Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Putting up our "memories" tree brought to mind our trip to Los Angeles in January of this year. We had the privilege to spend time with Bro. and Sis. Bernard Elms and take a tour of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA.

Ronald Reagan has been a favorite of ours for a long time, but being able to go through the Library, read the quotes of what he believed and see where he came from, has increased our admiration. He was so kind, gentle and yet strong. He truly lived the American dream and created the atmosphere for so many of us to get a chance on the dream as well. The library has so many things to see....

He and Nancy sat in this very booth when he proposed to her.

All of the campaign memorabilia was a sight to behold!

Air Force 1 was flown to Los Angeles, disassembled and trucked in pieces to the Library. Boeing employees then reassembled the plane on pedestals before the glass wall was put in place. It looks as if the plane could just fly out over the valley. You actually get to tour the plane, but cannot take pictures inside. This was a 727 and the current Air Force 1 is a 747.

Marine 1 is also inside the library. Of course, it is not big enough to tour, but is cool to see up-close.

President Reagan's limousine is on display. It is a 1984 Cadillac - state of the art when the Secret Service had it built for presidential transport. President Reagan was the first to use this vehicle beginning with a celebration of his 73rd birthday in his hometown of Dixon, Illinois.

The Oval Office is an exact replica of his office during his presidency.

If you remember all the news coverage of President Reagan's funeral, you will remember them having a ceremony at this Presidential Library as he was laid to rest.

The scenery is spectacular. President Reagan was one who always believed that the future was bright and the view from his final resting place reflects that outlook.

Our 'Memories' Tree

Karla and I started a 'Memories' Christmas tree when we got married. In fact, our very first ornament was purchased in Hawaii on our Honeymoon.

It says, "Happily Maui'ed". That's exactly what we still are!


Each year, when we visit somewhere different, we pick out an ornament to remember that moment. Our boys have been a part of the process as they came along. So, tonight was the night that we pulled all of them out and put them on the tree.










We all gathered around and remembered each trip, each milestone, and the cute Christmas stuff they created throughout their childhood. It even brought to mind the many friends that have given us ornaments through the years.



The ornament on the right is from Monterey, California. We enjoyed going there this August when we attended Danelle Hurst Silveira's wedding (our niece). All four of us got to go! We rented a convertible and drove the 17 Mile Drive. WOW! It was beautiful. We enjoyed the company of Wendell & Linda Elms and Nathan & Ronda Hurst.

The ornament on the left, that you cannot see completely, is from the Gaylord Texas Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. I had the opportunity to speak at the Thrive College and Career Conference for two years. It was held at this magnificent place. It is really a place to remember. It is much like the Opryland Hotel, but it has the San Antonio Riverwalk recreated in it's atrium. The whole family was able to attend with me!

We drove through Crawford, Texas on one of our many trips to and from Austin this summer before moving. Of course, we wanted to catch a glimpse of the "Western White House" where President Bush lives while in Texas. We didn't get to see much except guards and gates! But it was neat to see where it was. We picked up this ornament to remember the stop.

We made a trip to DisneyWorld and Epcot in 2000. Cameron was 9 and Chad was 6. Cameron's birthday was actually while we were on the trip and so he had a special reserved dinner with the Disney characters! We rented a house for $100 a night that was brand new. It had 4 bedrooms, washer & dryer and a screened-in pool. It was just about 5 minutes from the theme parks. It was great! See-- the memories just keep adding up!

Here are the boy's "First Christmas" ornaments. The top one is Cameron's and the bottom one is Chad's. They have been so much fun at Christmas!

Here are hand-made ornaments that the boys constructed at some point along the way. They look so little! Time has a way of changing them - but they are still great!

I have a special one from this year that I will share in another post. It is from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. We were able to tour it in January of this year.

Oh....one more picture from tonight! Cookie just had to get in on the fun!

Being in HIS presence!

What an awesome day today. This morning, Gene preached about taking time in God's presence. It was an awesome message and God moved in a sweet and powerful way.

Tonight we had the opportunity to take that time in the presence of God. There was such an overwhelming presence in the service at the "mother" church. During the praise and worship time, God moved in as the praise group sang "We worship You in the spirit. We worship You in the truth." Then the song goes on to say, "We worship You, worship You. We worship You, worship You." They sang this over and over as the crowd was lost in His presence. Then they began to sing, "You have turned my mourning into dancing." The crowd began to worship God in the dance as victories were won across the congregation. I looked across the auditorium and noticed our boys jumping and worshipping - there's no feeling like watching your children blessed in His presence.

Just before Bro. Bernard was to preach, Sis. Bernard sang "He looked beyond my fault and saw my need." It was beautiful and again the spirit of God flooded the place and tongues and intrepretation went forth. Bro. Bernard exhorted the crowd during this time, but never actually got to his "message". The altar service progressed and during that time, Bro. Bernard prayed for Gene and I specifically for revival in Pflugerville. It was AWESOME!

After service, a lady who had prayed for me earlier in the altar service confirmed some things that God had spoken to us almost 18 years ago. God is just so awesome to find us wherever we are and let us know we are always in His sight.

A Great Thanksgiving

Here are some pictures of the great time we had with family.

I mentioned earlier those who were here for Thanksgiving Day, but we also had the privilege of visiting with our nephew, Nathaniel, here on Friday evening. He is Ronda and Nathan Hurst's son and the youth pastor at The Pentecostal Church in Hollister, CA. We got to visit for a few hours and enjoyed our time together.

We took everyone to our church and had a jam session! It just always seems to happen with our family!

Everyone is gone now, but we are looking forward to a great service in the morning.

You post me, I'll post you!

If you are interested in watching churches grow, here is a blog where you can track the progress of Don Ryan's congregation, Christian Life Center of Minerva Ohio. He just made a post about us on his blog and I have linked his site on my blog. It is amazing the parallels between his family's journey this past year and ours. It is almost unreal. We met at the Children's Ministry Convention in 2005. At lunch, we discovered that we were both seeking the Will of God for where we were to pastor. He is the Sunday School Director for the Ohio UPCI District. Close to a year after we talked in St. Louis, MO, he was voted in as pastor and just a few weeks later we were selected to come to Austin! It has been exciting to read about the progress they are making in Minerva, Ohio and all the feelings that he and his family faced in the process! I am so happy that they had 3 get the Holy Ghost this past weekend!! It is awesome. Why not go over and keep up with the progress for yourself. I know you will enjoy his updates.

Indulge Me, Please!!

I wasn't going to do this again - but they were awesome today!!! Along with Tony Romo (9), Marion Barber (24) and Roy Williams (31) played some awesome football today!! Just had to give a shout out to da'Boys!!

Thanksgiving Humor

Thought you might enjoy a laugh! The first little guy probably really got in trouble when he got home. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the best holiday ever. Friends and family come together to remember the blessings that God has given us, enjoy each other's company and eat wonderful food. You do not spend weeks building up to it like Christmas. It is just a simple, quiet holiday with no great expectations. You do not have to be concerned that you are giving enough or too much. The marketing teams are not screaming at you to gain your attention and money. This holiday is something to be thankful for.

We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving service with our church family on Tuesday night. It was great! We sang, had a small reminder about being thankful in all things and each shared one thing we were thankful for this year. We spent a few minutes in the sweet Presence of the Lord and expressed our gratitude! Sis. Crawford had made chocolate-chip cookies and we brought milk for a little time of fellowship before the holiday. We are thankful for the sweet people that God has called us to lead.

Following service, Jonathan (nephew), Brenda, Savanna, and Scarlet drove in from Ranger, Texas where they pastor. We stayed up until 4am talking and then slept a little late. On Wednesday, we visited the new IKEA store here near our house. It is HUGE! That was fun, but we ended finding the shortcuts to get out of the store. We got tired and wanted out! Wendell and Linda Elms (Karla's sister) drove in around 4pm. We enjoyed grilling hamburgers and getting the dinner ready for tomorrow. Karla is cooking up a storm! We have laughed and enjoyed each other's company. The little girls have fallen in love with our Schnauzer— Cookie. The girls are asleep and so is Cookie! I talked with Dad on the phone as Mom was getting food ready to take to her sister's (Linda Bowen) house in Springtown, TX on Thanksgiving. I talked with Ronda Hurst (Karla's sister) as she was delivering a Coconut Cream Pie to the Shoemake's in San Jose, CA. Too bad she is so far away— I'd be asking for a piece! We are thankful for a wonderful family to spend time with, talk to and know that you are loved.

I actually had to prepare the turkey for cooking! Talk about a scream. I did not know the awful things that come inside that mushy bird! This was something that Bro. Layne (Karla's dad) always did when no one else was around. I didn't have the sense to do that! Pray that it turns out OK!

God has truly blessed us. Our life is full. Full of all the greatest things that life can offer! May you have a blessed Thanksgiving. Make sure to thank the One who makes it all possible.

COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For all of you that know me very well you know today was a great day!! The 5-4 Dallas Cowboys beat the 9-0 Indianapolis Colts making their current standings: Cowboys 6-4, Colts 9-1!!! The final score: 21-14. All I have to say is what took Jerry Jones and Bill Parcels so long to finally put Tony Romo in?

Hope you don't mind a little indulgence from a 28-year fan (could it possibly be that long?). Looks like we're in for a great ride the rest of this season. GO COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!

Another Guess Who...

WOOHOO!

The first-time guest that we had Sunday was back tonight! I found out that he came because we invited him during one of our Outreach Days! That's cool and quite a boost to our people who have been participating on these Saturdays.

Also, we had two more walk in during worship - a man and a woman.

We had a great move of God tonight... Mom and Dad came in to take care of the boys while we attend the New Life Church Leadership Retreat. We took a picture of our family in front of our church after service. The mother church is wanting to post our picture on a new Daughter-work bulletin board.

'Twas the Night of Thanksgiving

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep,
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.
The leftovers beckoned - the dark meat and white,
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning in anticipation,
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
So I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and gazed at the fridge full of goodies galore.

I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
'Till all of a sudden I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling floating into the sky,
With a mouthful of pudding and handful of pie.

But I managed to yell as I soared past the trees,
Happy eating to all, pass the cranberries please.

May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious,
May your pies take the prize,
May your Thanksgiving Dinner stay off of your thighs!

Weekend Recap

We had a good time this weekend! Saturday was another outreach day here in Pflugerville. We had 8 people knocking doors. We covered well over 100 houses and talked to a number of the residents. The Robertsons had a lot of interest and really enjoyed themselves this time. They were scared to death the first Saturday we went in September! I actually told an older lady, "We have a new Pentecostal church here in Wichita....oops, Pflugerville!" It just slipped out!! The lady laughed with Jake and me! It was funny.

I have Bro. Jarrid Younkin teaching our Sunday School class for the next 5 weeks or so. He did an awesome job this week. He has studied a lot in the Old Testament and he is teaching our new ones about it. They are not familiar at all with the books of the Bible. We are also singing a trio with his wife, Kendra, this coming Sunday for a little variety.

We had another first-time visitor this weekend. Karla sang "Because God's Good" and I preached on "The Real You."

We enjoyed talking to Jason and Julie, one of our "kids" from Wichita Falls, about how he asked her to marry him this past Saturday. They make an awesome team! Our prayers are with them as they seek God's will for their life together.

We now can talk to my mom and dad on our computers and see each other! It is one of those things that was science fiction when I was a kid. It is cool.

Can you believe how the year has flown? As I write, Christmas music is playing while my wife works on the other computer!!! Time is marching on. Don't let it get away from you.

Guess Who?

Thought you might want to see a good photo of one of our most favorite persons in the world - who is getting married as of tonight!!! Can you guess who?

A Pittance of Time

This video really brings to mind the great sacrifice that many have made to bring freedom to our nation. The fight still goes on. May we take at least two minutes to remember...it's A Pittance of Time. God bless our veterans.

Cameron makes the paper

This week's Hendrickson High School Newspaper included the picture above. One of Cameron's friends circled his head before he got the paper home, but you can tell it is him. Our boys both have straight A's right now and are enjoying school! Thank the Lord. School doesn't start until 8:30am and it's great! They are in session until 3:45pm, but we are all glad for the later start.

Karla is working on her second work project this week. She is transcribing for a law office here in Austin. She is working at home, which is nice. The two projects she has done are one-on-one interviews and the boss on the recordings is from Boston. He talks very fast and wierd! So she has been a little stressed to make sure she transcribes it right. The first one, a 2 hour interview, took 16 hours to transcribe! She only charged for 11 hours because she is just starting out. They told her that she did excellent work and then called her back again this week!

I am hanging new blinds in the church windows tomorrow and putting a fresh coat of paint on the outside. I spent several hours today getting my speeding ticket, from the first week we were here, taken off my record! I had taken the Defensive Driving Course online over the past few weeks. I heard the wonderful words - "Your ticket has been dismissed."

We had a wonderful time in Wichita Falls on Sunday and Monday. We left immediately after church Sunday morning and drove the 5 hours to see friends and family. It was great! They had Fellowship Sunday (Morning service and dinner on the grounds)and many of them stayed or came back to see us on Sunday evening when we got there. You can see pictures here and here! We didn't take any - we just visited. We enjoyed seeing Keith and Carla Clark (my cousin) who pastor in Quitman, TX. They had come to visit also. We stayed at Mom and Dad's house for the first time as out-of-town guests. Church, family and friends...you can't get any better.

We have outreach again this Saturday at 10am! Planting more seed..watering..and God WILL give the increase. The saints of our church have great faith that God is working in Pflugerville. All in His own time.

Harvest Fellowship

We had a great time at our Harvest Fellowship last night! We had tons of laughs! I have not laughed like that since we moved here. Two of the older ladies got lost in our neighborhood. I found them and led them back to our house. We played Catch Phrase and had a blast! Everyone played, even if they said they didn't want to, and were glad that they did when it was all said and done.

Every regular attendee of our church was there, except one couple who had a death in their extended family. We even had two visitors. Patricia and her 12-year-old daughter, Jazmin, joined us and had a great time. They also had attended the Sectional Ladies Service that Karla and the ladies went to several weeks ago. We had so much food - but it was great! The church family is really starting to bond.

We have always had activities at our house and it felt so good to host this great group of people. They range in age a LITTLE more than what REALife or LIFEalive did, but that didn't matter. We all enjoyed each other's company.

The first picture is some of the ladies around the dining table. From the left going around the table, it is Faye Ihlenfeldt (Island-felt), Sheree Robertson, Rhonda Cloud, Jazmin, Patricia, Jennifer Crawford, and Ruth Jackson in front. My wife is behind the camera.


The second picture is the men holding up the walls! The man on the right is Brantley Robertson. For those from Wichita Falls, he is Lori Maxwell's brother! His family has been a great blessing. The man on the left is Bro. Crawford. God is moving in his family, as I posted earlier.


The third picture is our son, Cameron and Josh Robertson upstairs watching a Victor Wooten Bass Instruction video.








The fourth picture is Justin Robertson, our son - Chad, and Jake Robertson out in the garage taking a break from basketball, etc.








The fifth picture is Eliana Younkin being fascinated by Cookie. She is so cute. We don't have a picture of her parents, Jarrid and Kendra, but they were there.

We're making wonderful memories and are looking forward to more great times together.

Come on - look around!!

Life finds you in a lot of places that you never dreamed you would be. You are so busy trying to hang on that you forget the scenery that is all around you. Looking at this picture made me think about this. I was enjoying the beauty of the mountain heights when I got the "heebie-jeebies" realizing that these people were walking at that height without a railing or any safety net! I doubt that they stopped to enjoy their surroundings very much - you know how looking down from a height can cause heart failure?! Much of life is spent putting one foot in front of another to survive. I am striving to forget the fear and take a good look at the beauty of life. Besides, we have an everlasting Arm under us. Deuteronomy 33:27 says "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them." Fear, did anybody say "Fear?" Why should I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? Hang on and sometime, just take in the beautiful scenery around you....

No Joking Matter

ApologizeJohnKerry.com

I normally do not comment on politics, but this is ridiculous. I understand that Kerry has said that he is sorry that his statement was misrepresented and that this was a joke, but this was no joking matter. I do not see any humor in his remarks. Don't forget to vote next week.