UPDATE

We have been so busy that neither of us have been able to blog. I attended Test Prep classes Monday and Tuesday - then took my Real Estate License Test this morning....AND PASSED! YEAH! Now I will be busy getting started.

We had a garage sale on Saturday for our church building fund and took in just over $730. We have pictures that I will post later. Our nursery started this past Sunday with 4 children in it and we had 4 new guests.

Uncle C.W. and Aunt Gloria surprised us last night and we got them setup in an RV park nearby. We visited and laughed until late last night. We are enjoying their company. They will be in service with us tonight and leave tomorrow morning for home - Rialto, California.

Last night was also our Ladies Fellowship at Springhill Restaurant with 11 ladies present.

We leave Friday to attend Keith and Carla Clark's Fifth Anniversary service in Quitman, Texas and will return home on Saturday. Gaining an hour on Saturday night will help on this trip!

Our first discipleship classes begin this Sunday night. I have 10 signed up to attend right now.

We're enjoying life.....we'll be back with more as soon as we can!

Trust God to do it.

The boys and I went to eat at a little cheap restaurant next to our previous storefront location tonight (while Karla had music practice at the Bernard's.) This cafe just happened to have a live band playing. I kept hearing a bass guitar, but did not see one. Come to find out, the keyboard player was using his left hand to play like a bass. He played a portable Hammond and Leslie speaker along with a Yamaha keyboard. He was able to keep the left hand walking and popping like a true bass. They had the keyboards, guitar, drums and bongos. It was so tight. (The guitarist, "Big Frank Gomez", is pictured below.)

Cameron leaned over to me and said, "They better not ever add a bass player, it would mess them up!" He even told the keyboardist that as we were leaving. They had a chemistry, a rhythm going as a group and adding another piece could upset the mix.

I got to thinking about that. If I wanted to start a band, I would think I couldn't start one without a bass. I would even refuse to start one unless I found that certain perfect bass player. What if they weren't to be found? It would never get off the ground!

Many times we don't do something for God because we think we have to have something more to even get started. The thing I have found is: If I will go ahead and do His work even without all the pieces in place, He will fill in the gaps. What I cannot do, He does. In fact, it is possible that we will never need that "missing" piece because it would mess up the rhythm that God has created in us.

The point? Get started. Try it. Even if you feel inadequate. If God is dealing with you about doing something, trust God to do it. He will make it possible. Quit waiting until YOU have all the pieces. You can't pull it off yourself anyway!

Matthew 19:26 (The Message)
Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

Beaumont Installation Service

This past Thursday evening, we loaded up the car and headed to Beaumont, Texas for the installation service of our nephew, Jonathan Elms, and his wife, Brenda. We had a wonderful time with family and friends, and were so glad we were able to be a part of this occasion. Jonathan & Brenda have been faithful throughout their ministry and God is truly blessing them. We are very proud of them and pray they experience GREAT revival in Beaumont.

When we arrived on Thursday, we were pleasantly surprised to find out Uncle C.W. and Aunt Gloria had shown up! It's always great to see them, and we can't wait for them to come through Pflugerville in a few weeks.

Jonathan and Brenda took us all on a tour of the church. Jonathan's office has been completely redecorated and is AWESOME!!

Uncle C.W. from Rialto, CA.

On Friday our trio met at the church at 11:30 to practice for the evening service. Cameron and Chad played bass and drums for us. That was a neat experience. Linda said, "Karla, you know you're getting old when your kids are old enough to play for our trio!!" LOL!

After practice, we all headed to Lumberton to eat at Catfish Cabin. You just can't beat good ol' Texas catfish.

Friday night was the service with singing by the choir, Bobbie Shoemake and our trio. Bro. Colegrove was the MC - he did a great job. Wendell (Jonathan's dad - for those who might not know) was the speaker that night. He spoke about the treasure of the Beaumont church to Jon & Brenda and the treasure of Jon & Brenda to the church in Beaumont. It was really good.

The service ended with the elder ministers praying for Jon & Brenda. It was a very special time.

After the service there was an incredible reception for everyone. There is no way you will be able to see the beauty in these pictures. The Apostolic Church of Beaumont understands the art of hospitality. They leave no detail unattended to and want to make sure everyone is comfortable and having a good time.

Before we headed home on Saturday we enjoyed a leisurely lunch with the Shoemakes and Linda. When I say leisurely - let's just say we were at Joe's Crab Shack for 3 or so hours!! LOL! We had a great time and enjoyed visiting with them.

I hope you don't mind the length of this post or the amount of pictures. I just knew some of you who weren't able to be there would want to see as many "details" as possible. I'm sure Linda will have more pictures as soon as she gets a chance to post!

Brand New Baby!

We are so excited! We have our first brand new baby in the Lord! We have had many backsliders come back to God and be refilled, others who are familiar with Pentecost and others who have already been baptized in Jesus Name, but needed the Holy Ghost. This is our first brand new person we won "off the street." Literally.

Sis. McClain stopped in front of this mom's house on the way to our Backyard VBS because her boys were playing in their yard. Sis. McClain asked if she could take them to our VBS and bring them back a few hours later. They came every evening that week! Then the whole family came on the following Sunday for our special VBS program and has hardly missed since. God has His ways of reaching people!?

Before service tonight, I was reminding this Backyard VBS mom about a Bible Study that we had already talked about starting with her. In the middle of talking to her, she stood up in front of me, grabbed my arm and started crying. She said,

"I have to tell you something. Last Tuesday night after the Ladies Fellowship at your house, I went home and as I was going to bed, I was thinking about the Lord. I went to sleep and woke up suddenly around 3am and I was speaking in a language I did not understand. I was dreaming about praying. It startled me, but I have not been the same since. Everything has been different!" She was sobbing by the time she got through. She said, "I didn't know how to tell you this!"

We do not have any "face" pictures of her yet! This is one of her on the first Sunday they came (VBS program). She is on the bottom far right with the little girl. She always has such a pleasant smile. Her sons are in front of the pulpit in light shirts.

It looks like she will be baptized soon - I will update you when it happens.

Another picture of her sons on that special Sunday morning.

Busy

Well, I meant to blog before now, but....it has been tremendously busy.

We had a wonderful Sunday morning with a good crowd, great worship and a time of consecration at the end. We had 1 returning guest who had tears streaming down his face all during the service. God is moving and I am so thankful. I don't know about every other pastor, but I find myself reevaluating everything we do in service from week to week. I want to make sure people are being touched and that our church is an oasis for the thirsty soul. So, I look for the signs and indicators that God is at work in our midst. It doesn't have to be a "shout-out" but we MUST have God's power in service or we are becoming a church society and not a life-changing station. Seeing a thirsty man with tears streaming down his face is a wonderful sight to me.

We had Cameron's 16th birthday party after church Sunday night at our house - with lots of friends, pizza, and cake! He did get a car, but it was one that only his little finger could fit into. You can tell when your kids are getting older, the prices of the gift wish list grow exponentially! "Wish" is the key word.

Monday, we attended the South Texas District Planning Session way out in the hill country at a Retreat Center. We just got back a little bit ago. It was fun visiting and also seeing all the things that will be happening in our district in 2008.

It has been non-stop and I don't think it will be slowing down anytime soon! We will be attending the Installation Service for Jonathan and Brenda Elms in Beaumont, Texas this coming Thursday through Saturday. Sunday morning, Bro. Steve Shubert will be ministering "Piano in Praise" for our worship service. We will be having a Fall Garage Sale the next week on October 27th. We are going to mix pfun, pfellowship, pfood and pfundraising on this great Saturday in Pflugerville!

May you each have a wonderful week.

Burnet Revival

The last two nights, Thursday and Friday, our church was privileged to go to Burnet and hold revival services. The Fowlers asked us bring our singers, musicians (instruments) and to preach. They wanted to build on the momentum of their Church-in-a-Day project that happened last weekend!

We had a great time and it was a blessing for our church to be able to give to another church start. It is about an hour from Pflugerville. We had several of our saints even drive to just be there for support. One of them, Sis. Faye, was able to get her daughter to drive her over. It is the first time the daughter has ever been in service with us and it was in a different town! It was great also to have Mom and Dad come through on their way to our house to celebrate Cameron's birthday. (We have a party after church Sunday night.)

There were people in attendance from Burnet, Llano, Lampasas, Georgetown, Hutto, Austin and Pflugerville! People came from all over to see this new sanctuary and to worship the Lord.

Have a great Sunday! May God bring brand new people into your church to experience this great life-changing message. Looking forward to great reports!

Schweet Sixteen

Clear the roads! Today is Cameron's 16th birthday!!
He has his driver's permit and can get his license on December 26th. (Because of this, he just knows that Christmas includes a car. Sorry!)

It seems like just a couple of years ago that we were at the hospital for his birth. The first few nights with him in the house was quite a change for us. Mother came to visit for a couple weeks and because of his colic, we smelled onions cooking on several different occasions! Onions? Yes. She had this concoction called, "Onion Tea," that calmed a babies' stomach and stopped his crying. The byproduct of this was the strong odor of onions in the air and the only one crying was Dad!

This year marks a true change in him. Sixteen. Cars. Girlfriend. Cell Phone. College credit class. Many things are now taking his attention, but it's all good. For the most part, he is still very respectful and considerate of his family and doing great in his school work. He is a big asset for our new church and has its best interest at heart.

We still remember your little voice as you were singing in your car seat - "I goin' to a city, dere'll be no more night....The 'tumpet's' gonna sound, I 'll be caught away....I goin' to a city someday." It is our prayer that this is always your song. It is our desire to see you make it!

Everytime we think how old he is we can hardly believe it. He is such an awesome young man, and we are extremely proud of him. God has great things planned for his life - we can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

Cameron - we love you more than words can express!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Also today, two VERY special people to us celebrate milestone birthdays: Andrew (our nephew) is 30 and his daughter, Alayna, is 5. Happy Birthday to you both - we love you SOOOOO much. (To see a picture and read a little about them go here)

Columbus Day Weekend

LOL! I just found out today that it was Columbus Day! Life around here was totally normal except for the mail. I stopped by the mailbox and then remembered that this was a holiday. Since I don't go to the bank every Monday anymore, I hardly remember these federal holidays.

Friday began early for me, as 5am is earlier than I normally rise. I headed to Burnet, Texas for Church-in-a-day. The sun was just coming up as I drove over the hillside into Burnet and it was beautiful. It is nestled in a valley of the Austin Hill Country. I took a few pictures during the day, but if you have participated in one of these, you know that there is little time to snap pictures. I was also shocked to see Bro. Foy Shahan come walking up to me. I guess I just wasn't expecting to see anyone from home in South Texas! We had a great time visiting between all the work.

They had church in their new building on Sunday and had a HUGE crowd at their first service ---- 114!!!! They normally run in the 30's-40's. They had about 10 family members visiting, but the rest were visitors from the town. We are so excited for them. They have had numerous families calling and visiting over the past few weeks. We will be with them in service Thursday and Friday night. Our singers and musicians will be doing the worship and I will be preaching. Please say a prayer for the services that the Lord will anoint everything that is done. Pastor Fowler told me to just "do the service!" I need the Lord to "do it !"

Our service Sunday morning was a great time! We had 47 in service on Sunday and the Lord was near.

Sunday night, Bro. Lloyd Squires (the King's Clown), was speaking at the Bernard's. I asked the two little guys who have been coming to church with their mom and sister since our Backyard VBS to go with us. They had a great time. Bro. Squires asked all of us to come to the altar at the end.

As we were walking to the front, the 6-year-old (above) told me, "This is a little awkward!" It was a little comical to hear such an adult statement from him. He wasn't sure what to do. (Karla took these pictures with her phone)

His 10-year-old brother (above) was touched and began to cry. He was holding on to me tightly, but then began to pray. He repented of his sins and came close to speaking in tongues. At first he told me that he was saying things he didn't understand, but then said that he was just repenting. This is all COMPLETELY new to them. But, I was so excited to see a breakthrough in this little guy.

Their mom is touched in every service and is getting closer and closer to God. She came to the ladies meeting at our house this past week and told me earlier that she is wanting to really get more involved. She is now on a church cleaning team. I love it when God begins to work in a brand-new family.

One of our other children expressed his desire Sunday night after church to be baptized! His parents will be talking it over with him and we will be reporting that soon, I'm sure.

So, there you have it - Columbus Day Weekend - that had nothing to do with Columbus Day.

"Bless you" testimony!

Just wanted to say thank you to three people who named us with the "You Make Me Smile Award." We enjoy reading many blogs and staying up with friends and family. We also enjoy sharing the great things that God is doing. It is kind of like an old fashioned ""Bless You Testimony Service!" Anyone ever participated in one of these? One person testifies and then before they sit down they "bless" someone else in the church to stand and testify. That goes on until EVERYONE in the church has testified. This was something I remember as a child. I haven't seen that done in many, many years.....thank the Lord! It took forever, especially for a little kid!!!!!

We were blessed by Christina Isom from Wichita Falls, Texas, Tena Valenti from Hollister, California, and Don Ryan of Mount Vernon, Ohio- how's that for reaching across America!

You also never know who is reading - I met Bro. Randy Nelson (I think that's right) for the first time at the Burnet Church-In-A-Day project and found out that he regularly reads our blog! ( Make a comment to me brother, if you would, and make sure I have your name right.) He was quite a worker with a great attitude!

We will bless... Jana Allard, Keith and Carla Clark, and Joseph Ouellette

And now, "Pray for us that we will make Heaven our home!" Isn't that the famous last sentence of everyone's testimony?

Submission and faith....Ruth

Can you believe that I taught a study on the book of Ruth that took 8 Wednesday nights? I just finished the series last night and it has really been interesting to me. I have enjoyed teaching from this incredible story. This is a story of a foreigner (Moabitess) who lost all she had in her world but found a brand new future in the Promiseland. She came broken to the land of her husband but through a kinsman-redeemer, her life was transformed.

Her life parallels our lives in every way! We came as sinners from a foreign land. We were hungry and really thought we needed just enough to get us through the next day. Little did we know that God was working behind the scenes to bring us to a whole new life! He not only provided us with what we needed to get through the next day- He redeemed our life. He brought us into His household. What the Law and all the animal sacrifices could not do, He did. He robed himself in flesh and came into the Field of Grace HIMSELF to provide redemption.

Just as Ruth was elevated in life by what Boaz did, we find ourselves living better lives than we dreamed possible. We are no longer sinners in a foreign land. We are of the household of faith and grafted into His family. He has plans for us. We, too, can be used in ways that we cannot even think possible today.

Ruth had no idea that she was being grafted into the lineage of the Savior. She just followed Boaz in submission and faith to find a better life. Look what her willingness to change brought to her life!

Are we following the Lord with that kind of submission and faith? He has so much for us. I am coming to understand that if I will just believe through simple faith, He will do the work. I often shake my head in wonder at what He brings my way. Like I have heard all my life, "If you see a turtle on a fence post, you can know that he didn't get there by himself!" I have been elevated. My life is better because of HIM. Don't you feel the same?

We can learn a lot from Ruth.

New Life UPC Austin - new website

New Life UPC of Austin has a complete new website. It is a vast improvement. You might want to go look around and see the new and improved! I have been blessed to be able to help them in graphic design on other projects and designed Bro. Bernard's new video series (cover and DVD's) called: The End Time. Just this past week, the churches in the area have kept me busy with a Church-In-A-Day flyer for Burnet,

Fall Fest flyer and ads for Cedar Park,
a Filipino Revival in Austin,


Kidz Church Flyer with Evangelist Lloyd Squires, and I am working on a Radiator Shop website. Thank the Lord for this work as I complete my realtor schooling!

Blessings

Just got in from a full day of church! No, we didn't set a record this time, but the Lord had His way in our midst. We definitely get excited when the numbers are increasing, but actually are more touched by seeing the Lord working in lives. We were happy to have 3 brand new guests and several returning ones. The Lord has provided two more praise singers - they helped us today in service and did fantastic! We rearranged our chairs this week to make room for more people. We now have 70 seats in the audience and 5 up front. We don't have a center aisle now, just the two outside ones. Tighter... but we can seat more.

Tonight we attended the mother church and Karla sang a special. She did great! I am so blessed to have her by my side. I couldn't do this without her...or the boys. They are such a help and so willing to do what God asks. We had outreach yesterday and the boys covered about double the houses all the rest of us did...on their roller-blades!

Our bus is now fixed and inspected....and it was FREE! A gentleman who lives in Pflugerville, whose wife attends Bro. Bernard's church, did all the repairs, had it inspected and even installed a fire extinguisher. One company quoted us $2500 for the job! Thank the Lord for providing! The gentleman said, "When you are in one of those red-hot prayer meetings, just remember to pray for me." Now we are working on getting it painted and lettered. We are believing that by the time we get it ready to pick up kids, we will have the space to teach them! I will post pictures of the transformation as it happens.

I hear rumblings that another land deal is coming together. I claim it.