SPEECHLESS ----- Yes!!!!

You can see by the article this award was presented to us at the 10:45 a.m. service at our church, Coweta Assembly, on Sunday, June 30th.

Now for what, and how,  it really happened and why we were totally shocked and surprised and yes, for one of the few times in my life I was TOTALLY speechless!!

On Sunday evening, June 2nd after church, Pastor Steve Lee stopped me outside and said he needed to talk to me.  He then stated, "You know the Chamber of Commerce gives a community award each year and we always attend as representatives of our church.  Michelle and I are going to be on vacation and unable to attend this year, so we would like you and Mickey to go in our place.  Would you be willing to do that?"  I replied, "Yes, of course!!  When is it?"  Pastor Steve,"Friday evening June 21st, at 7 p.m., but it's at the casino."  Susan, "Oh Pastor Steve we are going to be in Dallas for a conference the 21st, 22nd & 23rd.  We have been planning this for months and have already paid our registration fees and hotel charges.  I'm so sorry.  You know we would be glad and honored to do it."   Pastor Steve, "That's okay, we'll make other arrangements."

Well, the real story is:  the annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet is held at Riverside Casino.  Jennifer knows we are getting the award but goes to Pastor Steve with "How in the world am I ever going to come up with some way to get Mickey & Susan to come to "the casino" without telling them why?"  Needless to say, the casino is not our normal hangout!!

So, due to God's planning we missed the delicious banquet meal  and the occasion when our names were announced as winners of the 2013 Community Volunteers Award.  

The plaque is a lovely, very heavy etched glass on a thick glass base.  It was impossible to get a picture of because of being see through so we did our best by putting a piece of colored construction paper behind it so the etched letters would show.  

2013

Community Volunteers

of the Year

for excellence in teamwork and

dedication to serving others

in the Lord's name

is awarded to

Mickey & Susan Joyce

King's Kitchen

by

COWETA

Chamber of Commerce

June 21, 2013

What pleased us the most, as Jennifer shared with the congregation as she presented the award to us, was the plaques given each year read, "serving others in the community: but Jennifer had it changed to read "in the Lord's name".  The other thing that so touched my heart was Jennifer was in tears as she made the presentation.  I know Jennifer well and she is not one to cry!!!  Yes, our hearts were greatly touched with such an honor.

Of course, there should have been 34 awards handed out:  3 to the main cooks, 3 for the extra's who help each week packaging up the meals, 10 to the 2 people who run the 5 routes, and 20 to the woman who volunteer to provide a dessert once a month. Plus extra's who step in when needed. 

YES - as I finally said when I got my voice back - "King's Kitchen is NOT a 2 man/woman show.  

It is a joint effort of many FAITHFUL workers, most who have been with us for the entire 3 years and 4 months that The King's Kitchen has been in operation.  

MORE OF WHY I LOVE MY CHURCH!

I have written many times, over the 5 years I've had Penless Writer, about my wonderful church.  Well, here is another small (because they are young) but BIG reason I love my church and the multifaceted ministry that takes place there almost every single day of the week.

This was a slumber party last Friday evening that 61 young girls from the Childrens ministry attended!.

Just look at these sweet, precious, faces!!!

And THESE are the 12 wonderful teachers & parents that were slumber-less as they over saw this fantastic event.  

As you can see, the "adults" (kids at heart!) can and do have as much fun as the kids!!

While this excitement was going on in the gym in the ORC building 

THIS - was going on in an activity room in the main church.

A surprise 70th Birthday Party for a dear friend, Thelma, put on by her children and grandchildren.

It's hard to pull off a BIG SURPRISE party like this but pull it off they did.

Family & friends from as far away as California and Missouri and then many of her church family.

A delightful, covered dish meal. Then this beautiful and tasty 3 tier cake that was made by one of the relatives and cream puffs, to the right.

Yes, we are so blessed to be part of an active Body of Believers who are not only reaching out to the community on a daily basis: Klothes Kloset, King's Kitchen, Repair & Maintenance Ministry just to name a few - but also know how to have fun and joy as they serve the Lord together. 

AND BEST OF ALL~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't have pictures to show on this but Sunday morning, at the 10:45 service,

25 NEW SOULS WERE BAPTIZED!!!

IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT.  THANK YOU LORD!!!

The King's Kitchen & the blessings

I have been wanting to do an update on The King's Kitchen ministry where we feed between 50-54 shut-ins a hot meal each Tuesday.

Here we made a small change and sent them a fresh salad of lettuces and carrots with cucumber, tomato, and sliced ham on the side.  Dressing choice, garlic bread, a dessert and milk also accompanied the salad.

 Here is our ever faithful Kent getting the hot buttered rolls ready on another occasion.......

 as our faithful cook, Sherry, is taking a second look at the lasagna that is the main dish this day.

 Mickey busy putting some of the milk into the cold chest.  Our delivery teams carry 2 chests:  the blue for cold items and the red for the hot meal.  Earl, 1/2 of the husband and wife team of Earl & Ruthie, standing by for action.

 Betty & Jacki, ready to deliver the meals, but I had to get this picture because we thought it was so cute they both showed up with boots on.  We have 5 teams of 2 people each who deliver for us.

Every post I've done about The King's Kitchen has talked about the way God has blessed this ministry above and beyond what we could have ever expected.  It has been self-supporting, with individual donations, from day one and not 1 cent of tithe money has been spent on this ministry.  That is such a marvel to Mickey & I as we see this happen each and every week for the past 21 1/2 months since beginning.

We were in for a blessing that surpassed our wildest imagination this week, Tuesday - November 15th - when we walked in to the kitchen to find 4 huge garbage size bags and a huge box full to overflowing from Pa*ner*a Br*ead!!!  Our Pastor's wife, Michele, has just launched a new ministry, Right Direction, which is an after school program of tutoring for 1st through 3rd grade children from the 3 elementary schools here in Coweta.  It is being held on Monday & Thursdays and began with 85 students on November 7th. Our church had been on the waiting list for over a year to receive their day old items and in God's timing it became available this Monday, November 14th.

 We had already begun to sort through the bags, which were a mixture of everything before I thought to begin to take pictures.  Here are some of the partial opened and emptied bags.

 Kathy, who works in both The King's Kitchen & New Directions ministry as she is sorting and bagging the bagels.

A huge tray of muffins, cookies, bear claws, etc.

 Bags of sliced loaves of breads.

 An assortment of round breads and bagetts'.

left to right-KENT w/King's Kitchen - MICKEY director of King's Kitchen - STEVE Pastor - JACKI Children's Pastor - NANCY Kid's Pastor - JENNIFER w/The Food Pantry & New Direction - SHERRY w/ King's Kitchen

Some of the staff and team as we rejoice and celebrate the Lord's abundance to not only New Direction but The King's Kitchen, The Food Pantry, Thanksgiving with the Humphrey's and other ministries of our Coweta Assembly of God.

You can see the wonderful time we have as we serve our Lord and enjoy His abundant blessings and each other.  Mickey & I are so very honored to be part of this Body of Christ.

AUGUST 3 - SEPTEMBER 12 An unbelievable 40 days

I didn't realize, until I just typed the title of this post, that it had been exactly 40 days that our life has been an absolute whirl of activity and WORK!!! This is a very long post, and is really a time-line for me to remember all that happened during these 40 days.

On Tuesday, August 3rd Mickey & a close friend of ours, Mike, began working on our 5th wheel in preparation to selling it. They worked Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Then on Friday, the 6th, Mickey went to the VA Clinic in Tulsa about the incision from his chest surgery, which was giving him trouble. That evening we took our son, Marc, and his wife, Deann, out for steaks to celebrated Marc's birthday which had been August 2nd!

Monday through Thursday, August 9 - 12th, they worked each day on the 5th wheel. It was hard labor and work and very hot temperatures!!!! Their work was finished and the next week Mickey & I began to clean the inside from top to bottom, plus Mickey washed the outside. Again dealing with heat index temperatures over 100 each day.

Monday, August 16th, we made a trip to the VA Hospital in Muskogee where Mickey had an echo-cardiogram.

On Wednesday, August 18th we heard that our Pastor had tried out at another church on Sunday, when we thought he was on vacation!!! By the next morning, August 19th, we knew for a fact he was resigning as pastor of CAG. It almost knocked the socks off of us as it was so totally unexpected!!!!

On Sunday, August 22nd, Pastor Gary announced to the church that he was indeed resigning. We were broken hearted in the natural and yet in our Spirits we knew this was God working and not man.

On August 23rd, Monday, I borrowed a carpet shampoo machine from a friend. On Tuesday the 24th I worked from 6:30 a.m. until 7:oo p.m. at the Run-off Election and Mickey harvested his fall honey. On Wednesday we shampooed the 5th wheel carpets. On Thursday, the 26th we processed and bottled the honey crop. Boy, his girls (as Mickey calls his bee's!) did a great job and he got 5 gallons of that pure, delicious, rich local honey. YUM!!!

After bottling it we ended up with 31 pints, 4 - 1/2 pints, and 17 - 1/4 pints.

What a beautiful sight!!

That evening we joined others to celebrate the birthday of Cameron, a young man in our church.

On Friday night, August 27th, we had an Indian Taco Dinner and a Silent Auction as a fund raiser for a dear friend, Mark Bates, who recently lost part of his right foot to diabetes. Mickey and I worked in the kitchen serving and then cleaning up. We came home exhausted and literally fell into bed at 9:30 ..... BUT a total of $11,995 was raised!!!! WOW!!!!

Mark and his lovely wife, Robbin. Robbin is the one who sees that the King's Kitchen has the wonderful home made desserts each and every week.

The next day, Saturday, August 28th, our church held an Estate Auction which was left to our church but we were so exhausted we did not attend.

Sunday, August 29th, was Pastor Gary's last day as our Pastor and his last sermon. The Woman's Ministry hosted a lovely reception with cake, cupcakes, and finger foods for them after the Sunday a.m. service. That evening we had Charles Graham, who has a beautiful voice, bless us for the evening service.

Wednesday, September 1st, we are back at VA Hospital where Mickey has minor surgery to remove about 2 inches of the metal stitching from his October, 2009 heart surgery which they replaced with regular stitches. Our oldest daughter, Suzette, had surgery the same day, here in Tulsa. That evening at church the Board of Deacons placed the name of Steve Lee, our Associate Pastor, as a candidate for the Senior Pastor position. We were delighted!! Both that it was Steve, AND that the Board was acting quickly so that CAG would not miss a beat in our moving forward for the Lord.

Thursday, September 2nd we went to Jenks to visit our recuperating daughter, Suzette at home.

Friday, September 3rd, Mickey had an eye appointment at the Tulsa VA Clinic!!!

Sunday & Monday, September 5 & 6, Labor Day week-end. I spent Sunday afternoon and all day Monday thawing, skinning, cutting and slow cooking a huge 37 lb box of chicken halves that were donated by a family in our church for The King's Kitchen. I ended up with an ice cream bucket and a large size container that you purchase potato salad in of cooked chicken. We will be able to make 2 or 3 meals from this bounty. Sunday afternoon Cameron & Athena and their youngest daughter dropped by for a visit. We so enjoyed them.

Also, Monday and Tuesday, September 6th & 7, Mickey and I were busy preparing and pricing for a garage sale. HARD WORK!!!

Wednesday, September 8th, I left the house at 8:15 a.m. to take our daughter Suzette for her 9:30 a.m. 1 week Dr. check-up from her surgery. We stopped by Arby's and I brought lunch which we brought back to her house to eat. I stayed with her until about 2:30. It was so nice to have this one-on-one time with my daughter.

Thursday, September 9th, we set up for the garage sale which we held on Friday & Saturday, September 10th & 11th. On Thursday we also visited with 2 new couples who had called and inquired about our King's Kitchen meal. They will be added to our routes and beginning receiving the meal next Tuesday.

On Saturday, September 11th, I left Mickey watching the garage sale at 11 while I went to Wagoner to participate in CRY OUT AMERICA outside the Wagoner County Court House. It was a wonderful 1 hour service.

I got home at 1:30 and Marc, Deann, Oksana & Aric came out and brought us hamburgers and fries for lunch. We had a nice visit with the 4 of them and then Aric stayed with us Saturday night.

We closed down the garage sale at 4 p.m. It was successful and we praise God for that but Mickey says it is the LAST one we will ever have.

TODAY: September 12th!!!! Steve Lee preached his "try out" sermon at both the 8 and 10:45 services. The title was "Greater Days Ahead..." taken from John 14:1-14 with special emphasis on vs 12-14. It was GREAT. There was such an excitement during the entire service. After church Aric, Mickey & I met Marc, Deann, & Oksana at Delta Cafe for lunch and for them to take Aric home with them. Then at 4 o'clock we had an open forum at the church for the members to ask questions of Steve & his wife, Michelle. MANY very important questions (a total of 30) were asked and both Steve & Michelle's answers were so right on. The forum lasted until almost 6 p.m. All the members only were given a simple ballet with a Yes and No on it. One of the deacons opened the meeting with an explanation and time line of Pastor Gary notifying them on August 19th that he was resigning and our voting tonight.

The vote was taken and STEVE LEE was elected Senior Pastor of Coweta Assembly of God by a unanimous vote of 100%!!!! There is such a feeling of total unity in our Body and we are all excited about what God is going to do not only at our Church but in our City of Coweta.

Steve & Michelle Lee and their 3 daughters

After church we went to McD's for ice-cream, apple pies and coffee. Three ladies from our church were there so we joined them and enjoyed our visit.

What a Day - What a G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S Day.

I have to tell you though, I am ready for a little less work and constant activity for a little while!!!!! But time is short and we must be busy while there is still time. We are so thankful that the Lord gives us the strength and the stamina that we have been blessed with.

PASSING IT ON!!!

When I received my wonderful basket last week I asked the Lord to let me know who I needed to pass it on to. It was a hard decision!!!! I would have liked to have 100's of them because I have so many wonderfull friends who deserve to be blessed and are such a blessing in my life!!!

I had prayed about it off and on all day Wednesday and Wednesday night we had gone to church and were sitting in the pew waiting for services to start and Carrie came in and hugged us and sat in front of us, which she usually sets in another section of the church!, I knew it was her. I leaned over to Mickey & whispered it to him and he knew that was right.

Carrie is a wonderful single mom of two little boys, Ethen & Aiden. Aiden suffers from epileptic seizures.

Here is the filled basket.

These are the items I included: A china angel from my collection of angels. This is only the 2nd time the Lord has ever impressed me to give one of my angels to someone. A tall blue mug with a flower on each side, a handknit dishcloth, a counted cross-stitch cross bookmark, a little book "Peace" from The Fruit of the Spirit, a Rain Home & Garden candle, a 1/4 pint jar of Mickey's newly harvested fall honey flow, and some monogrammed notes with "M" (her last name).

My little notecard to her showed two girls on the front steps and read: "A sweet friendship refreshes the soul." Proverbs 27:9 The Message and my personal note read: To Carrie - I immediately thought of you as the one I wanted to pass this to. Your infectious, sweet smile and your friendliness are such a joy to both Mickey & me. Your faithfulness and faith for Aiden are a real inspiration. I love you & ((hugs)), Susan.

Carrie, with Mickey looking on, as I presented her with the basket.

CHANGES - BIG Changes!!!!

The bible verse that kept coming to me the past week and 1/2 is: Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1

Pastor Gary & Sister Paula Rogers

Boy, what an emotional time this has been. Our beloved Pastor announced his resignation a week ago Sunday, August 22nd. We got "wind of it" on Wednesday and did not believe it and then on Thursday morning we knew it was a truth.

That Sunday I hated to go to church for the first time in the 3 years and 8 months of attending there. Before I have always gone with my "expectors" up...eager to hear what God had to say. On the other hand, I was thankful Sunday had finally arrived and we were going to hear it officially.

I was expecting to leave disappointed and angry at Pastor Gary. Instead...I have to admit he could not have given a better message. One of the best, perhaps, that he's ever preached, other than 2 weeks ago when he preached, "Sometimes You Just Have To Shout!"

He handled it with such grace and integrity. Here is how I posted it on fb right after arriving home, and it was still fresh on my mind and heart: "Well, now I can say it...our beloved Pastor resigned today. I am so proud and honored to have sat under this man's ministry. He is truly an honorable Man of God. He could not have handled today in a more honorable, dignified, Godly manner than he did. Mickey & I love you Pastor Gary and will miss you, but I know you heard from God and that you follow Him, as you have ALWAYS done and will ALWAYS continue to do what He tells you to do. You are a good and faithful servant of God. God's speed to you and Sister Paula."

I don't think there was a dry eye in the entire congregation. We were all broken hearted and hurting in the natural/fleshly part of ourselves and yet we all knew in the Spirit that this was the right thing, not only for them, but for our Church Body.

Wednesday night was another powerful Word of God and his sharing with us the over 2 year process of God's working in his heart and preparing him to leave and go somewhere else. He put out 3 fleeces he wanted to see fulfilled before he left: 1) That the church be completely out of debt. As you know the mortgage was burned on July 4th this year and the church owes nothing. 2) He wanted the right man to be prepared to take his place. & 3) He wanted a strong Deacon Board in place when he left. All three of this things were accomplished.

This past Sunday was his last sermon which was on "Transitions...A Part of Life" taken from Ecc 31:1-8 "In everything there is a season..." The auditorium was packed out. The headline of our Coweta American newspaper's headline on Wednesday had shouted "Rogers steps down as Coweta Assembly pastor" and it was the talk of the town.

After the service the Woman's Ministry put on a huge reception for them and everyone was invited for snacks, cupcakes, a huge cake, punch, & tea. 5 or 6 people gave brief talks about what Pastor Gary had meant to them and then Prayer shawls were presented to both Pastor Gary and to Sister Paula. After the shawls were placed on their shoulders the 7 Deacons and many others laid hands on them and prayed and it was done.

It is such a joy to be in a Church Body that can handle a departure like this in such a grand and noble way.

Pastor Gary has been Pastor there for 17 1/2 years and when he came there were just a handful of people. Coweta Assembly is now the largest congregation in Coweta running about 650. When he came the property value was $250,00 for the building and $75,000 for the parsonage and there was a debt of $60,000. Today the property is valued at 4 Million and 0 debt and $261,000 in the bank account. . Stephen Lee, the Associate Pastor, has been mentored by Pastor Gary for the past 16 years. We are indeed blessed.

God has great things for Chickesha, Oklahoma where Pastor Gary will be the Pastor and God has great things for us at Coweta Assembly of God.

We are excited about what God is going to do!!!!!!

********************

As if all the above wasn't enough going on......Friday night a benefit Indian Taco Dinner was sponsored by several people, and held at Coweta Assembly, for Mark Bates. A man dearly loved by not only Coweta Assembly but all of Coweta. Mark recently lost part of his right foot due to diabetes and has huge medical bills. $11,995 was raised for him!!!! Mickey & I helped serve and clean-up.

Saturday an auction was held to liquidate the estate of Chris McCormick who left his estate to the church. I posted about this in May here.

SO.... it's been a very exciting time in our little community of Coweta.....but the excitement's just begun!!!!!!

We love and serve an amazing God!!

A SURPRISE BLESSING

I had worked the Primary election on July 27th as a Clerk for the very first time and enjoyed it very much. After that election the County Election Office called me and ask if I would be willing to work at that polling place as the Clerk on a regular basis. I was delighted to be offered the position and naturally accepted.

Last Tuesday, August 24th, we had a Run-off election for the State Insurance Commissioner. So I worked my 12 1/2 hours, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mickey picked me up and we went to a fast food place and had a bite to eat and naturally I was plenty tired and worn out.

When we walked in the house this basket was sitting on my dining room table! I said, "What is this?", and Mickey said, "Cathy K. dropped it by for you." Cathy is a wonderful young mother in her 30's who attends church with us and is in my Small Group class. They used to be our back door neighbors!

The tag in front reads:

"A blessing basket

filled just for you,

with cheerful thoughts

and prayers too!

Enjoy your gift

but when your done

please fill it up

and pass it to

another one :o) "

The back side of the tag reads: " If you are unable to fill it up that's OK! Enjoy your gift and return the basket to Coweta Assembly of God 486-3110 Have a blessed day!"

Tucked inside my basket were: A book: When God Winks At You by Squire Rushnell, a cute little photo album, a small spiral note pad, a carmel cream candle, a lovely green pottery mug filled with dove chocolates!!

And, a personal note which read: "I just wanted you to know I was thinking of you. You are such an inspiration to me and I am so blessed to have you in my life. Love, Cathy"

Can you say - TOUCHED and bawling like a baby!!!!!

I LOVE our Church and our Church Body which so demonstrates the Love of Christ on so many fronts and levels. Yes, truly a SURPRISE and truly a BLESSING.

I'm busy filling up my basket now and I'll show it to you when I'm ready to "pass it on". I already know who will get it and selecting what I hope will be the fight items for her.

****************

I have been scarce here in blogland because we have had sooooo much going on at CAG. I hope to share it all with you in the next few posts. Also a lot of hard work around our house that is wearing us out and leaving little free time. This too shall pass!!!!

Have a wonderful, blessed day!!!!!

A BLESSED & A BLESSING CHURCH

With all my excitement and joy over the King's Kitchen I want to assure you this is just one work that is going on at Coweta Assembly. I am so very proud to be part of this church and this group of Jesus lovers and followers. So I want to give you a bigger view of my wonderful church.

First, and foremost, and the reason for this strong body of believers is our wonderful Pastor Gary Rogers and his lovely wife of 35 years, Paula.

Although Pastor Gary has only been Mickey & my Pastor for 3 years and 2 months, he has been serving as Pastor at Coweta Assembly for going on 17 years. The church has grown greatly under his leadership. He shares that his first service there were just a few people present, and 4 of them had come in his car!!!

Pastor Gary first and foremost loves the Lord and his mission for our church is "To decrease the population of hell and increase the population of heaven." Every sermon, every teaching, every activity of the church is geared to that one purpose.

Sister Paula is a retired school teacher who brings her love of children and her love of learning and teaching into full swing in various ways in the church. Gary & Paula have been happily married 35 years.

Coweta Assembly has a full time staff of 9. These 7:

And not pictured - Melody, Office Manager - Misty, Pastor's Secretary.

We, also, have an elected Deacon Board of 7.

What I am most proud of is, we do not have just a large Church that is used only on Sundays and Wednesdays, and occasionally another time. NO - there is something going on ALL the time at Coweta Assembly and our Church is opened up to the use of our community.

Just as an example last week: February 14-20.

SUNDAY: 8 am, 10:45 am & 6 pm services. 9:45 am Small Group Meetings. At the 8 & 10:45 services this week Bridge Builders Ministry leaders were highlighted during the sermon. Missions was having an entree sale after both am services to raise money for the 2 upcoming Spring Missions trips. Fine Arts met at 4:30. Also during the 6 pm services Sister Paula is conducting G.E.D. classes. I am one of about 10 mentors and am privileged to be working with a young woman. There are 2 young women and 1 young man currently in the class. This is a new program begun 3 weeks ago called CA Academy.

MONDAY: 6:30 pm, in the ORC Building, the Young-At-Heart Ministry was having their monthly meeting and pot-luck dinner (this month Italian). I was honored to be invited and to give the devotion on "LOVE". At the same 6:30 time, in the Parlor Kitchen in the main Sanctuary building, Mickey & Valerie, Bill, Tammy & Sherry were busy preparing the main course for The King's Kitchen delivery the next morning. At 6 pm there had also been a brief Board Meeting. Pastor also does private Counseling on Monday evenings.

TUESDAY: 9 am the ORC building is abuzz with activity; Bill & his daughter, Nancy, are busy preparing a sit down banquet for 100 that evening! Paula, Cathi, & Dustin are busy setting up long tables pushed together in the shape of a cross. All are covered with white table clothes with broad red ribbons flowing down the center, with small twinkling lights wound through the ribbons. There were also several round tables set up with the red ribbons & lights and with a ceramic cross in the center of each. I wish I had taken some pictures. It was stunning!!!!

9 am in the Parlor Kitchen Mickey & I are cooking the Swiss Chicken, Green Beans, & New Potatoes and browning rolls for the 28 meals that are going out to homes today. We are also loading up the cold containers for the 4 different routs with containers of cottage cheese & peaches, apple or cherry cobbler, individual containers of ice cream, 1% milk, & butter. Janice comes in to assist and help about 10, as well as Cathi comes in from the ORC and decorating to help us. Around 11 our 4 teams of drivers & deliverers begin arriving: Tim & Jenne - Jimmy & Nellie - Andy & Dustin - Joi & Cathi (wearing her 3rd hat of the morning!). Around 11:15 I, Janice, Tim, & Jenne begin to fill the 3 part hot trays and put a hot roll in a sandwich bag while Mickey is packing them into the hot containers. By 11:45 all 4 teams are on the road. Mickey, Janice & I clean up the kitchen.

10 am Judy & Thelma came in to work in and open The Klothes Kloset until 2 pm. This ministry has grown so much since it was started in September last year that it is having to be moved into a bigger room within the ORC. Praise God!

2 pm there was a memorial service for a grandfather of a young man who attends our church.

5 pm 100 Pastors and church leaders from all over the NE part of Oklahoma which make up the Sectional Conference of The Assembly of God Churches meet for the sit-down, lovely, special dinner that had been prepared for them.

7 pm a service of the Sectional Conference, open to the public, was held in our Sanctuary.

WEDNESDAY: 7:30-9 am The Coweta Chamber of Commerce met in the ORC.

7 pm ALL the Wednesday night activities plus Pastor teaching in the Sanctuary. He is currently doing a L-O-N-G study through the entire Bible. We had a VERY SPECIAL time and special move of the Holy Spirit this night that was so powerful that our Pastor set aside the teaching and we just relished in what God was doing.

THURSDAY: The Coweta Ministerial Alliance meet at our Church at noon for their monthly meeting. Klothes Kloset opened from 10 am to 2 pm.

FRIDAY: The Girl Scouts had a "Mom & Me" sleepover beginning at 8 pm. They also brought food items for The Food Pantry and there were so many items brought that The King's Kitchen was also blessed with a supply of canned green beans and canned corn. God gives above and beyond!!

SATURDAY: 2 - 9 pm Special Olympics were held in the ORC.

6 pm was the launch of a new Saturday night service for Young Adults. Associate Pastor Stephen Lee will be preaching every Saturday night. They had 45 adults & 7 children at this first service, Our entire body is excited about this outreach to the Coweta Area and the un-churched young adults. Although the service is open to any age it will be geared to the young adult.

So, that is a sample of some of the multitude of activities and outreach to the Coweta community that our Body is involved in.

Mickey & I are so proud to be a part of this vibrant, active Body of Christ.

My next post will cover ALL the various activities with-in this body. This post was just getting too long :o)

MEETING A BIG GOAL

I totally forgot to share our meeting a BIG goal God placed before us.

Our Pastor shared with us that a family in our body had pledged to match up to $100,000 toward our church debt of $360,000. This was the amount of debt remaining on our Recreation Outreach Center (ROC). The original loan had been $595,000. This challenge was for 3 months: Oct, Nov & Dec.

EVERYONE in our body went to work and did many different fund raising projects, in addition to reaching deeper into our own pockets and giving more toward this debt.

On the first Sunday, January 3, 2010, it was announced WE MET THE $100,000 GOAL!!!! Our debt balance beginning the new year is down to $115,587.22. That is a decrease of $244,413 in three months. PRAISE GOD. We are believing for the ability to quickly clear this mortgage completely.

The entire motive of clearing this debt, is not so we can be proud that it has been paid off!!! No, it is that our Church Body will have the $10,000 monthly payment amount to use for benevolence in our community to show forth the Love of God.

Our pastor's desire is that our facilities be used each and every day of the week. Not just on Sunday & Wednesday. That we are there to meet the needs of Coweta in each & every way possible.


This is our main sanctuary building. Sorry I don't have a picture of the ROC which sits directly behind this building and is just as large but is a 2 story facility with a separate worship area with stage for the youth, full kitchen, basketball & volleyball court, many class rooms. The Kloset Kloset ministry is on the 2nd floor in 2 separate rooms. There is also a large, enclosed play area for the children with playground equipment between the two buildings.

Our beloved Pastor Gary Rogers and Sister Paula.

I trust that God has placed each and every one of you in a wonderful Church Body that you love and serve in. If not, I encourage you to make finding that Body a primary goal for you and your family in 2010.

COMMENTS on Pump Up Your Life Seminar

Thanks for all the sweet confirming comments you left about the Woman's One Day Seminar our Church held Saturday.


I was asked several questions that I wanted to answer here:

Brenda asked: "Was this something your church put on and invited the guest speaker or is it a special program?" I answered this in the comments but some of you may not read all the comments so wanted to answer it here. Yes, it was put on by the 5 member Women's Ministry Council of our church. ALL of the 16 speakers are just woman from our church. Although there were 12 different subject choices several of the topics had more than one speaker. I shared the time on Pump Up Your Marriage Partnership with another gal who has been married 30 years and survived 7 building ventures. She spoke for 15 minutes and then I spoke for 15 minutes and then we had a 10 minute Question & Answer session. The guest speaker was an invited "guest" from outside our church body.

MeMaw said: "Maybe you could post something about which you presented?" & Momma Roar said: "I hope you'll be willing to share some of it here!" Those that have been reading my blog for the 2 1/2 plus years have probably heard it ALL as I speak often about my marriage and our family. I realize I have many new readers and I will put together a post on just this topic.




Kristie asked: "Did anyone record it?" and

Ginger said : "What no video to share of what you taught on?" No, it was not recorded or video taped. Probably a good thing because if I had to watch myself it would probably mortify me and I wouldn't be willing to do it again :o) I don't even like to hear my own voice!!!

Minpinmom asked: "Were you nervous speaking?" I was asked on Sunday the 15th if I would speak and I immediately replied, "Yes" so I had 13 days to think about it and mull it over in my mind. Immediately the Lord began to give me things I knew needed to be included. I finally got around to putting it down on paper on Tuesday the 24th (well typing it into Word. You know I am PENLESS WRITER!!!). I typed it out and then practiced it on Mickey on Wednesday and then again twice on Friday. I was not nervous about it at all until Friday and then I began to have a few nerves about it. You know all those lies satan tries to fill our mind with: Will I do it well enough?: Will I cry? Will I make a fool of myself? You know it;s all coming from the lies of satan because all these thoughts were centered around the "I"!!!! I kept speaking back that it wasn't about me, that it was about me allowing God to use me and in my weakness was HIS strength.



Even Saturday morning I was fine.......UNTIL.....I pulled into the parking lot at church and saw all the cars and realized how many woman were in there!!! I suddenly began to actually shake. When I walked in and signed my name on the name tags we all wore my hands were so shaky I could hardly write. I told the woman who asked me to speak how nervous I was and she said, "You'll do just fine." Then one of my dear, DEAR friends, Bible Study group member, and Prayer Warrior Intercessor came up and I said, "Oh, Wantha Ann, I'm sooo nervous. Be sure and remember to pray for me at 10 o'clock." She said, "We're praying right now!! She took my hands and we stood in the throng of women milling all around us and she prayed a mighty pray. As soon as she finished I was fine and never had another nervous moment or thought. Praise God for Christian friends and especially those who partner with us in prayer.

Our wonderful Pastor had just finished a preaching series on finding our "Gifting" and I had just taken a Motivational Gifts Survey that showed my gifting tied for both Teaching & Exhortation. We did not hand these in and no one knew my results except Mickey & I. I have always been comfortable speaking out in a small group setting, Mickey & I had a Bible Study in our home a few years ago and I was most comfortable leading in that, I do not have any trouble at all "speaking out" on my blog, but I had never been called upon to speak to a group of people, most of whom I did not personally know. When I was asked to speak I KNEW it was God saying to me, "Okay, Susan, I'm asking you to step out in faith and do what I'm calling and have equipped you to do." That's why I immediately said "okay" instead of doing the "religious" thing we so often do of: "Well, let me pray about it and I'll get back to you." I knew better than that!!!!

I'm glad I stepped out in that faith, I'm glad a was asked to speak, and my prayer is God will use me again when and as He sees fit to do.

PUMP-UP YOUR LIFE - One Day Seminar

(click on picture to enlarge)

I just spent one of the most enjoyable days this snowy day (yes we had snow today...brr) at this One-Day Seminar that the woman's group at our church put on. The event was from 8:30 to 2:00 and we had 4 Break-out Sessions. Each Session had 3 programs to choose from. That was the hard part.....only getting to be in 4 of the 12 selections :o(
I tried to take photo's of the program but they turned out so small I'll just list the schedule:
8:30-8:50 - Muffins & beverages in Jehovah Java Shop
8:50-9:00 - Welcome in the Youth Chapel
9:10-9:50 - Session #1 - Pump Up Your Prayer Life
Pump Up Your Physique (health & body)
Pump Up Your Parenting (tips & advice)
10:00-10:40 - Session #2 - Pump Up Your Praise & Worship
Pump Up Your Personal Times (Devotion & "me" time)
Pump Up Your Marriage Partnership I was privileged to speak
10:50-11:30 - Session #3 - Pump Up Your Purpose in Fasting
Pump Up Your Appearance
Pump Up Your Purchasing (thrifty ideas)
11:40-12:20 - Session #4 - Pump Up Your Potential through Bible Study
Pump Up Your Phases in Life (menopause & life changes)
Pump Up Your Presents/Presence (gifts & self-esteem)
12:30-2:00 - Lunch - Door Prizes & Makeover Reveal - Special Speaker: Tonya Rohr, Well-known Christian Speaker/Comedian (The lunch was delicious!)
The 4 sessions I chose to attend were #1 Your Prayer Life - #2 Your Marriage Partnership (since I spoke!) - #3 Your Purpose in Fasting - #4 Your Potential Through Bible Study.
It was ALL fantastic. I love, LOVE, LOVE, the local church God has seen fit to place Mickey & I in at this time in our life.
I was so happy to see so many young and younger woman sign up for the class I did on marriage. I had many who came up to me later and thanked me. I had ask for prayer covering from my prayer blog several weeks ago when I was asked to speak. I had written out what I planned to say, and had "rehearsed" to Mickey several times during the week.....but you know what.....I just spoke what the Lord put on my heart as I began, so much for the preparation !!! Of course we always want to be lead by The Holy Spirit.
The young woman who taught the class I attended on Fasting was awesome. I am just so proud of the woman in our church and what God is doing in all areas of our body.
We had a total of about 80 woman and with the snow that was really a good number who showed up. Us Okie's don't do snow very well!!!
I took my camera but the pictures did not turn out well enough to post :o(

INTRODUCING PAULA

It always pleases me to introduce someone special to me and my life. I have that privilege today....please meet Paula.

Paula is the wife of our beloved Pastor Gary. She hasn't had her blog very long and it is called BLESSING FOR TODAY.



Paula's desire is to be a blessing to others, especially pastor's wives. Gary has been ministering as Senior Pastor at Coweta Assembly of God for the past 16 years. Prior to that he served as Youth Pastor at another church. During these years she has experienced many joys and lessons as a Pastor's wife to share with all of us.

Paula & Gary

Paula is a bundle of energy and fun and has a great outgoing personality. You will quickly see that as you read her posts and get to know her.

I invite you to drop over and meet her . Be sure and tell her Susan sent you.

You will get your BLESSING FOR TODAY.

WHAT A WEEK!!!

This past week was one of those weeks we barely had time to take a deep breath or stop for more than a minute. We were not home one single night the past 8 evenings! A LOT of trips into Tulsa.



Monday I have my woman's Bible Study in the morning and that night was our monthly Bee Club meeting which is in Tulsa.

Tuesday we picked both grand-kids up from school (Tulsa) and then Marc took all 5 of us out to Ol*ive Garden to eat.



Wednesday we always pick Aric up from school (Tulsa) and bring him home for dinner and then to Royal Rangers at church. I don't think I've even told you that Mickey is helping every Wednesday night with the 4th grade Royal Rangers.

I get to hear our wonderful Pastor teach during the Wednesday night services. This past Wednesday night he finished up a 26 week teaching series out of Ephesians. This Wednesday he is starting a new series on God's Stimulus Plan For Life. This sounds so great with all the doom and gloom we are being feed from the media on a daily basis!!!!



Thursday we were in an 8 hour Safe Driving Course all day. I gave information on our Hands & Hearts for HIM frugal blog about saving some money on your auto insurance. NO....you don't have to be 55 or older to do so. Go here to read about it. We had just walked in the door when our dear friends called to invite us to come eat Don's DELICIOUS chili with them.....who could turn that down so back to Tulsa we go to join them. Yummy!!!


Friday was our grand-daughter, Oksana's, 14th birthday. She loves cheesecake so instead of making a traditional birthday cake for her I decided to bake her a cheesecake. My first, I might add!!!!

Here is the finished product (sorry for the flash glare). It was a New York Style Cheesecake, which is her favorite, and then I added whip cream and Hea*th bar sprinkles on the top, and then her 14 candles. The wait staff at the restaurant were making a really big deal out of it, as was all the family so it made me feel good!!
She selected Fri*day's as the place she wanted to have her birthday celebration. The family was there: dad Marc - brother Aric - aunt Suzette - uncle Dave - aunt Jacque - uncle Benny - grandpa Mickey & grandma Susan. She also had two friends, Jessie, also 14, and Jessie's sister, Callie 15. Two delightful young girls! Missing was cousin Jessica who, it being a Friday night, had to work. :o(
Saturday evening we had our annual Missionary Conference Banquet. We always host a home missionary and a foreign missionary. The home missionary was the head of the Oklahoma Teen Challenge programs. They have 4 homes in Oklahoma, one for adult women, one for adult men, one for teenage boys, and one for teenage girls. What a marvelous work. The foreign missionary has served in Germany for over 40 years. The banquet was lovely...it is put on by our Deacon board. Then each missionary gave a brief overview of their work and then we had a Question & Answer period. I loved this part especially. LOTS of questions were asked and answered.
I asked the German missionary if there was much Mus*lim influence in Germany. His answer was alarming!!! He said Is*lam is the fastest growing "religion" in not only Germany but also England. He even said that England is moving toward having Shar*iah Law and that the Can*taber*ry of the Church of Eng*land is the driving force behind this move. People we need to WAKE-UP to what is happening in our world.
Another person asked, "We are beginning to hear of Eu*rope as the black heart. Is that true?" Sadly, his answer was yes. Church attendance is very small in all of Europe. These beautiful cathedrals, in the countries where the reformation started, are just empty, hallow buildings. Where the congregations were 250-300, now they might have 30-50. At the end of the meeting I was standing there when our Kid's Pastor came up to him and said, "The U.S. isn't far behind what you were saying about Eu*rope are we?" His reply was "Yes, it is happening slowly, but will be speeding up." We must pray, and we must SOUND THE ALARM!!
Yesterday at our church services in the a.m. the Missionary over Teen Challenge preached. We also had a group of 14 teenage boys, and 6 teenage girls, from the two homes that sang and gave testimony. A wonderful service. In the p.m. service the German Missionary preached. Another wonderful service.
I did actually cook a nice Sunday meal for us!!!! A full, busy, happy week and ready to start another!!!! Life is good and full and wonderful.

WEIGHT REPORT & This and That

Well, I have to say I gained back one of the three lost lbs. from last week. The Lady Bug now sits on 10! I did absolutely NO exercising and I had the Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate icing at the Agape Cafe. So what did I expect!!! This week is a BAD report.
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THIS however is a GOOD report!!! One of the members of our church is currently serving in Afghanistan. He has become acquainted and doing some work, in his off hours, with an orphanage there that has both girls and boys.

There are about 250 children in this orphanage.



70 of them are girls.

They have "school", then are feed an evening meal, and are sent to foster homes for the night for safety.

Jerry contacted our Pastor and asked if the church would gather up various toys, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. and CHOCOLATE, and send to him & his Captain to distribute to these children.

In addition they have been giving candy to children they see. This is an except from Jerry's request:
"every time our convoys roll down the road the local kids come running from as for away as 200 yards to meet our trucks alongside the road giving us a thumbs up and hoping we thow out candy as we pass by. some of these kid are as small as 2 years old its funny watching them run across the field.thank you jerry"

Pastor sent this request out to all of us and $1,900 was given for this project.

(I know the picture is dark and bad but click to enlarge and it can be seen a little better)

This picture shows $1,200 worth of these items that have been purchased. Pastor did not want us to just send "things" but we want to send the Love of Christ and our Prayers to these youngsters receiving these items. These purchased items were set up in front of our church and Pastor has asked us to come up and pray over these items the last 3 services. Since there is a language barrier it was decided to spend $500 buying Christian coloring books that "show" and "tell" the story of Jesus to these children . The other $200 will pay for the postage to ship these items.

I am so happy to belong to a Body that gives and shares The Good News and Love and Compassion in so many different ways. This just being another example. We (the Church Body) always do something nice and special for each returning Serviceman in our Congregation when they return home from serving.

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Marc & Aric recently attended the Sport & Boat Show. He forwarded us several pictures and I just had to share this one so you could see the look of pure joy in experiencing this kayak ride.