Small Town Goodness

We spent the weekend with Jared's family in Brundidge. We arrived Friday night to eat with the Sanders at a really cute and tasty restaurant in Goshen called "The Barn." It really is in a real live barn. Actually, it is one that Jared's dad and brothers played in and jumped from the loft in. Don't worry, it is nice and clean inside and out. :) There is a big window that faces the back of the barn where you can look out and see an old boat pulled up to the back of the barn. It is filled with water and has goldfish swimming in it. Clever, don't you think? I just loved it! There is a light that shines on it at night so you can see the the fish swimming. The food was EXCELLENT! I had steak, asparagus (fried and grilled because I couldn't make up my mind to which I wanted so the waitress said I'll give you half of each), and country potatoes with cheese (they do not normally come with cheese, but they will add it. I heard Jared's uncle say add cheese and I asked him what did he put cheese on and he said the potatoes, so I told him I was getting that, too.) They know all the Sanders because they eat there on Friday nights pretty regularly plus they grew up there. After we ate, we went out to the big porch full of swings and rocking chairs and visited some more. It was a nice evening! I say all of this to say this, if you are near Goshen, you MUST try this place, it will not disappoint!
Also, if you are ever in Troy, AL, you need to eat at the "Mossy Oak" restaurant. It is in a small, old, one-room school house. It, too, is a rare treat with great food!

Church Signs

I love to read church signs. Sometimes they make you think, sometimes they make you laugh, and sometimes they cause you to raise your eyebrow. I pass half a dozen church signs on my daily drives to and from work. Two of my favorite churches have "goodies" on their signs right now. When I say favorites, I mean that in the sense that they put a more eyebrow raising saying up than most other churches.

Church #1

"Dusty Bibles leads to dusty lives"

The grammatical error has irked me everytime I read it and I read it every time I pass it hoping someone has read this out loud and realized their error!
Also, church #1 has had my all-time favorite saying ever:

"Read the Bible, it'll scare the hell out of you!"


Church #2

"Kite Sunday
Come fly high with Jesus!"

I'm curious if this is a poor judgement on the sign writer's part or if I will drive by Sunday and see a bunch of kites! I'll keep you posted because I know my readers (what readers?) are on the edge of your seats with curiousity as well!
*UPDATE* They added this to the sign "Free kite for every child"
I was not in town to see the kite extravaganza, but with the updated sign I must conlude they really were so corny as to actually fly kites!
And David... I must not forget your "goody"...and I say this in a loving way...bless your heart...

"Denial is not just a river in Egypt"

Heaven is Rejoicing

A few hours ago, a great, christian man, example, and leader of God's kingdom received his heavenly reward! Our very good friend, Kenneth Crowe, was tragically killed. He has been the ONLY man at Ragland Church of Christ for many years. He has scheduled preachers and young men to preach for every Sunday morning service for years. He leads the singing, prays, teaches class, and serves the Lord's supper to a small group of women that worship there. Many of our men preach there from time to time, mostly my dad, Paul, Casey, and Alex. This was my first church home. My dad was the preacher there when he was in college and stayed there for eight years. In the last 9 or so years, my dad has continued preaching for the people there every first Sunday of the month. These people are like family to us. The last time I talked to him was a few weeks ago to tell him dad was out of surgery. He told me that he was proud of me and that he loved me. Mr. Crowe has called to check on my dad several times since. He sent my dad the kindest card and note a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't seem fair that someone like him should lose his life when he was so heavily depended on by the church there. What will happen to the church there? They cannot afford a preacher. I know he has received his reward for his dedication to the Lord's work; however, he will be greatly missed! His son, who used to help him until he became a preacher, called and told my dad that his dad always said, "If anything ever happens to me, I want Marty to do my funeral." It will not be easy! Please keep the Crowe family in your prayers, as well as, Ragland Church of Christ!

Snow Fell on Alabama

James Spann blogged it, therefore I kinda believed it. I was up late Saturday night, probably because I had been sick and had slept a lot, making me not tired or because of the possible snow, at any rate, I was up. I would frequently get up and look out the window, in hopes of snow, but by 12:30 a m, there was still no snow, so I fell asleep. Around 5 a m, I woke up, checked out the window, and there it was...snow!!! James Spann had not let me down! I crawled back in bed, tempted to wake Jared to tell him, and then deciding he would find out soon enough, and drifted back to sleep. At 7 a m, I wake to my cell phone ringing. Pam is exclaiming over the snow, so I peeked out the window again and to my amazement there was a lot of snow! It was falling in big flakes and it was absolutley beautiful! I love snow! Winter is my favorite season! Jared jumped out of bed and looked out another window, as I ran to every window in the house to see the view from different parts of the yard. We hurriedly got dressed and ready for church. It was the beginning of our gospel meeting and what a way start! We made it to church safely. Excitement filled the church. After church, young and old alike met outside (before the fellowship meal) and had a joyous time throwing snowballs and making snowmen and just running around with the snow falling! After lunch, we played some more until it was time for the singing and second service. What a memorable time we all had, with our sisters and brothers in Christ, playing in the snow, fellowshipping with one another, and worshipping God! Who could ask for more?
I must brag on my home congregation here for a minute. I could not have been prouder as I entered church Sunday morning and noticed that most everyone was there! I mean our crowd was not slim in the least! Now I know it was not possible for some to make it and even at that, there was hardly anyone missing! It said a lot to me.
Our gospel meeting was uplifting.
In other news, my dad had an EXCELLENT report from the doctor on Wednesday! God has blessed my dad tremendously through everything he has been through in the last month. He has beat the odds and recovered sooner than expected at best case! He will even start back to work on Monday! Please continue to keep him in your prayers because it will not be easy for him for many reasons, but I have faith that he will do fine! Please pray that everything he has to adjust to will be smooth for him! Thanks!
Enjoy the pictures from our snow day!