Samuel

Laura -- I'm just sharing these with you for now...can you look them over, add whatever photos you would like (I don't have any infant pics in my collection) and check the dates? In your spare time, that is. I'd like to do one for Anna and for Elisia too. And eventually make up an "Anna Book", a "Samuel Book", and an "Elisia Book".

Warrensburg Weekend

Antique effect - kind of smoky looking, though.

For the second year in a row Dan and I enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing weekend in the Adirondacks at the Pastors and Wives Retreat sponsored by the Shepherd's Haven of Rest Ministries. This year we were able to stay at Cornerstone Victorian B&B -- beautiful. We had a great time...and the FOOD! Thank you Doug and Louise for sharing your beautiful space, and Charlie and Suzanne for sharing the heart of Christ with us and so many pastors and wives who have been touched by your ministry.

Anna's Album

Around the house: Grammy has a new camera phone, and Anna likes to take LOTS of pictures...here are a few originals from Anna's collection.

Purity

From:
Revive Our Hearts
To:
grammynan2
Date:

True Woman Make-Over: Day 29
 

The Beauty of Holiness

Sometimes pressures come at you so fast it seems like you can’t think straight. Learn to develop a biblical, sound mind so that you can think clearly no matter what is happening around you.*

You never get to the point where you don't need the grace of God to protect and safeguard your heart and keep you from sin.
The real test of your purity is who you are when you get home and how you treat those around you.
The goal of being pure of heart is not to make us look good. That's self-righteousness. The goal is to make God look good.





 
 


 
 
 

 
 

October Snow 10/28/2008

Winter arrived early this year -- a sign of things to come??

Samuel's Third Birthday Party

Lighthouse 5th Anniversary

We gathered on Saturday, November 1st to Celebrate Lighthouse Bible Church's 5th anniversary. We enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner -- turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc. and then shared some songs and testimonies of how God has blessed us, individually and as a church family.
We first met as a church in October 2003, in a borrowed storefront in Tannersville, NY, a few miles east of our present location. We're thankful for the completion of our first year in our present spot on Main Street in Hunter. With our history of frequent moves during our first 4 years, a whole year in one place is a longevity record for us! From 2003 to 2007 we met in various places while praying and searching for a permanent church home: in 2 store fronts, a tent, a living room, a youth center, and in another church, who graciously had opened their doors for us when we were temporarily "homeless". God has always provided -- even keeping the rain away during our tent meeting days. We never had a rain storm during church time for that entire summer.....pretty amazing (and, no, it was NOT during a drought!). We had our first Vacation Bible School this past summer (see some pictures posted in another album on this site.) We are excited to see what God will do over the next 5 years and beyond!

Moving Mountains

I don't know who wrote this -- it was forwarded to me -- but I feel it expresses what has been on my heart as well. This is a time for prayer, perhaps as we have never prayed before!

God bless --

Nancy

 

Moving Mountains
 
Please Pray Now
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
     Are you sensing that there is something different about this
presidential election?  Discussing it with someone just recently we realized
that it seems like this election is far more serious than those in the
recent past.  Something in my spirit is very uneasy. In the past I have felt
the need to pray for different elections but I have never felt so strongly
the urge to pray, and pray fervently, for an election as I do for this one.
I truly believe that if the wrong person (Obama) is elected this nation will
be changed forever.  We may not be able to undo the things that will be
unleashed during an Obama presidency.
 
    My concern about an Obama presidency is not based on politics; it is
based on righteousness.  Look at any of the major moral issues and you will
find Obama on the wrong side of the issue, and Palin and McCain I believe
are on the right side of the issue. Obama does not live or follow what the
Bible teaches on any issue, yet he claims to be a Christian. He only claims
to be a Christian, but scorns Christian principles.
 
What makes this so disturbing is that the Obama team has raised far more
money than McCain/Palin and the media is unabashedly supporting Obama with every story and headline they write.  Currently McCain/Palin is behind in
the polls and is having a very difficult time.  Some in the media have
suggested that the race is over and there is little or nothing McCain can do
to change the outcome.  Oh how wrong they are!
 
    Let me briefly share a story I recently read in 2 Samuel Chapter 5.
David had just become king of Israel and the Philistines went up to wage war against him.  So David inquired of the Lord and said, 'Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?' The LORD said, 'Yes I will surely hand them over to you.'   So David went and defeated them. He said, 'As waters break out, the LORD has broken out against my enemies before me.' 
    After suffering a great loss in the first battle the Philistines must have thought they now knew David's defense strategy and they would be ready
for him the next time, because once more the Philistines came up to attack
David.  So once again David inquired of the LORD, but this time the Lord
gave different instructions. He said to David, 'Do not go straight up, but
circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.  As
soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.' David obeyed the Lord and was victorious.
This story holds a very important lesson for us at this time.  In most
presidential elections a frontal assault, a face-to-face battle, is what is
needed.  But this is no ordinary election. McCain is trying all the normal
tactics but he is not prevailing. It seems no matter what he says or does it
is not effective.  I am convinced this election CANNOT be won using normal
methods.  Just as the Lord told David to go around behind the enemy and
attack him there, so we must go around the face of this election and wage
war where the battle is truly raging - in the spiritual realm!  The fact
that the normal physical methods are not effective this time should tell us
that this is a very important spiritual battle and we can only win by using
spiritual methods & Prayer!
 
    What about the sound of marching in the treetops? What is that?  I have
read on the Internet several accounts of fellow Christians being stirred up
in their spirits to pray. Many have been drawn into times of deep prayer and
weeping as they intercede for Palin and McCain.  Some have woke up in the middle of the night and sensed a great need to pray, others have told of how when they heard about Sarah Palin being chosen as VP that something came over them and they wept and felt a need to pray for Her and McCain. Many others are feeling the calling and urging of the Spirit to enter into a time of fervent prayer and fasting for Palin and McCain and our nation.
 
    What is this unusual stirring that is occurring?  I believe it is the
Sound of the Lord marching in the trees, calling his children to act quickly
to pray and fast for Palin and McCain. Think about this, what would the
marching have sounded like to David?  It may have sounded like the rustling
of leaves as when wind blows through them, but this time something was
different and out of the ordinary.  Maybe it was like the sound of the great
wind when the Spirit moved on the day of Pentecost.  Also, God's people are referred to as Trees of Righteous in Isaiah 61. So the sound of the Lord
marching in the treetops in David's time is a portrait of the Spirit of the
Lord moving among and stirring up his children today.
 
    So what are we to do when we sense this stirring of the Spirit?  Two
things, first we are to take it as the sign that the Lord is moving out in
front of us.  Anytime the Lord calls us to do something he goes ahead of us
to prepare the way and fight for us. When Joshua returned from spying out
Jericho the Lord gave him insight to see that the Lord had removed
Jericho's protection so Israel could defeat them.  When the Lord calls us
into battle he goes ahead of us, removes the enemy's protection, and fights
for us to give us the victory. Secondly, the Lord tells us when we sense the
stirring of the Spirit we are to act quickly and join Him in the battle
(through prayer, fasting, praise and obedience)
 
    This election is by no means lost.  For God would not be stirring up his
children all across this nation and indeed around the world, to pray, if he
did not want to give us the victory in this election. And he wants us to
join him in the battle.  God will hear the cries of his children if we will
only cry out to him with fervent, earnest, prayers for this election and
this nation. If those who are being drawn to prayer by the Spirit will
indeed enter into a time of prayer and seeking His face, then God will have
mercy on America spare us from having an ungodly leader, I'm sure of it!
 
        And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say
unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto
this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Mat 17:20 KJV
 
    And it only takes a little faith!
 
    This election can only be won by going around the face of the election
and attacking the enemy where he is vulnerable, through prayer, fasting and
praise.  If you hear the sound of the Lord marching in the tree tops, if you
feel the stirring of the Spirit calling you to pray, then move quickly into
a time of prayer, for God is moving ahead of you at that time to give us the
victory.  May God give us ears to hear the marching!
 
I ask now that each and everyone of you join me in fasting at least two
meals each day, and pray at least two hours of the twenty-four each day on
November 2nd, 3rd,and 4th having faith that God will save America from the
doom of Obama's becoming President of our country.
 
Another way of helping to save America is to, vote early, contact your local
Republican office and volunteer to drive people to the polls, who have no
other way of getting there to vote. Yes, gas is expensive, however it is a
small sacrifice in order to save America. All voters live only a short
distance from the polling places where they will vote. I have already voted,
and I will spend my two hours praying before the polls open on the 4th.
 
Live the Cause!
 
"SEE YOURSELF AS GOD SEES YOU"
 
"YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD"
 
 

   Cherish today --  it's God's gift to us.
His compassions fail not, they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23