It's been awhile...

Things have been quite busy around here since my last post. When I last posted we had taken in a new member, attended Couple's Retreat and were preparing to wish Brother Rob "bon voyage" as he deployed. Since then, we have indeed sent Brother Rob off and already miss him terribly. When you have a small congregation, you feel the absence of each of your members strongly.

The beginning of April, my father-in-law had a stroke which accelerated the Parkinson's disease that he had been battling for the past 4 years. My husband and his sister faced the heartbreaking decision of putting him into a nursing home since my mother-in-law was not physically able to care for him, nor was any of the rest of us. The day we took him to the home, he wanted to go down the hall to visit his aunt, but told us that "he wouldn't be staying long". At that moment, we figured he was talking about the length of his visit with his aunt, but now realize that he meant that he wouldn't be staying long in the home. Exactly one week after being admitted, my father-in-law entered into his rest and finally stood before the throne of God to meet his Savior. It was truly a bittersweet moment. We were thrilled that he was no longer in pain or having difficulty remembering...but at the same time knew that we were going to miss him terribly. God has been our strength and the grace of God truly is sufficient. God sent His Comforter and has been beside us as we have grieved our loss knowing that it was heaven's gain. God also sent extra special comfort for all of us in the form of our first grandchild, Lilli...she and her parents arrived two days after Papa's passing and she brightened everyone's heart.

The end of April found us in Washington state to perform a baby dedication. It was an honor to be asked to come back to the church we had formerly pastored and a privilege to dedicate the newest arrival, Mr. Noah Sweeney. You truly do not realize how much you miss someone until you've been separated by miles and time, then see one another...we miss the people in the northwest region terribly and especially those at The Church of God in Sedro Woolley! They each hold a piece of our hearts. While in Washington, we also got to spend some time with our youngest son and his wife. They are expecting their first child around the middle of November and this will be our second grandchild. We are looking forward to his/her arrival.

You may have noticed that our location and service times have changed. The building that we were renting, was lost to the parent organization of the group we were renting from, during a law suit. The new congregation that moved into the building decided that they didn't want to share their building any longer, so we are now meeting in our home until we are able to find a more suitable place for service. While most don't like to visit a church that is in a home, we are not down about this turn of events, as God's presence has blessed us in every service since we switched locations. We are thankful for the time that we had to use that particular place, but know that God has something better for us in the long run, so we will patiently wait upon Him and continue doing what we know that we are to do.

I want to take this moment to wish each mom a very Happy Mother's Day! May God grant you strength and wisdom as you raise your children and for those that have grown children, may He grant you the strength and wisdom to know how to help them when they need it and know when to keep silent. ;-)

God bless and keep you!

Going for the corn....

In Sunday School, we are doing leadership training. We've been discussing personalities and their differences to determine which type of personality each of us are so that we can understand our strengths and weaknesses. Yesterday, we went a step farther to understand how others view our strengths and weaknesses. It was pretty revealing. We had a great time laughing at some of it, but some of it was pretty sobering. Brother Rob has done an awesome job teaching this leadership class. We have one more class then "Commitment Sunday" where we will be asked to commit to doing something above and beyond the normal commitments...still not certain of what it entails, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do. We were also privileged to have Brother Wayne Dixon and his children Emily and Dakota join us for Sunday School. Hated to see them head back to Arkansas, but since they didn't have the entire family with them, we sadly said "see ya later!"

Last night, Brother Ray preached a message, "Going for the Corn". He brought out how Jacob's family was getting hungry because of the famine in the land and that when they heard there was corn in Egypt, his sons looked around at one another...sounds like some of us some days...but Jacob asked them why they were looking at one another and told them to "GET UP and GO GET THE CORN". God wants to do so much for us, but there are times He wants us to put some effort into getting what we need. If we need to know more of His Word, WE have to study. If we are struggling in an area, then WE have to put the time in to prayer and study to achieve the victory. If we are in financial difficulty (especially if it is our own doing) He expectes US to cut corners, stop overspending and take on extra work to get ourselves out of the difficulties. If we want to see our communities reached...we cannot sit within our four walls and just expect them to walk into our sanctuaries...we have to get out there and let them know that we are here, we have to minister to needs, we have to visit, get to know people, invite people...in other words, we have to stop looking at each other and GO GET THE CORN! The message was concluded with a time of prayer...God's presence was sweet and heavy and everyone felt the solemness in that prayer time as God dealt with hearts. God is so very good to us and so worthy of praise, yet some days, our hearts are so full of praise that we cannot even figure out where to start because we are overwhelmed by Him. We are thankful for His blessings. We are thankful for each member and non-member that He has brought into our congregation. We are thankful for each financial miracle that He has performed since this adventure began and we are confident that whatever He begins, He completes because He counted the cost when He sent His Only Son to die for our sins...we won't come up short as long as we lean on Him and His wisdom/direction.

In other news...we welcomed a new member last night...Sister Jessica Stanley has joined us from Virginia. God has blessed her with a job, that she started last Tuesday and we are blessed to have her here to help Brother Rob work in the youth department. Brother Rob will also be leaving us for a short time while he is deployed. I know that he and Sister Amy would appreciate your prayers for his safety and the well-being of her and the girls while he is gone.

The Wingates and Adams were blessed to have attended Couple's Retreat in Branson, MO the weekend before last. We so enjoyed our time to get to know more brothers and sisters within the region, we made new friends and reconnected with precious friends...the messages, classes and worship times were absolutely wonderful and instructional.

We feel so very blessed here in OKC. If you are in the area, please join us for service...if not...please pray for us. We want God's will to be done here...this is His Church that we are building, not ours, therefore, we need His guidance so that we do it RIGHT!

God be with you and have a wonderful day!

Nehemiah

I love the book of Nehemiah...that is where my devotionals are right now and I almost don't want to stop reading once I get started. God laid it upon Nehemiah's heart to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and gates of the city so that the city of David would not be a reproach. Once it became known what his business was there, some people mocked and scorned him and did everything they could to prevent him from doing what God had laid upon his heart to do. Nehemiah didn't let their actions or their words prevent him from being obedient to God. The Bible tells me that there is "nothing new under the sun" and as I read the book of Nehemiah, I am reminded of that fact. God will lay things upon our hearts to do for Him and when others find out what our business is, they mock and scorn us and fight against us, even to the point of telling us that we don't know what God's will is. Will we become discouraged by their words and actions or will we be like Nehemiah...obedient to what we KNOW God is asking of us? Words hurt, we second-guess ourselves, but if we truly recognize the voice of the Father...then we can, with confidence, be about His business and know that He will give us the strength and the grace to fulfill His will. That is exciting to me, how about you?

I do realize that I sort of left you hanging with the last post titled, "Day 1" of our 21-day fast. I had intended upon sharing what God was showing me each day...but...got side-tracked and never got back to it. I can report that God blessed each one of us that participated in the prayer and fasting. It seems that we have a clear focus, as well as direction. We are able to recognize when the enemy is coming against us quicker which makes it easier to combat his attacks. While we don't have all the answers to all the prayers that were prayed, we do have a peace that God is working all things out for our good and when all is said and done, He will receive all the glory and honor for the progression of the work here. We are all just vessels for His use and are willing to be used as He sees fit.

The first week of March, Sister Jessica Stanley will be moving here from Virginia. We are excited and looking forward to having her help with the work here. We have also found a building with an acre of property for $129K which is a steal in OKC. The building is in good shape, with old, but well kept carpet, beautiful pews, altars and pulpit and lots of potential for adding on as needed. It is less than a minute from I-35 with a neighborhood of houses to the west and apartment complexes to the east...a lot of outreach potential. We have sent letters out to all of our churches in our region asking each member/church to prayerfully consider donating to our building fund as God will lead them. Some are simply hoping for enough to come in to cover a good down payment of approximately $20K...but I serve a BIG GOD and $129K is nothing in comparison to how He blessed David and Solomon...I am trusting God to provide all of it and then some to cover all the minor improvements that need to be made and all the initial costs involved. Am I being presumptuous in expecting God to provide it all and then some? I don't think so. My God spoke the worlds into existence...He is THAT BIG! Why shouldn't my faith, in Him, be THAT BIG? It is in knowing that what I am asking is an impossibility in the eyes of man, that makes God's answer so great and causes Him to truly receive the glory and honor. With man, it is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible! If we can't believe God for BIG things, then what is the point of believing Him for the piddly things? That may seem a little warped, but let me share one of my biggest struggles...I've never had a problem trusting God for the BIG, impossible things...it has always been the piddly things that have tripped me up (mainly because I just didn't want to bother God with something I thought I could handle myself) until one day I realized that He IS faithful in the BIG things and He is even MORE faithful in the piddly things...most people struggle with that in the other direction, they trust God for the little bitty things but can't seem to trust Him with the huge things. So...I have come to the conclusion that regardless of the size of the need...I need to trust Him in a huge way...He will bless us over and above what we can imagine and I have a HUGE imagination...so I trust Him to do what He has promised.

Right after we arrived in OKC...an anonymous donor felt led to start out our building fund with a donation of $200.00. We also had donors, who are not affiliated with The Church of God, who committed to sending a set amount each month to help get the work going through December 2009. God has truly blessed us with people who are listening to His voice and are being obedient. We are thankful for them and we are praising God for His provision. While we were at District Convention this past weekend...the Churches from Broken Arrow and West Tulsa, provided lunch for all who attended, for a donation and all the money donated was given to us for our building fund. It was a very pleasant surprise for us and we are truly grateful for all those who so generously gave. With human eyes, it seems that it is all moving too slowly, but...we are determined to follow God and wait for His timing rather than trying to lead Him and move too quickly. We are also doing a candybar fundraiser. We expect the shipment to arrive on Monday, 15 February. We will be selling assorted candybars from World's Finest Chocolate, for $2 each.

God is also moving upon our hearts to be givers, not just receivers. We have a ministry within our Church called "Helping Hands" and it is to send funds to specific countries for specific needs. This is one of those areas that God has given us direction, letting us know of two specific areas and needs that He wants us, as a church, to give to. Our General Missions Coordinator decided to forego the annual missions calendar with requests for prayer for different countries each month and decided to ask specific regions within the U.S. to pray for specific countries for the entire year. A week after our church agreed upon the countries and needs to pray and support, I found out the countries that our region had been asked to pray for in 2010. I was so excited because the two countries our region had been assigned were the two countries that God had laid upon our hearts. I love confirmations like that! I know that we are a small, new work with limited funds, but we cannot expect God to bless us financially and to meet our needs if we tie up our purse strings and refuse to help others who are also in need. I am so grateful for the men of our local congregation, who take the business of the Church seriously enough to pray and get God's mind on the decisions that we have to make and aren't willing to lean on their own understanding or what "appears" to make sense" or what seems to be the easiest, least costly way. Too many decisions have been made because it "seems to be God laying the answer" at our feet, without any real effort on our part, only to have it backfire later on. I would much rather have our men pray about every jot and tittle than to lean on their own ideas, opinions and human understanding. This is God's work...once again...we are just vessels for Him to work through...we absolutely need His leading in all that we do.

Please be in prayer for us as we seek to raise the funds for purchasing a property, whether it is this one, or another. Also, pray for the work here...we had a young man (11 years old) attend our October Youth outreach and since December, his mom, sister and sister's boyfriend have been coming with him. God is bringing new faces into our midst and we want to be a blessing to them and see them grow in Him. I think that pretty much brings you up to speed on what is happening in OKC. God be with you and keep you...

Until next post...

Day 1

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing (forgiving) their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

Like you, I've read these scriptures many times, but this morning it clicked...God has given us the ministry of reconciliation...what does it mean to reconcile? The 1935 Webster's dictionary says that it means to cause to be friendly again; restore harmony; reunite. Scripturally, it means to bring back into a right relationship with God. We were born as enemies to God because of the sin of Adam, but through the blood of Christ, we can be reconciled to a right relationship with God and once we have been reunited with Him, we become ambassadors of Christ, reaching out to others to see them reconciled and forgiven.

It is so exciting when God opens up my understanding to what His Word is saying and shows me how to apply it to my life. I trust He is doing the same for you.

New Year...

So...how do you start out your new year? Do you make resolutions that you may or may not keep? Do you set goals for yourself? Normally, I just go with the flow...whatever happens, happens. This year is a bit different for us...following a year of big changes and life threatening events and the first week of the new year starting out with serious problems and death...most all of our congregation is feeling the need to do some serious fasting and praying. Starting tomorrow, we will be embarking on a 21-day fast together as a church. If you read in Daniel, chapters 1 and 10, you will find that Daniel did a 21-day fast where he drank water and ate fruits, vegetables and nuts and refused meats and breads. There are a few of us, who will be starting the "Daniel fast" with a complete fast, meaning no food...and the rest of us will do just the "Daniel fast". The reason we are doing this is to find God's will for this congregation, for this year, to know what He would have us focus on; we need workers who are committed to reaching the lost for Christ; we need finances to do whatever He leads us to do; we need the health to keep going, we have some serious health issues among our congregation and we need healing for those issues; we also want to see souls saved this year and added to the Church as God leads them and then we have our own personal things that we need God's direction on. I prayed in the New Year, but don't feel that I have the direction that I need for this year...so this first month of the new year is a good time to find out what God wants of me and for me. I'm looking forward to seeing how God directs this congregation and the work here in the city. We've had others, from other parts of the country, choose to join us in fasting and if you want, please join as well.

Now...some have asked that I post some pictures from Christmas, so I'll add some from the night the Church went to see the Christmas lights in Chickasha.

The tunnel of lights... front row, Pastor Ray and angel baby, Lilli; back row, Nick, Sherry, Sheyanne, Samantha, Darren, Larissa, Jeremy and Heather.

We are missing Amy, Madison, Emma, Kaylee, Lydia, Kim and Ethan because they

didn't get the memo that we were walking through the park rather than driving, so they were somewhere in the nice, warm van while the rest of us were shivering and laughing at the craziness of being out in the cold.

I'll have to add more pictures later...blogger is uploading rather slowly and I have other things that must be done.

Sister Tammi

Just a thought...

What is it that keeps you going to church, serving God, doing what is right? Throughout my life, I have heard many excuses why people stop going to church, why they stop serving God and ultimately, stop doing what is right. The vast majority of the excuses have to do with others..."the church is full of hypocrites!"..."they hurt me really bad!"..."the leadership isn't handling things the way I think they ought to!"...etc...

I realized a few years ago, when it seemed like hurt after hurt was heaped upon more hurt, that I couldn't serve God or attend church or do what is right based on what others did. There were moments when it seemed the pain would never end and that my heart would be ripped out of my chest. There were those who were going through the motions, talking the talk, but most definitely NOT walking the walk who were criticizing me. Friends turned their back and walked away and it was in those moments that I realized that the only way to continue serving God and attending church was for me to keep my eyes upon HIM...to do what I KNEW was right. I learned in those moments that I could either keep my eyes on Him and walk on water or I could be like Peter and look at the waves swelling around me and sink every time. I have to trust what God has shown me in His Word and revealed to my heart. I have to hold on to that in order to walk on water...

So...what will you choose to do in this new year? Focus on Christ and walk on water or focus on people and sink? I pray that you will choose to focus on Christ and find the joy and peace that comes from walking with and serving the One who chose to give His life so that we might have everlasting life.

Merry Christmas!

Sister Tammi

Way behind....

We've been busy since the last post. I'll apologize now for living in slothsville and not updating as I should have. You know that I've fallen behind when my mother-in-law asks if I'm going to shut the blog down. :o) I will admit...with the new website up and running, the thought had crossed my mind...but...it just isn't as personal as a blog...so I'll do my best to post more often for those who are wanting to keep up with what is happening here.

In the last post, we had a not so pleasant experience at the shelter. However, the very next trip...we met a young woman, with five children and one on the way, who had gotten out of an abusive relationship. Her only wish was to find some place safe for her children to lay their heads at night. One of our congregation, knew of some places where she might qualify for housing and gave this woman her phone number, telling her to call the next day and she would take her to these places and get her name on the list. Sister Sherry did take her around the next day and just last week, got a message from her, letting us know that she was thinking of us. We haven't seen her and her children at the mission, so the natural assumption is that she has found a place to live. We have had several trips to the mission since then and have been blessed to talk to those that we have served, to find out what their story is and how they got to the place they are presently in. On our last trip, we met a young lady, who has become disillusioned with the way the world is and decided that she wanted to try to make a difference, so she came down to the mission to help. You could tell it was her first time, there is a look of uncomfortableness on one's face the first time they come to help. Brother Adams and I both had the opportunity to speak with her. We gave her one of our cards and invited her to church. From the conversation, I didn't get the impression that church attendance was a part of her life, but I am praying that if she continues to help out at the mission, the more she gets to know us, the more impressed she will be to join us in service. I think that all us of had a picture in our minds of how we were going to go BE a blessing to those unfortunate souls at the mission...it only took us a few moments, during the first trip, to realize how blessed WE were by being there. We were also thrilled to have Sister Jessica, from Virginia, join us for one trip to the mission. She was very nervous, having never done anything like this before, but by the time we left, that nervous expression was replaced by a look of wonder and a desire to reach out to people like she never had before.

Every Tuesday evening, in October, Brother Rob had a youth service entitled, "What's In Your Backpack." The first night, we had four young people, 1 regular and 3 visitors. Brother Rob challenged those four to do all they could to have 20 people there by the last service. They had 17 for the final service...we allowed them to count Brother Robs 3 oldest daughters to make their 20. Brother Rob started them out with a game...then we served supper...chili dogs, chili, pizza, cookies, ice cream sundaes...not all on the same night, I think they even had nachos one night. After they had played and eaten...then they all went into the sanctuary to watch a short video and Brother Rob talked to them about the topic of the night. The last two services, they were all in the altar, shedding tears and revealing their hearts...it was an awesome session. You know how you do VBS and youth events and then once it is over, all those visitors never darken the doorstep again? Well...the first three visitors that came that first night...are still coming. Brother Rob has a heart for the youth and the youth felt that love. He did an awesome job conducting this youth event. We are also thankful to Sister Amy for planning and preparing the food and to Sister Sherry, who crammed as many kids into her vehicle as she could and made sure to find extra vehicles for those she couldn't cram into her's.

In November, all but 3 of our congregation, attended Family Retreat. Four of the visiting youths from the Backpack series, attended the retreat and one received salvation while there. We also had one saved during service the Sunday prior to the retreat.

Everyone, in our local church has been hit with this virus that is going around, but God has been so good and gracious to touch us and give us strength and the ability to continue doing what He has called us to do. He has blessed us all so much and we are very grateful for His leading. We are excited to see what 2010 holds for The Church of God in Oklahoma City.

We pray that you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, that you feel the peace that only He can give and that you will share the blessing of knowing Him with all you come in contact with now and always. Have a safe and blessed Merry Christmas!