Author: Anna Lee

Tuesday

I know what it is to be in need,

and I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content

in any and every situation,

whether well fed or hungry,

whether living in plenty or in want.

Philippians 4:12 (NIV)

Three posts yesterday concerning Don Denton:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 10:49 AM, CST

Prayer Requests for Don:

  • Don was seen by his primary care physician this

morning – Don has significant increase in headache pain,

stiffness in neck and lower back and a rash again. He

is very dizzy and sick to his stomach again.

  • He will see neuro next week. If he continues w/

increase of these symptoms he will be seen sooner.

  • Pray that the doctors here will be able to get to the

bottom of this. We are also praying that they will conduct

MRI’s again to do comparisions.

We had a really good Christmas weekend, it was this morning

that Don woke up with these symptoms.

Blessings

Diane

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 11:01 PM, CST

Don Update

We spoke to another of Don’s doctors today who helped

clarify the severity of his pain, his dizziness and stiffness.

Don’s prednisone continues to be tapered down and this

weekend he is now down to a much smaller dosage. When

someone has inflammation of the nerves, brain and spine

and healing is still ongoing it could cause a reaction such

as this one. So Don’s meds have been increased to help.

By late this evening his pain was reduced.

Don’s body is so immunial suppressed that we have to be

very careful. He will see four different doctors next week

along with physical therapy. Please pray for the following:

  • All of his doctors will have the wisdom they need to
help with continued improvement. Don really can’t wait
to be back to work for the Spring semester and we are
hopeful for that.
  • Pray for healing of these nerve endings and
inflammation in brain and spine.
  • Don is showing improvement with regard to his
walking more with walker and less with wheel chair.
  • Pray for Joshua as he sees his daddy who has a day
like today and he becomes fearful. For a four year old this
is very scary and for an adult for that matter it is too.

This has been a long journey. I am asking you all to continue

to pray and believe that the good work that God continues

to do in Don will continue. I don’t believe that God has

brought us this far to leave us either. It can be so very

discouraging when a day like today happens for all of us.

My heart goes out to Don and Joshua when I see the

suffering. Joshua afraid that if he asks his daddy to “do

something” that his daddy will get sick and sleep for days

and it will be his fault. It breaks my heart to see my son hurt

like this.

Pray that I will have the wisdom, understanding, discernment,

love and acceptance that he needs.

I am here again, asking for God’s mercy upon us. Asking you

our friends to lift us up before God as we are in such need

these days. Waiting, Hoping and Believing.

Blessings to you our friends and family.

Diane

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 11:34 PM, CST

This is a poem that a dear friend shared with me. I share it with you. It is truth and hope. Enjoy….

God, make me brave for life:

oh, braver than this.

Let me straighten after pain, as a

tree straightens after the rain,

Shining and lovely again.

God, make me brave for life;

much braver than this.

As the blown grass lifts, let me rise

From sorrow with quiet eyes,

Knowing Thy way is wise.

God, make me brave, life brings

Such blinding things.

Help me to keep my sight;

Help me to see aright

That out of dark comes light

Please continue to pray for Don, Diane, and Joshua Denton. The

“road” they have traveled on the last few months has be hilly, full of

curves, and blocked with many obstacles for them to mangage to

get over, under, around, and through. God has been with them on

this journey – each step of the way.

I’m sure the poem Diane shared will be meaningful to many of you.

You may need it now for yourself or someone else. You may not

need it today, but will in the future. Print it and tuck it away for that

day.

Baptist Press

December 29, 2008

ISRAEL–Baptists proclaim Gospel in Manger Square.

http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=29577

OKLAHOMA–Exec recounts Hobby Lobby’s ministry.

http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=29578

SOUTH CAROLINA–Billy Graham joins FBC Spartanburg.

http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=29579

TENNESSEE–RESOURCE: 7 words of worship.

http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=29580

KENTUCKY–FIRST-PERSON (R. Albert Mohler Jr.):

A generation immersed in media.

http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=29581

Salvadore Ruffino, Sr.
(November 2, 1916 – December 28, 2008)

U.S. Veteran Died at 5:58 p.m. on Sunday, December 28, 2008 at Baton Rouge

General Medical Center in Baton Rouge. He was a native and resident of

Amite. Age 92 years. He was a U. S. Army Veteran of World War II. For many

years, Mr. Sam drove a school bus for Oak Forest Academy in Amite. Visitation

at McKneely Funeral Home, Amite, from 10 a.m. on Tuesday until religious

services at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Interment Colonial Mausoleum, Independence.

Survived by 3 daughters, Loretta Borde and her husband, Stanley, Tickfaw,

Frances Ann Nijoka and her husband, Barry, Greenwell Springs, Sandra

Petty and her husband Chuck, Prairieville, 1 son, Sal Ruffino, Jr., Amite,

7 grandchildren, Matthew Feder, Alisha Nijoka, Jared Nijoka and his wife,

Elisabeth, Mary Ann Cline and her husband, Trey, Elizabeth Orobono and

her husband, Fran, Maeghan Ruffino, Kristin Ruffino, 2 great-grandchildren,

Michael Ragan, Anna Cline, 1 sister, Mary Checchin, Lakemore, IL, 2 brothers,

Nunzio Ruffino, Amite, Louis Ruffino, Baton Rouge. Preceded in death by wife,

Anna Leto Ruffino, 5 sisters, Lucy Costanza, Pamela Alack, Stella Terracina,

Josie Burrell and Rose Ruffino; 3 brothers, John, Tony and Joe Ruffino;

parents, Louis and Laura Ruffino.

Debra Lynn Burkeens
(August 22, 1964 – December 26, 2008)

Debra Lynn Burkeens

Debra Lynn “Debbie” Woods Burkeens who will always be remembered and

loved by her son, family and friends was born on August 22, 1964 and passed

away at 7:42PM, Friday, December 26, 2008 at the St. Helena Parish Hospital,

Greensburg. She was 44, a native of Bay St. Louis, MS and a resident of

Montpelier. Debbie was the daughter of Edward Woods and the late Charlotte

Taylor Woods.

She is survived by a son, Nicholas Joe Zona and fiancée’, Ashley Bailey,

Temple, TX; father, Edward T. Woods and step-mother, Margaret Woods,

Walhalla, SC; 4 sisters, Mildred Smith and husband John W., III, Seneca, SC,

Brenda J. Murphy and husband, Mike, Pineville, LA, Rita Wells and husband,

Danny, Tickfaw & Cheryl Zwinkel, Seneca, SC; 4 brothers, Keith Woods and

wife, Debra, Seneca, SC, Dale Woods and wife Geneva, Ponchatoula, Joseph

“Joe” Woods and wife, Tammy, Independence, & Phillip Woods and wife,

Charlotte, North Carolina; 5 grandchildren & 30 nieces & nephews.

Preceded in death by mother, Charlotte Taylor Woods & husband, Thomas

Burkeens.

Visitation will be at the McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, on

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 from 5:00PM until 9:00PM and on Wednesday,

December 31, 2008 from 8:00AM until Religious Services in the funeral

home Chapel at 11:00AM with Bro. Bobby Carroll officiating. Interment in

the Colonial Mausoleum.

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

McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, is located at I-55N & Hwy 16W

next to Coggins-Gentry Ford.

PARENTS HAVE TO LIVE IT

At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players,

“Do you understand what cooperation is and what teamwork is all about?”

The little boy nodded in the affirmative.

“Do you understand that what really matters is not whether we win or lose,

but that we play together as a team?” The little boy nodded yes.

“Good,” the coach continued. “And, when a strike is called, or you’re

hrown out at first, you don’t argue, curse, attack the umpire with a bat, or

throw dirt in the opposing team members’ faces. Do you understand all that?”

Again the little boy nodded, “Well, sure, coach. That’s what you taught us.”

“Good,” said the coach. “Now, please go over there and explain all that to

your mother.”

I’ve been to a few Little League games when the above conversation needed

to take place! It’s sad to see parents who act in an irresponsible manner

because you know that they are teaching their children (and others’ children)

to behave in a similar manner.

God has given those of us who are parents an awesome responsibility —

not only to teach our children what is right, but to live in such a way that

they can see that we are willing to practice what we’ve been teaching them

to do.

Moses told the parents of Israel to take the laws which God had given

them and “teach them diligently to your children….” (Deut. 6:7). But before

telling parents to do that, he warned them: “Therefore hear, O Israel, and

be careful to observe it….” (Deut. 6:3).

Before we can teach a love of God and others to our children, it must be in

our own hearts. May God bless those of you who are parents as you strive to

do just that. May your life be so filled with a desire to follow God that your

children will be open to hear all that you have to say to them.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

I’ll post some updates later.

Anna Lee

Monday

“Whatever happens,

dear brothers and sisters,

may the Lord give you joy …”

Philippians 3:1 (NLT)


(b. Viewmont, Albermarle County, Va., Dec. 12, 1840;
d. Kobe, Japan, Dec. 24, 1912). Missionary in Tengchow
and Pingtu, China, for nearly 40 years; instrumental in
instigating first Christmas offering, 1888. She was
educated at Female Seminary at Botetourt Springs (later
known as Hollins) and at Albermarle Female Institute,
Charlottesville. She was converted in the spring of 1859
in a meeting by John Albert Broadus, then pastor at
Charlottesville. She taught at Danville, Ky., and Cartersville,
Ga. She volunteered for missionary service in Feb., 1873,
in response to a sermon on the text, “Lift up your eyes, and
look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest,”
and she was appointed to China, July 7, 1873, by the Foreign
Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention. In 1888 she
wrote to the Baptist women of the South, pleading for
reinforcements. The first Christmas offering in 1888 provided
three additional missionaries. She spent 14 years in China
before taking her first regular furlough. Toward the end of
her days, she suffered with her Chinese people in the terrible
famine. She gave all she had. In the time of deepest trials
she wrote, “I hope no missionary will be as lonely as I have
been.” Literally starving, she grew steadily weaker. Before
Christmas, 1912, Cynthia Miller, faithful nurse, started back
to America with Lottie Moon; death came to the frail missionary,
Christmas Eve, while the ship was at harbor in Kobe, Japan.
The present Christmas offering for foreign missions,
sponsored by the W.M.U., is named for Lottie Moon.
http://www.sbhla.org/bio_moon.htm




Yesterday, I had opportunities to learn from several
missionaries:
John Schaffner, the BCM director at SLU and pastor
of Roseland Baptist Church, told about returning a

few days ago from a two week mission trip to China.

He learned many lessons there. One was that the loss

of his camera, exta money, and GPS system caused

him to lose sleep, but the had not lost enough sleep

over the lostness of people.
The Sloan family of King’s Mountain, North Carolina

told us of three recent trips to Romania. They

ministered to the Roma and chose that people group

because of Jennie. Bro. Chip baptized Jennie!
Holly K. spoke last night of her future work in West

Africa where she will teach four MK’s. She leaves in

one week for a two year commitment as a journeyman.

Pray for Bro. John as he leads college students and chuch

members to be more aware of missions.

Pray for the Sloan family as they have developed a love for

the Roma and a desire to minister to their lostmness.


Pray for Holly to be a witness as she lives daily among people

who do not know the Lord and an example for those who are

new Christians.
I thank God for three special opportunities in one day.

I pray I will use what I learned to further His kingdom.

I pray you will become more mission-minded. God has a

plan for each of us!
Anna Lee

Sunday Evening

Mrs. Faye Price has now been able to sit up some. Please continue praying for her, her family as they wait in the ICU waiting area, and for the medical staff as they care for “Miss” Faye.

The Prescott and Gullota families have had a long night and day. Jared is in the critical care unit at Lady of the Lake. His injuries are being re-evaluated and some may not be as severe as first thought. David has had surgery at North Oaks. Please continue to pray for both families.

Christine Husser Miley
(February 7, 1923 – December 28, 2008)

Died at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, December 28, 2008 at Landmark Nursing Center in Hammond. She was a native and life-long resident of Husser. Age 85 years. Visitation at McKneely Funeral Home, Amite, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Monday and from 9 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday. Religious Services at St. Dominic Catholic Church, Husser, LA at 11:30AM Tuesday. Services conducted by Fr. Chris Romaine. Interment St. Dominic Cemetery, Husser, LA. She is survived by 2 daughters, Shelia Currier and husband, Stanley, Loranger and Emily Garafola and husband, Johnny, Baton Rouge; special friend, Rita Terrebonne, Norwalk, WI; 2 cousins, Ethel Miller and husband, Lannis, Baton Rouge and Leona Watson, Baton Rouge; 8 grandchildren; 17 great- grandchildren; 2 step-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Austin Shelby Miley; parents, Simon, Sr. and Emily Husser; 6 brothers, Simon, Jr., Recey, Arthur, Ellis, Elzy and Harvey Husser; 5 sisters, Madie, Gracy, Irma, Daisy and Ellen Husser; The family would like to thank the staff of Landmark Nursing Home for their care and kindness over the past five years.

Sunday

Blessed are the peacemakers

for they shall be called the children of God.

Matthew 5:9 (KJV)

Dr. John W. (Bro. Chip) Sloan will be preaching at Roseland this morning at 11:00. The worship service will be followed by dinner on the grounds.

Holly K. will share tonight at 6 P.M. at FBC, Kentwood. She will be leaving in a week and a half for West Africa where she will be a MK teacher. Come hear her testimony, her experiences in Richmond, and her hopes for the future.

Thomas Francis Sessum
(July 12, 1931 – December 26, 2008)

Thomas Francis Sessum

U.S. Veteran Thomas Francis Sessum was born on July 12, 1931 and passed away at 6:45AM, Friday, December 26, 2008 at the Lakeview Regional Medical Center, Covington. He was 77, a native of New Orleans and a resident of Amite. Thomas was the son of the late Thomas Mitchell & Frances Riviere Sessum. He was a US Air Force Veteran.

Thomas is survived by his wife of 18 years, Erline Wiggins Sessum, Amite; 3 daughters, Sandra Sessum Arsenaux, Metairie, Pepper Sessum Caruso, Old Jefferson, & Teree Lartique, Metairie; 2 step-sons, Timothy L. McGrath, Amite & Edward A. McGrath, Pensacola, FL; 2 sisters, Jean DeReyna, Atlanta, GA & Frances Post, Ft. Worth, TX; 9 grandchildren.

Preceded in death by his parents, a son, Leonce Sessum, a grandson, Gavin Lee McGrath; a brother, Donald Calvin Sessum.

Visitation at the McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 after 2:00PM until Memorial Services at 3:00PM in the funeral home Chapel.

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

McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, is located at I-55N & Hwy 16W next to Coggins-Gentry Ford.

Debbie Woods

(Died December 26, 2008)

Debbie Woods passed away on Friday, December 26, 2008 at her residence near Kentwood, LA.

Arrangements are incomplete at this time.

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

McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, is located at I-55N & Hwy 16W next Coggins-Gentry Ford.

TOLERATING MISTAKES

A building contractor was being paid by the week for a job that was likely to stretch over several months. He approached the owner of the property and held up the check he’d been given. “This is two hundred dollars less than we agreed on,” he said.

“I know,” the owner said, “But last week I overpaid you two hundred dollars, and you never complained.”

The contractor said, “Well, I don’t mind an occasional mistake. But when it gets to be a habit, I feel I have to call it to your attention.”

Before chuckling too much, do you recall the last time a cashier charged you too little for an item? Were you as quick to point it out to him or her as you were when you were overcharged? Isn’t it funny how we are willing at times to tolerate mistakes by others as long as we benefit rather than suffer?

That’s why our standard of right and wrong must be determined by God’s word and not by our own feelings. As impartial as we may try to be, we are too easily swayed by that little voice inside that says, “If it doesn’t hurt me, then it must be OK.”

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.'” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

Have a great day of Bible study and worship.

Anna Lee

Saturday

Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! Luke 2:14 (NKJV)

Mrs. Faye Price’s schedule was busy yesterday, so she did not have a chance to sit up. Maybe today. “Miss” Faye looks better, but the doctor keeps telling her daughters to “get some rest”. They laughed saying their mother is looking better, but they must not be!

Keep praying for “Miss” Faye, the medical staff caring for her, and her extended family. Your prayers are appreciated very much!

Pray for Holly K. as she prepares to share at FBC, Kentwood tomorrow at 6 P.M. She will be using a video and a power point presentation. I’m looking forward to hearing her and supporting her as she goes to West Africa as a MK teacher.


Dr. John W. Sloan (Bro. Chip) will be preaching at Roseland tomorow morning at 11:00. You are invited to attend the service and worship with the members of that church.

As churches continue to collect money for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, you might be interested in this brief summary of her life.

Lottie’s life in brief

Birth
Born Charlotte Diggs Moon Dec. 12, 1840, in Albemarle County, Va.

Salvation
Lottie rebelled against Christianity until she was in college. In December 1858, she dedicated her life to Christ and was baptized at First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, Va.

Education
Lottie attended Albemarle Female Institute, female counterpart to the University of Virginia. In 1861, she was one of the first women in the South to receive a master’s degree.

Pre-missionary life
Lottie stayed close to home during the Civil War but eventually taught school in Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia.

Missionary appointment
Edmonia Moon, Lottie’s sister, was appointed to Tengchow, China, in 1872. The following year, Lottie was appointed and joined her sister there.

Missionary work
Lottie served 39 years as a missionary, mostly in China’s Shantung province. She taught in a girls’ school and often made trips into China’s interior to share the good news with women and girls.

Letters home
Lottie frequently wrote letters to the United States, detailing Chinese culture, missionary life and the great physical and spiritual needs of the Chinese people. Additionally, she challenged Southern Baptists to go to China or give so that others could go. By 1888, Southern Baptist women had organized and helped collect $3,315 to send workers needed in China.

Lottie’s death
Lottie died aboard a ship in the Japanese harbor of Köbe on Dec. 24, 1912. She was 72 years old.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®
In 1918, Woman’s Missionary Union named the annual Christmas offering for international missions after the woman who had urged them to start it.

Command

JUST BEFORE JESUS went to Calvary He said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” ( John 13:34, 35)…

Is it right for God to command us to love one another?

Imagine a young man on a college campus who sees and falls in love with a young lady. But she’s not the least bit interested in him. So, he goes up to her one day and says, “I command you to love me!” Can a man do that to a young lady? Of course not.

It’s important that we understand that Christian love is not an emotional feeling that we manufacture. But it means we treat each other the way God treats us. Christian love is not a matter of feeling, it’s a matter of willing. “For God so loved…that he gave” ( John 3:16). God’s love wasn’t a sentimental feeling, but it expressed itself in action.

How does God treat us? God forgives us, so we forgive one another. God is kind to us, so we are kind to one another. God receives us, so we receive one another. We may not have the same personalities, or we might not even have the same interests; but we willingly and deliberately treat each other the way God treats us. This helps us to understand what it means to love one another.

I’m going to have a difficult time washing your feet if I don’t love you. I’m going to have a difficult time forgiving you if I don’t love you. The interesting thing is this: the more we deliberately will to love one another, the more our feelings begin to change; and lo and behold, we even start to like one another. You may not want to spend a week’s vacation with some people, but you can still treat them the way God treats you. As we love one another more and more, we learn to like one another. We can get along with one another.

God commands us to love one another because He revealed to us His love. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down one’s life for his friends” ( John 15:13). “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” ( Rom. 5:8, 10). Jesus gave us the perfect example of what it means to “love one another” by His life and by His death. His command to love one another shouldn’t be looked upon as a burdensome commandment ( 1 John 5:2, 3), but a joy. (Howell Ferguson)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” ( John 13:34, 35).

(Posted by Mike Benson at December 18, 2008 3:01 PM)

Have a great day as you prepare for the Lord’s Day!

Anna Lee