I Just Cant Leave Her by Herself

Last Saturday I attended a Men's Conference in Visalia with 6 other guys from our Fellowship. It was a great time. After I came home what did I find in our back yard? You guessed it, the beginnings of a garden. For the last couple of months I noticed Linda discarding different types of left overs, coffee grinds, grass clippings, you name it she threw it out in a pile near the fence. At first I thought it was some kind of "Okie Ritual" but you know me I went along with it. But low and behold what came out of all that was the most richest, dark soil you have ever seen. She mixed in some manure and then planted what will be our very own vegetables. As if that wasn't enough she now is looking for some chickens so we can have our own fresh eggs. I don't know what to think of all this other than she is getting back at me for not letting her have a cat ha ha! Linda enjoys calling her Dad and asking for help as he is quite the grower himself. Here is another photo of her work.

As of today I noticed that there are 2 more rows planted all while I was inside studying. Yes I did feel guilty and decided to go out and mow the yard. We are looking forward to the warmer days to see what comes up. We are going to plant some cantaloupe and watermelons for the summer just in case any of you come by (hint hint).

Well that is my post for now and I will keep you updated on the green Gardner!

In His Grip
AL

S.W.A.T NEEDED

ALWAYS KNOW WE ARE IN HIS SIGHTS!!!"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. "

John 10:10(a)

Paul tells us in Colossians as Christians we are not to be "ignorant" of the enemies devices. Often times I find myself forgetting this when I spend more time encouraging others and neglecting times of encouragement for myself. There are many ways we as believers can neglect this important aspect of our walks. We can become too consumed with others, or take our eyes off what God is putting in front of us. Sometimes we are just plain goofs and forget that God is "doing" something and it is absolutely ....uh...huuummm.. I'll use the word "ticking" the enemy off.

Today was a very interesting day for me. It started out ok but while we were on our way to Madera for service all HELL broke loose. I am not a quitter! I refuse to allow the enemy that glory but I can honestly say the thought of moving to "Ziklag" was very tempting. When David decided to just "fow ged a bowd it" in 1Sam 27 he was just fed up. We notice in that chapter that David forgot to do the very thing he knew to do.....PRAY! It appears he knew he needed to but he just said "fow ged a bowd it"

David stayed in that situation for about 16 months. I am thankful it took me 46 mins to get over my little en devour. Long enough to hear a message by Damien Kyle about how Satan loves to use discouragement on Gods people. I was ambushed and I knew it but why Lord? The answer came at our prayer meeting tonight. We have been praying for one of our guys wife to go to church with him and she did. Another one of our guys son almost made it to our house tonight with his father. This is a miracle for sure as this 23 yr old wants nothing to do with the Lord.

God was faithful and answered our prayer request and it made the enemy as mad as that place he lives in. I was encouraged during our time together. These guys are awesome prayer warriors and we see results. The enemy is in full attack mode here in Los Banos so please keep Linda and I in your prayers as you are in ours.

Always in His Grip

AL

A Bapa's Heartache

Recently my Grand daughter Charlotte took a header over the couch and smack on her face to the wooden floors of her living room. When I heard of this my heart immediately sank.

when I viewed the photo that Nina took of her I wanted to cry it is so weird how we can get an emotion like that about your grand kids.
Linda and I prayed for Char and after doing so I said that's it what can Bapa do to help my lil Magooka?


Well here it is
I will make sure she doesn't have to feel that floor anymore!

Now if I can just figure out how to keep her from closing the bedroom door on her fingers I can have some rest.

Love Ya Char
Bapa

Thursday Night Study

We had a very eventful Thursday Night Study Tonight. We have been praying explicitly that we would have some women attend so Linda is not the only one and guess what the Lord brought 2 other ladies tonight ha ha. They had never been here before on a Thursday study before and it was absolutely wonderful watching them after the study. Linda was such a genuine host. She looked so blessed to have them come by.

We actually did the entire 7th Chapter of Acts
( not encouraged) and was able to get through it. There is so much in this Chapt how ever it flowed the way it was broken up into the pieces I did. Can you imagine if today I was to tell deniers of Christ "you stiff necked and uncircumcised of heart" ha ha I offend people enough by telling them they need to" get saved"

How grateful we all should be to Stephen for his act of courage and love for Christ for if it were not for his boldness Saul may not ever became Paul and us Gentiles would have been sunk
(think about it). We had a great time of fellowship afterwards and we were blessed. All of your prayers are strongly encouraged for the folks here in Los Banos.

We love you all
In His Grip
AL

Movie Night

Tonight was Movie Night!

One of our guys who is waiting on the Lord for his bride bought the movie "Fire Proof" and gave it to us to premier for him. We also had his TV we borrowed from him for our men's breakfast 2 weeks ago. Linda wanted to have a date night so she cut up some fruit put yogurt in a bowl and we sat down for our date.

If you haven't seen the movie yet I wont ruin it for you but it is a must see. You don't need to be having difficulty in your marriage to appreciate it. If you are having difficulty their are some classic lines in it that I wont reveal so I guess you will have to just pay attention.

I will have to warn you of one thing though, I noticed some tissue's on the floor by my lovely wife. Tears of joy I presume of being married to me of coarse ha ha. OK OK so maybe they weren't but you don't need to doubt it OK?

All in all it was a WONDERFUL night @ the movies with my wife!
How we thank God for all of you!

In His Grip
AL

Super Tri-Tip & Super Prayer

Yesterday was an exciting day
@ Dulla's Den. After our return from "Going to Town" we had been blessd by the message @ Madera Calvary
( John does not hold back) we returned home to our village home in Los Banos. One of our guy's here (Pancho) called and asked if I would BBQ up some tri-tip he had bought before prayer time. I think there was some other event going on @ the same time uh some kind of football game I think,,, oh ya the Super Bowl.
Anyway's.... I qued up the beef and man oh man was it deliciousus (that's french for "melts in your mouth"). How cool it was to have these folks over and our Mr. Greg who said it was the best time he had on a Sunday afternoon. We had our prayer time that started at 5:00 and went on until almost 7:00 ha ha we then turned the TV back on and there was 2 mins left in the game only to see that Az team get defeated.

I can remember yester year when I would not miss that game for church and certainly not prayer time. How wonderful it is when the Lord gives you the desires of your heart and you actually love His desires over your own AMEN? We had a great time of prayer and actually saw some remarkable answer to specific prayers.

Keep our Az home situation in prayer for us as we know the Lord has the answers for us as well as provisions to be here. I will give you an update on the progress of the Los Banos Outreach soon. Thank you all for your prayers Linda and I cherish them.

In His Grip
The BBQ Meister