Saturday

Jesus told him,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one can come to the Father except through me.

~John 14:6 (NLT)~

Frances Gay got a good report this week.  Pray that she continues to do well with her treatments and tests.

From Lloyd and Alcyon Hayden

Mark Hughes will have surgery on Jan.18 in Atlanta,Ga. Serious.

CaringBridge

KneEmail
“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” Philippians 2:10
Mike Benson, Editor

BUILDING A GOOD marriage and building a good log fire are similar in many ways…

You build a fire with paper and kindling, and all at once it goes up in a brillilantly burning blaze.  Then the primary blaze burns down and you wonder if the fire will fizzle out and leave you in the dark.  You blow on it and fan it for all you are worth.  Sometimes smoke billows out and almost chokes you, but if the materials are good and if you invest enough energy and interest in maintaining it, soon the big solid logs catch, and your fire takes on new qualities.  Readers Digest, 1980, 137
“Now Jacob loved Rachel;
so he said,
‘I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”
Genesis 29:18
Hang in there staying warm.  This extremely cold weather won’t last forever!
Anna Lee

Friday

“Blessed be the Lord,

because He has heard the voice of my supplications!”

~Psalm 28:6~

Pray for Linda Hulkaby as she has surgery this morning.

Pray for the family and friends of Mrs. Wanzie Williams today as her life is celebrated at 11:00.


James Lee passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, at the St. Helena Parish Hospital. He was 87, a resident of Greensburg and a native of McComb, Miss. He retired from Transco-Williams Pipeline, where he had been employed for 33 years. Visitation will be held at Red Bluff Baptist Church, Greensburg, on Thursday, Jan. 7, from 6 p.m. until service time on Friday, Jan. 8, at 12:30 p.m., conducted by the Rev. Joseph Day. Interment at Red Bluff Baptist Church Cemetery. He is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Barbara Lee Aaron and Jack Aaron, of Jackson; and grandchildren, Jason and wife Liz Aaron, of Slaughter, Dana Aaron and Stacey Vice, both of Jackson. He also leaves behind six great-grandchildren that he loved and who made him proud, Caleb Aaron, Trevor Vice, Jared Thompson, Dakota Thompson, Emily Vice and James Elliot “Cowboy” Aaron. He was preceded in death by his father, James “Jimmy” Lee; mother, Lela Newsome Lee; great-grandchild, Aaron Cheyenne Thompson; first wife, Imogene Frazier Lee; and second wife, Rita Hyde Lee. Pallbearers will be Jason Aaron, Caleb Aaron, Trevor Vice, Dakota Thompson, Bo Staples, Brad DeBlanc and James Elliott “Cowboy” Aaron. Honorary pallbearers are Homer Carter, Jerry Dedon and Charles Frazier. Leland was a proud World War II veteran having served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Tangier. He was an avid fox hunter, leaving behind many old friends. Special thanks and appreciation to Primecare Health Services and the doctors and staff at St. Helena Parish Hospital.
THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH

Here are the answers to some questions that you may have had about pregnancy:

Q. Should I have a baby after 35?
A.  No, 35 children is enough.

Q.  I’m two months pregnant now.  When will my baby move?
A.  With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q.  How will I know if my vomiting is morning sickness or the flu?
A.  If it’s the flu, you’ll get better.

Q.  What is the most common pregnancy craving?
A..  For men to be the ones who get pregnant.

Q.  What is the most reliable method to determine a baby’s sex?
A.  Childbirth.

Q.  My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she’s borderline irrational.
A.   So what’s your question?

Q.  My childbirth instructor says it’s not pain I’ll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A.   Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q.  When is the best time to get an epidural?
A.  Right after you find out you’re pregnant.

Q.  Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A.   Yes, pregnancy.

Q.  Does pregnancy cause headaches?
A.   Pregnancy causes anything you want to blame it for.

Q. Our baby was born last week.  When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A.  When the kids are in college.

The joy of pregnancy and childbirth!  Mothers are quick to tell me that those two words don’t belong together with the word “joy”.  And here’s a helpful tip (from personal experience) for you fathers.  When your wife is in labor and the needle on the graph is showing her contractions, don’t ever say, “Is that the highest you can make the needle jump?”  At that point, she will not see the humor in the situation.  It will only make her angry.  (Trust me!)

The Bible refers often to pregnancy and childbirth.  But it never speaks of it as a time of joy.  Rather, it refers accurately to the “pains of childbirth.”

In Romans 8, Paul draws a parallel between what an expectant mother experiences and what we (and all of creation) experience as we await the return of Jesus Christ:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us…..We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:18,22-23, NIV)

A mother in labor may feel the pain will never end.  With what you are going through right now in your life, you may feel the same way.  Someday, though, for God’s children, the pain will pass and the joy will be greater than we ever imagined.  For that day we “wait eagerly”!

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

Stay safe and warm though this extremely cold weather.

Anna Lee

Thursday

“…Give yourselves to God…

surrender your whole being to him

to be used for righteous purposes.”

~Romans 6:13 (TEV)~

Mrs. Katie Milton is home after a short hospital stay.  Keep her in your prayers.

Continue to pray for Mrs. Faye Price.  She continues to have good and not so good days.  She’s still in Hammons.

Pray for those who will not be warm during this cold spell we are facing.  Do what you can to help others who may not be able to help themselves sufficiently.

JAMES LELAN LEE

James Lelan Lee, a resident of Greensburg, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. He was 87. Arrangements are pending with Charlet Funeral Home Inc., Clinton.

KneEmail
“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” Philippians 2:10
Mike Benson, Editor

GORDON BELL IS trying to devise a system in which he can recall almost anything in his life… 

For the past decade, Bell, a Microsoft researcher, has been “moving” the data from his brain onto computers. The process is much more involved than saving digital pictures and e-mails. Bell carries around video equipment, cameras, and audio recorders to capture his conversations, commutes, trips, and experiences. He has used a SenseCam—a device being developed by Microsoft that a person hangs around his neck to record automatically every detail of life in photo form. And Bell has been saving almost everything, from restaurant receipts to correspondence, bills, and medical records. 

Thus far Bell has accumulated a mountain of data—more than 350 gigabytes, not including the streaming audio and video. He describes the storage of information as a replica of his biological memory. It’s actually better, he says, because if you back up your data in enough places, this digitized “e-memory” never forgets. It’s like having a multimedia transcript of your life. Bell hopes that by developing and implementing this process, people will not have to fret about storing the details of their lives in their heads anymore; they can save the details on their computer and recall it at will.

Do we really want to remember every detail of our lives? After all, we make many mistakes (Romans 3:23). Sure, we want to learn from our mistakes, but do we want to be reminded of them constantly? Aren’t there things that we’d like to forget and know that they won’t be held against us?

There is one who has infallible, total recall: God! “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). God will recall everything we have done and hold us accountable for every impure thought, idle word, and evil deed  (Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

Unless . . . the memory of our sins has been erased through the sacrifice of Christ. The Old Testament prophets foretold the time when God would establish a new covenant with His people that contained this promise: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34; cf. Hebrews 8:12). On Judgment Day, the Lord will not recall those sins covered by the blood of Jesus. Are you covered? —David A. Sargent

“I will forgive their iniquity,

and I will remember their sins no more.”

~Jeremiah 31:34~

Prepare yourself for the cold weather we will soon have.  Prepare yourself for eternity.  The latter is even more important than the first!

Anna Lee

Wednesday Evening

Jack Allen

Jack had his surgery today and did well. They had to do a 5-vessel bypass instead of 4. He was in a lot of pain when we left and the next 24 hours are critical so please continue to pray for him. Thanks!

Linda Hulkaby

Linda Huckaby will have a gastric procedure Fri am 8:15. She has been in pain for weeks. Went to dr. , had GI tests . Dr,. said enlarged liver. This test is to find out what and why. Please add her to prayerr list–Thanks, Fran Walker

Wednesday

Wanzie Faye Williams
(April 23, 1934 – January 5, 2010)

Wanzie Faye Williams

Wanzie Faye Sharkey Williams a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and loyal friend went to meet her Lord January 5, 2010 at her home in Kentwood, LA. An example of how to live and die. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

She was born April 23, 1934 in Amite, LA. She was the daughter of Felix and Daisy Morgan Sharkey. She was a supervisor for the National Association of State Department of Agriculture and worked throughout the State of Louisiana. She and her late husband, J.L. also were in the cattle business for many years and she was a certified realtor. She was a very faithful and devoted member of First Baptist Church in Kentwood.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 55 years, James Lathan “J.L.” Williams; a daughter, Pamela Williams McBride; a brother and sister-in-law, Earl Ray and Betty Sharkey and a brother-in-law, Roy Frazier.

She is survived by three sons, James Lathan Williams, Jr. and wife, Wendy Mallet Williams of Kentwood, Stanford Felix Williams of Mandeville and Gary Lee Williams and wife, Renee Smith Williams of Baton Rouge; two brothers and their wives, Bobby and Vickie Sharkey and Harrell and Susie Sharkey, all of Amite; one sister, Julee Sharkey Frazier of Baton Rouge; six grandchildren, James Lathan Williams, III, Derrick Williams, Chad Williams, Chloe Williams, Zach Williams and Cory Harold and wife, Jessica; one great-granddaughter, Sydnie Williams; numerous nieces, nephews and loving friends. The family would like to extend a very special thank you to Bro. Joey Miller and all of Mrs. Williams friends at First Baptist Church in Kentwood and the Kentwood community.

Visitation is Thursday from 6PM until 9PM at First Baptist Church in Kentwood and Friday from 9AM until services at 11AM with Rev. Joey Miller officiating. Burial will be in Woodland cemetery with Hartman-Sharkey Funeral Home in McComb in charge.

Pallbearers will be James Lathan Williams, III, Derrick Williams, Cory Harold, Rex Sharkey, Chad Williams, Chase Sharkey, Michael Sharkey and Zach Williams.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to First Baptist Church Widows Ministries, 310 Avenue E., Kentwood, LA 70444.

Wednesday

Carefully consider the path for your feet,

and all your ways will be established.

~Proverbs 4:26 (HCSB)~

Bob Wagstaff had surgery on his back in Korea and is doing well.  Lots of interesting things have happened.  For example, the American doctor who is assisting is the son of missionaries.  Don will be in the hospital for the week, but will need to stay in the country for a month.  Pray he continues to do well and that they will be a “positive” influence on those they meet.

Mrs. Kathrine Sanders’ son-in-law, Donise Honeycutt, had surgery yesterday.  Donise did well.  At this time, the doctors think the surgery was a success.  Please pray for the Sanders and Honeycutt families.

Be extra careful in this cold weather!

CaringBridge

Judy Wilson’s photo
Judy Y. Wilson

I haven’t located an obituary for Mrs. Wanzie Williams yet.  Just think of the celebration she and her loved ones in heaven are having right now!  Can’t you picture her and hear her?

KneEmail
“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” Philippians 2:10
Mike Benson, Editor
YEARS AGO, A thunderstorm swept through southern Kentucky and blew over an old pear tree on a farm where the Claypool family had lived for six generations…
Old Grandpa Claypool grieved to lose the tree he had climbed as a boy.  For all of his life, he had enjoyed eating pears off of that old treee.  A neighbor came by and said, “John, I’m really sorry to see that find old pear tree blown down.”  John Claypool replied, “I’m sorry too.  It’s a real part of my past.”  “What are you going to do now?” the neighbor asked.  Grandpa Claypool paused for a moment, then said, “I’m going to pick the fruit and burn what is left.”
There’s a lot of wisdom in those words.  The past can have its uses.  We should enjoy what if of use from the past, and then burn the rest.  We may need to grieve over the past; we can even rejoice in the past; but there is no point in longing for it. (Sermon Central)
“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD,
it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun,
Moses’ assistant, saying: ‘Moses My servant is dead.
Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people,
to the land which I am giving to them–the children of Israel.'”
~Joshua 1:1-2~

Have a great day!

Anna Lee

Tuesday

“For the Son of Man has come to seek

and to save that which was lost.”

~Luke 19:10~

Pray for the family of Mrs. Wanzie Williams.

Pray for those who will suffer from the cold this week.  Do what you can to help someone in need for warmth this week.

Check out the new version of Baptist Press @ http://www.bpnews.net/.

Layaway

layaway.jpg(DID YOU KNOW that some advice is offered on the layaway plan…?

You may have no need of it today, but it can be stored in your mind and reserved for some time later. (I use advice today that I laid away years ago–advice that made little sense to me as a teenager but has wisdom I can fully appreciate today.)

Someone gave me advice on how to keep a job before I even filled out my first resume, advice on how to handle bills even before I ever had any, and advice about marriage long before I ever started dating. (My parents told me the best way to keep my marriage healthy was to “board up the kitchen and eat out.”)

I couldn’t use much of that advice in the fourth grade, but I still listened. And when the day came that I got a job, got my first bill, and said, “I do,” I had a storehouse of good advice to draw from.

When someone gives you good advice, don’t tune it out because you don’t feel you need it right now. Put it on layaway. Keep it in reserve. Who knows? It could come in very handy some day. (Martha Bolton)

“Hold on to instruction,

do not let it go;

guard it well,

for it is your life.”

Proverbs 4:13

Posted by Mike Benson

Be careful this week!  The cold weather is dangerous in many ways!  Don’t forget to check on others.

Anna Lee

Monday

A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-10

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

2 A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

3 A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.

5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.

8 A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?

10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

There is a time for everything.  Isn’t it wonderfully comforting to know He walks with each of us through all the seasons of our lives?

Anna Lee


Sunday Evening

I forgot to mention that Donald Duncan in hospitalized in Baton Rouge where he had heart surgery last week.

Tom W. Williams, Jr.
(May 31, 1936 – January 2, 2010)


Tom W. Williams, Jr.

U.S. Veteran Died at 1:28 p.m. on Saturday, January 2, 2010 at North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond, LA. He was a native of New Orleans, LA and a resident of Amite, LA. Age 73 years. He was a U. S. Army veteran. Visitation at McKneely Funeral Home, Amite, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday and at First Baptist Church, Amite, from 9 a.m. until religious services at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Services conducted by Rev. Mike Foster. Interment Amite Memorial Gardens, Amite, LA. Survived by wife, Susan Stewart Williams, Amite, 3 daughters, Marsha Duncan and her husband, Glen, Gallatin, TN, Beverly Perkins and her husband, Tracy, Amite, Karla Thompson and her husband, Teddy, Jr., Denham Springs, 4 grandchildren, Brady Duncan, Taylor Perkins, Jack Perkins, Hollis Thompson, 2 brothers, Robert L. Williams, Independence, Buddy Anthony, Ponchatoula, 1 sister, Mavis Rios, Hammond. Preceded in death by parents, Tom W. Williams, Sr. and Georgia Palmer Williams, 3 brothers, John Lee Williams, Edgar Williams, John Shelton Williams, 2 sisters, Audrey Selman, Verna Mae Childers.

Judy Y. Wilson
(August 7, 1947 – January 2, 2010)

Judy Young Wilson, 62, a resident of Kentwood, LA, died January 2, 2010 at LSUHC/Lallie Kemp Hospital in Independence, LA. She was born August 7, 1947 in McComb, MS. She was the daughter of the late Wiley Britton Young and Edna Simmons Young. She was a former telephone operator with South Central Bell. She was a very active member of Magnolia Church of God.

She is preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Richard Young.

She is survived by her husband of 34 years, Douglas Wilson, Sr. of Kentwood; two sons, Douglas Wilson, Jr. of Clinton, LA and Steven Wayne Wilson and wife, Becky of Easleyville, LA; three brothers and their wives, Robert and Paula Young of Brandon, MS, James and Jackie Young of Magnolia and David and D.G. Young of Summit; four sisters and their husbands, Loretta and Gilbert Stoddard, Shirley and Larry Seale and Glenda and Gene Sharkey, all of McComb and Frances and Wilson Brister of Summit; two brothers-in-law, Robert Wilson and wife, Ora Lee and Wesley Wilson, all of Kentwood; one sister-in-law, Sharon Slaven and husband, Jim of Kentwood; two grandchildren, Heather D. Wilson of Easleyville and Harley Dean Wilson of Franklinton, LA and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation is Monday at Hartman-Sharkey Funeral Home in McComb from 5PM until 8PM and continues Tuesday at Magnolia Church of God from 10AM until services at 11AM with Rev. Demond Kennedy and Rev. Vincent Buetel officiating. Burial will be in Woodland cemetery in Kentwood.