enjoyed great fellowship.

We drove back to Houston so we could fly out on Saturday to Mississippi to be with the Copelands and their growing church in Sebastapol, MS. We always enjoy being there. The Lord again moved in a mighty way and we were blessed each night.
We flew home early Wed. morning so I could have laser surgery on my eye and flew out Thursday to come to Minnesota, but that is another post.
We thank God for His protection on the road and in the air and for His strength to do His work and will.
My intentions are to be faithful to this blog site and post weekly. So far, my resolution has not been kept, but I am trying to be faithful.

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU ARE HAVING FUN

2008-03-29T00:39:00.005-05:00

Where does the time go??? I started out the new year with full intentions to blog regularly, and have done worse than ever. Our busy schedule has not helped me to keep my intentions. I read my friend, Linda Elms' blog and it is so inspiring and I just procrastinate, but I haven't quit...LOL.

One thing that has held me back is my slide shows do not always post correctly and that discourages me so I wait and then don't post at all. I made up my mind tonite to post regularly whether I post pictures or not.

We happened to be in town on February 27th when my daughter Ronna helped coordinate a fund-raiser luncheon for Arrow Child and Famiy Ministries where she is administrative assistant to the CEO, Mark Tennant. Jenna Bush was the special guest. The luncheon was held at the River Oaks Country Club and Ronna did a fabulous job of coordinating everything.

We were together with all our girls. It was a lovely day. Many of our pastor friends attended. She is an excellent speaker and we got an autographed copy of her book. The meal was delicious also. We sat at the Amegy Bank table with our friends, Steve and Lisa Kennedy and J.P. and Linda Rose.

We flew to Indiana and were with our friends, Kevin and Dawn Shindoll in Richmond, IN for the weekend. I had another gall bladder attack while there. The Lord touched me. I had test when I returned home and will have surgery on April 16th to have my gall bladder that is full of stones removed.

Since I try to use this site as a travelogue to keep our family and friends up to date with our comings and going, it is not always inspirational or insightful.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to travel and encourage churches and ministry across the country.

Where did February go?

2008-03-06T00:48:00.002-06:00

They say time flies when you are having fun! We flew to Sacramento to be with our friends, Nate Wilson and Miles Young and the Rock church the 3rd of Feb. We had great services in the beautiful new building. We flew home and drove to Dallas.
On our way we preached in Madisonville, Tx. and drove to Tyler to be with our friends, Larry and Judy Gandy

The doctors had just found a tumor on Judy's kidney. Thanks be to God they
operated the next week and removed the kidney and it was the cancer was totally contained. No Chemo or radiation. We serve a great big God!

We preached for our friends, Carl and Veta McLaughlin and Bishop John Benson. The Bensons have been our friends for years. I cannot believe Veta is no longer a little girl but a wonderful mother with 3 lovely children. How blessed we were to be with them. It is amazing how God is moving in every service. He seems to be getting us all ready for His coming.

We drove to Beaumont and did a marriage retreat for David and Sandra Myer. We had a great time. Ron had driven with his sisters the day before to Breaux Bridge, La. for his cousin's funeral. Our services on the weekend were again mightily blessed by God.
We are still believing with the Myers for a miracle for their son Justin who has been in a coma 41/2 years.

We drove to Brownwood, Tx to be with the Colegroves and their fine church. It's always a joy to be with their family and church. They are in a season of harvest with people receiving the holy ghost in every service.

God is truly doing a great work and speaking to the hearts of those who are hungry.

65th Birthday Party

2008-02-06T01:04:00.000-06:00

My birthday was January 6th, but since we have not been in town, my children and husband set the date to celebrate for February 1st. This was a milestone in my life.
My dad was killed when he was 25. My mother died at 37 of cancer and my sister died of lukemia at 13. 3 of my grandparents died in their early 60's...so I am thankful to be alive, and my husband insisted on giving me a party.

There was one problem...Ron was so excited he forgot to take pictures. My entire family...all children and grandchildren were present and several took pictures. I will post them when someone sends them to me.

It was held at Arrow Child Ministries where my daughter is administrative assistant for the CEO. The facilities are lovely and they decorated beautifully.(Mary Englebright ....all the bright colors and Ron bought a lovely flowers which Veda arranged.) It was a dessert reception and oh so many goodies.

I was so honored by so many dear friends and loved ones who attended. It was a special honor to have my "Aunt Mae" and "Uncle Jack" Kennedy and their son Bill.
Aunt Mae has been a special person in my life. She and my mother went to elementary school together in Beaumont. She and Mike Hudspeth Dad were my parents attendants when they got married in 1941. My mother died in 1962 and the Kennedy's have always been there for me and my family.

Our friends, Mike and Glenda Hudspeth drove in from Shreveport on Tuesday evening and we spent a couple days in Galveston with them before the party. Glenda is like a sister to me and Mike is one of Ron's dearest friends. My second cousins, Austin and Lorene Lewis, Rosa Walton and Iva Phillips (all originally from McLeod) came in from Marshall, Beaumont, and Porter to help me celebrate. I was touched and so appreciative of their sacrifice.

In the midst of the party, I looked up and here came Tom and Sue Jackson from St. Charles, Mo. They are dear friends and were in town for their grandaughter's 3rd birthday and came by for a few minutes. It was such a nice surprise.
Our pastor, Bro. Kilgore also honored us with his presence along with many friends and relatives. These are some of the only pictures Ron took.

I'm grateful for my family and the Lord's blessings upon my life. He is the source of my strength!

Old friends and snow

2008-02-05T23:40:00.000-06:00

So much for new years resolution to be prompt with my blog. We left Because of the Times, came home and got clean clothes and flew out the next day for Indiana.
We were with our dear friends, Bob and Diane Stroup in Merryville, IN. (close to Chicago...he is Supt of Indiana) We had wonderful services on Sunday, January 13th.
They had just completed a week of concentrated prayer and fasting and the Lord honored that in the very first service.
We met the Stroups back in the 70's when we were in Detroit, and then we preached several youth camps in the 80's. The adopted two children Ali and Chad whom we love. Chad joined the marines before Iraq and was in the first group that went into Iraq. He married and has a lovely family, but came back with a lot of baggage from the war.
Long story short....Ron had a real burden for Chad and took him to breakfast on Wed. morning and talked to him about his spiritual life. He was in church Wed. night and the spirit of the Lord moved on Ron while he was preaching about giving God praise before the miracle happens and he went back to Chad at the end of his sermon. Chad broke and the Lord gloriously refilled him with the Holy Spirit.

We did a marriage seminar on Friday evening and had 70 in attendance. Saturday morning we taught our family seminar and the spirit of the Lord moved in at the end and put His blessings upon it. It was so inspirational to me personally that the Lord put His anointing and approval on our efforts.

Sunday, Jan. 20th brought two more blessed services. The church was ready for God's word. Ron preached on Unity on Sunday night and washed Bro. Stroups feet at the end of the sermon. The men of the church came up to the front while he was washing his feet and Ron washed Chad's feet. He wore his shoes 15 days straight while he was in the heat of battle in Iraq. Then Chad washed Ron's feet. It was so touching. Chad this still doing well....worshiping in the services. God is doing a complete healing in his mind and heart. To God be the Glory!!!!!

Their son-in-law, Matt Scott did the facelift(and I need one looking at that double chin..LOL)on my blog and also did a power point for Ron's Lordship sermon. Thanks Matt...you are great at your talent.

The next week, we went about 25 miles to Portage, IN and were with our friends, Jim and Wanda Fielder. It was great staying with our friends in their lovely home and being with their children and grandchildren. It was also great seeing her sister Susie and her son Devin. Ron went to TBC with Jim in the 60's.
We preached Wed. and Thursday nights and taught a family seminar on Saturday and then went with several couples to a restuarant for food and fellowship. How great it was to be in their home and enjoy HOMECOOKED meals. That is indeed a treat for us.
God has blessed them with a wonderful church and He blessed us there in each service.

It was very cold (below zero) both weeks we were in Indiana but snowed while we were in Portage. Diane Stroup went with us and the Fielders on Friday to Illinois to do some shopping and eat at MIMI's. (Oh, the muffins are wonderful)

We flew home on Jan. 28th and our oldest daughter picked me up at the airport and I drove 4 hours with her to Waco for a business trip. Ron picked me up on Wednesday and we drove to Galveston where our friends, Mike and Glenda Hudspeth were staying in a time-share. We enjoyed a day and half of much needed R & R. Then we headed home to do laundry and repack on Friday. Friday evening, my family gave me a 65th birday party which will be the next post and we flew out to Ca. on Sat....
So goes the journey....

A good start for the new year!

2008-01-26T23:13:00.000-06:00

We closed out the old year and brought in the new year at Meridian, Mississippi with Bro. and Sis. Anthony Mansfield. It was a joy to be with them again and witness the wonderful spirit and growth that is in their church. To God be the Glory.
We had wonderful services. Our 16 year old grandson, Cameron went with us and
enjoyed staying with Bro. Mansfield's daughter and son-in-law and their 3 boys.
Buddy and Lynette Cooksey were wonderful hosts/hostesses to him and he enjoyed getting the opportunity to hunt.

I tried to post pictures of the holidays and Camo's previous hunting trip ad his "deer", but had technical difficulties. The new year is getting away from me and I am still trying to catch up on my posting.

The first weekend of the year, we were privileged to be with Tom and Gayla Foster in Dallas and their fine church. Friday and Saturday we did a Marriage and Family seminar. Ron celebrated his 64th birthday on Jan. 3rd, and I celebrated my 65th
on Jan. 6th. We were in Dallas and the night before the Foster's took us to a fabulous restuarant where we overindulged in wonderful food. Thank you Tom and Gayla for the wonderful treat and celebration!

We are in cold Indiana and I will include that in my next post. Thanks be unto God for His great traveling mercies and the blessings He is bestowing upon us.

Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-01T13:45:00.000-06:00

We hope you and yours have a wonderful and blessed new year! God has been so good to us this year. The many miles we've traveled with little or no trouble has truly been a blessing.
We had a wonderful Christmas season with our family and it has been good to be home.
On the 28th, our 3 children, their spouses, and all our grandchildren celebrated together. This was our year for Thanksgiving and the in=laws year for Christmas so we celebrate afterwards.
Everyone is making resolutions and I have several goals set to reach this year.
I need your prayers for help in these areas:
*We want to make a spiritual impact everywhere we go
*I am working on a handbook for young women on hospitality and the home, and I would like to see that published this year.
May God bless each of you as we look for His appearing.

December travels

2008-01-01T01:55:00.000-06:00

As noted in the last post, we began December in Indiana. The first Sunday we enjoyed two wonderful services at Calvary Tabernacle with our friends, Paul and Micki Mooney.
We travelled back to Marshall, IN on Monday for service again with the Tim Marshalls and then back to speak to Student Body leadership at Rob and Jaye Rodenbushes home.
Ron spoke at chapel the next day and then we preached again at Calvary on Wed.

It was wonderful to see many friends including Carol Sleeva and Olga Hyde. I could hardly stand it that Sis. Urshan was not sitting in her pew with her big smile.
I also was glad to see Betty Wilkins and get to visit with her.

Our time with the Mooneys and Jaye and Rob was so special. They are so busy, but we enjoyed our cups of coffee and the quiet times we shared. Friends are invaluable.
We are also thankful for the move of God in each service.

We spent the second weekend in December in Terre Haute with Simeon and Sonia Young and their family. It was great to visit with them and be in their church. My camera was on the blink so I did not get pictures and the pictures Simeon emailed me would not post.

The flight back to Texas after 3 weeks away was welcomed. We almost got caught in the bad weather, but made it out just in time. We traveled to Orange, Tx on the 16th to be with Gary and Linda Wheeler and preach to their church. We went in on Sat. evening for fellowship and Gary had grilled delicious steaks and Linda had prepared the rest of the wonderful meal. It was great to be in their lovely home and feel the warmth of the love of God. It is always a treat to be with them and get to visit with our friend, Hayden. He is special to us!!!

We drove after the afternoon service in Orange directly to Caney Creek to be with Bro. Dennis Clark and Lynette and their fine church. It was the evening of their Christmas children's musical and we enjoyed it very much.

The rest of the holidays were spent with family and friends and Ron has been itching
to preach.

Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends!!!!!

2007-12-25T12:19:00.001-06:00

The beginning of a 3 week tour

2007-12-15T23:13:00.000-06:00

Due to technical difficulties, I am behind again, but hopefully all issues are resolved. Thank you Aaron from IBC for your help and putting a new face to my blogsite. I will endeavor once again to be current if I ever get caught up..LOL!

We left home November 24th and flew to California where we were in service with Bro. and Sis. Larry Booker and their great church. The church loves the preaching of the word and we had a wonderful weekend. We enjoyed fellowshipping Sunday evening after service in the Booker's home with their 3 sons and their wives and grandchildren.

On Monday, Nov. 26th...we met our Michigan gang for our 32nd annual Christmas party.
My camera was on the blink so I did not get any good pictures to put on the slideshow. We flew to Indianapolis on Thursday, Nov. 29th and was met by Bro. and Sis. Tim Marshall from Madison, In. We were with them on Thurs and Friday for a Marriage/Family Seminar and then went back the next week to preach. Their family is precious...sorry I did not get pictures of Alexis and Dustin. The Forbushes, former missionaries and Melanie Marshall's parents live in Madison and we were so happy to get to fellowship with them. We visited them in Hong Kong 30 plus years ago.

I will post again about our weekend at Calvary and our time at IBC.

November 14-18th

2007-12-09T15:20:00.000-06:00

We happened to be home on Monday night and got to go with our 6 year old grandson to his scout pack meeting and see him receive his awards. All the "dens" come together and each group gives their awards. I found out Caleb is a typical ,if very bright, 6 year old. It was a joy to see him and be with him to make memories.

Ron flew to Kansas to preach in several churches the next day, while I stayed home to speak in Baytown for Teresa Grant's "Apples of Gold" monthly meeting. We had a great time and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with Teresa and her ladies. We actually prepared a meal and I got some imput from the ladies on a book I'm putting together.

I met Ron in Texarkana for the weekend where we preached for Bro. Jason Calhoun.
The services were powerfully blessed by God and we enjoyed being there. It was special for me since my mom and dad (whom both have been gone many years) started the church and were living there when I was born.

Ron and I were on separate flights, so Sis. Calhoun took me to my grandmother's old home place in McLeod Monday morning before I had to fly home. Jackie and Ruth Yates(the parents of Jacqueline Prince) own the home now and have been lifelong friends of ours. Thank you Sis. Ruth for showing me the wonderful changes you've made and letting me walk down memory lane. I spent much of my childhood in that home and on that farm. We also went to the cemetery where both my paternal grandparents and my father are buried. It was a great day for me.

We both have such a great heritage for which we are thankful.

A time of thanksgiving

2007-11-21T10:45:00.000-06:00

I wrote a wonderful post and when I posted it on this blog, everything went"catawampaz", so just about the time I think I have it all figured out...
something happens and I find out differently..LOL.

We attended longtime friend Franklin Jones' funeral on Friday night Nov. 2nd. My grandfater pastored Mt.Houston UPC until his death and Frank and Joyce were elected pastors. We drove to Lake Charles, La the next day to be with Pastor and Sis. Sonny Nugent. We held a marriage seminar on Saturday evening and Ron preached both times on Sunday. The services were blessed by God and we enjoyed being with the Nugents and that great congregation.

On Wednesday we flew to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and was with Bro. & Sis. Pool.
The spirit of worship was prevelant in the service and several were touched.
They took us over into Mexico the next day where we visited our dentis we use over there and ate some wonderful "tacos".

Several months ago, Adam Ybarra called and asked my husband to perform his wedding on November 10th. It was a great honor as Bro. Ybarra doesn't perform his own children's weddings, but prefers to sit with his wife during the ceremony.
The rehersal was Friday evening and I baked 3 apple pies and helped Sis. Ybarra decorate and set up tables in her home for the rehersal dinner.

The wedding was 4 pm on Saturday, and was lovely. Ron did a great job at the ceremony. It was sweet and very personal. The reception was also beautiful. They are a great couple and will do much for the kingdom. They are both shy and quite and Ron said in the ceremony they would have to attach bells to themselves to find one another..LOL.

Ron preached there in Weslaco for Bro. Ybarra Sunday morning and we flew out
Sunday afternoon to preach the last service of Bro. Kilgore's 50th pastoral anniversary services. There was a delay and we sat on the runway and in the airport in Harlingen but we made it to Houston just in time for service.

We were blessed to have our two daughters, Ronna and her husband, Bob and Veda, and
her husband, Gary and our son Eldredge and his wife Joy and their families in service with us. Also present were Ron's sister and brother-in-law, David and Billye High, our "adopted children", Quintin and Tammy Creme and Halle and Peyton. Also, long-time friend, Patricia Dickens and Bubba and Sherry Lamb (my deceased friend, Joyce Neyland's daughter)

I had a special treat that evening. My long-time friend, Lisa Kennedy and her husband Stephen and her mother Betty Ann honored us by coming to hear Ron preach.
Lisa was an airline stewardess with Delta 15 years ago when she and I were travelling to Houston on Southwest in a snow storm. Her father was dying and I sat down by her and prayed with her and she calls me her guardian angel. They have since moved to Houston and have 3 beautiful children and we cherish our friendship with her family.

I am still counting my blessings!

Another chapter

2007-11-18T14:47:00.000-06:00

Just about the time I was getting the hang of the slide shows, etc. my camera decided not to download to my computer. Since I want also a pictorial diary of our travels, I'm behind again. Between trips, I managed to get a card reader to download my pictures so I am up and running again. I am getting a little braver about venturing out and trying new things.

Another trip!!!

2007-11-03T10:39:00.000-05:00

We left on our anniversary Oct.19th to go to the Life Church for a marriage seminar on Friday night. They surprised us with a cake and flowers. We preached there for Bo Baker on Sunday. Bud Guidroz is the Bishop of the Life Church and we enjoyed spending time with him and sweet Robbie. We had a fabulous service on Sunday morning with the Bakers. God moved in a magnificent way and there was much conviction.

On Sunday afternoon we travelled to Denison where we were with our friends, David and Kay Gilbert. It was great being with them and their church again.
We had another great service with the power of God manifest strongly.
The church honored the Gilberts with a meal for pastor appreciation after the service.

We left there on Monday and went by and had dinner with Belinda McManus (no picture) in Greenville before driving back to Houston.

We flew out on Sat. to New York to preach Scotty and Jenny Teets 21st pastoral anniversary. Our plane arrived at 3:30 and we just had time to go eat and straight to church with the NY traffic. We had a great service.
On Sunday, they had one service and a reception for the Teets. We had a great time.

Ron preached for Bro. Edwards on Sunday night and we went back there for Tuesday night service. They have a beautiful new building. Ron preached for Bro. Syblis on Wednesday night. We even braved the subway and train by ourselves to go to China Town on Wednesday. That is a different way of life. If I lived there, I would have to learn the subways and trains into the city. Scotty Teets has always guided us around and knows what is safe territory, etc. We made it...Thank the Lord.
We flew home on Thursday and left Sat. for another great weekend, but that is another post and I will be caught up.

Vacation and 45th anniversary celebration!

2007-11-03T10:15:00.000-05:00

In 1994 when my friend Geri Glass was suffering with cancer, I created a support group of myself and 6 of her friends. We contacted her on our day of the week and took that as a fast and prayer day for her. It was our privilege to get together several times, at least 4 or 5 of us during her last weeks. This drew us together and we formed lasting friendships. We try to get together at least after conference every year.
We ladies have been to Sissy's house several years and the men started joining us on treks after conference each year. Last year, we went to Amish country and had a great time. 5 years ago, we took an Alaskan cruise and 2 years ago they cruised the easter Carribean but Ron and I had just started travelling full time and didn't get to go.

This year, we took a 7 day cruise to the western Caribbean Oct 6-13th. The two widows in our group, Lorraine Gustafson and Billie Lambert, could not join us. Ron and I used this trip as our celebration of our 45th wedding anniversary on Oct. 19th, since we would be travelling.

We had a great time...even though I ate a lot of grits, oatmeal, mashed and baked potatoes, and a little bland meat with no sauce. I was and am still nursing a sick gall bladder. I still had a great time and it was better to pass up the rich food then have another attack.

We got off the ship on Sat. morning, the 13th and rented a car and drove to Apopka where we were in church with Mike and Debbie Williams and their great church on Sunday. Their spirit of worship was wonderful. Ron did not get to preach Sunday night as people started receiving the Holy Spirit after the choir sang.

We flew home on Mon, the 15th and celebrated our youngest daughter's 41st birthday on October 17th. We were home long enough to pack again and get
clean clothes.

Too many pictures

2007-11-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

Maybe one of you experienced bloggers can tell me why I lose some of my writings when I post slide shows one right after the other. Am I not archiving correctly? They stack and I lose some of the writing unless you actually click on the article.
Thanks for helping a greenhorn..lol

More General Conference Pictures

2007-11-02T12:21:00.000-05:00

On Saturday of conference, we heard our pastor preach. Bro. & Sis. Yonts took us to lunch and it was good visiting them. On Sunday morning we went to the memorial service that Dan Rigdon conducts. It was special to us because they honored Sis. Urshan and our friend Scott McManus.
We left conference on Sunday afternoon and preached in Port Charlotte for Andrew Urshan.
I had a gall bladder attack on Monday morning and spent Monday and Tuesday in an urgent care clinic. We had to candel our trip to Savannah, Ga, but I was able to drive to Valdosta on Tuesday for Wednesday night service.
We enjoyed being with Ben and Valerie Weeks and Abigail again.
We stayed an extra day to recuperate some more and fellowship.
Then we drove to Miami to meet up with our friends and go on a 7 day vacation..

General Conference, Tampa, Florida

2007-10-31T01:31:00.000-05:00

Okay...so I'm behind, but I am getting there. We left Orlando on Tuesday at noon and drove the short distance to Tampa. It is a lovely city..very tropical.
Conference is a great time to see friends we only get to see once or twice a year.
We also enjoyed the ministry of the word. We were blessed!

Florida

2007-10-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

We flew to Panama City from the Shepherd retreat and preached for Allen and Denise Crabtree. They have a great church and the city is beautiful. We had a great time.
The car we rented made its way with Ron's help to Orlando where Veda and Gary and their girl's were vacationing at Disneyworld. We had dinner with them and spent the night before going on to Tampa for General conference. We were glad to be able to connect with some of our family.

The Month of September

2007-10-30T15:07:00.000-05:00

Since I am new at this....it is taking me awhile to get going and figuring out this picture business...but I am trying to get the hang of it so I can post weekly instead of here and there. Thanks to all of you who visit and are interested in our lives and ministry.

We started September out by preaching in Ron's home church in Baytown pastored by Ken Grant. We also moved that weekend...so no pictures. I don't think I could find the camera. Next, we did a marriage retreat at Homewood Suites in the Woodlands for Gerald and Brenda Morris from Livingston. A great time was had by all who attended.

Our flight to Pittsburg was right after our last session and we were in E. Liverpool, Ohio for the weekend with Devon and JoLynn Mills. God blessed mightily. God is blessing them. While we were there, we drove to Akron, Oh and established our Lordship Ministries with Bro. Donald Mead and United Business Services. We've been needing to do that and was glad for the opportunity to take care of this, and glad to meet Bro. Mead and his son, Don Jr.

We flew to Indianapolis to be with Andrew King in Bloomington, In. The services were blessed by God and we enjoyed being with their family.

Another marriage retreat was ours to enjoy at Homewood Suites in Kingwood Tx with Greg and Michelle Gerald. Everything was lovely and we enjoyed the retreat.
We flew out Saturday afternoon for Florida, and that is another post.