In Which I Play a Bit of Catch-Up...

Soooooo...in early October I posted that I wanted to try to post an average of 5 days a week for the month.  Not only did I not post 5 days a week...I didn't manage to post even 5 days total in October!  It turned out to be one of my worst blogging months ever.  

 

October always looks like it's going to be a relatively calm month here, but always somehow ends up being a wild month, and always for different reasons.  This year it was my adding an almost-full-time temporary  job to our normally full schedule while my mom was out of town for three weeks.  Whew!  This was no new revelation, but I do not know how working moms do it.  What a challenge.

I had a whole list of planned blog posts for the month, which I'm pretty sure has now grown long enough to last to the end of the year.  Most of those posts are not in any way time-sensitive; however, one is now officially "late". 

October was pastor appreciation month.  I had planned to do a pastor appreciation month post early on, but I never made it that far.  It may be late, but I cannot let this opportunity go by without expressing my appreciation for our pastor. 

 

 

We first met Bro. Gary and Becky when they joined our {old} church 6 years or so ago.  They were new grandparents, and I was a teacher in the Bed Babies department in Sunday School.   I spent hours rocking little Brandon in Sunday School, and always enjoyed visiting with his doting grandparents. 

Brandon's parents moved out of state, Bro. Gary and Becky were called to another church, and we lost contact for a few years.  Then one night Billy and the kids came home from prayer meeting talking about how the new mission church our church was sponsoring.  They had invited our church to a cookout and gospel singing.  It sounded like fun, and we wanted to support our church's new mission, so we went.  What a surprise to arrive and discover that Bro. Gary was the pastor! 

I have told the story of the following year here. You may want to pop over and read about God's work in leading us to a new adventure at Grace Lavaca, if you haven't already. 

God has blessed us in many ways in the 14 months since our move.  Bro. Gary and Becky are high on the list of those blessings.  Bro. Gary preaches the truth of the Word without reservation.  He is committed to our church following God's ways, not man's.  He loves our little flock and he and Becky are quick to see needs and minister to them.  They love people and have a burden for the lost. We love them and are so thankful for them!

And while I'm on the subject of pastors...I have to add how grateful I am for the "long line of godly men" (to borrow Steven Lawson's series title) who have served as my/our pastors in the past.  Each one has taught me much and each one has a special place in my heart: Bill Probasco, David McGowin, David Hatfield, Phil Whitten, and Kent Sweatman.  How blessed we have been!  

 

 

On a completely different note, I have a couple of other items of catching up to do.  First, last month I was privileged to be part of a "31 Days" blog called 31 Days of OpenHearted Living.  This blog was a project of the launch team for Mary DeMuth's new book, The Wall Around Your Heart.  Want to bless me in a big way??  Here are a few things I'd like to invite you to do:

• First...pop over there and read Rip Van Winkle, Wrecking Balls, and the Journey Back to Transparency. (You can also leave a comment there or back here, if you'd like. :))
• Second...If you're on Pinterest, share any or all of the photo quotes there.  You can pin from the post if you have the "Pin It" button in your toolbar; otherwise, you can go to my Wall Around Your Heart board and repin directly from there. 
• Third...feel free to share the post on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites. 
• While you're at the OpenHearted Living blog, hang around a while and read some of the other great posts by my fellow launch team members.  
• Be sure to check out the book itself: The Wall Around Your Heart. If you deal with any type of difficult relationships (and who doesn't??), this book will bless and challenge you! 

 

 One last item of "catch up" for today...a few weeks ago, Crisi at Reserved and Waiting nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award. This came about during the three weeks of utter chaos of working for my mom while she was gone, and I didn't even  discover it until a few days later. However, my lateness in acknowledging the award doesn't in any way reflect my excitement...I am honored and tickled pink!  

Recipients of the award are to do these things:

• Thank the person who gave you this award. That is common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog. That is also common courtesy – if you can figure out how to do it.
• Next, Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or that you follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award – you might include a link to this site.
• You can not nominate the person who nominated you.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Due to time and space issues with this post, I am going to come back with my own nominations and the 7 things about myself in another post, but I wanted to give a shout out to Crisi asap! 

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