Nestled on a little hill on a back road in Equality, Alabama is a country church filled with beloved saints and dear friends. It is here that my family and I grew in the Lord and developed lasting relationships. Five and a half years were spent in this quaint town with such a wonderful congregation! Taken in as son, daughter, and grandchildren, our family was loved and cared for immensely.
It is a church where there is always a hearty AMEN to be heard and sincere prayers sent to Heaven. A place where there is such a precious unity among the people; a true love for one another; which is hard to find in any church these days. With only about 30 in attendance on Wednesday night in this church in the middle of nowhere, the Holy Spirit was given liberty to ooze up and down the aisles convicting and encouraging where needed.
The pastor now is a skinny little thing, but filled with a firey 'word from the Lord'. His dear wife and four (going on five) children are as sweet as honey. The members here hold a very special place in my heart that will always be.
Here you will find: (first names only)
Polly, Frankie, Meagan & Courtney- a woman of God who raises children with such love and compassion, a hard working man who knows no limit to the pursuit of providing for his family, and two outstanding young women who are like my own. Howard & Julia- the man who leads singing and has a heart for bus kids, and a lady's lady who is probably the best baker I've ever known.
Mary & Tracy- sisters who travel a small distance to be a part of this congregation. Mary, having lived as a single mother and working tirelessly to provide for him and Tracy, a single lady with a tender heart.
Kitty- a hard working mom and hard worker.
Terry & Cindy- a dear couple with no children of their own yet, but a bigger heart for them than most parents.
Jay, Leslie, Christian, Rio and Gannon- a father who is also a High School principal, a mom with class and love for her family, and three sweet kiddos. Jackie & Teresa- a dear couple who have remained faithful.
Hoyt & Sara- an elderly couple who, although now struggle with the ailments of growing older, still love the Lord and serve Him.
Linda- a special lady who comes to church despite having to come alone.
Larry & Pat- a man who has stood the test of time at this church, who took us in as his own, who became a father to us and Pat who battles diabetes and manages to still pour out her love to all.
When looked upon from the outside, one would probably just pass by without thought. It is small and in a small town...what could possibly be of interest in there?? But upon walking into those doors, there is a Spirit of kindness, a warmth that fills each crevice of that building. It is place where the Gospel is preached hard but where every soul is welcome.
Although this church may always be small and to some seem unimportant, in God's eyes (and in ours) this church is huge! It is one of the best I've ever been a part of. It remains a place where the man of God preaches straight and the people are quick to repent if needed, encourage as necessary, and live according the principles found in the Word of God!
New Life Baptist Church, you will never know this side of eternity what kind of impact you have had on my life and how proud I am to say that we were once a part of this body of Christ! I love each of you so very much. Thank you so much for loving us! Thank you so much for how well you took care of us and provided for us, for always being thoughtful of our needs as well as our wants. For always backing your pastor and following his leadership. What you have there is rare, a thing greatly to be cherished...and cherish it is certainly what I do!

Tomorrow is friend day at our church.  Can't wait to see what the Lord's Day holds for us.  we have been doing some makeovers at the church that i am super excited about.  our children's church ministry is growing by leaps and bounds and are outgrowing the room they were in.  so we are changing things around a bit.  i am also going to attempt painting a mural on my sunday school room wall.....we'll see how that goes!

we have also been incorporating a new soul winning campaign.  we have teams that go out weekly.  i am going later this morning.  Pray that God will send us to the right people.  I love to go door knocking.  You just never know who or what you may encounter.  Bailey usually goes as my partner.  that being said, i dont knock as many doors as my other team mates. ha!  by the time i knock one house and begin down the road,  i see that the rest of my team has already knocked like 4 houses.  that's ok, tho, bailey loves to go....and shes usually  a good icebreaker!

the days that i begin my day in prayer and Bible study are the very best days ever....even if satan throws everything he has at me.  i try so hard to do this every day.  most days are a success, but there are days that i neglect one or the other or even both.  those days are the worst.  my attitude depicts my aptitude for the day.

i am glad the Lord is still gracious to me on those days and through a constant pull of the Holy Spirit, i repent and get straight into the Word and have sweet fellowship with Him.  there is such a peace that comes when i am in fellowship with my Savior.

anyway, i just wanted to share that with everyone.  nothing new, nothing superb, nothing brilliant....just so thankful for my relationship with the Father and so glad to serve Him each and every day.

What happens when you are at a wedding and its been a long day and you have the beginnings of strep throat and your nagging 5 year old wont stop begging to take pictures with your camera?  This right here:

  

all i can say is, thank you Lord for wonderful inlaws!  my mom and dad inlaw were in for garys wedding.  they are always such a blessing to us anyway, but particularly this time.....because i got sick....with strep throat!  and of course it was on a weekend, which is the busiest time of the week for us, particularly michael.

so if you are reading this nana and peepaw....thanks a million for cleaning house, giving baths, feeding kids,  and everything else you did for me while i was in the bed!

Wedding Day

Well today I gained another sister-in-law!  Michael's brother, Gary, married a sweet young lady from our church, Meghann Shaw.  The wedding was wonderful and she looked so pretty and happy.  We are very proud of them both.

Gary has traveled a rough and long road in life, but he is back in the will of God and serving Him with his whole heart.

Meghann is a lady who loves the Lord and will make a wonderful wife.

i love being married to michael don wiggins.  i love everything about it!  i love that i still get butterflies in my stomach when i see him walk into the room.  i still get all giggly inside when he holds my hand.  i still bubble up inside when he tells me that he loves me.  i am still taken back when he looks me in the eyes and we are only inches apart.  

i love that we are more than husband and wife...we are very best friends.  we talk, not just small talk, but real life discussions, prayer concerns, burdens, jokes, needs, desires, problems, everything.  i am so glad that i have a husband who is more than willing to pray with me and for me.

i am so thankful that God is always our focus and that every aspect of our relationship always centers around Him....is it a perfect marriage?  absolutely not.  we fuss, we miscommunicate at times, but at the end of the day, we repent and ask forgiveness of one another and viola! back to where we started.....being co-laborers for the cause of Christ.

i love the fact that we finish each others sentences or say the same thing at the exact same moment!  i love that we share many interests and that we also enjoy individual  interests.  im glad that we still 'date' and that we love spending time with one another.  

im glad that we never raise our voices to one another and that we laugh like best friends at a sleep over.  im proud of the man he has become and i am thankful to God for molding him each day.  im glad He counted us faithful...calling us into the ministry.  i enjoy getting super sweet hugs in the morning and pats on the back as i drift off to sleep at times.

i love going fishing with him and riding along in the boat.  i love our version of tennis and watching him wrestle with our children each nite in the floor. i love that he spends time individually with our children and enjoys their company.  i love that he sees the need for 'mommy time' and sees to it that i get that.   i love to hear him preach, knowing how much time he has invested in prayer and study.  i love to hear him sing....it melts my heart every time.  i love to hear him play the piano and guitar, singing to bailey all of her favorites.  i love that he is always whistling, everywhere he goes.  

im so glad God blessed me with him.  he really is the world to me.  im glad God called me to be a help...meet for him.  im so glad He showed me mercy and grace before i was saved.  i know that God was terribly longsuffering toward me until He gave me michael.  i do not take this man for granted.  i do not take lightly his love for me and our children.

anyway, i wanted to share that...no one may care except me.  but i do honor my husband and will brag on Christ for working through michael.  Thank You again Lord!

sometimes in the chrisitian life, or at least in mine, satan can be hard at work rite under our noses and we are so carnal that we dont even realize whats goin on.  we become backslidden and cold and we ALLOW satan to control our everyday dealings.  we become quite comfortable letting him row our boats while Jesus stands on the shore...left behind...because we were so sure we could do it better ourselves.

the christian takes advantage of Gods grace, mercy and forgiveness.  Although I know that 1 John 1:9 is so very true....i could certainly understand if God were to just give up on us all at times.

i know that i fail Him in some sort of way each day.  i dont mean to, i dont plan to, i dont start my day intending to....but thats exactly what happens.  a thot of bitterness or an attitude of self righteousness and weve opened the door to allow satan on in.  im not saying 'the devil made me do it.'  i dont believe that at all.  we give him way too much credit.  the bible says we sin when we are drawn away of our OWN lusts.

pretty soon the snowball effect takes place and weve gotten ourselves into quite a mess. 

Lord, help me not to 'do it on my own'.  Help me to trust You for each step taken, each thot that enters my mind, every image i allow my eyes to see, every word my mouth utters, every sound taken in by my ears, and everything i put  my hand to do.

well, i have been sick since january.  at first i thought it was just allergies.  had stuffy nose and all.  well, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.  of course everyone told me to go to the dr.  but i was not about to do that.  i got worse and worse.  not to mention i think i have sleep apnea, have gained 100 since marriage (did i just admit that publically to the whole world?!), etc.

i didnt wanna go to the dr for many reasons.  well, i havent been to a dr (except to have babies) since i was 15.  thats right, 16 years have passed since ive been to a regular dr.  that scared me.  why?  because i knew that the day i went i was gonna hear news that i was in denial of:  high blood pressure, cholesterol probs, thyroid probs, weight issues, etc.  who wants to go hear some phd tell me how bad ive been at taking care of my 'soul carriage'?

sleep has never been an issue with me, i have always been able to sleep well.....love me some sleep....but lately the snoring was worse and i was waking several times in the nite feeling like i couldnt breathe.  i would wake up tired and fatigued.  well, nite bf last, michael was working ems and i was still terribly sick.  i couldnt sleep at all.  i woke up drenched in sweat.  i was breathing terribly hard.  i began to panic.  i was hacking out my lungs coughing up things that are not meant to be spoken of....i immediately rolled over to my left side to maybe bring down my bp if it was up.  i tried to calm myself and regulate my breathing.

needless to say, when i woke up i immediately found me a dr to go see!  conclusion:  i have an infection so have a zpac and cough med.  my bp was 158/106.  i knew it would be high.  the pa came in and fussed me out about not going to dr..blah blah blah..and for my weight gain...blah blah blah...and said i should look into a sleep study..booooo!  so she got me some bp meds as well.

i feel horrible.  i think going to the dr made me worse than i was before i went.  i am drained, tired, barely breathing, hacking, snotting, wheezing, aching, coughing up awful phlem...

pray for me.....i hate being sick and have always prided myself on the fact that i never do get sick.

black/white
yes/no
Satan/Jesus
right/wrong
up/down
in/out
hot/cold

....to me, the choice is obvious.  too many christians living in the gray zone!  the gray zone is for the one who wants christianity his way.  a little world here, a pinch of Christ there, a smidgen of self on top.  just enough Christ to say we are saved and just enough world to make us popular.

it becomes confusing trying to figure out whose side each person is on.

there should be a VERY distinct difference in the christian and the world.  can you be picked out in a crowd as being a christian?  does my mouth, my attitude, my dress, my actions point to Christ?  they should. 
all.  the.  time.

Im glad...

im glad that i am still a daddy's girl.  100%, without a doubt, proudly spoiled rotten.  and everyone knows it.  and it's accepted (especially by me).  i will always be his precious princess angel little girl!

im glad that my mom is my best friend (outside of my hubby of course)  she still takes care of me like im 10 years old. 

im glad my big brother is also my best friend, that without question he would punch someone in the face if it meant taking up for his little sister, that we can be brutally honest with each other and still walk away friends, that he found a wife that makes him happy.

im glad that i have 4 nephews.

im glad that i have wonderful in-laws, that they treat me as if i am their own daughter, that we talk often, that they love me.

im glad that i have a Godly husband who truly loves me, that has high standards, that protects me, the shields me from things, that he puts his family first.

im glad that i have shelby, that she is such an awesome big sister, that she is so much like me, that she is super funny, that she is so mature for her age.

im glad that i have bailey, that she has come so far, that she makes me smile, that she enjoys everything about her life even when i dont.

im glad i have a son, brody, that he is 200% all boy, that he is rough and tough but still likes to cuddle with me.

im glad i have a church family who supports me, loves me, serves the Lord with gladness, is friendly.

im glad there are a handful of friends from highschool who are now serving Christ.

im glad that Jesus loved me enough to give me extra grace and mercy for so many years that i rejected Him, that He never stopped convicting me of my need for salvation, that to this day He still convicts me of sin, that He dumps truck loads of blessings on me that i most certainly do not deserve, that He is perfect and holy, that He is coming back for His church and that i am part of it, that I know i have an eternal home in heaven!

im glad....

brody has been asking some funny questions lately.  he was petting chloe (our dachsund) on her belly last night when he piped up with, "Mom, when will my boobies get big?" HA!

today i pick him up from school and he says "I have something stuck in my throat.  i have a note.  i went to the nurse."  me, "Did you swallow something?"  brody, "i think so.  it must be a fingernail because it's pokey."

useless information that i am sure no one cares about, but if nothing else, one day i will re-read this and get a little chuckle!

well, it is sunday morning.  church day, woohoo!  so how have i begun my day?  just like any other, with prayer.  especially on sundays.  how do i pray?  glad you asked....

first i thank God for His many (undeserved) blessings and the mercy He has shown to me; for saving me; for loving me; for Who and What He is, etc.

i repent.  i ask Him to search every crevice of my heart until I find no more to repent of.  then i even ask Him to forgive me for anything i am not aware of.  i ask Him to convict me, to reveal sin.

i pray for my husband who is also my pastor.  i ask God to bring strong convition upon his heart in order to make sure he is ready to preach.  i ask God to help michael repent of any and all sin...to be a clean and empty vessel that God can use.  i ask God to be with michael as he preaches.  i ask Him to fill him with joy and love and compassion, yet with boldness!  i ask for liberty as he preaches. 

i pray for the congregation.  i begin naming names:  people who have quit coming, those who are slacking, the backslidden, the lost, the bitter, the wordly.  i ask that there be no distractions during the service that would hinder them from receiving the Word.  i ask that hearts are soft even before coming to church.  i ask that we see new faces in our services.  i ask that the Lord save a soul.  i pray for the Holy Spirit to be evident in our services.

i pray for every aspect of services:  sunday school, childrens church, nursery workers, congregational singing, special singing, offering, preaching.

in Jesus' name, Amen.

now all i have to do is have faith that God can, will and wants to do all of those things!  harder than it sounds.  but im just crazy enough to believe that God will do something miraculous among us at VBC today!

so i commented earlier about the kiddos in my ss class.....well tonight our song leader taught the church a little chorus and it happened to be one of the ones that the kiddos sing.  as he was teaching everyone, all i could hear was their voices, they were singing it so loud and it was precious.

i'll say yes, Lord, yes to Your will and to Your way
i'll say yes, Lord, yes. I will trust You and obey
when Your Spirit speaks to me
with my whole heart i'll agree
and my answer will be yes, Lord, yes.

well, over everyone else, all i could hear were the kids.  my heart was broken.  as i heard them singing, i realized how far i was from that...that's right, the preacher's wife!  trusting Christ can be so difficult at times.  i try to fix things myself, which always fails.  and when the Spirit speaks to me, i do not always yield.  my heart melted and conviction set in.  i made my way straight to the altar.  i had to repent. 

im not the emotional type, so if i ever get a bit upset about one thing...all of the other burdens seem to creep up on me too.  and that's what happened.  i began to think of people who i have a strong burden for.  i began to realize that i'm harboring some bitterness towards certain people/things.  i thought of how self righteous i can be.  all i could do was cry.  couldn't even pray.  i am so thankful that the Holy Spirit intercedes for me during these times.

it felt good to be convicted.  i know, that sounds strange, but it reminds me that i have a heavenly Father who loves me enough to chasten me!

really enjoyed church this morning.  i teach the toddler class, 2-4 year olds.  they are such a hoot.  each one of them is special and important to God and to me.  i have several who come in every Sunday with a song in their heart....literally.  one girl comes in and i know that she has been listening to good gospel music.  she immediately begins singing the little kid bible songs....loud and proud, may i add!  the others in her family join in and pretty soon there's a choir of little singers, "Jesus loves me", "Zaccheus", "Obedience", etc.  then i have another little girl who hums the entire sunday school hour.  she isn't disruptive at all, just an almost silent hum of hymns and bible songs.  what joy fills my heart to hear all of that.  i have a few bus kids in there, too, who i hope someday will have these same songs in their hearts.

if only the adults were the same way.  but instead, i believe the adults bring to church with them the weight of sin from the past week, the burdens of life, and much doubt.  adults can be so apethetic.  how sad.  we began revival today.  i know that no man can bring revival.  revival is a state in each believer's heart.  but i sure do hope that this week God gets a hold on to my heart and 'set my soul afire'.

hey everyone, dont forget bout my other blog......forbaileyssake.blogspot.com!

tonite we spent an evening with a family in the church....we sure enjoyed wholesome fellowship with them.  they were an encouragement and blessing to us.  our church is full of those who encourage and uplift us.  i am so thankful for such a caring church family.

revival services begin sunday.  i am excited.  i know that God wants to do great things during this time, my prayer is that sinners get saved, christians sale out whole heartedly, backsliders repent, and people find their first love again!  i believe that God has great plans for our church and i am anxiously waiting on Him to make His presence evident in our services!

we had a wonderful service yesterday at church.  we had one of michael's fave preachers in....bro jonathon stewart.  he is the assistant pastor at victory baptist in wetherford tx.  he was one of our professors in seminary.  it was such a blessing to hear him preach last nite.  there are those preachers who bring the Bible to life.  he is one of those men.  he preaches with a sparkle in his eye, like it's his first time to tell the story.  he gives vivid detail describing each verse....you feel as if you are in the Bible story. 

i am partial, but i feel is one of the most knowledgable men of the Word.  i really did enjoy having him and his dear wife, lara, in our services.

i am happy today.  i have my parents here with me.  we are gonna have a family day, maybe go bowling.  valentines day was great.  michael sent me flowers.  now, im not a big flower gal, but thats ok.  it showed that he cared enough to think of me and gave me a super sweet card with it.  i love him so much and am so thankful for a godly husband.  he means the world to me!

i have two special unspoken prayer requests for those of you who would pray.  i have two serious burdens on my heart right now.  i know that God is in control.  but having a band of prayer warriors never hurts!

so today, i love the Lord...i am thankful for His mercy, His abundant grace, and His unconditional love to me!   i am thankful for another day to try to serve Him with pure motive.  i am thankful for the faithful members of victory baptist church; for a church who loves their pastor and his family; for a church that loves to serve and give.  i truly am blessed!

i have been blessed

God is so very good to me.  i am sure that by now everyone has heard the song, "i have been blessed".  you can find it everywhere on youtube.  i am a fan, that's for sure!  every time michael hears it, he gets all teary....it's his fave.  i love it, too.  how amazing that God has blessed us all so abundantly.  i certainly am undeserving of any shred of  grace and mercy, yet every day He loads my pail with blessings.  i have just been thinking about how Christ loves and cares for me even when i do not love and care for Him as i should.  shelby and michael are gonna attempt to sing it sunday nite.  i hope it goes well.  anyway, just thought i'd share with ya.  im jottin down the lyrics, just in case you haven't heard it yet.  i may even try to video them singing it 2moro nite....we'll see!

When He moves among us, all that He does

All of His mercy and all of His love
If the pen of the writer could write every day
Even this world could never contain, how I’ve been blessed.

Warmth in the winter, flowers in spring
Laughter of summer, the changing of leaves
Food on my table, a good place to sleep
Clothes on my back and shoes on my feet
I have been blessed

I have been blessed, God’s so good to me
Precious are His thoughts of you and me
No way I can count them, there’s not enough time
So I’ll just thank Him for being to kind
God has been good, so good
I have been blessed.

Arms that will raise, a voice that will talk
Hands that can touch, legs that can walk
Ears that can listen, eyes that can see
I’ve got to praise Him as long as I breathe
I have been blessed.

A mother and father, nurtured and raised
Sisters and brothers, memories made
Our pastor to lead us, this altar to pray
Stripes that can heal, the blood that still saves.
I have been blessed.

We live in a country, the greatest on earth
That flag stands for freedom and what it is worth
She stands in the harbor, Miss Liberty calls
All have given some, but some gave it all
So we can be blessed.

He’s my shoulder to lean on when I am down
The rock where He leads me when I’m overwhelmed
The place where He hides me under His wings
He’s not just a song, He’s the reason I sing
I have been blessed.

i have some extra time on my hands tonight....michael is in fort worth for a quick get away!  he really needed it.  he is spending a couple of days with two of his best friends.  i am glad that he has other men in the ministry who he can confide in and relax around.  they are always encouraging to him.  i appreciate these men of God very much.

anyway,  just gonna share what is on my heart....theres a lot!  most of you who follow know that i am the wife of a preacher, a pastor specifically.  i am so honored to say that!  i love the ministry and i love serving in the church.  i would rather be no where else!  i believe strongly that just because i am a preacher's wife i am not automatically blessed with an easier path or a more direct line to the Savior.  i am, in fact, sure that many times, the life in the ministry can be quite trying and tiresome.  i feel that i fail in so many ways...in fact, i know that i do.  now im not gonna go to confessing all sorts of things, but i will say that i am not the pastor's wife that i should be.  i find myself becoming a martha many times; serving, serving, serving without worshipping.  my motives at times are absolutely wrong.  my attitude can be a little on the stinky side and i will just go ahead and say it, i get aggrivated so easy at times.  there, i said it, i am human; i am a sinner; i am just like every other person.  satan hates me and wants me to fail so that i influence my husband and he in turn fails.

i feel like paul a lot of the time.  i find myself not doing the things that i KNOW i should be doing.  whether its not studying the Word of God as i should, or telling others about Christ like i should, or praying fervently, or being a good example...whatever the case, i seem to fall short of doing the right things.  on the other hand, i seem to do the things i shouldn't.  i become easily provoked, i get my feelings hurt, i lash out at my children, i get snappy with my husband, i hurt those closest to me with my attitude. 

situations come into play that can become discouraging.  scenarios take place that seem so damaging.  it is easy in these times to become backslidden.....that's right, a preacher's wife can become backslidden...cold...indifferent...right there on the front row (or 2nd in my case)  i certainly dont want that.  i want to be the example and leader that God wants me to be.  i want to serve with joy because God allows me to.  my focus seems to have shifted somewhere along the way.  i have prayed and sought God's forgiveness concerning these things. 

i am so thankful, tho, that my Lord always forgives and gives me yet again another chance.  He is so mericful to me, withholding judgment many times; and very gracious, allowing me benefits i certainly do not deserve.

the Christian life is the greatest thing in the world!  but honestly, i think that it can be the hardest thing in the world.  when in the ministry, things are seen with a different light.  burdens are different and loads sometimes seem unbearable.  becoming overwhelmed is very a very easy thing to do.  realizing that people look to us (the pastor and his wife) to be the advice givers, the prayer warriors, the problem solvers....well, it can get scary.  the weight and pressure felt by my husband must be quite heavy at times, although i am probably unaware of half of the things that he 'shields' me from.  (preposition at end of sentence! EEEEK)  michael is a wonderful pastor.  his heart is big and he loves the people with every last beat of his heart.  pastors are such special people.  i don't just say that because my husband is one.  ive always had a special place in my heart for pastors.  these men of God give their lives to God to be used to nourish the flock, to be the undershepherd.  shepherding is strenous and time comsuming.  i am so thankful to God that he has given me a husband who loves Christ and just simply wants to serve Him.  i am honored to be his wife.  i am happy to serve alongside him.  we love our church greatly.  our hearts desire is to see them grow spiritually.  we want the best for these, the flock God has given to us.

we love you victory baptist church.  we love serving you, we love being there for you, we love praying for you, we love fellowshipping with you!

i am so blessed.  God really has been so very good to me.  I certainly do not deserve all of His daily benefits.  I am so unworthy of all of the mercy that has been shown to me.  But i am also very grateful for it!  I desire to be a servant for Him....sometimes that is so hard.  sometimes we serve so much that we forget why we are serving or what is motivating us...or me, i should say!  i just want to focus on Him, and to remember that every thing i do.....parenting, wifing (is that a word?  i dont think so!), being an example, witnessing, teaching sunday school, filling in when someone is out, weekly visitation, sending cards, secretarial work, being a good friend, teaching kids on wednesday nights, working in nursery....everything....is because of Him and for Him.  And that the end result is to see lost people saved and saved people growing!  i have to remind myself of that every day.  I have to remember that each person matters and that im not the only one with problems, burdens, and struggles.

ok, confession time is over!  just took brody to school....after he had his cup of joe and cereal!  how funny....first thing he asks for is coffee!  bailey was up and ready in a jiffy this morning!  woohoo!  she went potty and gave me little trouble with her hair! VICTORY!  day starting off well.  looking forward to services tonight.  i am doing a childrens class on wednesday nights and im super excited about it!

i love sundays.  no really....where most people look at sundays as the end of a weekend,  i look at it as the beginning of a new week with the Lord.  i enjoy being in the house of God and with His people.  i enjoy teaching the  2 & 3 year olds.  i like going around and shaking everyone's hand.  i love singing hte old humns & hearing the King James Version of the Bible being preached.  sundays are just wonderful.  it charges me up for the upcoming week, gets me ready to go another mile for the Lord, arms me with strength!  just love it.

today i was also given the opportunity to teach childrens church.  it was so good.  we are beginning a puppet ministry, so i incorporated the puppets today.  this kids thought this was just wonderful....although the 'evil hand' puppet scared one of the little boys pretty bad.  the kids are always super hyper but also very eager to learn.

as i write (or type, rather) shelby is sitting on the love seat with bailey, who seems to be experiencing some seizure activity today.  i kinda noticed that she seemed a little out of sorts in childrens church, but then she was fine.  we got home and she was her normal self while we cooked.  i sat down to feed her and she took a couple of bites.  then i noticed that she just kept chewing...and chewing....and chewing....and chewing.  not normal.  "bailey....bailey"  she wouldn't look at me, just staring off into space.  Hmmm, let's just go ahead and take all your clothes off so that you dont throw up on them. (which is always what she does when she seizes)  just as i expected, splotches all over her arms, chest and stomach.  her face was even splotchy.  so i get a towel under her and lay her down.  within a few minutes here it comes, puke everywhere.  so off to the shower we go.  she is lethargic, just wanting to lay down, shivering, not responding to things we say to her.  i get her cleaned up and we settle her back down, this time with big sister.....who after 8 years has become the 'mommy' when bailey is sick.  then, more puke....the second one is always different, foamy and frothy.  (tmi?!)  so now she is resting, sleeping on shelby.  you know shes ill when she just sleeps and nothing wakes her.  thats serious business!  shelby hates to see bailey like that.  she gets so worried.  bailey is just sitting there sleeping and shivering all over. 

so, i guess i may be sitting out services tonight.  i hope not, though, because we are having a going away fellowship for michael's brother, gary.  we will see.  sometimes these things come and go within a few hours, other times they last all day.  say a little prayer if you will for little bailey dyan!

hi there all followers!  i am so excited about bailey's new blog.  i am trying to just post one thing a day.  and im really hoping that my memory will serve me well!  hehehe.  i am enjoying this walk down memory lane, but i can already tell that i will at some point get all emotional bout it! ha!  for those of you who know me, im not one of those 'show my emotions' 'cry in public' type people....idk why, just not.

things at the homefront are going well.  the kids are all doing well in school.  we have had michael's brother, gary, living with us since october.  he has recently accepted a position in missouri at new beginnings girls/boys academy.  we will be taking him up there next week.  he is super excited to get busy doing the work of the Lord and using his life to honor Him.

i am beginning a puppet ministry on wednesday nights.  im so excited about this.  the kids really like puppets and it really holds their attention.

anyhoo, not much else to update on.  i am reading thru my Bible this year in chronological order.  kinda neat to do it that way.  i am listening to one of those men with that calming english accent read it to me while i follow along.  love it!  i think it sinks in better that way.

NEW BLOG

hello there everyone!  i have a new blog.  just created it this morning.  its about my daughter, bailey, who is autistic. kinda of a going back in time journey...her whole story.  come along with me on this one!

forbaileyssake.blogspot.com