Sunday

“I love the Lord because He hears my voice

and my prayer for mercy.

Because He bends down to listen,

I will pray as long as I have breath!”

~Psalm 116:1-2 NLT~

Grady Brecheen is doing very well following his surgery. Pray for him this week as he learns about additional treatments.

Don Denton

Today was again one of the hardest days yet. Our neurosurgeon came in and told us that there was nothing more they could do for Don here at Barnes.

We
have asked for a Neurologist consult for Monday. We are at a loss as
to what to think. I don’t understand this. We will continue to look
for answers, where ever that may be. We will discuss this with
neurologist on Monday.

Don is still stable, he is cognitive.
He is weaker and still not able to eat. His headaches only come at
night now. The lumbar puncture seems to have helped. His opening pressures on the brain were normal as well. There is some enchancement of the brain as well.

Two of my friends sent emails to me and Psalm 18 and 2 Corinth. is exactly how we feel about now.

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure…..but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.” 2 Corinth 1:8-9

4 The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.

19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Please pray that God will pull us up out of the waters. We are weak and very, very weary. Please pray for a miracle.

Diane

Jimmy and Retia Dukes

Consider It pure joy!

My
boys don’t always want to go to school, so sometimes we sing this song
on the way to school. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say
rejoice. Joy is a choice that is made out of a peaceful, thankful,
content spirit. This only comes in relationship to God. My dad
this morning after we ate a tremendous breakfast at Slim Goodies, did
an interview for a documentary. The North American Mission Board is
making a film on Angola. 14 years ago my dad, under the care of Dr.
Leavell and with the blessing of Warden Cain, started some seminary
work at Angola, the La state prison. This unprecedented work has
made a huge difference in the lives of those at the prison and the
faculty of our seminary who have taught them. They have even sent some
prisoners to other prisons in the US to be missionaries to those
prisons. The film will be available on dvd in the near future. We
then went to Starbucks so he could work on his sermon tomorrow. Yep,
he is bringing the word tomorrow at Gentilly Baptist Church. Thanks
Dr. Taylor for allowing him some of his favorite kind of rehab. My dad
has always told me Listen to God and Do what he says. He has this
flashing on his computer. This is how he lives and he was called to
communicate the word and loves doing it.

He is doing well but
very tired today. He had a very busy week and a long one. He took a
nap today for the first time in a few weeks. He deserved it he is
working hard to continue to get better.

Mom was tired today
also. I helped her practice her pucker, opening her mouth, and
sticking out her tongue, she, with a little help, moved legs and arms
and mouthed much to me and dad today. She also can communicate now to
tell us what hurts her and she stated her right swollen arm and hand
hurt her. This is the one her line is in to get her iv antibiotics.
An ultrasound was done this evening to make sure no clot was there and
we were told the radiologist did not call to say there was a clot.
Which if there was he should have called. She is continuing to
progress just like dad. Keep praying!

Dad told the interviewers
today about how the prisoners were actually in a way, more free than
some of us. They have found life change and a peace and joy even
behind bars, and in spite of their circumstances. I think this
speaks to dad right now as he an mom are trapped in a time of healing.
I pray they will have the peace and joy that comes in Christ as he
continues to improve.

Remember to pray for mom: for her
infection in decubitus and bone and lungs; for her rehab that she will
move speak and swallow better and better; for her transfer back to birc
in orlando. Pray for dad: that he will patiently continue to work hard
at rehab; that he will have wisdom as he makes decisions about mom and
as he encourages her as she makes progress. Pray for him tomorrow as
he preaches that God may speak to us as He speaks through him. I know
jason and I repeat this over and over but thanks to all of you. Please
don’t forget to remember the Krech, Rhodes, and Nanney families. Pray
for peace and strength.

Oh yeah, I did not win the national
spelling bee, but I could spell Laodicea, well really I could not. I
spelled it wrong but my dad corrected me. A blue heeler is a great
dog. A floater is a large car of buick or osmobile make that is long
like a ship. 80’s slang, so sorry for those of you who aren’t down
with that. Rejoice always and again I say rejoice.

Mrs. Mary Catherine Dees Conerly

(August 7, 1918 – May 28, 2009)

Mrs. Mary Catherine Dees Conerly went home to her Saviour May 28, 2009, at the age of 90.

She is survived by two daughters and their families: daughter Rae and
husband Earl Murphy, son Patrick and his sons, Will, Coner and Cullen,
and son Stuart and Jenny (Sanders) and their sons Braydon and Blake;
daughter Judy and son Rayford; five nieces and nephews, and numerous
great nieces and nephews and their families.

She is preceded in death by husband Rayford E. Conerly, parents Elzy
Burke and Margaret Antoinette Brinkley Dees, two brothers: Wallace Dees
and Burke Dees, and three sisters: Sarah Elizabeth Dees, Anna Lecarne
Dees, and Margaret Dees Ducote.

Catherine graduated from Amite High in 1935, third in her class. At 16
years old she was hired by Attorney Barbee Ponder as a secretary. A
year later she enrolled in the University of Southwestern Louisiana and
attended for 2 years. She returned to Amite and was hired by Mr. Norman
Vernon, the Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court, as a secretary,
eventually becoming Chief Deputy for Clerk of Court, Mr. Jimmie Stire.
At the same time she also became the court reporter of record for
Tangipahoa Parish until she resigned in 1965. She became the organist
for the First Baptist Church of Amite in 1939 and played until 1965. In
the 1940s she became court reporter for Louisiana State Attorney
General, Mr. Bolivar Kemp, commuting to Baton Rouge from Amite often
several times a week while still employed by the Tangipahoa Parish
Clerk of Court and parish court. In the 1950s she became the court
reporter for District Judge Horace B. Reid, and Court of Appeals Judge
Robert Ellis. In 1962 she successfully ran Congressman Jimmie
Morrison’s campaign for re-election. In 1965, after the death of
Rayford, she and her daughters relocated to Lafayette, LA, and with her
niece, Carolyn Ducote Walker, established a court reporting business.
In 1980 she established a business as a landman and lease broker
working around the state for numerous oil companies. In 1984 she
returned to Amite, became active in the First Baptist Church Bell
Choir, The Daughters of the American Revolution, The United Daughters
of the Confederacy, and ended a fabulous work career at the Tangipahoa
Parish Library among the books she loved so well.

Services will be Monday, June 1, 2009, at McKneely and Vaughn Funeral
Home Chapel at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will be Monday, June 1, 2009 from
9:00 a.m until 11:00 a.m. Interment in the Amite Cemetery.

An on-line Guestbook is available at http://www.mckneelyvaughnfh.com

It’s almost time for VBS! Registration for VBS at FBC, Kentwood will begin this morning. You can also purchase your VBS t-shirt for $6.00 and your VBS music cd for $3.00 in the office.

FBC, Kentwood will celebrate some family and church fellowship time at the ball park beginning at 5 P.M. Everyone is invited to attend.

Have a great Lord’s Day!

Anna Lee