EXPERIENCING GOD chelly

"It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

For the third time in my life I am working through Henry's Blackaby's "Experiencing God" Each time God reveals new things to me but this time is the BEST.
On day three, He says, "God takes the initiative. When He comes to a person, He always reveals Himself and His activity. That revelation is always an invitation for the individual to adjust his life to God."
That weekend I felt like I should go in to work on Monday- I don't work that day but since ESOAL was on Thursday and I wouldn't be working that day- I decided to go in-even though I had no appointments scheduled. I was there about one half hour, had printed something and went to the next room to get it off the printer- returned to my desk and in a few moments one of the girls I know-plopped down in my chair. She had been next door visiting someone near the printer and heard my voice and heard God tell her to come see me. A painful, troubled young woman sat in the chair. I immediately prayed and then asked her what was going on. She proceeded to tell me about a horrible toothache she had been experiencing for 4 days. (I immediately thought of a dear friend of ours whose son had a similar pain- went to the dentist- the dentist said it was probably a tooth acting up that had work on it some years before- and he died in his sleep that night.) I, of course, did not tell her this but took it as a red flag that I needed to do something to help her. We bowed and asked God for wisdom on what to do. (God was inviting me to adjust my life to His right then and there!) To complicate matter for us (but not for God) she told me she had no money and no dental insurance. God- we really need you to show up here!
The first thing I tried was a local dentist who had done much work for several of our immediate family- they referred me to United Way- who referred me to a local Texas group- who said they were too busy with Hurricane Ike relief to do anything about local problems. Not knowing where else to turn I called my dentist in Quitman- and they said since it was a wisdom tooth problem we needed to speak to an oral surgeon. $$$$$ They gave me the name of one in Tyler whom I called, explained our dilemma to which they said...we'll call you back. They did and said they would see her about 3 that day.
We drove to Tyler- crying out to God for help and mercy. Driving up to this very exclusive looking Oral and Facial Surgery office we entered the waiting room which was furnished with beautiful leather furniture and furnishings and had 3 very polite ladies behind the counter who "helped" us. They gave Chelly many forms to be filled out- one being the financial form. It said that "having no insurance, I take full responsibility for all charges." She looked at me and I told her to go explain her case...to which the lady behind the counter replied- If you don't sign it- the doctor won't see you. She looked at me and I said, "You HAVE to sign it." She did. They soon called her name and we went back and had the "round the head" x-ray; (I KNEW this was a very expensive x-ray..a few years back the dentist in FL wanted Dave to do that fro $700!) We then waited with a nurse to see the Doctor. She was very kind and knew the Lord. Finally the Dr. came in and examined her. Chelly explained that she was leaving to be on the road with Acquire the Fire in just 6 days- The Dr. proceeded to tell her that she needed to have and one and possibly 2 wisdom teeth removed. He then asked if she had any questions. She said, "yes- I understand what I need but I don't have any money." He looked at her kindly and said, "I will cover it." Music playing, butterflies flitting- sunbeams dancing- we were praising the Lord and Chelly was crying!
He made arrangements for the surgery the next morning at 8 am and took out 2 wisdom teeth. (The Dr. is also Christian and was so kind.)
Chelly is now in Amhurst, Mass. at the ATF tonight-totally healed and rejoicing in the goodness of God. TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY...GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE...
I just praise and thank our God for inviting me to be a part of this miracle.

She FINISH FINISHED!!!

Wisconsin Company led by #302; 2nd Lieutenant Lisa Hasz








Lisa- We are SO very proud of you and what the Lord has accomplished through you during this ESOAL. His hand is upon you and preparing you for great and mighty things for His kingdom. We just love you SO So very much!
And this is just one happy man and one happy family to have their mom back!


These are the women of Wisconsin Company who finish finished. This is one tough group of women who are out to change their world!


MOMMY! LET'S GO HOME!!!!

Be good keepers at home.

To be keepers at home. One of the young women I have become friends with at Teen Mania shared this on her Facebook a few days a go. I want to share it with you! This is Courtney and a friend-Not Luke, with whom she is in a courtship relationship.

I’m currently reading this book entitled Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney. In this book the author takes Titus 2:3-5 and breaks down each part. The chapter I am on now discusses being a stay-at-home mom. In our society today staying at home as a mother is not regarded as an honorable status. Mrs. Mahaney states it well when she quotes Dorothy Patterson:Much of the world would agree that being a housekeeper is acceptable as long as you are not caring for your own home; treating men with attentive devotion would also be right as long as the man is the boss in the office and not your husband; caring for children would even be deemed heroic service for which presidential awards could be given as long as the children are someone else’s and not your own.This is so true of our society today. If you do anything that is required of a good mother and wife you are rewarded and highly esteemed, unless in fact you are doing those things as a mother and wife only. Why is it that we regard women who enter the professional world more highly than women who raise those who will enter the professional world twenty years from now? Since when was it more important to make a success of yourself than making a success of your husband and children? I do not in any way think that women are to be subservient and silent or complacent in society, but I do believe that we should regard women who take on the, in my opinion, most challenging role in life very highly. They sacrifice everything they may desire to pursue in order to make their children’s dreams come true. I also do not believe that women should never pursue a career or a dream. I do believe that women who have a home, husband and children to care for should set their priorities in line. The woman mentioned in Proverbs 31 was definately a good businesswoman. She knew how to trade, sew, shop and the like, but her first priority was the home. If we, as women, do what Titus 2 tells us to do and stay at home and be good homemakers when we are married and have children, I believe that when our children enter society as adults they will be better equipped to do what they are called to do. If you are under such cercumstances that you have to work, then do it with all you are. I completely understand as I know several people like that. I believe that the Lord will bless you for providing for your homes. But in such cases where this is not a requirement, make every effort to be at home. I looked up the Greek word that is used in Titus 2 and it actually means to stay at home. This should clear up any confusion about the meaning of “homemaker.” To sum this all up, our first ministry is in our home. It starts with our husbands and goes to our children and then outside of our home. If we do things the way God designed us to do them we will be sure to find more success than if we do it our way.

September thoughts

Wow! Where did that last month go? It was supposed to be the month that I took time off and we went somewhere. Well, that didn't happen for a variety of reasons. I did have a day or two that I took off. The August interns graduated on Aug. 9th and the new class came in on the 15th. The week between I helped get ready and then the next two weeks I helped with various other things and now...I'm back in to the full swing of things at Teen Mania and loving it.
We got to see ALL our children and GRANDCHILDREN out here this month. Josiah came out to celebrate his 11th birthday and all his family and all our family came to join in the fun! We had a party for Lisa to celebrate her life

...and also had a party to celebrate Nicky's 2nd and Ashley's 13th birthdays.
We just love it when our kids and their kids come up to swim, play cards, hang out. We are blessed! God is so good to us.
We will be starting a small group meeting with our church- 30 days to Live is the name of the campaign. We are looking forward to getting involved with a small group of people whom we can share life with and share our enthusiasm for JESUS.

On Sunday nights we are attending a series via DVD at David's house along with staff from the Honor Academy on Spiritual Warfare. We are excited to be in on the awesome prayer time that follows this too.

I am taking 2 classes at Teen Mania- one is called the Intense Communication Track taught by Shannon Ethridge- meeting for 2 hours on Thursay nights until March! There is a pretty heavy reading schedule for that and I'm excited about it. I'm also taking a 4 series session on counseling which is really good.
Since I'll be going to classes on Thursday nights Dave will be going to our "card group" alone. This is a group of people, primarily from our church, that play Hand and Foot every Thursday night. It is a Texas thing!
We still try to get to the Dance Hall on Sat. nights to kick up our heels and enjoy dancing and having fun together. This also is very Texas style- we really miss the ballroom dance group from Florida!
My roomate from college, Gay Vogel Traster and her husband will be here in a few days and we are so excited to see them. It has been 25 years since we've seen them. Gay and I lived together off campus at Concordia Teacher's College in River Forest, IL. We both had a boyfriend named, David- and they were both off in other parts of the country teaching. We would sit on our bunkbeds at the Siefert's home- where we had a room- and wait for the phone to ring! We both ended up marrying these boyfriends. They are making the trip from Nebraska and will head down to the Houston area in time for IKE!
Today we got to go to Henry's kindergarten and have lunch with him. We surprised him and it was such fun.

Looking through my pictures...I take them all so you'll see lots of Dave and the kids. As you can see, he adores our grandkids...as do I! Until next time....thanks for visiting!