A Bet Between Me and Sondra

I find it relaxing and enjoyable to write this blog every so often.  Sondra says no one reads it, so why bother?

I told her many read it from time to time, so it is worthwhile.  Mainly for me, I guess.  Anyway, here's our bet.  Sondra says that hardly anyone will read it because it is so long and exhaustive (she really didn't use those words, so I am paraphrasing quite loosely.....ha ha).  She said, "When you wrote emails before, they would write little notes back and I enjoyed those so much."

So, here's my challenge to you who are reading this.  Actually, it's a dare.  I "double dare you" to read my blog that gives details and photos of our last couple of weeks.

Then, write me an email at.....     revgalen@aol.com    .....and prove Sondra wrong!  Show her you care!  Let us know how your Thanksgiving holidays were spent.

I dare you.  I double-dare you.  Thanks.

Alden's Birthday

Yesterday was a unique and happy day.  It was the birthday of two very special people to us.

First, our grand-daughter Kylee Greenwalt is special to us naturally.  Kylee turned 8 years old in Oklahoma.  We called her and she had asked her parents (Jason and Shelly) to take her to the Red Lobster there in Shawnee.  And, as you may have read in a previous blog, we celebrated her birthday early while we were back in Shawnee on our Thanksgiving vacation trip.

Second, Sondra's older brother Alden is quite special to us as well.  Alden moved to Rialto this year and lives just a couple of miles from us in a Senior Adult apartment complex downtown.  Yesterday, he turned 59 years old.  We went over to Denny's so he could enjoy a free breakfast to start the day.  He had some appointments at the VA Hospital in Loma Linda and we dropped him off there after breakfast.

We told him we would take him to dinner.  Guess where he wanted to go?  Yes, you are right.  He said, "Red Lobster."  They had a special of steak and lobster, and he was looking forward to it.

He also requested a cherry cobbler (not pie), and Sondra spent part of the day putting that together.  She has made many peach and berry cobblers, but never a cherry cobbler.  This was a first.  Well, it turned out delicious and we came home after dinner and enjoyed warm cobbler and ice cream!  Before taking him back home, we gave him birthday cards and a birthday present - a boxed set of pots and pans for his new apartment.

Ordination Sunday

It was a Sunday that we will not soon forget.  God was present in a mighty way, as his Spirit filled our little place of worship.  It was a Sunday set aside for an ordination during the worship service.

This past Sunday, November 28, we ordained Darrell Smith to the gospel ministry.

It is a usual practice to have the candidate for ordination share his beliefs, his salvation experience and call to ministry before an ordination council behind closed doors.  Thus, if any questions arise as to the necessity to continue the ordination process before the church, it is done in a private setting and causes no embarrassment.

I don't do it the normal way at The Vision Plus Church here.  I always spend so much time in talking and "grilling" those who are ready for ordination that I am confident in their readiness to stand before the church body as a whole.  So, on this past Sunday morning during the worship hour, we took time to question Darrell Smith openly and at length and to listen to him as he shared his life and understanding of the Scriptures.  It was quite evident through his testimony that God has called him specifically to prison ministry.  It was a blessed time, as many would comment to me later.

Family and friends were there for the special day.

As a reflection on life and how God brings things to fruition along the way, I have always wondered (and enjoyed) how God would use the various work stations of my life.  As I look back at my time at Coronado Stone, it has become more clear why God put me there for those few years.  Someone even made the comment this Sunday about how many from Coronado Stone have been ordained in the last five years.  There have been five who worked there that we have ordained to the gospel ministry - George Nelson, Jim Lunak, Ed McDowell, Michael Dotson and now Darrell Smith.  It is always amazing to see how God uses our relationships and friendships and workplaces to bring about his plan for the ages.

As a sidelight and then another highlight to the wonderful morning, Sondra and her brother Alden were to follow me for lunch after church.  We called my brother David, as he had attended church in Fontana where Roger is one of the lead pastors there.  We arranged to have David meet us at Cuca's Mexican restaurant in Rialto to eat, with Roger and Julie and family (Jennifer, Daniel and his friend from college) coming along as well for a fun gathering.  (Roger's daughter Melissa attends another church in the area and was not able to join us for lunch.)

As I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, I saw Greg Freeman and some of his business associates walking in.  We had a table set up for us all, as we decided to make it one big lunch group.  All totaled, there were eleven of us ready for a good Mexican dinner. 

As we sat down, some friends from the past were being seated immediately at the table next to us.  The Gonzalez family saw us and we greeted each other and caught up on family news quickly.

In the early 1970s the Gonzalez family was part of the First Southern Baptist Church of Rialto, where Sondra and I attended as a young married couple.  It was the church I first worked as a volunteer youth minister, and the church where I was licensed to preach.  The Gonzalez family was special and close, as Cesar (the dad) won the California Lottery in the late 1980s and asked me to be on his board of directors for a non-profit organization he founded to use his money to further the gospel in Southern California and Baja California.  Cesar also worked at Kaiser Steel during the years I was employed there.  In addition, his sister-in-law was married at the Rialto church and this lady's husband reminded me Sunday that I sang at their wedding 36 years ago to the day!  Cesar passed away last year due to cancer, but our hearts are still bound together through the years as we see each other from time to time.  Sunday, it was like a homecoming day at Cuca's!

We had a wonderful time of eating and sharing with all at both tables.  And, to top it off, Greg's business friend ( a man named Danny) was a loving and generous man.  He gave his credit card to the waiter prior to ordering and said, "I'll pay for all this table."  I went home that afternoon feeling so blessed and happy.  God is so good.

One final note:  I am a huge San Diego Chargers football team fan!  The Chargers punished the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night, so I went to bed very happy that night.  I know this doesn't sound very spiritual, but my loyalty to San Diego stems from my years of growing up there.

Thanksgiving Trip - Part Four

On Tuesday, November 23, Shawn and Crystal and little Bailey arrived in town.  They had driven out to Oklahoma and spent the weekend with his parents and family in Tulsa.  It was interesting to see how Bailey would interact with her cousins Jace and Kylee, as well as how she would react to baby Macyn getting so much attention.  She was very jealous of Macyn as I was holding her at one point.  Bailey immediately came over and had me hold her too, as she was not sure she was willing to share her "Papa G" with someone else!  Jace and Kylee had a great time playing with her and showing her the house.

Tuesday evening, Sondra and I picked up mom to go to Bill and Marti's house for dinner (or do we say "supper" in Oklahoma?).  Marti had cooked a pot roast dinner, and she said it was the first time in her life that she had tried to cook it!  It was good and we loved it.

Early Wednesday morning, Sondra and I took off for Springfield, Missouri, to see Noel and Janice and nephew Mark.  We arrived before lunch and ate at the Belgian Waffle House.  We went back to the house and Sondra made two pies (one pecan and one coconut cream) for the next day, which would be Thanksgiving Day.  Mark also loves Rice Krispy treats, so she made some homemade Krispy treats for everyone to enjoy.  Noel and I sat and chatted as we watched the news talk of an upcoming storm.  Janice worked that day, and we had some lasagna for dinner.  It had been discussed about the Thanksgiving meal, and all were in agreement that it would be just fine to go out on Thanksgiving Day for lunch.  All through the night a Tornado Watch was in effect and the temperature dropped below freezing.

On Thanksgiving Day Thursday, we asked Janice's dad (Bailey Hill) to come for breakfast.  We enjoyed the crisp morning, as there were icicles on the trees in the backyard.  The high winds calmed down a bit, and the tornado never came to pass.  That afternoon, mom and Marti and Bill made it safely from Oklahoma.

Noel was not having a very good day with his heart issues, so he and mom stayed home for lunch.  Janice and Mark, Bill and Marti, Sondra and I drove out the driveway heading to the nearest Golden Corral for a turkey dinner.  As we approached, we saw the parking lot full and the line out the door for about 50 yards in the 30 degree weather.  We didn't even bother to stop.  We looked across the street and saw an Applebee's restaurant open.  We pulled in, got seated immediately and ordered.  Everyone made their choices, and I ended up having a sirloin steak on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in my life.  It was actually quite a memorable day, and we had some fun with it.

Back at the house, we ate pie and some apple cobbler that mom brought, along with cookies that Marti had made.  Sondra passed out our Christmas gifts to all, and it was a special time as well.  We stayed just a little longer, enjoying the company of family but then had to leave to go back to Shawnee.

We needed to leave Friday morning on our return home.  So, we spent the rest of Thanksgiving Day night with Jason's family and Crystal's family.  On Friday morning, we all headed over to Cracker Barrell for one last breakfast together and then Sondra and I headed for California.

We stopped one last time to spend a few minutes with Patty Murcray in Midwest City and then on the road again.  We made it to Holbrook, Arizona, before turning in for a few hours of sleep.  Yes, it was about midnight when we stopped.

Saturday, we finished the trip back to Rialto, arriving about 3 pm at home.

Thanksgiving Trip - Part Three

Monday, November 22, was another short shopping day.  Sondra bought a little pink New Testament for Macyn.  My camera quit working, so I went to K-Mart and found a bargain deal for a 15-megapixel GE camera.  Another important errand was to pick up my wedding ring, which I had re-sized at a family-owned jewelry shop in downtown Shawnee.

While waiting for Sondra at the mall, I received several phone calls from California.  One was from a lady in Hesperia who had read about our homeless feeding, reading it in the newspaper last February!  She had her kids and neighbors collect clothes and other items todistribute to the homeless, as a project for her children.  I had her contact our coordinator in the church and the connection was made.  That was awesome.

Then, I received a call from the Chino Valley Christian School, wanting to again donate to our Homeless Ministry this year as they had done last year at Christmas time.  I am scheduled to attend a chapel service on December 8 to receive the small bags of toiletry and sundry items to pass out during our Christmas feeding.  In addition, the coordinator at the school knows a friend at Channel 9 TV news who is a believer.  It has now been arranged for Channel 9 to come and film the ceremony and for me to be interviewed about our weekly feeding to the homeless in Fairmount Park in Riverside!  That is something very humbling.

After picking up Jace and Kylee from school, we drove into Oklahoma City to do some needed errands.  After that, we went a few more miles to Arcardia to visit Pop's, a world-famous hamburger diner and soda pop gas station.  They have hundreds of bottles and flavors of old-time soda pop in glass bottles.  We ate dinner with the kids and bought some soda pop to take home.  Quite fun.

To wrap up the day, we spent the evening with Jason's family passing out our Christmas gifts to them.  We decided it would be great fun to watch them open them during our visit, rather than waiting for them to open them on Christmas Day.  This way, we would enjoy watching their excitement and joy as they opened gifts with us there. 

It was fantastic, with the anticipation and squealing and emotions of both Jace and Kylee, especially.  Jace was teary with joy, so expressive about how happy he was with his gifts.  It really was a very special evening.

Thanksgiving Trip - Part Two

Saturday, November 20, was a busy day for parties.  Prior to our trip, Kylee asked if she could have her birthday party a week early so Papa G and Grandma G (me and Sondra) could be there.  Her birthday is actually on November 29.  So, a party was planned with all her friends and their parents at the new Oklahoma Baptist University center that has an indoor swimming pool.  After swimming and playing, another room was reserved there to host the cake eating and opening of birthday presents.  What a wonderful time and we were excited to be there for it.

After the party, Jace and Kylee actually had other birthday parties to attend so I went back to mom's to visit and relax.  Sondra wnet and spent more "grandma time" with little Macyn.  Shelly's cousin (and her cousin's family) came over to watch the Pay-Per-View UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fights on TV, as we ate BBQ hamburgers off the grill.  As the others were downstairs, I went upstairs after eating and finished my study and preparation for Sunday.

Sunday morning we picked up mom and went to First Baptist Church of Tecumseh.  Several of the ladies of the class were absent due to sickness or family in town, but we had a very spirited time of discussion about the early church.  I shared my thoughts from Scriputre about the 12 attributes of a healthy, vibrant church on mission for the Lord:  In Acts 2:41-47, we find the following 12 Marks of a Great Church:

1.  A church that experiences salvation decisions with baptisms to follow.
2.  A church that gives instruction through sound Biblical teaching.
3.  A church that has a visible bond between members shown through affection, compassion and ministry awareness.
4.  A church that has informal times of eating meals in homes, as well as observing the meal of the Lord's Supper together.
5.  A church that demonstrates significant and focused prayer times together.
6.  A church that see amazing and miracle-story occurrences among its members.
7.  A church that experiences joyous sharing and giving of finances/possessions for meeting needs of others.
8.  A church that knows harmonious worship at every opportunity of meeting together.
9.  A church that has members feeling contentment with life's provisions with a glad heart.
10. A church that demonstrates dedication with a purpose that is highly visible.
11. A church that experiences a contagious praise and adoration of the Lord God Almighty.
12. A church that has an outstanding reputation for love and the building of personal relationships.

These are all accomplished through the ministries of evangelism, teaching, worship and fellowship.

After church, Sondra and I took a drive to Midwest City to visit our good friend, Patty Murcray.  She is doing well and teaching first grade at a school in Edmond.  She fixed chili and cornmeal pancakes for lunch.  We sat and talked and reminisced for a long time.  It was a precious time of the trip, being with Patty and talking about life.

As we drove back to Shawnee, we called and went by to spend a few hours with my sister and brother-in-law, Marti and Bill Roberts.  They had just finished putting up their Christmas tree and lights for the holidays.  It was a good way to end the day.

Thanksgiving Trip - Part One

We are now home!  It is good to be home and sleeping in our own bed.  We love to travel and we love to go see loved ones and friends, but it is always a welcome sight to see home and familiar surroundings.

Here's a review of the last two weeks.

We had planned on leaving on Sunday afternoon, November 14, after church to head out to Oklahoma.  Didn't happen that way at all.  At 2 am Sunday morning, I was awake and sick.  Suffice it to say that I could not stray from the bathroom during the rest of the night.  As soon as I felt I could call someone, I contacted a minister friend (Joe Lick) to preach that morning's service.  All day I was sick.  We went to bed hoping I would feel better by Monday morning to leave.

Late Monday morning I felt better and was prepared to try to travel.  We took off and within hours I began to need a "bathroom stop" every so often.  We continued, as I was determined to make it.  All day long, we stopped at every McDonald's for me to use the "facilities."  Sondra was a true trooper and drove without complaining.  She wanted to stop for a motel early but I wanted to get as far as possible.  We finally made it to Gallup that first night around midnight.

I was finally feeling better through the night, and then Sondra began throwing up at both ends (and I'm trying to be careful how I say it) about 2 am Wednesday morning.  We were cautious as we left as I was weak, and Sondra was not feeling well at that point.  We persisted and finally made it to Shawnee and received the "midnight special discount" at the local La Quinta hotel there.  We did not want to stay with family members because we did not want to "infect" anyone because they would possibly get what we had.

We called mom.  We checked out at noon and went to mom's, as Sondra was feeling better.  Mom was willing to take the risk so we could have a place to rest and recover.  We were not going to Jason and Shelly's house because of their five-month old baby Macyn, who was sick already with a congestion problem.  After getting a haircut in nearby Tecumseh, we just rested and visited with mom the rest of the day.  Mom made homemade potato soup and corn muffins for dinner.  It was just what we needed!  Before going to bed, I did some study for the Sunday School lesson for the coming Sunday morning, as mom is the teacher and asked me to lead the discussion and teaching time for her.  It is always a great joy to teach her class of "very senior adult ladies."  They are always so sweet and gracious to me as I share the Bible with them.

Thursday morning, we had breakfast with mom and afterwards I did the morning newspaper crossword puzzle with mom.  That is a daily routine that is still fun and challenging.  Sondra did some shopping before heading out to pick up Jace and Kylee from their school that day.  We spent the evening with Jason's family, as he cooked dinner there.  It was great fun getting to know little Macyn.  She is so cute and is such a good baby, requiring little more than constant personal attention and care.....ha ha!  Seriously, she is a happy baby who sleeps through the night most of the time.  That night we played the newest version of the game "Clue" with the grandkids.  We went back to mom's to spend the night.

On Friday morning, Sondra did some last-minute shopping.  That afternoon, we again picked up the grandkids from school and spent the rest of the day with them.