I've been gone a while, so I'm sure there are tons of new things that I haven't read about yet. Summer has been busy, but relaxing, and exciting for me! I'll be moving back to the city that I moved away from almost a year and a half ago in about a week or so. I'll have a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom duplex with a fenced backyard, this time. Perfect for sunbathing, although it doesn't have a pool...ah well, ya can't have everything, right? I'm moving because I got a job...which I'm very excited and nervous about! Does this mean that I have to become a full-grown adult? I sure hope not...
Anyway, I just thought I'd get back to posting, since it's been a while! Hope everything is going well for everybody else!
you're back! A job, huh? No, you don't have to be a full grown adult...yet. You may have to be full grown, but not have to grow up. Are you able to have the duplex all to yourself? That would be great for the solitude that home nudity sometimes requires. And the sunning area is a bonus, too. Keep us informed.
Hope the new digs and job work out great. God will provide.
We're still looking for a new preacher here. Ours moved to Bay City, TX. We've had 2 try out and have 2 more this month. We definitely do not want the 2nd guy.
You're probably much wetter there this year than we are here in Va. Our rainfall is close to what OK usually gets instead of a good 10" or so more.
We're making our usual trip to DFW and then driving up to Stonewall, OK in early November. Dad is still in the VA facility in Sulphur and likely will be there until he dies.
Thanks! I know what you're going through looking for a preacher - my parents' congregation is currently looking for a youth minister, and having some issues. I suppose all we can really do is pray about it and ask God to place the right person in the right position.
I dunno about the exact amount of rain we've gotten, but it has seemed to be more than the norm. Granted, we can always use the rain, as long as it doesn't bring high winds and/or hail along with it!
Sorry to hear about your father. I hope that he gets the best care possible until his time comes.
The youth minister that the congregation in Baton Rouge hired while we were there is the one who was shot by his wife. Been on the national news. Think she was okay while at Baton Rouge. She went nuts on the next job, apparently.
We had a really good campus minister leave us here for a bigger (and probably higher paying) job in Lubbock. The replacement we ended up with turned into a bookworm not really qualified to do the work. We were sitting in class a couple of times before he showed up to teach about half way through the class. This was before he got married. After that, his wife ensured he got to work on time anyway. Our support eroded for this position (we were getting outside support for it by others). We haven't been able to afford to even look for a replacement. Without a strong campus minister, most of the college kids just don't show up.
Let's hope we have better luck in finding a replacement preacher.
Oh, our ex-preacher appears to have come down with leukemia. Could have been brought on by the stress of moving; I guess. Maybe it was HIS will that he move to where he'd be closer to about the best cancer treatment place around (MD Anderson in Houston).
Wow, there is a lot going on with your congregation that needs prayers. I'll be keeping them in mine!
My parents' congregation is also having to work through a tough time right now with their preacher. His wife has battled Multiple Sclerosis for close to 10 years, and since she was diagnosed with MS she has battle lung cancer, brain cancer (several tumors in 2 or 3 different occurrences), cancer in the cervical spine, lung cancer - again, and some spots on her leg (not sure if it's skin cancer or what...). They recently welcomed their second and third grandchildren into the world, but it's slightly bittersweet. The preacher's wife has mostly "bad" days, sometimes she isn't even able to get out of bed, and very few "good" days. They have registered for hospice care when the time is appropriate. They know that the end is coming. Right now it's just a fight to contain and try to control the diseases that have attacked her body in an effort to increase her quality of life (even if ever so slightly) and give her just a bit more time with friends and family - especially the newest members of the family. Through all of their trials, they have maintained that God is Good and that He has blessed them with countless things. It is a testament to their faith and God's strength working in both of them, because no person (with or without a spouse) would be able to make it through trials like these with such a positive outlook, but without a strong relationship with God.
Please keep this family (preacher & wife, 4 kids + 3 spouses, 3 very young grandchildren) in your prayers. God will call her home soon, and it will be very bittersweet for everyone that knows her, especially her family.
That family with the MS problem has a marvelous attitude. Attitude is one thing that the elders at Baton Rouge preached. It can get us in trouble or can maintain us in faith.
I've never been in a congregation with so many issues as the one we're in here. We've one kid who converted, looked to have whipped his drinking, got out of jail and then went wild drinking again and stabbed a police dog. Got out for a short while, was even doing MJ but has now been back in jail and may even go to prison to finish his original sentence.
So many more keep coming up with cancer and heart disease. One family is beset with depression by the husband. Luckily, we got the wife into nurse's training, and she's the bread winner now with a nurse degree. He can't seem to hold a job. They can't manage money. What they get gets blown on things we'd not sanction.
Now I'm back too! Welcome back (a week or so later) and I hope you got moved in and enjoying your new home and job.
I am going through the same thing! New job, moved to Virginia, and now trying to settle in and wondering what would happen if my neighbors see me nude!
Keep us posted, and I'll try to be here more often as well.
Boyd "Live Nude and Prosper" Allen
"May the Lord protect our nudity from the sight of those who will not benefit, and may he allow us to be seen by those who will."
