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By Ruth Anderson
Hello September! Ready or not, September is here. It seems that it will be bringing us some rain. At least that’s what the weather people are saying. In fact, we are scheduled for rain almost every day this week. How about that? No, we don’t have it yet but the forecast sounds promising. We’ve had a few little bitty showers this past weekend.
Do you have a problem saying, ‘I’m sorry’ ‘Forgive me’ ‘It was my fault’ ‘I forgive you’ ‘you’re not to blame’ and that sort of thing? Do you carry a grudge and noticed how it seems to get heaver and heaver every day? Wouldn’t you like to just put the thing down and forget it? Wouldn’t you feel better? Maybe you should have heard Preacher Joey’s sermon Sunday morning. Good job Preacher Joey!
Exciting things are about to start happening at Stringtown First Baptist Church. Kids activities will begin again this Wednesday evening, September 2nd. Kids, this includes youth, will meet at 5:30 Wednesday evening for a meal in the fellowship hall. Then they will scatter out to classes, singing, and other activities.
Then on Sunday, September 13th Sunday School for all ages will start again!!! Lots of folks have really missed Sunday School and are definitely ready to start back so this will be a really special day. 9:45 on Sunday morning, September 13th. Don’t forget.
Something else exciting will be taking place on that date as well. It’s been designated as ‘Oh Yeah! Missions day. You know about Oh Yeah Missions don’t you? No? Well, you will after you attend the Oh Yeah Missions day on September 13th. Brad Tisdale will let you know what is going on with the missions group. God is doing great things in the Atoka/Coal Baptist Association and you can be a part of it.
Then, on October 4-7 Kolby King will be at Stringtown First Baptist Church for a Crusade. The kids will love this but the adults will enjoy it just as much as the kids. It seems, according to Preacher Joey, that Kolby King is a magician, ventriloquist, and who knows what else along with being a great evangelist. Make plans now so you don’t miss a great big blessing!
Our prayer list isn’t getting any shorter. There are always more and more people to pray for. Do remember to pray for Sis Wills and for all those other folks in the nursing homes. It’s a lonely place to be, even with all the other residents there. They are so happy to have visitors and now they can’t even enjoy a visit from family or friends or anyone else. The Corona virus has closed all the nursing homes to visitors.
JC and Ruth’s niece. Tammy Brewster, is slowly recovering from the corona virus. How long has it been? Three weeks? Four weeks? For her at least it seems like a very long time. Her Dad says she is improving. She says she can taste and smell again. She couldn’t even do that for awhile. She doesn’t know when she can go back to teaching her classes in school.
If you don’t already have them there, would you put Loyd and Rickie Thompson on your prayer list? Both have some very serious on going health problems. You probably know Loyd and Rickie. Most people in this area do know them. Remember? Loyd has probably preached for your church on one occasion or another. He is one of the best preachers around and it isn’t only Stringtown folks who think so.
No, Loyd and Rickie don’t have the coronavirus. They would appreciate your prayers anyway.
Saturday was a busy day; getting ready for new babies soon to arrive to anxious families. Baby showers. What fun!
The first shower was from 2-4 o’clock Saturday afternoon at the home of Tony and Ronny Potts. It honored Cooie and Taylor Potts, who are expecting their first child this month. So we’ve been told, it’s a BOY they are expecting!
Tony and Ronny are the grandparents of this soon to arrive little one. No, this won’t be their first experience with grandchildren; they already have Elly and Bosie, thanks to Alex and Dillon. It will be fun to have a baby around again.
The shower started off in a great way; shower cake, fruit, candies, crackers and all sorts of goodies. The cake was a Denise Self creation so you know it was delicious. Taylor opened her gifts while her guests enjoyed the goodies.
Cooie popped in and out occasionally but didn’t stay long. He was working on a motor or something and said he was head to toe greasy.
Grandpa Tony was in and out as well but he wasn’t as greasy as his son. In fact, after all the gifts had been opened, the goodies eaten, and guests were leaving. Tony came in and sat down and Ruth had a great visit with him. She finally asked him if she was keeping him from anything and he said nothing except visiting with Chris, who had just arrived. Ruth visited a bit longer and then left him to Chris’ company while she and Beth went to the church for another baby shower.
Another little one expected, another shower and this one was quite different. Jonathan and Sabra Smith are expecting a baby girl sometime this month. A girl? Wow! Grandma Cindy and Grandpa David have three boys. Two of those boys and their wives have added to the family with more boys. Boys, but no girls. Now a little girl will be joining the family! Of course she will be spoiled! What did you expect?
This was one of those old fashioned showers. You know, where you play games and win prizes and that sort of thing. This shower started off with food too. Tacos, and all sorts of things that go with tacos! Delicious! One little cutie; is he a big brother to the little lady who will soon be arriving? Anyway, he was enjoying a cup cake and told Beth that if she ate her supper she could have a cup cake. He seemed to be having his cupcake without supper but there was a reason for that. It seems that those tiny little fingers had explored the icing in a cupcake and it was thought best to just let him have it right now. He was enjoying it.
The fellowship hall was gaily decorated with balloons and all sorts of decorations. Hanging from the ceiling was a huge taco. The Mom-to-be was given a large plastic bat with which to break the taco. Only that wasn’t as easy as you might think. Sabra whammed and whacked that taco but it just wouldn’t break so she could gather up all the tiny baby items it contained.
Finally Daddy Jonathan took his turn and they still had trouble breaking the taco. That was one tough taco!
Anyway, there will soon be new babies in the church nursery. Since then Ruth has heard of several other couples expecting new babies in the near future.
The Covid-l9 thing still hasn’t gone away. Every day the count goes up as to the number of new coronavirus cases. We hear about the people who have died from the disease but not much about the people who just sailed through it with little trouble. Some were only sick a day or so. Some who tested positive didn’t even get sick at all. Some, like Tammy, had a pretty rough time but managed to stay at home, alone, and didn’t go to the hospital.
The number of positive tests goes up higher and higher every day. But remember, more and more people are being tested every day.
You hear all sorts of stories. One story Ruth has heard several times was about the family who went to be tested. They waited and waited and finally got tired waiting and went home without being tested. A few days later they received a letter from the testing people stating that all of them had tested positive for the virus. None of them had even been tested! So goes the stories.
No way around it, the Coronavirus is a serious thing. People are dying, but probably no more than die from the flu, accidents, cancer, heart attacks, and all sorts of other things. Do people need to be careful? Definitely!
Have things been opened up too quickly? Should churches stay closed for awhile longer? Is it too soon to be sending our kids back to school? Is wearing masks necessary? Should wearing masks be mandatory? How about Social distancing? Sports? Movies and theaters? Casinos? Restaurants? Concerts? What is okay and what isn’t?
Wouldn’t you like to know how many people have died WITH coronavirus and how many have died BECAUSE OF the coronavirus? It seems that a lot of people with terminal illnesses have died WITH the virus but the virus wasn’t actually what the person died FROM. John Cooper is out of the hospital and on the go again. He drives his scooter to church and wherever he needs to go. Way to go John!
Janie, did we get the story right? That you managed to get in a den of fire ants? They weren’t at all happy about the invasion? They fought back as only fire ants can do? Pain! Agony! Can you imagine what it would be like if those little tiny critters were as big as a rattlesnake or toad frog or bunny rabbit or something? As tiny as they are they sure pack a wallop!
So far the weather people seem to be on the right track. Sometime in the late hours of Monday night or the early hours of Tuesday morning the thunder and lightening rolled in and brought rain.
When God is going to do a great miracle. He gives man an impossible situation.