Anticipation....

Have you ever had a yearning for what is to come? I remember as a child looking forward to the opportunities to travel with my father. I remember a journey that we took when I was about 11 years old. My father was taking a trip to Mexico to check out a missions program. The anticipation was awesome as I awaited the day that we would leave. It seemed as though the time was forever passing for the day that we would go. But finally the day came! What a time I had.

It seems to me that this coming year is such a time as that was. There is such an awesome anticipation to see what it is that God desires to do in the coming days. I feel that God has spoken to me regarding an open heaven for the miraculous during 2008. Eight is the number of new beginnings. As Glenda and I have taken these steps into what some may feel is nothing, there is an assurance in our hearts that God will always perform His word in us.

You may be struggling with the issues of your life that are heavy and hard to bear. But remember this, God never leaves us out in the wilderness longer that it takes for our faith to reach out to the glorious future that He has designed for us.

Pastor Shane and I were visiting a few days ago, and we remembered a young man that crossed our paths a few years ago. He was all the time talking out his wilderness journey. He indicated that he was in the wilderness and was longing for the day that the wilderness experience would be over. Old Testament wilderness stories were 40 years. But New Testament wilderness was only 40 days. Let grace be manifest in your life. You may be in the wilderness, but the wilderness is only the place where God takes us to bring our focus back to Him! When we begin to refocus our eyes of faith toward what His plan is for us, we can soon leave the wilderness in triumph, with God Himself parting the waters for us!

Look forward to the exodus! Look foraward to the manifested plan of God that will come to pass for you as you surrender to him.

PRAISE GOD!

PRAISE GOD!

Hallelujah!

Carry On!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful friends. Glenda and I have had a wonderful day with our family today. We were able to talk with Jimmy in IRAQ. The Lord has been so good to us. This past week end, the vehicle behind Jimmy's hit an IED. Forturnately no one was seriously injured. We were so mindful that God is faithful to give His angels charge over us!

The day was awesome with our grandkids surrounding us with their laughter and their limitless joy. What an inspiration they are! My mother was able to spend the day with us as well. We were so excited to all be together for this day.

To our friends in Virginia, please know that we missed you during this season. We do appreciate all the cards that we received from those who expressed their love to us. This transition has left us somewhat at a loss, but God continues to show Himself faithful to us. We appreciate your prayers and some of you have blessed us with expressions of your friendship. I received a call last night from our dear friend, Carl Osborne and his wife, Anna. The doctor had only given Anna a few hours to live this past fall, but our Lord reached out with His tender hand and she is walking and enjoying this holiday season. We are so grateful for the grace of the Lord to this family. Our dear friends, the Salas' called today to share with us a Christmas greeting. They just received a bundle of joy from heaven in the form of David Samuel, a new grandson. We celebrate their joy! We received a package from some other friends that had special pictures made just before we left Virginia! And a dear friend sent us a care package filled with precious thoughts, and a large tin full of sugar cookies which are my favorite cookie! A card came with an love gift of money that was so timely! God is faithful. I could write on and on, but I think you can understand that we feel blessed at this season.

I look forward to a greater opportunity during this coming year. Eight is the number of new beginnings. Glenda and I are looking forward with great anticipation move into this new year!
We want to ask that you continue to pray for us and know that we are here for you if you need us.

Merry Christmas!

Carry On!

Traveling...

This has been a very busy week. I left the house at 2:30 am on Tuesday and returned about midnight last night. It was a the first full week of my new enterprise. I left Troy, IL at 9:30 am on Tuesday, spent the night in Little Rock, AR, then on to Texarkana, TX. When I finished that load, I received a call to go to Fort Smith, AR and met a load to Kansas City. While that seemed to be a simple drive, we were mapped into Kansas, driving about 140 miles out of the way. It was a total drive of about 1800 miles in three days!

We are doing well, getting adjusted to our new environment somewhat. The family is gathering for Christmas and we are getting the plans made for a great time with them on Christmas day!

I hope that all is well with you and that you are going to have a great Christmas with all of those who are dear to you. Glenda and I want to let you know that all of you are in our prayers.

Merry Christmas!

Thank God, no snow!

There is snow to the north and ice to the southwest according to the news! But it was 65 degrees here today!!!!!! No sun to speak of, but at least it was warm. We are such a blessed people!

I want to encourage you to celebrate the blessing of the season with a special time of remembering the goodness of our great Lord.

Today, I had the joy of meeting a man that has had a tremendous encounter with the Lord. He didn't simply make a decision; he had an encounter with the Lord. His life has totally been changed. Sometime soon I will share more about him with you, but I just wanted to let you know that God wants to have an encounter with you. Not just a drive-by kinda thing, but a real encounter with the Lord. Did you know that He thinks good thoughts about you? Are you aware that you are the center of His desire? Are you aware that there is never a time when you are totally alone?

That is why God in His infinite wisdom, sent His only begotten Son into this world to take upon Himself the form of a man, and to give Himself for your ransom! WOW! What a thought! This season is all about what is nearest to the heart of God: That men would be brought back to Himself!

JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD IS COME!!!!

By the way, all of our grandkids will be with us this year for the holidays. We are so excited. We will miss having Jimmy with us this year for Christmas. But we will be praying for him about noon on Christmas day. Could I ask you to join with us as we pray for him on Christmas Day? And know this, we will also be praying for the peace of the Lord to be manifest in all of the lives those we have come to love throughout the years. We look forward to spending this time with our children!

We do not have internet service at our home. There is no provider in that area since we live in a very rural area. But we do get to check the emails from time to time. It is always so good to hear from you. Hopefully soon we will be able to get service.

So.......

Carry On!

Tis the season...

Every year about this time, everyone gets focused on the secular approach to the Christmas season. The hustle bustle of shopping, the planning of social events, etc. It would be easy to forget the real meaning of the Christmas Season: "For unto you is born a savior..."

Glenda and I have spent so much time working through this transition, that we have suddenly realized that Christmas is around the next corner! Our Christmas cards are still packed away in a box that is elusive at this point. But we do want to say, Merry Christmas to everyone!

We are near two of our children, and the other is serving in Iraq. Five of our grandchildren are here in the area, and the other three are in Texas. We hope to spend Christmas with all of them, except Jimmy, who is unable to come having just been deployed. We will sing the songs, share the joy, exchange the gifts, eat the candy(!). But I just don't want to forget to celebrate the joy of sins forgiven, healing purchased, peace granted, and love manifested all because of the coming of Jesus Christ!

Keep your focus on Jesus! Let this be the best of the Christmas season in your family.

Please remember us as you pray that the effective door of ministry will be open to us as we navigate into the promising new year.

Blessings to you!

Carry On!

Some have inquired...

Jimmy, our son, is in IRAQ serving our nation. We appreciate your prayers of support for him and his family. I want to place his address here for those who have inquired about sending him a Christmas greeting. I am sure that he would appreciate hearing from the states. His address is as follows:

SSG Whetstone, Jimmy R

L Troop 3/3 ACR

FOB Marez

APO AE 09334

Lindsey and the youngun's are staying by the stuff! If you want to send them a greeting, you can send it to the following address:

Lindsey Whetstone

902 Lynn Lane

Copperas Cove, TX 76522

Thanks for all you do for them and for our family.

Glenda and I are doing well. These past few weeks have been difficult as we have transitioned out of the pastorate in Virginia. But we are getting settled here and yesterday was a great day for us as for the first time in some time, we were able to effectively be used of the Lord in the manifestation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. There is such liberty here at the church to flow with the Word of Knowledge, Word of Wisdom, and the Gift of Prophecy.

God especially touched Glenda as she ministered on Saturday evening. AS she prayed for the sick and infirmed, she indicated that she felt as if a hot rod of fire ran from her neck to the sole of her feet. She immediately felt the release of pain from her back, and is walking in that manifestation of healing yet today! It was awesome to see God using her in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit throughout this week end.

We appreciate the prayers of our friends during this time of our lives. We are anticipating the blessing of the Lord in our ventures of faith that lie ahead!

Blessings to you!

Carry On!

A long journey home...

I just returned from western Florida where I attended a training class on Friday. This has been a very busy week and it seems that I have been in the car for the entire week! Come to think of it, I have been. I have driven or ridden over 2300 miles this week since Tuesday.

I want to ask that you pray for our friends, David and Bernadette. Bernadette gave birth to a new baby son on Monday evening. She is doing wonderful and so is the baby, However, David's father passed away this week. Keep David and his family in prayer as they plan for the memorial services this next week.

We are doing well, and are still trying to get settled. We appreciate your concern and prayers for us. Glenda still needs your prayers for the issue with her back.

Keep the faith and ....

Carry On!

BRRRRRRRRRR, it's cold!

The winter has arrived here in the region! It was about 30 last night and today it is rainy here on the farm! But the Lord is good! We are still working on getting it all put away. Will there ever be an end to the boxes?

Glenda and I have had both our mothers present for the Thanksgiving celebration, It was a great day with our family. And today we were able to go to service at Jacob's Well for a great time of refreshing and impartation. We miss our friends in Virginia, but pray for them daily that the Lord will refresh them during this time of transition. We have even prayed for those who apparently were not our friends after all, that the Lord would bless them and cause His face to shine upon them!

Hopefully, after the first of the year, I will be announcing our future plans. Right now this is just a time of settling in and working through some of the ordeal that we have faced. Please remember us in your prayers during this season of time.

I am limited on time at the computer for the first time in many years due to a lack of an internet provider at the location where we live, but we are working on getting that changed soon. Until then, I will do my best to stay in touch.

The Lord reminded me that He is with me during the service this morning. Man, was I ever glad to hear that from Him. If I listened to the naysayers and those who devised their actions to discourage me, i would have given up long ago! But God is so faithful to remain near! Whatever you are facing today, remember that God is just waiting to reach out and touch you. We love you!

CARRY ON!

BOXES, BOXES Everywhere....

We have arrived at our destination and are busily attempting to sort our stuff! Do we ever have the stuff!

It has been a very tiring week, but we are getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday with our family next week. We will all be togethere sometime during the holiday except for Jimmy, who is in Kuwait on his way to IRAQ, and his precious family. We are so grateful for the prayers of everyone for Jimmy and his family during this deployment.

Jimmy has been in contact with Lindsey regularly, and we are regularly in contact with her. Though she is about 1000 miles away, we are attempting to remain in a position of support for her and the family.

Please remember to pray for Glenda and me as we pursue our destiny. Our focus remains on ministry while we are in this time of transition. Please remember the Lighthouse Worship Center in Alexandria as they move through this time of transition as well. We have given of ourselves to that ministry and want to see it flourish.

Blessings to each of you!

CARRY ON!

We have arrived..

Glenda and I have arrived at our new location. We are getting ready to meet the truck and get started on unloading and getting set up. I appreciate all who have shown us their love and caompassion during this transition. Special thanks to the Simmons' who gave us a resting place for almost two weeks. Glenda and I are so grateful for their expression of love toward us.

Several have expressed their love toward us in several ways. We will be in touch with each of them in a more personal way as soon as I can get to the office boxes!!

Watch the blog for more information!

Carry On!

And they took it away..

The driver came and took the truck away yesterday about 4 pm. It ended a long week of loading and I can assure you, I was glad to see them drive awat. However, there is a less exciting thought... Now we have to unload what we loaded and organize it all over again!

Thanks to those who came and shared their strong backs with us as we worked to get it all loaded. Your assistance was appreciated more than you will ever know. I was disappointed that I did not get a chance to say so long to many of those who I have served for the past nearly four years. But to those who came by to express your fellowship and love, we thank you for taking the time to show us that you really do care!

I drove to MTC today and plan to return Monday for our final week in the Capitol region.

It will be a very busy week with appointments every day with those who have asked to spend time with us before we leave the area. On some days we have more than one appointment. We will miss the area and these precious people.

Blessings to each of you.

CARRY ON!

We are loading...

I have muscles that I never knew existed! We began the loading process yesterday at about 5 pm and worked until 9:30 loading our belongings. We will finish this evening, thanks to the help of Pastor Alex Lazo and the congregation of the Hispanic church, the Simmons family, and Dan Smith. We are so grateful for the support of these wonderful people as we step forward into the next phase of our lives. God is so faithful!
I am getting ready to shut down the internet provider that has served me for the time that I have lived here. So, I am trying to wrap up anything that needs to be done on the internet this morning. I will not have internet access for a few days.
Thank you for your prayerful support as we move forward!
Carry On!

Moving Day is Rapidly Approaching...

Don't forget to pray for our son and his family, Jimmy, Lindsey, Jaxson, Juliet, and Johnny. Jimmy is scheduled to leave for Iraq on November 1. This will be his second tour into harm's way. Thank God for his safety.

If you haven't moved in a while, you need to get some experience at getting ready for a move. So come on over and we will give you some boxes, tape and a marking pen and put you to work!!!! We are working heard to meet the deadline for the arrival of the truck that arrives here on Tuesday.

Hopefully we will get it loaded and on its way by Thursday morning. Glenda and I appreciate the helping hands that have assisted us in packing. Bill, Thelma and Rita Simmons have given several hours to us to help in this process. Really, Glenda and I were so grateful that someone came to help. With the issues that Glenda has had with her back during the past several weeks, I don't think we could have accomplished as much as we have without their volunteering to help.

I will be driving the Motor Home to our new location on Friday of next week, hopefully. Bill has volunteered to help me by driving our car as well so that Glenda will not have to drive through after she has her last lumbar injection. We will return by Sunday evening. God has been so faithful during these days of transition.

We will miss the people that we have served for the past 3 years and 10 months, but look forward to the new opportunities that God will provide for us. We serve at the calling and pleasure of the Lord. I look forward to the next assignment.


Blessings to each of you!

CARRY ON!

Jimmy Leaving for Iraq

Our son, Jimmy, leaves for Iraq for his second tour on November 1. Glenda and I joined with Tanja's family and Shane in Texas for a family time together last week end. It was a wonderful time of togetherness. I appreciate all who will remember to pray for Jimmy during these next 15 months. And remember to pray for his wife, Lindsey and the young'uns, Jaxson, Juliet, and Johnny! They are elected to remain in Texas while Jimmy is in Iraq.

Glenda and I are proud of our children who are each making strides in thier lives that are good. We are blessed to have such great kids! And speaking of grandchildren, we have 8 currently, and one on the way! Tanja announced that she will be soon having another one to add to the mix! Isn't it wonderful?

Blessings to you!

Carry On

Moving again...

I just wanted to let you know that it is my intent to keep a blog going, but needed to change the blog name since I am not in the location where I used to be! So while I am in the process of relocating, I thought I'd go ahead and get this started as well.

Look for me here from time to time. I hope to update at least once a week.

Carry On!