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By Ruth Gadberry
What beautiful fall weather we are being blessed with! Maybe a few folks in our area got a tiny little shower last week, but it missed JC and Ruth. That’s okay. They could use the rain, but God will take care of what they need.
There were 84 in Sunday School Sunday. The numbers are picking up. They were down considerable in the midst of the Coronavirus thing. The virus is still alive and active but things are beginning to open up a bit more now. Kids are back in school, the weather is cooler and things are getting closer to being back to normal. Normal has probably moved by now so what are we getting back to? A new normal?
As of last Sunday, Preacher Joey is now a full time Pastor for Stringtown First Baptist Church! Drop by the office; you might find him there. Or he may be out visiting. That was something he didn’t have much time for while he was working another job.
Preacher Joey started his full time pastor job quite nicely for him. He didn’t preach. Don’t worry; there was plenty of preaching going on and Preacher Joey was enjoying every minute of it.
What was so exciting? Kolby King was there! Yes, this week is the Crusade with Kolby King! It’s exciting! The adults are enjoying it and the kids are really thrilled with it.
Kolby’s preaching is something, that even the youngest child there can understand it. He has games and magic tricks and all sorts of fun things. Monday night he will be eating fire. Won’t that fry his gizzard or something?
Kolby also brought his little friend, Jay, along with him. Jay has exciting stories to tell and some of them are about Kolby. Yes, he does mention Preacher Joey as well.
Yes, Monday night Kolby did several things with fire. He did warn the men who were there NOT to try this at home. He put some kind of bubbly stuff on his hands and had a couple of men light the bubbles. There was a ball of fire around both his hands. You know, kinda like the three Hebrew young men the King of Babylon threw into the fiery furnace because they wouldn’t bow down and worship the statue the King had made. The fire was so hot it killed the men who were throwing the three Hebrew guys into the fire. The three, young men weren’t hurt a bit and Jesus was walking in the fire with them. You can read this story in the Bible.
For many of the things Kolby does he needs help and he never lacks for volunteers. All the kids want to help him and they do a great job.
Is it Tuesday night or Wednesday night when Kolby promised to put himself into a six foot balloon? The balloon is so big he will have to use a leaf blower to inflate it.
Anyway, we’re sorry you missed it. Maybe you can still make it by Wednesday night, You’ll be blessed.
They are serving a meal to all the kids at 5:30 each evening and the Crusade begins at 6:00 o’clock.
Sunday night there were kids, kids, and more kids there. The adult count didn’t add up nearly as well as the kids count did. The kids were asked to bring an adult with them Monday evening. You know, an OLD person.
Kolby visited the kids at school on Monday and even more kids were at the crusade Monday night. Wonderful! Now Heaven has a whole bunch of new citizens, just waiting for the time when God will take them home to Heaven. Preacher Joey plans to have a baptism service Wednesday night and others later.
It seems that time has sped by quickly all year. Now that it is fall, things will start moving even faster. Halloween, hunting season, football, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and before you know it – and probably before you are ready for it – we will be starting a new year!
You know, of course, that both President Trump and his wife, Melanie have tested positive for the Covid-19. The President was hospitalized at Walter Reed Military Hospital but was scheduled to go home to the White House Monday evening. It seems that others on his staff have also tested positive for the virus. Will you pray for our President, his wife, and any others in our government who might have contracted the virus?
It was reported on TV that, when it was announced that President Trump had the Coronavirus, someone said, ‘I hope he dies!’ What is our nation coming to? Is there no compassion or respect anymore? There have been presidents and other people your reporter wasn’t all that fond of. But to say you hope he dies? Unthinkable! Our nation is in big trouble and if that is the attitude of people, we are in even bigger trouble than we thought.
This isn’t the America we know and love. Where we love and help each other. Where we honor our flag. Where Freedom is a blessing. Have we become a nation who hopes people, even our elected leaders, will die? Where we allow millions of babies to be killed simply because it isn’t ‘convenient’ for them to be born? God, help us!
Rickie Thompson is very, very ill. She sleeps most of the time. Her family; Loyd, Ronny, Brigitt and others hover around her, wanting to be with her in these dark hours. Well, dark for her family. Rickie seems to be waiting to hear the rustle of angel wings, when God’s angels swoop down to carry her home to Heaven. Do pray for all this family and praise God that they belong to Almighty God and that, for a Christian, death is merely the doorway into Heaven.
Cooie and Taylor are no longer waiting! Wasn’t it September 29 when you first held your baby boy in your arms Cooie and Taylor? Okay, so he was a bit later then they had expected. He is definitely worth waiting for. He is a big boy, a bit over 8 pounds, so says great-grandpa Loyd.
This little guy has a lot of name to live up to. He was given the name, Crockett Warren. Crocket is an old family name. And Warren? Well, Tony Warren, his granddad and Cooie Warren, his dad. That’s big shoes to fill, little Crocket.
Loyd has decided to call his great-grandson ‘C.W.’ Most people will probably call him ‘Crocket’. But he is sure to have other names too. Maybe even ‘Davey’. You’ll just have to figure that one out for yourself.
All this information comes from Loyd so if we don’t get it right… Loyd says that from the neck up, baby Crockett is definitely an Edgar. All the way. But from the waist down, he is all Thompson with those skinny legs. All Thompsons have skinny legs, so says Loyd.
As you know, families can’t visit patients in the hospital these days because of the Covid-19 thing. So, the family couldn’t even meet and greet little Crocket. Then it was go home time! Cooie and Taylor didn’t turn into the road to their home. They didn’t stop at Chris and Alberta’s, the Edgar grandparents. They didn’t turn to go up the hill to Cooie’s parents, Tony and Ronny. They didn’t stop at Grandma Barbara’s home. They drove directly to the home of Loyd and Rickie. That was one of Rickie’s better days. She was able to hold and cuddle her brand new great-grandson! What a BIG blessing!
Welcome to the world. Little Crocket! We pray that the world will be just a little bit brighter because you are here.
Happy Anniversary, Roy and Kathy! Of course your mom remembered your anniversary. She just didn’t get around to calling you.
JC and Ruth’s son-in-law, Kenneth Barfield, should know, hopefully, Tuesday when he can have surgery on his foot. He isn’t too excited about it but it’s something that must be done. Driving a tractor, baling and hauling hay doesn’t work all that well when his foot won’t work. You can’t elevate your foot when you are driving a tractor. Farming and taking care of cattle are a challenge when you are on crutches.
JC and Ruth were sitting on the porch swing recently, watching the hummingbirds and whatever else was out there and counting their blessings. When they got married, just over 67 years ago, they had absolutely nothing. Well, Ruth had a one room apartment near the telephone office where she worked and JC had a cot in an Army barrack. They even borrowed a car for their very short wedding trip. Five days after their wedding, JC left for a tour of duty in Alaska. Ruth joined him in November and they still had nothing. They borrowed enough dishes to get by and did without furniture until pay day. Look how far they’ve come from that time.
They have a home in the country, three really great kids, two sons-in-law, a daughter-in-law, eight grandkids and a bunch of great-grandkids. You just can’t beat that! That’s only a part of their blessings. They are still counting. God does things in a big way. His blessings are as big as the ocean and as small as a baby’s breath.
Beth is enjoying her ‘babies’; her guineas. She cleans their pen every day and sits out there and watches them. Ray insists she reads to them. She is letting them out for awhile every day now and they go back inside the pen when she feeds them. When she goes somewhere, like back to Texas, she has to have a baby sitter for her babies.
It is good to have an end to journey toward. But it is the journey that matters in the end.
