Summer is here!

Yes, summer is here in Arizona.  It has been getting close to 100 degrees which if you have  lived here for awhile doesn't feel so bad. I am heading into my 5th year here so I have become accustomed to higher temps.  It is when we are consistently get over 110 and the nights only cool off to upper 90s that it gets difficult to have any kind of relief other than inside in the air conditioning.  The other ways to cool off is to go about an hour north or east and it will drop about 20 degrees. Which is really nice.  I have been trying to give our new young couples advice on how to keep from getting sick but sometimes the way people learn is the hard way.  :)  You have to drink water constantly especially when you first get here. I'm talking about caring water around with you or you get dehydrated and sick. Also for some reason Vitamin D deficiencies are terrible around here. I've been told it is because of not being able to be in the sun enough cause of the high temps and also I have been told that the way the suns rays slant here and because of the blanket of dust etc particles because of no rain we can't get the needed rays to our skin so it can process it.  My son Adam and a few others have had this problem so something is different here.   I had both problems when I came here and because my thyroid is messed up I have a hard time with the Vitamin D deficiency consistently.  But through prayer and good diet I am able to feel good and keep it balanced. :)  I am feeling very sorry right now for our Alaska couple especially Brother Isaiah.  I think his system is going to be in shock for awhile.  That Eskimo blood is not use to these high temps. Caitlin and D.J. have arrived  and settling in.  We have had so much growth lately we are going to have to find a bigger place to worship.  Very thankful for all that have moved here and pray they learn to love Arizona (even with the hot temps). 

We just had a youth revival with Bro. Stephen Wantulok.  It was wonderful and he was a real blessing to my family and the church.  He is on fire for God and loves the church and he shared that spark and enthusiasm with us. I saw immediate results in our people after he left.  Each person excited and wanting to be busy for God and his church. :)  I have a few pictures to upload.

 Bro. Stephen Wantulok, Sara Peter and kids singing and acting out "I've got peace like a river"."Brother Stephen has it in his sole I mean soul. Ha!

 Mother's Day fellowship with some of the church membership. Sara being Sara. Ha!

 My grand daughter Hanna praying for the offering during one of our services.

 Easter! Sister Sara had fun with the kids teaching them a fun new way to dye eggs. Very messy.

 Adam and Jen on the same day we colored those eggs. We also had a mail outreach that morning at the house with those that could make it out.

 Our youth minus Caitline and D.J. Letcher they were on their way

 Sara Clifton singing and playing guitar at the youth convention.

 Sister Karla Gutierrez getting to do a little interpreting at convention Sister Jamey Hays and daughter at youth convention in Hatch, NM. VLB march below at youth convention.

How do things just disappear? Did it grow legs and walk out of here. I know I put it in my desk drawer. No, it must be one of those two legged people carried it off somewhere.  Still looking for my connector to my phone to upload pictures. 

What has happened since my last post?  Sara and I went on a 4 mile hike up Pinnacle Peak.  Yes, this is the one that supposedly the Washburns hiked but let me tell you I found out they did not hike the whole trail. On the other hand, I kept telling myself, if she could do it, I certainly could do it  I was huffing and puffing and stopping for breath. I thought my heart was going to come out of my chest or I was going to have a heart attack on that trail.  I realized there was no way Sister Tammy would do this. Ha! I confirmed with her that they did not.  It was the  hardest trail I have ever done. And although I'm older I have done some pretty good hikes in my day.   People were asking me along the way if I was ok.  Sara was so embarrassed. Kept telling me mom stand up. Ha! Ha!  I wasn't embarrased at all.  I figure I was doing this trail for enjoyment to see the sites and anyway what was the hurry.  The funny part was they asked me on the way up the trail. They should have seen me on the way back.  They would have called for an ambulance.  That trail was steep and more ups than downs I fear. Anyway I made it and was pretty excited.

I kept telling myself you need to get in shape if your going to Israel again.  Last time Amos took us through an underground tunnel. I think we walked about 5 miles that day and this tunnel was up and up and very tight surroundings.  I sent off our applications and deposit. Trusting Jimmie will be back in time.  He did tell me last week that it looks like he will be back in November.  I hope that holds true.

 Getting ready for Youth Convention coming up.  I will be on program again to preach.  I sometimes wonder why they want an old lady like me to preach at their convention but feel blessed they ask. :)  We are getting ready to have a youth revival here May 3-10 with Stephen Wantulok.  We have had so many young couples move here lately I am glad we are having one now.  I had discussed it with Bro. Stephen back at assembly.  Saw him in a restaurant and he began to speak with me.  I had been looking for someone for a youth revival but each one I would think of even though they were good candidates I didn't feel God telling me they were the one now.  As I spoke to him the Lord told me to ask him to come. He said yes immediately and was so polite and eager. He was willing to pay his own way which is a big blessing to a small church. Maybe I shouldn't speak of finances and I know he doesn't want the praise but it is a blessing when you have a church way out west to have someone come and be willing to pay for his expenses and take time off of their job, use their vacation, etc.   I know he will be a blessing to us and I hope that we can be a blessing to him.

God bless. Have a wonderful Palm Sunday and Resurrection Day.  :)

Beautiful tulips

I am so disappointed that I can't seem to find my cable to load a few pictures and old videos but I guess I'll have to keep looking. Maybe next time.

 Last week on Monday morning I flew out  with Adam  to WA to pickup my husbands truck and drive it to Arizona.  This was a last minute decision. In fact, Sunday night at dinner with our church folks Jimmie decides to ask me if I would be willing and then give the look like don't you want to see me for at least one more day before I leave for Afghanistan. :0(  How could I refuse. Adam and I came in late Monday night and left on Wednesday afternoon.  I was so proud of myself, I drove the first 5-6 hours and he drove 12 through the night cause he works nights and can do that kind of thing. I drove the last 6 into Phoenix Thursday morning. It was a long drive but these are the times that I can tell God has really healed my body cause I didn't feel terribly tired or in pain. I  have been eating differently for the past year and I believe God led me to make these changes and plan to keep it up. I have much more energy to go with that healing he did on me. :)

When I got home I slept good Thursday night got up early Friday morning like usual and began to get my sermon prepared and work on other things that needed my attention around here like groceries.  That evening was Joshua's birthday party so I headed to Adams and Jennifer's and got to see some of our church folks again.  Sunday of course we headed to pick up our church members and off to church we went. God was good to us and we had a wonderful service.  Holy Ghost really blessed and many were at the altar and at their seats seeking the Lord.  Always a good Sunday when that happens.

This past week the Washburn's daughter and son-inlaw came.  We also had Brother Everyll who was on the trip to Israel visiting his grand daughter here .  So come Wednesday night we had a good house full for CPMA service.   As you can see my life is not as exciting as some  but it is a busy one and a very blessed one.  Happy Anniversary to my husband Jimmie who isn't here with me to celebrate but did send me the most beautiful tulips cause he knows they are my favorite.  Love that guy so much. Think I will keep him. :)

Blessings Part 2

Hello, yes it has been 9 months and will not make any promises I will be better. I could tell you how busy I am here but that would be an excuse that would not work so well when I know people who are as busy as me and still they find time to post. I just felt an urge to try and share some of the blessings here in the Phoenix church and in my family along with some prayer request.  In my last post we were excited about the Washburn's coming to Phoenix.  They have been settling in nicely and we are thankful to have them here.  In the past few months we have welcomed two new couples who have either moved to Phoenix or in the process.  Sara and Isaiah Peter are here.  Isaiah actually arrived a couple months after Sara because she had started culinary school  but he came in Wednesday night and we are excited for them both.  Also we have Caitlin and D.J. Letcher trying to make there way here by April sometime.  They came and visited again for a couple weeks and God opened up the door for Caitlin to get a job. Please pray that there house sells back in KY so that they can get moved quickly. Our little church has been enjoying the blessings and presence of the Lord in our services and we are excited about the outreach to the community here also.

 Bro. Jimmie is headed to Afghanistan in just a short while and desire you pray for him while he is away.  We are not sure how long he will be gone for.  We had hoped since we have been saving for another trip to Israel he would be home in time but it might not be the case. As wonderful as the trip would be I am still on the fence as to going without him and bringing Adam or Sara if they could get that much time off.

We had a wonderful district convention last weekend. It was on loving one another.   Every message, boost and song were so good and you could feel the Holy Ghost drawing us closer to Him and each other.  At our home church I had actually preached 2 Sundays on this very subject and then got the schedule and saw what the theme was and the themes scripture given to this pastor. He had all the pastors in the region on to preach plus our regional overseer Jonathan Smith and Mexico national overseer Bro. Bañuelos I was very excited to get there and hear and I wasn't disappointed. 

Next month we have our youth convention which will also be in Hatch, NM April 18-19th.  I have been trying to get all our VLB's there so we will have a nice bunch from Phoenix. Many are coming and excited to go.   We have our youth emphasis that week also and our VLB leader Adam Clifton will be doing a few special things with our youth.  We also have a youth revival coming up the first week of May with Stephen Wantulok scheduled. Going to get these youth zealed up and turn them loose on the Phoenix area.  Excited for what God is going to do in them and through them.

I also would like you to pray for my son and daughter in law.  She has had several miscarrages the last one was last year and we buried our precious Ellie June 5th.  Please be in prayer because she is about 14 weeks along and due early September.

God bless,

God's Blessings

I don't even know where to begin except to give God the praise for all He is doing at our Phoenix Valley church.  We are grateful and thankful for the Washburns who are in the process of moving here. It was an answered prayer.  We also have been having services on Tuesday night with the Spanish community over by where our members the Guteirrez live.  We have seen 6 people get saved. With 2 being sanctified and 1 receiving the Holy Ghost in the past 3 weeks of services.  One was outside in the courtyard and then two more took place in homes in the area.  We praise God for these and hope they will continue to grow and find their way to the church.  We had a potluck this past Sunday and had 23 attend church.

Now for the personal news. :)  I guess that was the personal news. Ha!Ha! just kidding I do have a little.  I am going to be a grandma again to a beautiful grand daughter due at the beginning of October. Yeah!  3 girls 1 boy is the count and all from Adam and Jen.  They are doing wonderful and  such a blessing to the church here.  He is going to be set forth as a lay minister at Regional Convention.  Brother Clarkson thought it would be nice to do it at that time. Sara is still working hard at the Children's Museum continue to pray she is able to find a full time job with regular hours. She is working weekends and is still able to be at church because our service being at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday but this will not be the case forever.   Aaron is finishing up his semester with college and planning to attend BTI and Arkansas camp here in a couple weeks.  He is planning to return home and continue his job search for the summer.  Bro. Jimmie is still stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA and I am planning to visit him this next week. It is hard to find time when he comes here for work and when we are so busy with church work so I am attempting to go visit him.  He will still be working while I am there but he will be getting 4 days off this weekend for memorial day.  We are planning to take a trip. I believe north across the border but not sure because he won't tell me but told me to bring my passport. :)

Testimony: We have been trying to get our tax exempt status 501C3 for the local church here and I filed the Articles of Incorporation for nonprofit here last week.  In Arizona you don't get very far in fund raising or anything else without it, complicated and I won't bore you with all the details still needing done but  I got the paperwork in the mail and it said we have been approved.  The wonderful news and part of the testimony is that we were able to get the name The Church of God.  Woohoo! The lady at the filing place asked me about the name. She said did you look on line to find out if it was available. I told her I sure did and reserved the name. She said she was surprised no one had taken the name and that we were able to get it.  I told her it was no surprise for God we are The Church of God.   Anyways I got to witness a little and she was very sweet nice lady. 

God bless and will write again next month, Lord willing. :)

P.S. So good to hear from you Sister Karen. I  pray all is well with you and Alan.  I hope you know your are in my thought and prayers. We should try to talk soon. :)

Blessed

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on this site.  Wow! I'm sure nobody is checking after so long. Can't blame you. :)  So much has happened there is no way I could tell you all of it.  I am just blessed and thankful for all the wonderful services, people and family that have been in my life for the past six months or so. Including the trip of a lifetime to Israel.  I am looking forward to the Doran's visit next week and hope to take them to the Grand Canyon for the day.  I hope they enjoy there visit and get well rested while they are here.  We have had a revival in the past month and Bro. Clarkson was our evangelist. He brought his wonderful family too.  What a blessing  they were to our local church and to my family. Bro. Jimmie was able to be here for the entire week and after everyone left I definitely felt the emptiness of the house.  Well for now I will call it a night. 

Catching up?

Oh, I have been so bad at this blogging and probably won't get much better at it in the future.  Who am I kidding anyway. I have never kept a diary or even cared to spend time writing but I just keep on trying hoping I will get better.

I do have a load of stuff to tell about but  it all goes back  to IYC and assembly.  But instead I will start with the most recent because it is the freshest in my memory.  Yeah! we have a more permanent place to worship.  We move into our new office space the last weekend of October. At least that is what  we are shooting for.  We have a resting place for the 30 chairs God blessed us with that are setting in my garage.  Everyone is so excited and let me tell you God was definitely showing himself strong.  The landlord came down over $200.00 in rent and he didn't make us sign a long lease.  These are two of the things I was concerned about. Price of course and a long lease. I actually told them no twice with the offers he made because when I prayed I felt God told me he had something better in mind for us so I waited until the better come along.   I won't go into details on this public blog but if you average out 3 services per week and what we were paying for just 3-5 hrs at the Quality Inn the past 2 years. We are paying less than there and I feel good about that for the local church.

We also have welcomed the Guterriez family into our midst and they have been a real blessing to us. Sister Karla is interpreting for us and she is doing an awesome job.  We have had some beautiful services and the Holy Ghost has been moving steadily since we returned from the assembly.  We have had visitors who have come back.  We also are getting ready to have services in Scottsdale with some of the Spanish family and friends of the Guterriez. Many who need to get things worked out with God and many who were once members who we hope come back and get established in the Word.  Keep us in your prayers.  I know I need them so much.  I realize how frail and fleshly these human bodies are. Subject to sickness and tiredness.  I praise God he keeps me strong and going and I know that many of you pray for me and our church here in Phoenix.  We desire and appreciate them so much.

I am headed to Albuquerque, NM on Thursday and will be back early Sunday morning so I can preach at our local church also but will be preaching at their Mission Crusade for the 3 days.  Very excited to have been asked and can't wait to get into service and worship with the folks there.  I am praying God really move on the people who attend. Turn our eyes to the harvest Lord and as Sister Bishops theme for the year goes, "Lift Up Your Eyes And Look On the Fields For They Are White Already to Harvest." I wish I could stay longer but it is hard to leave the flock here and I will be gone for at least a couple of Sundays in November.  Ladies Retreat is coming up on Nov2nd and some of our local ladies and I are going to travel to be there and then our trip to Israel at the end of November first of December.  I am way excited about that!  Going to stop for now. We have a bible study tonight and I need to get going and get copies, etc, etc.