Pastor's Blog

Edward Olsen Smyly age 91, a former shipyard burner of Grand Bay, AL, died Tuesday, August 7, 2012 at Lynwood Nursing Home in Mobile, AL. He was born March 15, 1921in Magnolia, AL. Mr. Smyly who was affectionately know as “Paw” loved playing with his grandkids. He believed in hard work, sharing his garden and helping others. He was a member of Friendship Baptist Church and a World War II, U.S. Coast Guard veteran.

He is survived by his son, Howard Smyly; 2 daughters, Dona (Riley) Glass and Margy (Glenn) Perkins all of Grand Bay, AL; brother, Grant Smyly of Birmingham, AL; 6 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren; numerous family, friends, and loved ones.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Nellie Ray Smyly; parents, Frank and Virginia Smyly; & 11 of 13 siblings.

Visitation will be held at O’Bryant Chapel Funeral Home on Friday, August 10, 2012 from 10:00 am until the 11:30 am service time. Burial will be at County Line Baptist Church Cemetery in Arlington, AL.

Mr. Edward Olson Smyly passed away yesterday afternoon.  He is the father of Dona Glass and Margy Perkins.  The arrangements are incomplete at this time but the visitation and service will take in Thomasville, Alabama.  Pray for the Smyly family.

The funeral service for Miss Betty Sprinkle will take place today at 10:00AM from the San Souci Baptist Church.  I appreciate those from the Friendship family who attended the visitation last night and encourage folks to attend the service today to support Kevin & Tina.

The funeral visitation and service for Joanne Moss, Larry’s sister-in-law, takes place today from the O’Bryant-O-Keefe Funeral Home in Pascagoula, MS.  I will be meeting with the family this morning at 10:00AM and then preaching that service at noon.

Miss Jackie Goff was admitted to the hospital yesterday.  Bro. Kerry visited her and I will do so this morning.

Miss Carolyn Kittles will have a stent put in the left side of her chest today.  The other two ports they have used for her dialysis are no longer usable.

Jay Jackson, grandson of Miss Exie Woods, has been diagnosed with plasmablastic lymphoma and is at the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Here is what I consider good news – Donald & Pat Butler have closed their florist but have decided to continue to do arrangements for those wishing to place flowers in the church on Sundays.  Donald & Pat have done an excellent job for many years of providing beautiful arrangements to be placed in the church and they deliver them on Sunday mornings.  So, if you are placing flowers in the church in honor or memory of someone, you may want to give them a call.  (If you tell Donald that I recommended them, he will increase the price by 10%!)

We are on a regular schedule today.  Bro. Jerry will be preaching this morning while Bro. Kerry will attend the service for Miss Sprinkle and I will be with the Moss family.

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

Lisa and I drove to Waynesboro, MS late yesterday afternoon to visit with Miss Vinnie Brewer and her family.  Bro. Jerry Hovel will be attending the service for Miss Vinnie’s brother, J.W. Nowell, today in Millry, Alabama.  That service takes place beginning at 2:00PM from the Pine Tree Holiness Church.  Pray for the Nowell family.

Kevin Sprinkle’s mother passed away on Sunday morning.  I posted the obit from the paper.  That visitation takes place tonight and the service tomorrow morning.  Pray for Kevin & Tina and the Sprinkle family.

Joanne Moss passed away early yesterday morning.  She is the sister-in-law of Larry Moss as she was married to Larry’s brother, P.T., for the past 51 years.  The visitation with the family will take place from 10:00AM until noon tomorrow with the service beginning at noon.  The visitation and service will take place from the chapel of the O’Bryant-O-Keefe Funeral Home in Pascagoula, MS.  I will be preaching that service, Lord willing.

So, on our most recent mission trip I gave Soy the job of relocating one picture in the upper room of the mission house.  I am following the team that is presently using the mission house and noted in their pictures that the picture has yet to be moved.  My fault – I failed to tell Soy when to move the picture!  Give Soy one job to do and he will. . . .  .

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

SPRINKLE Betty Rosalie Sprinkle – Age 84, a lifelong resident of Irvington, AL passed away on Sunday, August 5, 2012. She was preceded in death by her husband Warren and daughter Linda. She is survived by her daughter Sweetie (John) Hancock, 7 sons; Archie (Mary), Clyde (Susan), Dougie (Belinda), Nathan (Kendra), Paul (Renee), Kevin (Tina) and Reuben (Lacey), 4 sisters; Alva Barbour, Ethel Barbour, Bertha Davis and Brenda Coyle, 32 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren, 9 great-great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews other relatives and many friends. The family would like to thank Grand Bay Convalescent and Asceracare for the love and care they gave their mother. Visitation will be Tuesday, August 7, 2012 from 5-8 pm at San Souci Baptist Church, Coden, AL. Funeral services will be Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at 10 AM at the church. Interment will be in Oddfellow Cemetery.

Happy birthday to my mother-in-law, Ann Clark!  I have been blessed with a really great mother-in-law.  (Please do not get me started on the father-in-law thing!)

The Lord blessed and we had a very good day in our services yesterday.  We saw four professions of faith (Austin Bosarge, Kyle Brooks, Kali Owens & Josh Schlehuber), one baptism (Stephen DeAngelo), one by letter (Melissa Adkinson), and one answer the call to the ministry (Levi Seymour).  FYI, the four professions of faith were from Wild Week.  God gives the increase and we give Him the glory!

Miss Vinnie Brewer’s brother, J.W. Nowell, passed away on Saturday.  The family will receive friends tonight from 5:00 – 9:00PM at the Freeman Funeral Home in Waynesboro, MS.  The service will take place tomorrow at 2:00PM from the Pine Tree Holiness Church in Millry, Alabama.  Pray for Miss Vinnie and her family.

Our nine deacons for this church year are Larry Whitehurst (chairman), Bernard Suthoff (vice-chairman), Rob Nevin (secretary), Herbert Benefield, Bill Kendrick, John M. Ladnier, Jr., Kenny Lingle, Carl Ray Moulds, and Max Peacock.  Pray for these men as they serve.

Not that I am keeping up with it but Lindsey Vice, Amy Reynolds and Katelyn Tillman have thus far missed every Sunday School class of the church year!  Just sayin’!

FYI, Ross & Betty Clair did make it to all three Chick-fil-A restaurants in Mobile last Wednesday.  Which side of the fence do you think Ross & Betty Clair are on?

Usain Bolt can fly!  Wow!  Last time I saw anyone run that fast was a bunch of Baptists heading for the table at a potluck dinner!

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

It is shortly before 4:00AM.  Bro. Robbie Howard called me late last night to say they did not expect Kevin Sprinkle’s mother to live through the night.  She has been a resident of a local convalescent home facility for several years.  Pray for Mrs. Sprinkle and her family.  I will update this past later today.

I remind our deacons of the pastor/deacons meeting that takes place tomorrow at 4:00PM in my office.  This is our first meeting of the new church year.

Our students arrived home safely yesterday afternoon.  We thank God for His protection.

Courtney Cavin went to Chick-fil-A on Thursday and wants credit for taking part in the appreciation day.  Hello, that was on Wednesday!  Add Courtney to the group including Katie as they want the glory without the sacrifice!

We are on a regular schedule tomorrow.  Hope to see many members of the Friendship family and guests in attendance.

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

Word has it that our students are set to return from camp at 3:00PM today.  Pray for them as they travel home today.  Nicole finally called yesterday and said things were going well.  (Nicole remains on probation!)

Carla Kyser sees the doctor today, I think.  I may have my Fridays mixed up.  She will get a new port one Friday and receive another treatment the following Friday.

Alisha Vice has stopped blogging!  Rita hammers her when she does not blog but since Rita has been in Uganda with Alisha I think Alisha has blogged three times.  Really, how long does it take to enter a three minute blog?

Tried to get into watching the Olympics last night but just cannot make it happen because I already knew the outcome.  Watched the Bama/LSU national championship game instead – Bama won!

Mowed our grass last Saturday, this past Tuesday, and it now needs mowing again.  The daily rains and this heat are causing it to grow rapidly.  No complaints here!

Katie Howard has tried to jump on the Chick-fil-A bandwagon a little late.  Claims she went to the one on Dauphin Street on Wednesday but the line was too long.  Did any of the rest of us find a short line?  Standing for something often means being inconvenienced!  She should have asked for the manager and told him who she was, why she was there and I am sure they would have moved her to the front of the line!  (All of the others were there simply b/c they like chicken!)

Our first pastor/deacons meeting of the new church year takes place this Sunday, 8/5, at 4:00PM in the pastor’s office.

Since this Sunday, 8/5, is the first Sunday of a new church year, we ask everyone (speaking mainly to adults) to go to the class for their age group.  Translated – if you are in your 50’s then you do not belong in the 20’s class.  Thanks for your cooperation, participation and desire to see our Sunday School grow!

I pray that you will have a great weekend with Jesus.  Lord willing, I will be preaching in all three of our services on Sunday.  Hope to see you there!

The Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was a huge success if numbers mean anything.  We had a very strong number from the Friendship family go eat at one of the Mobile restaurants yesterday.  Ross & Betty Clair led the way eating breakfast and lunch at Chick-fil-A.  They were headed there for supper after church but the one on Schillinger had to close around 6:30PM as they ran out of food.

Soy made a “chicken run” for our college Bible study last night.  I appreciate him doing that.  I had placed that order on Monday morning so even though the store was closed we still got our sandwiches.  I decided to lead by example so I stood in line for one hour and twenty minutes yesterday afternoon.  (Brenda Poiroux and Bo Older are my witnesses that I was there!)  It was hot!  I could have chosen to do like other Pastors i.e. Dr. Jack Bailey and simply send a secretary to stand in line for almost two hours while he sat in his office sucking up the air conditioned air!  He probably had her stand beside him and wipe the mayo from the corners of his mouth as he ate his sandwich!  Dr. Jack needs to learn how to stand for what he believes and quit hiding behind others!

Nicole Taylor does not speak the truth!  I am hurt!  She commented on yesterday’s post for me to expect either a phone call or text with a full update on camp.  I basically stayed up all night waiting on that call/text which never came!  Nicole has now taken Courtney’s place as being on probation!  (Courtney brought me a Hope’s cheesecake which allowed her to get off probation – works every time!)

Our Girls In Action did a nice job of sharing during last night’s service.  Rumor has it that Randall Broome and Joey Guidry are going to recite the RA pledge next Wednesday night.  They would have done it last night but they want Mr. Morris to be present as he is the one who taught them the pledge!

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

Heard from Bro. Chris yesterday kinda sorta.  They did arrive at camp.  They dealt with some really, really wet weather yesterday.  Nicole is driving up today so “maybe” I will get better reports from this point forward.  Probably not but there is always hope!

We are on a regular schedule today/tonight.  This is the first Wednesday of a new church year for the Friendship family.  What a great time to start joining us on Wednesdays or to recommit to being faithful!

Today is Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day as proclaimed by Mike Huckabee.  I went Monday and bought sandwiches for tonight’s 8:00PM Bible study (I just checked the ice chest and they still look pretty good!)  I think Ross Hatcher is going to serve as the greeter, cashier, cook, custodian, et cetera at one of the local Chick-fil-A’s to show his support!  I am praying for a positive statement to be made today by those who believe in the family as defined by the Bible.  Again, do not go with $3 or you will just be window shopping!

I know Joe David and Lori Bailey love the Olympics but it is hard for me to watch when I already know the outcome.  (The same does not apply to Bama football!)  However, if the Summer games had curling like the Winter games. . . .

All of you texters need to be aware that beginning today, 8/1, it is against the law in Alabama to text while driving.  However, you can still talk on your cell phone while applying your make up while eating your sausage biscuit while reading the newspaper while driving.  (For the record, I favor the texting ban!)

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