Wednesday, December 25, 2013

A Glorious and Bright Christmas Morn

Another Christmas morn. The day we celebrate the incarnation of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the day he was born.  I remember the first Christmas in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  I was the new pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church and I awoke to a fresh blanket a pure snow that had a tint of blue. I was so excited that Christmas morn as it was truly a dream come true. Alas, but today is a glorious bright and sunny day.  No snow on the ground, not even a cloud in the sky, the outside temperature is 55 degrees, but after all, we are in Lake Havasu. 

I was awakened not by the sound of excited children or grandchildren, as the closest child is 600 miles away, but by that familiar sound of Suzi , one of our dogs, making that sound that she is about to vomit in an instance.  You see she has quite a sensitive stomach and if she does not eat every twelve hours she vomits up a yellow bile substance.  So I excitedly jumped out of bed this Christmas morn to find my excited Suzi sitting in front of her special gift for me that she has born.  It's a small puddle of Christmas bile at which I stared at for a while.  I soon cleaned up the mess and fed both dogs their morning ration of dry dog food which was the norm.  They both rapidly ate as if as soon as their breakfast was over then would come the time of opening their presents on this glorious and bright Christmas morn.  But first, the girls, Puggles and Suzi, needed to go outside to find their favorite spots to sniff and do their doody.  Suzi went potty almost as soon as her feet hit the ground.  Puggles found her spot a few seconds later and went round and round.  Soon both pups were leaving another present for me on this glorious and bright Christmas morn.  I did my duty and scooped up the the freshly laid poopies and deposited the smelly bag into trash can on the glorious and bright Christmas morn. 

Come Puggles, come Suzi on to the house, I mean trailer that is our house for the last two Christmas morns and today makes three.  Inside we go and light the fireplace on Netflix, and turn on the Christmas music and sit in front of the tree.  With the fireplace all aglow there are no children with their faces all aglow.  But, hey soon we will be opening our own presents for Dayle and me sent by our kids now underneath our own little Christmas tree.  "Come Dayle! Wake up!  It's Christmas!" I cried.  "Uhhhh I don't want to get up, I'm still tired," she replied.   Understanding that she is still recovering from a bout with the flu I'll just sit by my computer writing this blog to you.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Serving and "Suffering" in Lake Havasu City

I can't believe that its been six weeks since my last update and so much has happened.

First we are truly enjoying the milder weather.  Although we did have a few days where we actually had to wear long pants and a jacket.  There were a couple of days it was too cold to play softball but other than that it is not bad at all.  This is not intended to make anyone jealous, but the weather here is just wonderful.

We have been busy working at the church.  I was the plumber and construction contractor for a couple of projects.  There was one toilet that would not flush completely and one urinal that would not drain and overflowed.  After a full day's work I was able to repair both.

Garage/yard sales are a really big deal here in Lake Havasu.  Stan and Stephanie go yard saleing almost every Thursday, Friday, and  Saturday.  Last week Stan found a beautiful corner desk unit at an estate sale.  He asked me to come take a look at it.  They were asking $300 for the unit.  It originally cost $900 and it was in excellent condition.  We were able to purchase it for $180.  We loaded it up in my truck and drove to the church to put it in the office to replace a 30 year old  homemade unit that had long outlived its beauty and usefulness.  Once we got to the church we removed the old unit, purchased some paint and repainted the entire office.  We rearranged some items, got rid of nonessential stuff, installed the new unit and the office actually looks good. 

Stan is disassembling the old homemade unit.

New desk unit for the church office
Wall painted and desk installed



Once the office project was done which took three days Stan and I began an outside project of building a new shed type covering over the water treatment and supply equipment.  We are still working on it and will complete it soon.


With all this work we still find time to get out for a good hike from time to time.  We always take the dogs and we are constantly amazed of the beauty of God's creation.




Last Monday (12/9) my sister called and was asking for help.  She is still recovering from foot surgery and cannot drive or do very much around the house.  So she asked if Dayle could come.  So gritting my teeth and whining all the way we met my sister and her driver half way and made the exchange.  So, once again, I am without my Dayle.  Hopefully she will come back on Wednesday (12/18).

Speaking of December 18th....this is also the birthday of Jason, our first born.  December 18, 1973.  Wow, we have a 40 year old child!  How did that happen???  Happy birthday Jason!

Well, I got the news the other day from our property management company that our tenant is moving out January 1st.  We had planned on moving back in on April 1st for IRS purposes and to also put the house on the market to once again try to sell it.  Since, it is not feasible to find someone to rent it for three months we will have to have it winterized and put it on the market now.  I won't be able to return to the house to fix it up until February.  But hopefully our tenants took good care of it.  Please be in prayer that our house sells soon!  Even though it has been a source of income it really doesn't provide much once you consider income taxes on the rent and all the property taxes. Also we would really like to get a 5th wheel trailer that is more conducive to our full-time live-in needs.  But we can't do that until we sell the house.  So please pray for us as money is going to be even tighter.  But we are confident that God will provide.

I have not had much teaching opportunity here in Arizona but I am still preparing my sermons for the Independent Bible Church of Port Angeles, WA Men's Retreat which is coming up this May.

I have been playing bass guitar on Sundays with the music group and I am actually taking bass lessons thanks to YouTube.  I am also teaching myself to read music.  I can see a big improvement already.

I am constantly reminded of the promise of the Word that God will never leave or forsake us and that he will meet our needs.  Last month we had some unexpected expenses, and there was a major repair at the house in Klamath that we had to pay for.  But somehow, it was all taken care of.  Our God is truly amazing!

Prayer requests:
1.  For my sister, Andrea, and her recovery
2.  For my preparation for the Men's Retreat
3.  For our house to sell
4.  For ministry opportunities helping churches

Until next time, be Always Serving!

Shelley and Dayle