My emotions were teetering between tears and laughter as I tied a birthday balloon to the headstone of my deceased father Clair Brooks. Like a little kid I gleefully chirped, "Happy 100th birthday Dad." I miss him - he passed away at 87 years of age when I had just turned 55 years old...I was officially a senior.
It has been an amazing May...definitely not boring or dull by any means. Mother's Day is always special and this year was no exception. I was invited to speak the Mother's Day message at Aberdeen, SD at First Assembly of God. As always, it was a delight to be back with pastor friends, Rev. Gary and Joni Wileman and their wonderful congregation. They are another exceptional pastor and wife team, who lead their church by example: vision, love, zeal and motivation. The most precious part of the service was when I invited the Mother's to form a complete circle around the sanctuary.
Hello from Sisseton, South Dakota! We are enjoying some time at home right now as we pull in off the road after a five month tour and prepare to minister in churches around the Midwest area. We are energized as we reflect on the ways God moved through commitments made to Him and being able to witness the miracle of a changed life, over and over, these past months.
Here we are in the great windy state of Kansas. I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz! In fact, we are just about 30 miles from Woodrow Kansas where the story took place. The wind literally pushed us in here. We drove in the night before the 100+ tornados hit the state, but praise God we are in the very northern part, in the panhandle, in Hugoton where we escaped the wrath of the weather. God is so good. I am really a chicken when it comes to dodging storms in a 45 foot motor home, pulling our car. Larry knows that when we hit the road, I live by the weather channel and prayer!
Sunday, March 18th we were invited and very excited to sing and preach at the Cowboy Church in Wickenburg, Arizona. From the minute we hit the city limits of the historical Old West town, we felt an air of excitement come over us. Early Sunday morning we set up our equipment at the local movie theatre where services are held- people began to flow in from the streets filling the theatre seats.
Over a year ago our pastor friend, John Brady from First Assembly of God in Minot, North Dakota invited Larry to join him and 8 of his church men on their mission trip to Zimbabwe, Africa. Little did he know how much of a "mission accomplished" would take place.
Okay...so I'm a wimp! Larry's only been gone for 24 hours and I'm already stir crazy without him. We truly are joined at the hip - ha! We took Larry to the Phoenix airport Tuesday morning at 5:15 to catch the first leg of his missions trip to Africa. He arrived in Atlanta, Georgia where he was to meet up with Pastor John Brady and 8 of his men from the Minot First Assembly of God church in North Dakota.
Years ago a friend of ours who was struggling with his marriage came to the conclusion and told us, "I found out it's easier to maintain a marriage than restore it." If you've been married one year or fifty years you will know that fact to be true. Of course the best chance of your marriage ever making it is that you are both committed to Christ.
When a person thinks of Hawaii - immediately those beautiful descriptions come to mind. When Larry and I come to minister, we not only see the side of paradise, but we see a side that most tourists seldom see. It's a side of pain, poverty and hopelessness.
Aloha from Oahu, Hawaii! As they say in Hawaii, "It's another beautiful day here in Paradise." A balmy 82 degrees, birds singing, south trade winds, the fragrance of picture-perfect island flowers...ahh, it's good. We've been here for almost 2 weeks. Larry is finally on the mend after catching a "flight" bug. Now to get rid of the cough. I know Larry's okay when he wants ice cream again! We are being rejuvenated in all the beauty of God that surrounds us.