Pastor's Blog

Clarification from yesterday’s entry – Lindy VerBeek is a young lady from Michigan.  I received an e-mail from a lady living in California asking us to pray for a lady in her church.  She had just sent an earlier message telling me about her church in CA and she didn’t tell me that Lindy was from her “home” church in Michigan.  Thanks Queen for being so quick to point out my mistake!

Bro. Chris & I went to Thomasville yesterday to attend the service for Miss Smyly.  Bro. Robbie preached the service and, as usual, did a nice job of presenting the Gospel.  I drove up to Thomasville and Chris drove home.  He isn’t a very good driver so I “rested” my eyes on the way home!

Small world – Tony Hacker told me yesterday afternoon that Jake Freeland’s dad does masonry work and works with Tony on some jobs.  Tony had talked to Mr. Freeland and he said that Jake is doing much better.  Praise the Lord!

The young man who was the most seriously injured in the automobile accident in Danville, AL early Sunday morning had surgery yesterday.  The surgery went well but he is still critical.  Sue’s nephew, Matt, is very sore but should be okay.

The carpet has been ordered for the upstairs in the CAB and, hopefully, we can begin the installation process next week after the banister is secured.  Chris Howell is going to lead the carpet installation.  After the carpet is in place, we will put the baseboards in place and the upstairs will be finished.  We will then begin the downstairs work.

Members of the Friendship family have until August 31 to sign up for next summer’s GRACE trips.  After that date, we will make any openings available to others and we already have a waiting list.  Sign up sheets will be available beginning tomorrow.

Last Friday, we received our season tickets to the Bama football games.  The opening game is just around the corner.  PSU visits T’town on 9/11.  I do love the college football season!

I pray that you will have a great Tuesday with Jesus.

We had a good day in our services yesterday – praise the Lord!  What a joy to see Adam Johnson pray to receive Jesus as his personal Savior during the 10:30AM worship service invitation.  What a joy to see folks respond during all three of the invitations.  God is faithful!

Pray for the Nell Smyly family today as they have the visitation followed by the funeral service.  All of this will take place in Thomasville, AL.

Larry Blackwell was in our early service yesterday morning.  He is most likely facing surgery in the future.  Darren Haynes came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.  Jake Freeland had a rough week and continues to need our prayers.

Carla Kyser, Joyce Bosarge, Gage Hudson & John Gensler are all battling cancer and are folks for whom we have been praying.  Don’t stop praying for them.

I received an e-mail from a good friend in California asking that we pray for a young lady from her church.  She overcame breast cancer last November but they have now found six malignant tumors in her brain.  Her name is Lindy Verbeek.

I received another e-mail last night asking us to keep praying for Dan Van Vels in Michigan.  Dan & Gloria are dear friends of GRACE Ministries and he is not doing well physically.  They think Gloria has another cancer spot which would make her third or fourth battle against cancer.  However, she will not address the issue until after Dan is better.  Pray for this couple.

Pastor Jack Bailey posted on his blog about three young men from their church who were involved in a car accident early yesterday morning.  One of the young men, age 23, is in critical condition in a Huntsville Hospital.  One of the other young men, Matt Brown, is my sister-in-law Sue’s nephew.  He is in SICU with a collapsed lung and a broken shoulder.  The other young man suffered a broken jaw but is going to be okay.  Pray for these guys and their families.

Friendship family members, the next three Sundays will be your opportunity to sign up for next Summer’s GRACE trip.  If you have never joined us for a trip, now is the time!  If you have been previously but haven’t been in a few years, visit Guatemala again – for the first time!  Sign up sheets will be available beginning this Wednesday, 8/11.

The carpet color has been selected and approved by the church family so we will soon begin the installation in the upstairs of the CAB.  We are now getting close to finishing the upstairs.  I so appreciate everyone’s spirit of cooperation.

I pray that you will have a great Monday with Jesus.

Word came to me last night that Mrs. Olson (Nell) Smyly passed away yesterday morning.  Miss Smyly is the mother of Donna Glass & Margie Perkins.  The visitation and funeral service will take place on Monday in Thomasville, Alabama.  The visitation will take place from 11:30AM – 12:30PM at the O’Bryant Funeral Home and the service will follow at the County Line Baptist Church with burial in the church cemetery.  The family is concerned for Mr. Smyly as he deals with the loss of his wife.  Pray for this family as they walk through this valley.

Pattie posted the following comment on today’s earlier entry:

Callie and Gage are back from B’ham.  The reports are good.  Doctors say no change which they are so happy about.  You know how we feel.  Gage has continued to be able to be up more and is walking around the house more without his walker.  The doctors are really wanting him in physical therapy and since Medicaid has now approved that we should be getting closer to that goal.  Callie is dropping off the MRI DVD this morning to our local docs so after the appt. with them next week Callie says she will have more information, because they explain things better.
We are so blessed and give God ALL the Glory for each piece of good news we get.  It has been hard to get that good news lately.  Our hope continues to be in The Lord.
Pattie

Larry Blackwell was discharged from the hospital yesterday.  I don’t know the final diagnosis but I am glad he came home.  Bro. Kerry did the hospital visiting yesterday and I failed to ask him for an update but assume that “no news is good news!”

They say the ladies meeting at the house last night went well.  I appreciate the ministry of the Women’s Resource Center and I am glad that our ladies were able to be of help to them.

I am still a bit confused as to why my closet along with my socks/underwear drawer had to be clean simply b/c the ladies were coming for a meeting?  I even had to give the dog a bath and he is locked up in a pen outside.

I think we have figured out why it was so hot in the auditorium this past Sunday afternoon/evening.  Only two of the four air conditioners were working.  Bro. Jerry discovered one not working on Wednesday and then, by mistake, we found out a second one was not working either.  The problem has been corrected and I apologize for the inconvenience.

I feel like I have stepped back in time circa 1973 as I read earlier this morning that Bama is the preseason #1 pick in college football.  Next news you know, I will be seeing Coach Bryant doing a Golden Flakes commercial on television.  I am looking forward to the Penn State game on 9/11.  I hope it is better than the last time (1990) the Nittany Lions visited BDS as they won 9-0 in a very boring game.  I anticipate much more excitement in BDS this time around!

Today is my mother-in-law’s birthday.  I think it is her 61st birthday but I could be off a year or two either way.  She is a sweetheart and they just don’t come any better as far as mother-in-laws are concerned.  (Please do not get me started on father-in-laws!)  Happy birthday Ann!

I pray that you will have a great weekend with Jesus.  Hope to see the members of the Friendship family in their rightful place this Sunday morning and evening.

We had a good day in our services yesterday.  Our 10:00AM service will host “Potluck with the Pastor” on Wednesday, 8/18 – more details forthcoming.  Our 8:00PM Bible study with our young adults is beginning a study of David Platt’s book, Radical.  Good stuff!

Darren Haynes did well through is surgery yesterday morning as the doctors removed the upper and middle lobes of his right lung.  They will address the spot on his brain in a couple of weeks.  Pray for his recovery.

Larry Blackwell remains hospitalized.  He was suffering from a bad headache yesterday afternoon.  I am not sure when he will be discharged from the hospital.

Jodie Johnson was discharged from the hospital yesterday.

John Gensler, Sharon Jardee & Ruby Gulley’s brother, is not doing well in his battle against cancer.  Sharon & Ruby will leave tomorrow to go to Georgia to visit with him.

There has been no significant change in Amy Huhn’s nephew, Jake Freeland.  Keep praying!

Shea Childress goes for a scan today as a regularly scheduled check up to her cancer treatments.

Coley Johnson mother, Cindy Sprinkle, is back in the hospital.  She has been there since Sunday night.  Something they did in the earlier surgery is not doing what it was intended to do.  Pray that can get this resolved.

Lisa is hosting the women’s meeting tonight in the parsonage.  Do you have any idea what that means for me?  Clean, clean, and then clean some more!  Plus, I will be “locked out” of the house until who knows what time tonight!  However, it is all for a great cause as the meeting is a shower for the Women’s Resource Center of Mobile.

It is 3:45AM and I am heading out the door to mow the lawn.  I told you Lisa is cracking the whip!

I pray that you will have a great Thursday with Jesus.

P.S. – There is a nice story about Coach Ronnie Massey and his battle against cancer on al.com.  Click on the Huntsville link to find the story.

P.S.S. – A team from 1st Baptist Wilmington, NC leaves Guatemala today and will be replaced by a team from Georgetown CRC in Hudsonville, MI.  You can read the blog from 1st Baptist by going to www.fbcguatemalatrip.blogspot.com.  You can follow the Georgetown team at www.georgetownyouthgroup.org.

Phil Sims’s son-in-law, Darren Haynes, is having surgery this morning.  They may possibly remove one lung or at least part of one lung in an attempt to rid his body of cancer.  Pray for Darren, the doctors, and the family.

Sue Blodgett came by the office yesterday to say that her husband, Roy, has been diagnosed with a malignancy.  Pray for him as they meet with doctors and determine a course of action.

Larry Blackwell remains hospitalized and they have found several things wrong with him.  They are continuing to run tests to determine the cause of his problems.

The doctor surgically removed the place on Jodie Johnson’s leg that was infected and feels they have gotten it all.  She is supposed to come home today.

Elizabeth Sessions’ sister, Virginia Easterling, is scheduled to have a heart cath today.

Keep praying for Amy Huhn’s nephew, Jake Freeland.  Also, for all of those battling cancer.

It is a normal Wednesday for us at Friendship.  This is the first Wednesday of our new church year so we will have some students moving to new classes.  Our 8:00PM Bible study begins a new study tonight and I am pretty excited about it.

I want to remind our deacons of their meeting with me tonight at 6:00PM.

Hien and I made our trek to Louisiana yesterday and everything went well.  We now wait on word as to when her next appointment will be and, at that time, she will take the test and then, prayerfully, be sworn in as an American citizen.  We think Atlanta, GA will be the destination for that test and the swearing in procedure.  It is worth mentioning that we owe a great deal of gratitude to T. Garrett Wright for his efforts in making all of this happen.  T. Garrett is a mover & shaker!

I pray that you will have a great Wednesday with Jesus.

Mitchel Fox did well through his surgery yesterday.  It took a much longer time waiting than the actual surgery took.  This is designed to be a temporary fix for a few years.

Jodie Johnson remains hospitalized and will have a surgical procedure today.  She has a staph infection and they are going to cut some more of it away today.

Larry Blackwell was taken to the hospital yesterday and they were doing some tests to determine the cause of some problems he was experiencing.  I am not sure if they kept him in the hospital or not.

If nothing changes, Darren Haynes will have surgery tomorrow.

I am using a vacation day today in order to take Hien to Louisiana as we are in the process of having her naturalized as an American citizen.  Today’s trip is for biometric purposes and puts her one step closer to the actual test which will probably take place in Atlanta.

I pray that you will have a great Tuesday with Jesus.

The hospital is having some problems with their physical plant so Darren Haynes’ surgery has been postponed until Wednesday, 8/4.

Also, the doctor gave Darren & Angela some more discouraging news regarding his physical condition.  Keep praying!

The Lord blessed and we had a really nice day yesterday in our services.  Yes, it was hot last night in the auditorium and I appreciate those who attended and sweated through it with us.  We are just in a really hot time of the year right now – this too will pass!  Soy & Deidra did a nice job of sharing about their experiences with the four IMB missionary families in the Philippines.  I am thankful we have had so many folks involved in missions this summer.

We welcome Bernard Suthoff, Rob Nevin, & Larry Whitehurst as our newest deacons.  Pray for these men and their families.  By the way, the deacons are asked to meet with me this Wednesday, 8/4, at 6:00PM.

The Finance Committee did a nice job of presenting a proposed budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year which was adopted by the church family last night.  I appreciate the effort put into this budget by those committee members.

The Nominating Committee also did a nice job of filling the positions for the 2010-11 church year.  We still have a few openings (mainly on committees) but we are basically set for this year.  Thanks to that committee for a job well done.

Our Spanish ministry was one year old yesterday.  We are going to host a celebration on Sunday, 8/15.  More details coming.

Jodie Johnson is in the hospital for a few days.  Mitchel Fox is having surgery this morning.  Pattie said Gage is doing okay.  Bill was in our second service yesterday morning as Miss Bea is recovering from her two surgeries at home.  Louise Morris is still recovering at home too.  Keep praying for Carla Kyser, Miss Joyce Bosarge, John Gensler, and the others battling cancer.

Phil Sims’ son-in-law, Darren Haynes, will have surgery tomorrow.  It is possible they will remove an entire lung in order to treat his malignancy.  Pray for Darren, his family, and the doctors.

Finally!  Josh Woods proposed to Kristin Fontenot Saturday night and she said yes!  They have only been dating for about twelve years!  No wedding date has been set but my sources tell me it could happen next March!  Up next?  Rusty & C!

It’s official – the 2010 Dodgers are toast!  They have lost five in a row and are in fourth place in their division.  I am waving the white flag!

I pray that you will have a great Monday with Jesus.