PRAYER

Do you sometimes just get so excited about what God is doing? I do!!!!

I posted last September 17 here about our town.Part of that was about the Fall Festival where several churches went together and had a 24/7 Prayer Tent from Thursday at 6 p.m. through Sunday at 6 p.m. The event covered 72 hours and was a huge success. Out of this endeavor two young couples from our church took up the cause and have been working hard to establish a strong group of people who love to pray and are willing to pray. There names are Vanessa & Jeff, and Nate & Angie. You'll be hearing more about them in the future.

In January of this year Mickey & I were invited to join this group and I have posted a little about it and alluded to it several times. The goal of this group is to establish a 24/7 House of Prayer here in our City of Coweta.

This is a picture of 2 spaces in a shopping center that has been offered to our group at a very reasonable rate. There are 2 different spaces. The space to the left, where you can see the "For Rent" sign in the window, is the smaller of the 2 and will be used for the children of the adults who are in the prayer room itself. . The space behind the pole between the 2 light fixtures is a very large space. Another church had actually been meeting in this space for several years. The utilities have already been turned on in the smaller space but there is some problem with the wiring that has to be corrected, by the landlord, before utilities can be turned on in the large space.

This is not a project of our Church, although many of the people involved are from our church. It is a project for all the churches to be involved with and our entire city.

One gentleman donated money for the 1st months rent plus some extra. People are beginning to pledge and give on a monthly basis. One company has given over $10,000 of supplies for sound proofing, etc. So God is moving and opening the doors.

The name of our group is Remnant House of Prayer and Vanessa is going to spend next month in Kansas City at The Internatiional House of Prayer for further training.

Last Friday night we held the monthly prayer meeting at our church. We have been holding them in various homes of the participants. Our Pastor Gary, plus several other Pastors from different churches, were in attendance. It was a mighty time of prayer, praise and worship. It was such a privilege to get to pray over our Pastor and the other Pastors. You know, they are always giving out and need to be on the receiving end, too. I said to Mickey as we left "There was real breakthrough there tonight." Sunday mornings Praise & Worship was evidence of that as it was absolutely awesome and everyone was speaking about it. Not just us of the prayer group who "knew" why!!!!!

In connection with what God is doing here in Coweta, He has put it on my heart to start a 24/7 (24 hours 7 days a week) Prayer group here on blogland. I know that a great many of you who read my blog are prayer's.

The purpose of this post is to see how many of you would be interested in becoming involved with this and make a commitment toward doing it? I would wish that people would commit for a 1/2 hour or hour time slot, but will accept those who feel they can only give 15 minutes. I know that we are spread out through many different parts of the world, and many different time zones. We will use the international time zone to fill all the spots. Once we get it set up I will start a new blog consisting of just these prayers.

I will go into more detail after I find out how many of you wish to participate. Please let me know when you comment if you are interested. If your e-mail address is not on your blog please also leave that for me so I can contact you directly and privately.

The Lord had put this on my heart some time ago, but with going on our trip and being out of pocket I knew I needed to wait until I could devote my undivided attention to what God was calling me to do. I find it not at all unusual that I am posting this 1 day before our National Day of Prayer, on May 1st!!!! God's plans and orchestration is so marvelous and beyond our understanding.

To sum this all up: First, and most importantly PRAY about this. Then: 1)If you are a prayer and 2) interested in joining in with this 24/7 prayer group and 3) are willing to commit to a set time each and every day or night to pray for 15, 30 or 60 minutes, 4) please let me know by leaving me a comment to that effect & 5) please be sure I have your e-mail address.

Father God I ask you to call forth the Intercessory Prayer Partners that YOU have chosen for this calling and purpose, for this particulate time and group. In my Saviors precious, precious name I pray. Amen

By the way - you can still leave a comment, even if you are not interested in being an participant!!!! In fact, I invite you to do so.

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Addendum: If you are reading this blog, even if you don't have a blog of your own, I still invite you to join us if you feel so lead.

CLEAN UP - CATCH UP - THIS & THAT

Since the vacation I've had a hard time trying to "catch up" so decided to post a mix-match of things here.

I had posted about our living room, dining area & kitchen re-do and the wall paper jog. We had one last step - which was putting up a border all around the wall paper. Mickey finished that job and here it is. It finished it off nicely we thought.

Many of you prayed for our dear friend, Jack. This picture was taken 4 days!!!!! after his quadruple heart surgery. We would not believe how great he looked. The surgery was on April 7th. They were back to the Dr. last week and he is doing so good he doesn't have to go back for 3 months. Thanks to you all who prayed for Jack. We just praise the Lord for this victory!!!!!


I was given this You Make My Day award on April 23 by Brenda of It's All Wonderfully Good. Sorry, Brenda, it's taken me 5 days to say Thank You. I do appreciate it very much.

I saw this fun Meme over at Karen's back some time ago and am just now getting around to it.



1. WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER? My paternal grandmother who I never met. She had died before I was born.



2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? This morning during prayer. It is hard for me to pray without crying because I am so moved by the goodness of my Savior and God.



3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I use to like it a lot but like most people as I age I find it getting a little shaky and not as neat and nice. I think the fact we do so much on the computer anymore doesn't enhance our penmanship.



4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham but my favorite sandwich filling is tuna salad.



5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 4 grown children, 2 daughters and 2 sons



6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I think I would. I am very friendly and make strong, lasting friendships.



7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Absolutely not. This is a personality trait that I dislike very much.



8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS No I had them out when I was in the 6th grade



9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Never in a million years.



10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Oatmeal



11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I don't really wear shoes that tie but when I do I would definitely untie them.



12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically no but I can and do work hard.



13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? Vanilla with most things but chocolate alone.



14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their eyes.



15. RED OR PINK? That's a toss-up for me. I like them both.



16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOU? Being a nervous rider, and especially with my husband.



17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My forever friend Bev who died.



18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK? This was on email if that question sounds confusing.

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I am still in my PJ's which are dark blue and I have on white socks and no shoes. I rarely have shoes on in my house.


20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Cottage cheese with crushed pineapple



.21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Nothing.



22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Blue



23. FAVOURITE SMELLS. Lilac and vanilla candles



24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My youngest son.



25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? No one actually sent it to me, I found it on Karen's site. I like her very much and am impressed with her Spiritual walk.



26. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? I do not care for sports - ice skating once in awhile.



27. HAIR COLOUR? Grey



28. EYE COLOUR? Hazel



29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, but I do wear glasses.



30. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS Happy Endings



31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? I am not a movie watcher or goer.



32. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Dark Blue PJ Top



33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Neither - I'm more of a Spring/Autumn person



34. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs!!!!!,



35. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream.



36. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? This relates to e-mail and does not apply. I have no idea who will see it and choose to do it.



37. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Not applicable



38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I'm reading three at the moment. Ann Graham Lotz "My Heart's Cry ....longing for more of Jesus", Jerry Bridges "Respectable Sins", Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins "Glorious Appearing" book 12 in the Left Behind Series. I have another on my coffee table waiting and will be next ... Derek Prince "Shaping History through prayer and fasting" I love to read and have all my life!!!!!!l

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Nothing.



40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Want to be a millionaire & Larry King



41. FAVOURITE SOUND? My husbands voice when he comes in from work. One of my grandkids voices when I answer the telephone.



42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles if I had to choose but I never listened to either.



43. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Alaska or Hawaii One was by auto and the other by plane!!!



44. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Making people feel at home and comfortable.



45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Espanola, New Mexico but grew up and only remember Santa Fe, New Mexico.

If you decide to do this meme please let me know in my comments so I can come read yours.

S&T '08 - #15 - HORSEY GIFTS

Show & Tell Friday over at Kelli's is always a fun thing for me to participate in and I missed doing so last week while we were enjoying our Virginia trip. Be sure and Show & Tell something and put your name on Mr. Linky.

Since the family we were visiting all have horse farms I wanted to bring some little something about horses home as a token gift for my 2 younger grandchildren. Since our nieces wanted to pickup some needed items from The Horsey Store (as they called it) I had the perfect opportunity to buy them a couple of "Horsey" items.

Since Oksana is just learning and enjoying to cook I got her this Horse cookie cutter.

The tag also had a recipe for Sugar cookies and icing.

Since 9 year old Aric loves to read I was delighted to fine an OLD, original copy of Black Beauty.

You can see the September 24, 1966 date and also our inscription to Aric. I always inscribe the books I give to people.

Here is one of the many pictures from the book.

Thanks for looking at my Show & Tell this week.

WHAT IS A TATTOO?

Not surprisingly, several of you have asked me what a Tattoo was. No, Mickey & I did not celebrate our 50th by marking up our bodies. NEVER!!!!

THE TATTOO TRADITION

The term "tattoo" derives from the cries of the 17th & 18th century Low Country innkeepers, who, as the fifes and drums of the local regiment signaled a return to quarters would cry, "Doe den tap toe!" "Turn off the taps!" The sound of the "taps" caused the innkeeper's customers to depart and return to their barracks. The word "tattoo" evolved over time, and refers to what developed as a ceremonial performance of military music by massed bands today.

In the old days, field musicians were vital to commanders as the sole means of relaying orders during battle. For marching, the bands kept the company or regiment in proper cadence, and served to beat the daily duty calls and ceremonies such as Reveille, Taps, the General, the Assembly, and the Retreat. Their distinctive and colorful uniforms were necessary to distinguish them easily on the battlefields, and were often the reverse color of those worn by the line soldiers. Servicing in both times of war and times of peace, these highly acclaimed military bands have traveled the world to provide entertainment to members of the military and their companions. They have performed for world leaders and dignitaries.

These are the groups that were included:

United States

Tidewater Pipes & Drums

U.S. Army TRADOC Band

U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Band

U.S. Marine Corps Security Force Battalion

Virginia Children's Choir

Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Chorus

Australia

OzScot Australian Dance Team

Scottish College Perth Pipe Band

The Dutch Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy

South African Defence Force Joint Services Military Band

Kingdom of Tonga Defence Services Royal Corps of Musicians

Traditional Turkish Mehter Bank

United Kingdom

Imps Motorcycle Display Team

Canada

3 Area Support Group Gagetown Pipes & Drums

12 Wing Shearwater Pipes & Drums

The 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Pipes & Drums

Pipes & Drums of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment

It was difficult to take pictures I'll show a few so you can get the flavor of the Tattoo.

This is the Turkish band.

This is the Netherlands Navy




Scottish dancers


The combined Pipes & Drummers



U.S. Navy band


The Imps from Great Briton - These were kids ages 6 to 16 and they were absolutely adorable. In truth they almost stole the show.



More of the Imps


These were 3 dancers from The Tongo and were dynamite. Sorry we didn't get a picture of the band accompanying them.

One Section of the finale when EVERYONE was on the floor.

VIRGINA TRIP - WARRENTON

Sunday, after attending church, we drove to Warrenton, VA, just out of Washington D.C., to spend 3 days with Mickey's other niece, Regina, and our sister-in-love, Sally, who was also visiting with them.

(all pictures can be enlarged by clicking)

This is Rich & Regina's lovely home sitting on 16 beautiful acres.

The back view of the house. There is a screened in porch, an open deck patio, and then another deck area with the hot tub. Nice!!!

This is their barn. Regina is also a horse lover and has two horses, Conner & Ryan, which she rides and shows.

Here are the two sisters, and horse lovers, Regina & Karen. Regina had just had a kidney transplant 8 weeks earlier. Doesn't she look wonderful?


Regina is a gourmet cook and lavished us with wonderful meals Sunday & Monday. Here she is in her gourmet kitchen with her mother, Sally, and husband, Rich. She has a wonderful stove that does everything but talk!!! Loved the warming tray.


Here we all are at the dining room table ready to eat one of the lovely meals. Susan, Sally, Rich, Regina, Karen & Tommy.

Here is a good picture of Karen & Regina's mother, Sally. Sally is our sister-in-love and was married to Mickey's oldest brother, Bob, who passed away in 1992. Isn't she adorable? She is 84 years young and as cute, feisty and fun as she looks!!!

Tommy, Mickey, Rich, Susan, Sally, Regina.

This was taken by Karen Tuesday morning. Rich drove Sally to her other daughters, Barbara and husband, Kip, home near Philadelphia. The rest of us were going into the little downtown of Warrenton. Warrenton is a very old town, with a lot of historical buildings. It was a delight. Karen & Regina went to The Horse Crossing store for some items. Since Oksana is starting to cook I bought her a horse shaped cookie cutter, which also had the recipe for sugar cookies and icing. I bought Aric an old copy (1966) of the book, Black Beauty.

Mickey & I were able to treat us all to a wonderful gourmet meal at the Iron Bridge Wine Company right on main street. Regina, Karen, Tommy.

We had a wonderful time with our little mini-reunion of the 7 of us. Regina & Rich were wonderful hosts and we so enjoyed getting to visit with them and get to know them better. Rich was a Colonel in the Air Force, worked for Boeing, and the Pentagon so he had a lot of interesting stories. He also is an avid collector of various things and he shared his many collections with us. Regina also collects Indian Ponies, which you can see a few of them on the shelf behind us in the group picture.

VIRGINIA TRIP - MATURIA FARM

You can hardly fly direct from Tulsa to anywhere. Our flights were booked through Delta so you can imagine our surprise when we had to walk down stairs and across the tarmac to reach this small, 4 seat across, commuter plane on our first leg to Cincinnati. We were 20 minutes late leaving and weren't sure if we'd make our connection to Norfolk or not.

When we landed we had to almost run to our next plane which was already loading to leave. This plane was only 3 seats across!!!! We did arrive in Norfolk almost on time.

On our return flight we actually had a large plane on the first leg to Atlanta and then another small, 4 seat across, to Tulsa. We were late leaving Norfolk by 30 minutes and didn't arrive home until almost midnight. Our son, Marc, picked us up at the airport and brought us home.

I hate to have to say that my left knee gave me fits and much pain on this trip. Of course walking through 3 airports, 2 times, plus all the other walking we did didn't help it at all. I'm no longer doing the "happy dance" about this knee.

Here we are at the airport. Mickey, Susan, Karen & Tommy. Karen is the forth child of Mickey's oldest brother, Bob's, 6 children. She and Tommy married when she was 17 and he 19 and have been married 38 years. They have 2 daughters, who you'll see in later posts, and they lost their only son, Nathan, 7 years ago in a car wreck.

The beautiful azalea's and flowing trees that greeted us at Norfolk.

More azalea's as we are driving.

This is the driveway to Karen & Tommy's Maturia Farms. The drive at the top right comes off the main road, the "t" leg turns into their home and buildings, the other road leads to another entrance to their pastures.

Maturia means "Evidence of Blessing" and they built their home here 8 years ago. Mickey & I spent 7 days here with them in October, 2002 when we were traveling in our RV.

This is the front view of the house. You can see Tommy's large shop on the left behind the house. Tommy owns Great Bridge Muffler & Brake Shop at Great Bridge, VA and restores old auto's and works on engines here at home. I'll show some of that in another post.

Maturia Farms is a 48 acre horse farm in Chesapeake. Karen breeds and trains Championship horses. Her home is full of ribbons and awards her horses have won at Dressage. She currently has 11 horses of her own, one about to give birth, one ready to breed and she boards 2 others. This is one of the corrals with 2 horses in front of Tommy's garage. We didn't try and get pictures of all the pastures and horses.

This is the back view of their home. You can see the golf cart parked by the carport in front of the garage. Karen rides this golf cart around to feed her horses each morning.

This view is the horse barn, fenced riding course and covered arena that is behind the house and across from Tommy's workshop.

This is a sign on the fence separating the house from the other buildings. The have 2 dogs: a Great Dane named Joe and a Spangled Beagle names Ernie, 2 house cats and several barn cats.

It is absolutely peaceful and beautiful here and we had a wonderful time.

WE'RE BACK & ANOTHER GIFT.

Look what came the very day before we left on our trip!!These are the 3 lovely items that I won from Karoline of Cherished Vintage to celebrate her 60th post. 1) A hanging sachet filled with French lavender 2) a 7 Pennant banner garland & 3) Tote bag made from Vintage tablecloth pieces. Thank you so much Karoline. I love them!!! And it was so wonderful that they arrived in time for me to use the Tote on my trip :o)

Here I am at the Tulsa airport just before we flew out on April 12th. I carried my Bible and other books in this lovely tote.

Here's my man at the Delta gate for our flight.

Our trip and celebration, as part of our 50th year of marriage, was to attend the Virginia International Tattoo in Norfolk, Virginia. Those who are long time readers are aware we were scheduled to attend the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in July, 2007 in Halifax. The trip was canceled when our dear friend and traveling companion, Don, became ill.

You know they say you can never recapture an event, place, or feeling, and this proved true in this case. Even though we thoroughly enjoyed this Tattoo and are glad we attended, it certainly did not measure up to our expectations or the previous one we had enjoyed while in Nova Scotia in 2000. The one in Norfolk had a LOT more Military bands and emphasis, but did not have as many of the Scottish marching groups, dancers, bagpipers, drummers and pzazz that Nova Scotia had.

The trip was wonderful as we have family living in Virginia and we got to spend 9 wonderful days with Mickey's niece, Karen, and her husband, Tommy, in their lovely home and 46 acre horse farm in Chesapeake. We also got to spend time with and visit their daughters, Helena & Rachel and Rachel's husband, Doug and we got to meet Doug's 14 year old daughter, Morgan, and Doug's mother; Karen's younger brother, Ronnie, and Ronnie's sons Ron Jr. & Scott all of the area. Plus they took us to Warrenton, VA for 3 days to visit Karen's sister, Regina & husband, Rich, and their mother, our wonderful sister-in-love, Sally. So getting to spend time with all of them was wonderful. I'll try and post a few pictures later. As you can imagine we took a bunch.

The BEST part of the trip was what God is doing on the Spiritual level and some of the wonderful things He confirmed in Karen, Mickey & I. We attended church both Sundays with them at New Life Christian Fellowship. Karen & I went to a woman's meeting, their second of the year, (which just "happened" to be while I was there!!!!) called Meet Me At The Well on Saturday. I was given a black writing tablet with the Eiffel Tower on it as planting a seed for Writing!!!! They passed around a basket of flower seeds and we were each to take a package. After the meeting the coordinator came up to me and gave me 7 packets of Zinnia seeds to bring back and give to ones on our prayer team here. It was awesome!!! We found out there was an International House of Prayer in Virginia Beach but they are not up and operating on a 24 hour level yet. Karen, Mickey & I were going to go until we found that out which was a disappointment. Karen & Tommy's good missionary friends to North Africa, Keith & Debbie, (just "happened" to) fly in from New York the same day we arrived so we got to meet them and spend a little time with them. Keith & Debbie (just "happened") to be picking up a pop singer, turned Christian, from Ireland at the airport yesterday at the same time we were flying out!!!! Karen & Tommy are taking a Francis Frangipane class through their church and I was blessed to get to listen to the CD teaching on prayer. I own every book Francis has written and have followed his work and ministry for about 10 years, we get his weekly messages and Mickey & I have talked about taking his training course. It was wonderful!!! I just marvel at how God orchestrates our lives.

Karen & Tommy and Mickey & I are all on the same Spiritual walk and level and it was such a joy to spend 9 days with them, and God confirming everything for all of us on each & every turn. I love HIM so much and am so excited about what HE is doing in our lives and at this time. We know exciting things are moving and happening here in Coweta and it was just added confirmation that the same is happening there in that area, too. God is soooooo good!!



I have to tell you, it is a little hard trying to get back into the blogging groove again but I will slowly get back and slowly get around to visiting all of your blogs again.

WE'RE OFF! & SIX WORD MEMOIR MEME

We're Off !

And no, not to see the Wizzard of Oz

but something wonderful!

Our son, Marc, is picking us up at 6:45 a.m. to take us to the airport.

Our plane leaves at 8:35.

We'll be back on Sunday the 20th

NO! I am not taking a computer and I'll be away from blogland totally.

See ya then :o)

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I was tagged by Jennifer of Pen of Jen for this...here goes!

The Rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.

4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.

5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play

Here is Jennifer's Memoir: Just a sinner saved by Blood

Here is mine:

She loved the word of God.

I tag the following 5:

Michelle of Franzen Family

Carin of Folded Wings

Annie of My Life As Annie

Lee Ann of The Life & Times of the Olson's

Larissa of One Day At A Time