Is it true? How can it be May already? And, Mother's Day this weekend? I pray you are all able to enjoy your time with family creating and reminiscing of fond memories with loved ones.
Mother's Day Re
flections
It hardly seems possible that my mother has been gone over 14 months now. As I tell everyone, "I miss her like crazy." Every night I called her for years and years. We'd talk and share news about the family. We'd read articles to each other, we giggled and laughed like grade school kids, and then we always ended the evening praying together and lifting up the Brooks family. Since she left this earth, my evening ritual has definitely changed.
The good news is that she left a legacy that is worth more than gold. She left all of us an unwavering faith in God — to believe that with God, all things are possible and that nothing could separate us from the love of God, unless we use our free will to walk away. This Mother's Day, I'm reminded of her unwavering faith in God as well as her steadfast time spent in the Word and in prayer. In fact, just a few minutes before she passed away, in a mostly comatose state, she lifted her hands and folded them just as she always did as we prayed for the family. Prayer and praying for others was natural for her. Now as I go through my house, I find a lot of her little notes that she's written to me through the years tucked away in my bible, in my devotionals, on my desk and by the phone. These were warrior notes to me when I was facing a trial, an ugly situation or a heartbreaking event in my life. She was my life-line of encouragement. She never put me down; she always unconditionally loved me and pushed me on through the strong storms of life. She always had a verse from the bible to back up what she said. One of her favorite verses she always quoted Hebrews 13:5, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." She believed it!
Mom had a gentle soft voice, but when it came to making a point — it was like a lion's roar of exclamation. When it came to a situation in our family, or when I was discouraged and was tempted to give in or give up, she would look at me with her pool-blue eyes and quote a statement from Winston Churchill, "Missy, we never, never give up." When I think of that now, I chuckle as I realize she lived to be 100 years and 4 months old. Does that prove to you that she was not a "give-upper"— ha?! Another declaration we had in our home was "As for me and my house we WILL serve the Lord." There was no room for options, it was already declared.
On this Mother's Day, I am experiencing an overwhelming torrid of emotions. I know I have fallen short of being a perfect mother; I've made lots of mistakes…and I cannot go back and redo them. Rather than dwell on the failures, I have chosen to move forward and not look backwards.
Now, a year later since mom was gone, I pray that I, too, can be that mother to our children and grandchildren and declare, "As for Larry and I, and our family, we will serve the Lord…no matter what!" The baton has passed and my girls and my son are the ones praying for and with us. They are now in the protecting mode giving us advice (hum — things sure change don't they?).
It's my prayer that I will be a reflection of Christ in their lives that will affect them spiritually not only in this life, but will direct them to eternity with Christ. Thanks again, Mom, for depositing so much into my life.
Currently, we are doing well, and taking things day by day. The last two Sundays it's been great to be back into ministry and to see all those who have made decisions for Christ. There were 24 decisions yesterday at the Lake Eunice Evangelical Free church, and many were first time decisions. It never gets old to see how the power and truth of the Gospel set people free! We appreciate your continued prayers for our health and are believing for many souls to be won this year!
It was also great to see some of our partners and friends who were always on our Fun & Fellowship tours come out to the rally. It was great to catch up!
We'll chat again in a couple weeks!
Coming up…
May 14 AM: Mother's Day - Valley City, ND, New Life Assembly of God, 701-845-2259
May 21 AM: Robbinsdale, MN, Olivet United Methodist Church, 763-537-8351
{Chuckle/Reflection}
Mothers Have Feelings, Too
There's an old, old song
That I've heard many times.
And I'm sure that it must be true.
It says in the song
That came from a heart,
"Clowns" have feelings, too!
And I've thought many times
As I ponder that song
Of the careless things people do.
And I can relate to the clown in the song,
For mothers have feelings, too.
Though she's always been there
When you needed a hand
To help in whatever you do,
She's just like a fixture
That's always been there.
But mothers are people, too.
It's easy to snub her when things don't go right
Or tell her off good, and you feel
She'll forgive you and love you whatever you do.
But mothers have feelings, too!
If you could just know the silent tears shed
Or feel the ache in her heart,
If you could realize how empty life is
When she feels you are drifting apart…
Each little word that cuts like a knife
Is felt, and it pierces her through
Though it doesn't change her love.
Just remember one thing:
Mothers have feelings, too!
-Anna Anderson
{Recipe}
Turkey-Pineapple-Almond Salad
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup vinegar
½ tsp. dry mustard
4 cups pineapple chunks
1 ¼ cup evaporated milk
1 cup salad dressing
8 cups cooked, diced turkey
2 cups slivered almonds
Make a dressing by combining sugar, eggs, vinegar and mustard. Cook until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat; cool. Drain pineapple; reserve ¼ cup juice. Blend in evaporated milk, pineapple juice and salad dressing. Toss turkey and pineapple with dressing; chill thoroughly. Just before serving add almonds and toss gently. Yield: 30-35
2:7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, (at this point Adam is a mud mannequin similar to seeing a child make a sand castle along a beach) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." God could now have fellowship with him, talk with him, and walk with him. Everything was perfect.
he will save his people from their sins." The Pearl of Promise IS A PERSON—THE VERY SON OF GOD. Heaven isn't sending the cavalry; it is sending Calvary.
then turns to me, "Honey, I will be back in a few minutes." As he was getting up, he picked up three sugar packets….and I knew right away he was on the hunt to share the Gospel with someone. He sauntered on over to a table about 10 feet away and greeted a couple that we had visited with earlier while waiting to be seated. We had fun visiting and joking. I have to say this…food is a big, immense deal for Larry so for him to leave his food, I knew it had to be something serious! I can truthfully say after being married to Larry for almost 52 years, when Larry has the opportunity to witness to someone…one-on-one….it is more appetizing and rewarding to him than eating! I watched them chatting and laughing as they visited. I then saw him pull out the three sugar packets as he asked if he could share something with them. About 10-15 minutes later, I saw them 
bow their heads to pray. A few minutes later, the three of them came to our table and they were ecstatic and glowing. Larry asked the wife to share what she and her husband had just done. She bubbled with joyful tears, "We prayed a prayer and asked Jesus to come into our hearts and lives." She then added, "Things like this just don't happen. I believe God brought you to us here tonight, at this place and time, just for us!" Larry encouraged them to get involved in their good Bible-believing church. As Larry would say, "They were ripe to receive the Gospel and ripe to receive Christ."
We'd like to share an article from our newsletter and a health update:
weather (Larry claims I am a weather fanatic…he is 95% right…as living on the road, weather is important to me for traveling). The reports give me freedom to peace of mind or…panic – ha!
Monday morning we woke up, I walked out on the balcony and the sky looked so eerie, like a huge sand storm wall was moving in. In an hour, I stepped out again and the smoke was so overwhelming that I quickly went back into the room. Little did we know that a fire was raging out of control with 40-70 miles an hour winds, 9 miles from us. The alerts began to scroll across the TV screen of evacuation, etc. The smell was coming into our room so I put towels around the bottom and tops of the doors as it was getting hard to breathe. The high winds were literally blowing the smoke inside, any way it could get in. An hour later, the horizon that we could view from our balcony, turned into a flaming red blaze, it literally looked like all hell broke loose, which it did.
