Many of you prayed for Heather as well as our entire family throughout Heather's hospital stay and we are all forever thankful. Five weeks have now passed since Heather was discharged, but she has many more difficult days still ahead of her. After 19 years of health problems, God's A-MAYzing grace is still sufficient. The third verse of John Newton's song, "Amazing Grace" says, "Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace hath bro't me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home." Thank you Heather for living out God's grace in front of our very eyes.
The weekend that Heather got out of the hospital, was the same weekend that I celebrated 15 years of being the Pastor of the great Hillside Baptist Church. We had alot of rain on that Sunday and the day before, but the Lord did a great work in all of our hearts during both the morning and evening services. Not only did our family feeled loved throughout Heather's hospital stay, with many special kindnesses and gifts that were sent our way, but there were also several special things that were done for me personally on my anniversary. Thank you Hillside folks for loving your Preacher and his family! What an A-MAYzing Church!
Heather had several Doctor's appointments over the next few days, but by Thursday afternoon our family took off for some much needed R & R. We arrived in the Smoky Mountains Thursday eveing and made our annual/semi-annual trip around the loop of Cades Cove. We enjoyed veiwing the wildlife and beautiful scenery, which included a mama bear and her three cubs, a coyotte hunting down a wild turkey, and a couple hundred deer grazing on the open fields. The next night we enjoyed a dinner together as a family at the Dixie Stampede. So thankful for an A-MAYzing family!
We then drove from the Smokies on Saturday afternoon to Richmond, Kentucky, where my wife spoke and my daughters sang for a specially planned ladies meeting held at the Faith Baptist Church, where Dan Bottrell is the Pastor. We left from Richmond, KY and drove up to Valpraiso, Indiana, where I would teach in Sunday School and preach in both services on Mother's Day, at the Bethel Baptist Church, where our good friend, Jeff Hawkins is the Pastor. The Lord met with us in a wonderful way in both services with several saved and baptized and the altars were full, with many making Spiritual decisions for the Lord. What an exciting Church this is! So thankful the Lord allowed our family to be used again in another A-MAYzing Church service!
Our daughter Jenah, son-in-law Andrew, and grandson Baron, live in Hobart, Indiana, about a 20 minute drive from Bro. Hawkin's Church, so we all enjoyed a bite of lunch together and went back to the hotel where we were staying. This was Jenah's first Mother's Day since Baron was born last Fall and my wife's first Mother's Day as a grandmother. Baron gave his Nona her first Grandmother's card and boy was she ever excited. What an A-MAYzing Mother's Day!
On our trip home from Indiana we stopped over at the Creation Museum & Botanical Gardens in Petersburg, Kentucky, and I snapped this photo of my wife and daughter Hannah. Our trip was truly blessed of the Lord and we saw many answers to prayer, along with several opportunities to share the Gospel with others. We have been so A-MAYzingly blessed of the Lord!
Several other events have taken place at our Church throughout this month, but one of the special things that has taken place was hosting a ladies singing tour group, from Commonwealth Baptist College, in Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. and Mrs. Jim Jorgensen are again traveling with the Voices of Melody this summer, as they represent the college. They were with us on a Friday evening and after the young ladies sang and Dr. Jorgensen gave us a challenge from the Word of God, all you can eat pizza was served and a game of Big Ball volleyball was served up. Over the last few years we have had a few of our young people attend Commonwealth and this past year I had an opportunity to preach in chapel, at the college, and the atmosphere and spirit was exciting. What an A-MAYzing opportunity it is to train young people to serve the Lord!
Many other events took place this month, graduations, music recitals, Memorial Day services and our Ladies Mini-Spring Spectacular was held on May 31st, the last day of the month. A delicious meal was served by our men, pictures were taken, special songs were sung, and a hilarious skit was put together by a few of our faithful ladies. I asked my wife to be the main speaker and she did a wonderful job. The month of May, really was a month filled with A-MAYzing Blessings!
