|
.
What's New? |
|
|
October 30, 2011
Greetings,
Well we made it
back from Branson and
what a great time we
had. We met so many new
people this year and
caught up with old
friends that we have
grown close to over the
years. We are truly
Blessed. We didn't
receive an award but did
agree that this was the
right thing.
A BIG thank you goes out
to the wonderful group
in Winfield, KS
especially Gary & Rayene.
What a great bunch of
Christians!!! We found
out that Pastor
Fulbright was raised in
Baca County, Colorado.
This is the area where
the girls grew up! We
also found out that he
was a "shirt-tail"
relative. It truly is a
small world!!!
Our time in Cedar Vale
was very special. We
have truly grown close
to them. Mark and
Raylene are family and
it was great to see them
again. Just as we stood
up to start,
Mark announced that
one of the members had
just passed away within
the "past 30 minutes."
This small community is
very close so it
hit them hard. God put
us in the right place at
the right time. He is
so good.
I have inserted a couple
of pictures for you to
look at. Hope you enjoy
them.
Picture taken in Branson
at the International
CGMA Convention
No, the good looking guy
in the center is not a
new member of CrossWalk,
but in a sense he is a
special contributor to
our ministry. His name
is Bill Borders and
although we met him
through the
Internet, our week in
Branson was the place
for us to meet face to
face. God has awakened
a gift within Bill to
pen the words to some of
the most beautiful songs
we have heard. In
fact, he gave us his
special song, written
following the death of
his wife Dee, called
"She Cries". We were
able to sing his song to
him for the first time.
This experience is and
will continue to be one
of the highlights of our
ministry. CrossWalk has
a great appreciation for
the gospel songwriters
throughout the country.
Many times the most
beautiful words are
written on paper
following a life
changing experience.
Yes, meeting Bill was a
true Blessing! His love
for the Lord is apparent
in his gentle and
compassionate demeanor.
He is a kind and
loving Christian brother
and we count his
connection with our
ministry a true gift of
God! We plan to record
"She Cries" next year
and look forward to a
long relationship with
him.
GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE.
We continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives
the Glory and Honor. He has blessed
us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
CrossWalk
|
|
October 10th, 2011
WE'RE HEADED TO
BRANSON... I can't
believe the time has
passed so quickly...
This summer has just
flew by. We are looking
forward to seeing our
CGMA friends again. I
have listed below the
schedule so you can
check us out. Please
keep us in your
prayers.
The time has just
whizzed by since
the last
newsletter. Each
weekend has been a
Blessing in its self.
It is amazing what God
has done. He knows,
ahead of time, where
we need to be! How
He places those that
need to receive His
touch and how He knows
what we need, as a
group, to keep us
grounded and focused on
our journey. He truly
is a wondrous God...
I had decided,
yesterday, to not
get deep with this
newsletter... I wanted
this one to be light. I
just wanted to let you
know that we were off
again and leave it at
that. But... since I
wrote the first two
paragraphs above, 4
hours have passed and I
received a call that
another sixth grade boy
had committed suicide
last night. It has put
me in a "Why" mood. A
"what's wrong with our
families, our schools,
our society, our
country" and I need to
talk with someone. I
guess you're it!!! As I
am sitting here,
typing, I am not sure if
I will even send it
out. I do that a lot,
write it down and then
hit delete! It helps me
put things in
perspective. We'll see,
if you're reading then I
guess I sent it, if not
then I deleted!
Back in January we had
another boy, the same
age, do the same thing.
Understand, we live in a
small community so these
kinds of things do not
normally happen, here!
It's always somewhere
else or someone else.
Not us! We don't
have gangs, street
violence, you know that
kind of thing. It's not
supposed to happen here,
somewhere, but not
here!
I have received phone
calls this
morning from friends and
well meaning
community members who
want to do
something! They call
wanting to talk and to
see what I think we
should do... I don't
know the answer but I do
know that God does!!!
It has always been
interesting to me to see
how people react to "The
News". You know when
so-in-so does some
violent act or the
government is doing
such-in-such. I
learned a long time ago
that in the mist (is
that the correct
word?) of everything,
GOD IS IN CONTROL! He
has this thing all
planned out. People
hear me... this IS NOT
HEAVEN. This is earth!
These things have, are,
and will happen because
we are not with HIM.
Man kind took a
different path a long
time ago and it took the
sacrifice of God's only
Son to help us get back
on track. Yet many
refuse, they think they
can do it on their own
and get the same
results. It doesn't
work that way!
I don't know when it
happened, you know that
moment when things
became serious,,,
hard,,, bad! One day
I was trying to figure
out how to get to my
friends house to go
play and the next moment
I was trying to figure
out how to make the
mortgage. What
happened, when? Then it
dawned on me that the
world really hasn't
changed, it really
hasn't got bad all of a
sudden. It has always
been like this, always.
I mean, look in the Old
Testament. What a
mess... How would you
have liked to live in
that time?
I see my grand
kids laugh and play
freely and I envy the
freedom. I want that
back. I'm not asking
for much, just Heaven, I
guess... Then God tells
me that
“Truly I tell you,
unless you change and
become like little
children, you will never
enter the kingdom of
heaven. Therefore,
whoever takes the lowly
position of this child
is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven." (Matt:
18 3-4)
That, I think, is
the answer. Become like
a child... Trust like
one, think like one and
most of all love like
one. We have protection
from the storms of this
life in the shelter from
above.
Please pray for the
family of this little
boy. They have a
hard walk ahead of them.
OK, I feel better now,
thanks for listening.
Have a great week, I'll
let you know how Branson
went next time.
GOD BLESS EACH AND
EVERYONE.
We continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives
the Glory and Honor. He has blessed
us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
Crosswalk |
|
|
 |
| |
September 29, 2001
I have been holding off
writing this newsletter
for two weeks thinking I
would have a clear idea
of what I needed to say
and how to do it
it
didn't happen.
So much has happened
that I truly do not know
where to start. Three
weeks ago we had a
fantastic and I mean
fantastic trip to
Nebraska. Last weekend
was amazing! We were
with the wonderful
Christians at
the Women's Conference
in Alamosa and then on
Sunday in Howard at the
Mountain Valley
Church, God touched us
deeply... I wanted to
write the whole
newsletter telling you
all about everyone. It
was that great!!! Yes,
I wanted to tell you all
about it but I
can't. Instead I need
to tell you...
UPDATE;
In the last
newsletter I told
you about "STARING
IT STRAIGHT IN THE
FACE". If you didn't
get a chance to read
it then check it
out on our web page,
( www.crosswalkmusicministry.com).
In it I told you
about the wonderful
Christian lady
we met. She
was dying from
cancer and about her
Staring it (Death)
straight in the
face. Eight
days later she
passed away in the
nursing home. What
I didn't get to tell
you last time was,
that in addition to
the cancer, she had
a condition in which
her body produced
too many red blood
cells. She had told
Deede about it and
how it was enlarging
her spleen. She
knew that there was
a possibility her
spleen would simply
rupture and she
would die from that
rather than the
cancer. That is
exactly what
happened.
Her husband was with
her when it
happened. She was
gone with in a few
minutes. It was a
peaceful death. God
gave her the death
she had hoped and
prayed for. She now
is in the full Glory
of God and "Staring
Him straight in the
face". We serve a
wonderful Lord,
don�t we
The following weekend,
two weeks ago.
We had planned to take
some time off to be with
our family over the
Labor Day
weekend. Reservations
had been made at "Fun
Valley" an RV Resort
near South Fork, CO.
Four days of just
resting and enjoying the
beauty of what truly is
"God's Country." But on
Saturday morning we got
word that my sister's
daughter, Kashlee had
gone into labor with her
second child. The baby
was breach and she was
in the operating room
for an emergency
C-Section. "Please
Pray" was the last thing
said... I am sorry to
report that Kaul Tyler
Karney did not survive.
An 8 pound, beautiful
red haired little boy!
Instead of relaxing,
the time was spent
crying about the loss,
on the phone for updates
on how Kashlee was doing
or just contemplating.
The funeral was a week
ago last Wednesday.
I know many of you have
experienced a deep
loss. You know that
eventually you will
start breathing
again. That life does
indeed go on. But we
all need the mourning
time don't we? A time
to draw close to God. A
time to think about and
dwell on what this life
is really all about. It
was so sad to watch
Kashlee,,, only a parent
can mourn that hard!
Tyler, the father was
stoic, holding up for
Kashlee. The day of the
funeral, I stood there,
thinking about how many
times I had been in this
place. I could still
see my Uncle Russell
standing exactly in the
spot where Kaul's open
grave was as he
officiated my Grandma
Helen's funeral. He
didn't know it at the
time but it would be his
last. He died 3 months
later from a heart
attack at the age of
61. He had been a
country Preacher for
over 30 years!!! They
buried Kaul on top of my
father's grave. My
father died over 40
years ago never having
the opportunity to
meet any of his grand
kids. In fact, my
grandparents, my cousin,
two uncles are all
buried within twenty
feet of each
other. This was a good
place to bury Kaul. I
would love to be
standing there when
Jesus comes back! To
see my Dad and Kaul ascend
into Heaven
together........
indeed a sight to
behold!
My family had
experienced the death of
child before, 59 years
ago... I had a cousin,
Vickie, 6 months younger
than me. She died when
she was 6 months old
from SIDS. My Aunt
Marion said that she
used to have nightmares
about Vickie, in her
casket, scratching,
trying to get out. She
finally came to the same
realization that King
David did in 2 Samuel
chapter 13. The child
can not come to me I
must go to him. From
that one child's death
my entire family came to
know the Lord. Don't
get me wrong, we were a
good family,
honest, good neighbors,
a hand shake meant
something
but God was
not an active part of
our lives. We now are
over a hundred and fifty
strong and all love the
Lord. All because of
the death of a child! I
wonder what impact the
death of Kaul will have
on us as a family now?
What effect will it have
on you?
The sudden loss of a
child is unimaginable to
me. Thinking about
and seeing this loss so
close to me, makes me
realize the pain that
God must have felt as he
let His son go to the
cross for us. Can you
imagine how it would
feel, knowing that your
child would die, on this
day... How could you
face that? The agony
would be
overpowering!!! But you
see, He loves us that
much. He is our
comforter.
Please keep Kashlee and
Tyler in your prayers.
They are having a hard
time with this...
GOD BLESS EACH AND
EVERYONE.
We continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives the
Glory and Honor. He has blessed us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
CrossWalk |
|
August 25th,
2011
STARING IT
STRAIGHT IN THE FACE
When I write the newsletter I
try to let you know what we are
experiencing, what is happening,
what God is doing in our
lives? I am not a natural
writer; in fact I am a bad
writer!!! I spend hours
�re-doing�. I can barley talk in
complete sentences, let alone
try to write it down!!! I find
it can be very easy to become a
report card. You know, �We were
at �X� Church�, �We had a great
time�. �We were blessed.�
See
what I mean? Who wants to read
that?
This past weekend was an eye
opener for us, especially
me. On Saturday afternoon we
did a concert at the nursing
home in Trinidad. We always
enjoy singing at the Retirement
Communities and Nursing Homes.
This was no exception. God
blessed us abundantly.
I should explain that Nursing
Homes are not easy. Most of the
residents do not appear to know
what is going on. They just sit
and stare or not even look at
all. You smile, they
stare. You don�t know if you
are doing it right
You don�t
know what they need! Do they
want to hear, �Never Grow Old�
or �Are You In or Are You
Out�? Do they want slow hymns
or fast up-beat
songs? Sometimes it seem like
we are singing for each
other!!! There are however,
those that understand and really
get involved and are easy to
minister to. They smile!
But a couple of things happened
Saturday that has made me stop
and reflect
First off, we had been going for
about 30 minutes when out of the
blue, this little lady that had
not reacted at all, yells out
�Sing Amazing Grace.� So we
sang Amazing Grace. Then a man
yells out �Old Rugged Cross�
this continued for about three
songs. A little man, Marty
wants to sing �Our Father�. He
starts, we hand him a microphone
and he sings the whole
thing! Not well but we were all
in tears by the time he
finished. People that had not
been showing any sign of
awareness started singing. They
started smiling, we started
crying. To stand there and see
a glimmer of the life that had
once been, come alive, is beyond
explanation! It all happens
because of a man called Jesus
Christ and how He has impacted
their lives. It was
amazing!!! Like I said Nursing
Homes are hard
but the reward
is so great.
Secondly, while I was packing up
after the concert, DeeDe was
talking near me with this
wonderful Christian woman.. She
spoke with knowledge, with
understanding, with confidence
in her salvation. She is
probably in her mid 70's,
sitting in a wheel chair. She
looks pale, kind of weak but
very alert. She has terminal
cancer and is in Hospice. She
is married to her grade school
sweetheart but only for the past
12 years. They once were
married to others but had lost
both of their spouses. They
found each other again and are
very happily married. BUT,,,
her husband is so devastated
about the finality of this
disease that he has pulled back,
doesn�t visit as often as he
could. When he does, the visits
are short, he is tearful. She
says that she just stays in her
room, alone, door closed. She
can�t stand the commotion in the
hall, the yelling, the constant
ringing of the unanswered call
bells. Then she smiles and says
�but today is a good day.� She
enjoyed the concert, she likes
music. But most importantly her
husband and a daughter had come
to visit. When they were
getting ready to leave they got
her up, out of the wheel chair
and helped her stand, something
she hasn�t done for some
time. The daughter left the
room and they were able to hug
and kiss, a true kiss, once
again. She had a good day!
DeeDe, holding back tears, told
her how sweet that was and
expressed her sadness that she
had to go through this,,, this
way! DeeDe then said something
like �unless Jesus comes back
soon, we all will have to travel
down this road�. The lady then
looks DeeDe in the eyes and
gently says, "Yes, but I never
thought I would be stuck here
starring it straight in the
face.� The phrase stopped me in
my tracks! It has been haunting
me for four days now
. the
thought of starring it
straight in the face. How
do you do that? I had never
considered the death question
this way. I mean I have thought
about it but never for long or
very seriously and never
straight in the face. That
always happens to others! As a
paramedic for the past 30 some
years I have seen death hundreds
of times, but not for me
for
someone else. I have always
thought of death as quick. It
is the only way I can think
about it, never starring it
straight in the face. I
wondered about the people that
we see each day, those we sing
to each weekend. Are they able
or ready to stare it straight
in the face? It has set me
on a course of urgency, to ask
the question. Not, are you
ready to go to heaven or are you
saved? That is easy
But are
you ready to stare it
straight in the face?
You see, the only way
the only
answer
is Jesus Christ! This
lady is sure of where she is
going. She is sure that she is
saved. That part was easy. Is
she is scared about the journey,
the pain? Yes, of course. But
she knows that her Savior will
help her. He is there for her.
You see, she is �STARRING HIM
STRAIGHT IN THE FACE.�
That is a good place to be.
Sorry about the length. I
thought I would be telling you
about the wonderful time we had
in my home town of Kim,
Colorado. The
wonderfully unique people and
the homemade Ice Cream, yes,
homemade!!!
About the fabulous spirit filled
time with the First Christian
Church in Trinidad
Guess I�ll
have to save those for another
time! God gives us so much!
Let me say to Pastor Greg and
Pastor Cary please accept our
sincere appreciation for
allowing us to be with your
Church "Family".
We have a busy weekend coming
up!!! We will be traveling
to Nebraska. Check it out below.
Please keep us in your prayers.
GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE.
We
continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives the
Glory and Honor. He has blessed us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
CrossWalk
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
August 16th, 2011 Hi
everyone,
Just a quick note to let you know what
a wonderful weekend we had.
OK, have a great week!!! Be Blessed!
(You know me better than that...)
Saturday night we were in our home area with the
lovely people of the Greenhorn Valley. We
live in a beautiful area and it just naturally
attracts beautiful people, Right? The Rye
Home United Methodist Church is a rarity in
today's world. It is a small country-type
church building, complete with a steeple!
The interior (all original from the early
1900s) is as inviting and warm as the members
who attend. Pastor Randy Short, who also
does hospice volunteer work for Deede, is such a
blessing and is amazing with his easy going
personality and love for others. As I mentioned
last week we have been with them several times
before but only at Christmas. Saturday was
a real treat for us. They had a wonderful Pot
luck dinner and during the intermission served
ice cream with all the toppings.
Fantastic!!! God blessed all of us with a
fantastic evening.
Sunday morning we were with the Pueblo
West Baptist Church in Pueblo West. I
believe this was the 4th year we have had the
privilege to worship with them. I have to say
that it is only getting better with age!
We fell in love with them from the start and it
has only grown. To Pastor John and the
entire congregation, thank you for all your
love, support, encouragement and prayers.
Thank you Jesus for allowing us to call this
group of believers, friends.
WE FINALLY GOT TO MEET LOIS... Let me
explain.
I had received a call about two weeks ago from a
lady named Lois that had heard about us from one
of her friends. She explained that she
wanted to "check us out" and wondered if we
would be in the Pueblo area any time soon.
(We have had this type of audition before so it
wasn't that unusual.) When I told her that
we would be in Pueblo at the 1st
United Methodist Church she was thrilled, her
home Church was right across the street....she
could "watch us" and then be back in time for
her own service. I told her to be sure and
introduce herself to us and that we would look
forward to meeting her.
Well,,,, Lois was a "no show" or at least I
thought. But when I got home there were three
missed calls on our home phone and two on my
cell! (I had forgot my cell phone at
home!) It was Lois, she had been there but
because there were so many people around us she
was afraid she would miss her own Church
service. She loved the service (and the
hats!) and wanted to know where we would be this
weekend!!! Well, She showed up Sunday
at Pueblo West Baptist. She came right up
and introduced herself as well as several of her
friends that she had brought with her. She
was a wonderful, loving Christian Woman and
so full of life. We instantly bonded with
her. Isn't God so good... He just keeps
on bring Blessings on top of Blessings.. She is
making plans for us to come to her
Church.
Check out below where we are going to be next
weekend.
GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE.
We continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives the
Glory and Honor. He has blessed us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
CrossWalk
August
10th, 2011
Well this week turned out to be a fairly
normal time for us... No bears on
the porch (yea!) the equipment worked
fine and for the most part the CDs
worked. We had no experiences that
stressed us or pushed us. I mean
how boring is that??? We have
gotten to the point that the
abnormal events are now normal for us,,,
so I guess that makes normal now
abnormal or does it?
Anyway it was fantastic weekend.
We started out Saturday night at the
Lynn Garden Baptist Church in Pueblo.
We were so happy to see some of
our friends that came to be with us.
It is always great to look out and see
their smiling faces and know that behind
the smiles are a gentle heart and a
loving spirit. Thank you for being
part of our lives.
Pastor Lonnie and his wife Michelle were
so kind. Deede found out that
Michelle used to work with her and our
daughters at Sange de Cristo
Hospice! Michelle had told me this some
time ago and I was supposed to tell
Deede, but I forgot. Silly
Michelle, she should have know better
than to trust me with a message...
No one else does!
Sunday morning was great. We
were at the First United Methodist
Church in Pueblo. WHAT FUN...
God was present, the sound system was
great, the girls looked fantastic in
their "Church Suits" complete with
matching hats, yes hats! We were
in overdrive! Everyone had a
blest time. It always amazes me
how God has put us into situations that
we thought we knew how it was suppose to
go and to find out that He had something
else planned. He always does it
better. We have looked forward to being
with this historic congregation for some
time. We were not disappointed.
What a great bunch of Brothers and
Sisters. Thank you Jesus! We
serve a Wonderful God...
GOD BLESS EACH AND
EVERYONE.
We
continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives the
Glory and Honor. He has blessed us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
CrossWalk
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
August 5th, 2011
Blessed, Blessed, Blessed! OK I got
it out of my system. This past
weekend we were in the Grand
Junction, Delta and Montrose area,
had a blast! We met so many new
friends and renewed friendships with
some old ones... (No, I don't mean
you Bob, I'm talking about friends
that we have known for a long
time!!!) It would take me hours to
write about each place
individually so just let me say that
from the bottom of our hearts we
give praise to our Lord, Jesus
Christ and thank each one of you for
making us feel so at 'Home." We did
5 concerts, ate 3 potlucks and even
had a birthday party! Needless to
say we came back with full stomachs
and full spirits.
We left Thursday night after I got
off work. The girls were at our
home with the plan to get the "Mobil
Walk-in Closet" loaded and ready to
go. On my way home I get a
call from DeeDe. She tells me that
they started to take stuff out to
the camper but when they turned on
the back porch lights there was a
BIG BLACK BEAR on our porch. Yes, a
bear! He was just sitting
there with his nose pressing against
the glass door!!! I really wish I
could have been there... I can just
see their faces!!!
(Insert uncontrolled laughter
here!)
Penny froze and started yelling for
DeeDe, Melody thought it was a BIG
black Labrador until she saw the two
yellow plastic earrings dangling
down from his head (meaning he had
been caught twice in places where
he shouldn't be!!!) and realized
that his head was three times bigger
than a dog. They started yelling
and beating on the door in an
attempt to scare him off. He wasn't
impressed! He stood up, knocked
over two tables and a chair then
walked to the edge of the porch,
stopped, looked back with a look
that said "I'll see you later" and
then meandered off into the
darkness.
When I got home every light we have
was on... It looked like downtown
Las Vegas! I walked in, clothes
pilled by the door, girls pilled on
the couch watching TV. To tell you
the truth I wasn't to keen about
walking out to the camper by myself
(which by the way is on the darkest
side of the house.) But after being
really, really loud, I made it to
the camper, jumped in (quickly) and
drove around to the front of the
house. (More lights there!) We
went out in groups to load the
stuff. No bear bites, PTL!
We finally left home by midnight and
arrived in Salida around 2:00 am.
We pulled over and slept until 6:30
and then headed out again. We
arrived in Grand Junction by 10:00
AM with plenty of time to spare
before our first concert. The rest,
as they say, was a Blessing, Oops, I
said it again!
GOD BLESS EACH AND
EVERYONE.
We
continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives the
Glory and Honor. He has blessed us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
CrossWalk |
|
| |
|
|
| |
July 21, 2011
WHAT A WEEKEND!!! It all started
on Friday when we were getting ready for the
Arkansas Valley Concerts. I had spent the
morning making phone calls, posters, answering
emails and just general things around the
house. (I had just finished 49 hours at work
since Monday.) I still needed to get the camper
(I call it the mobile walk-in closet!) ready.
Get the clothing loaded, food, water,,, just
making sure everything was ready to go. I also
needed to get the music ready for the four
services we would have. I had been working on
the computer all morning with no problems. When
I started to burn CDs I found an entire Hard
Drive was missing. I mean gone,,, adios,,, no
where to be found - gone!!! I went into a
panic,,, The computer would work fine it just
didn't have the hard drive where all the music
is stored. Here it is 10:00 o'clock and we have
to leave by 1:00 pm to be in Holly, CO. Oh Lord
what am I going to do now? Please help me (quick
prayer inserted here). I called the local
computer guru and of course he didn't answer,
left a message Blood pressure is starting to
rise!!! After an hour of rummaging around the
house, the camper, the trailer looking for old
CDs from past concerts I can only find one,
without the new songs! I think maybe we can use
it, (maybe they won't remember we sang the same
songs last year). Maybe??? I can now feel my
pulse beating Just when I have done all I know
to do, the Lord steps in (Why don't I remember
this from last time?). The computer guy calls,
"No problem I'll be right there." He shows
up
The hard drive is unplugged (How did that
happen inside a metal box that is never moved
and requires the removal of 4 screws to get into
it?) LONG STORY, SHORT. CDs get burned, shower
taken, girls loaded. It's 3:45 and we have a
three hour drive!!! WOW we have a whole 15
minutes extra, no wait we need gas
. Now 5
minutes extra! We pushed the Mobile Walk-In
Closet for all she had and arrived 10 minutes
before the concert. The members helped us
unload and set up. All is ready by 5 after 7
But wait why isn't the CD working? Never had
this problem before
Try back up disk, same
problem
NOW WHAT? Try the Church's CD player
and hook it up to our system. OK it's a go,,,
well kind of. The whole night we would be
singing along and the music would just quit and
then start back up, maybe it would start where
it stopped or... maybe not. It started getting
funny, everyone had a great time and we all were
truly blessed by the presence of the Lord over
the entire evening. The Cowboy Calvary Church
is a wonderful bunch and we are already booking
for next year. What a joy Pastor Jack and the
whole Congregation are. Saturday we bought an
external CD burner at Wally World and were able
to burn new CDs with my laptop. I guess the
whole pack of blank CDs I had at home were
bad, Saturday afternoon we sang at the Pioneer
Nursing Home in Rocky Ford, CO. We met some
wonderful people and even one that remembered my
dad. He has been gone for 40 years. It was
strange to see someone my dad's age in a nursing
home. I still remember him being 39 years old
when he was killed in an automobile accident,
forever young I guess. Saturday night we were
with a group of people in Rocky Ford who gather
at the City Park once a month. They bring their
lawn chairs and listen to music. It's called
"Music in the Park". It was a very laid back,
informal evening, one of the best we could
remember in a long time. There was a nice
breeze, a full moon and wonderful fellowship. We
were happy to reunite with a friend, Peggy (Bamber),
a 4-H friend from many years ago along with her
husband. How neat to experience meeting old
friends once again! I know this letter is long
and I apologize for it but I really need to tell
you about something. The setting in the
park was not one we normally do, not a church
sponsored gathering but more of a 'general
community' gathering, therefore our expectations
were a little different. However, after the
concert a woman that had walked up late and sat
by herself about 75 feet off to the side comes
up to me and says. "God told me that I am to do
this tonight and that you would get rid of
these." She hands me a pack of cigarettes and
her lighter! Then a man walks up and starts
telling me why he doesn't go to Church even
though his grandmother was this strong Christian
woman who made sure he was in Church every
Sunday. "It's full of hypocrites,
back-stabbers, and gossipers." he says. We
talked for over 30 minutes about it and finally
I told him about my father-in law who had the
same feelings and had stayed out of fellowship
for 60 plus years. Finally one day one of my
brother in laws tells him, he was right. There
are those in Church just as in life that
practice such things but that they probably
won't be in Heaven but in Hell with you! You
should have seen this man's face as it slowly
sank in about the consequences of blaming
someone else for your salvation. Then a man that
looked like the preverbal town drunk walks
up and wants to know if I can help him out with
some money. "I need to buy some Tylenol." He
says. Now I have been a Paramedic for over 30
years so I know the look and have heard every
story there is. I looked him straight in the
eyes and told him that I didn't care what he did
with the money. "God has brought you here
tonight to hear the Good News about Jesus
Christ and whatever you do with the money, as
well as with your life, is between you and
Him." "You will have to answer for the
decisions you make." I said. I gave him $10.00
and he walked off after a quick prayer. When
we left Rocky Ford, about 30 minutes later, we
saw him walking out of the liquor story carrying
a bag.
I guess the point is that we never know
what God has in mind. We just simply
do.
I received an email this past week and
it said; The only ability God needs is
avail-ability. It is so true.
Sunday Morning we were in Fowler with
the Ministerial Alliance and a community
wide Church Service in the Park.
Churches from the community all join
together for a common morning service.
What a Blessing (here I go using
the "Blessing " word again!) to be with
so many Brothers and Sisters. It
doesn't get any better than to be
outside, under the trees, with fellow
Christians Praising and
Worshiping
God. Thanks to the Ministerial Alliance
for inviting us to be a part of this
wonderful community service. Keep up
the "Good Work".
This weekend we will be at home. Tanky
and Deede's daughter, Tarrah recently
got married and is having a reception on
Friday. On Monday Deede will have her
annual "Hospice Volunteer Appreciation -
Christmas in July party" for about 140
volunteers. It will be a busy time!!!
This next week, we will be in
Grand Junction, Delta, and Montrose on
the beautiful slopes of Western
Colorado.
GOD BLESS EACH AND
EVERYONE.
We
continue to request your prayers for our
ministry and that in all things God receives the
Glory and Honor. He has blessed us richly!!!
We serve a faithful God!
In Him,
CrossWalk
|
|
|