by
Terry Trainor
November 24th
As we go into the Thanksgiving holiday, I ask that all of you would remember to thank God for not only the large things in your life such as home, family, and daily sustenance, but I ask that you would remember to thank God for all the little things that make your life more pleasant.
Remember we are gathering at 6 PM on December 4th to decorate the church for the Christmas holiday. Come and join us!
And something I have never done before; I ask that you would all uphold Mr. Brown and his daughters. Mrs. Brown died a year ago, when they had been married for twenty years. She is greatly missed, and this family is working very hard to get along in her absence. Pray for their strength, and for their assurance that this separation is a temporary condition.
Thank you!
October 2nd
It has been a LONG time since I posted news here, but it has been a BUSY summer! First of all, the abundant rains have caused the grass to grow continually all summer long, and there has been no break in the mowing and trimming required to keep the church looking nice. With the cooling weather, it has slowed down a bit now, but we owe God a THANK YOU for making this fall wet enough to decrease the fire danger in the woods this year. God Is Good!!
We had our church dinner last month, and it was GREAT!! If you missed it, you missed a great time of fellowship and some great food! Start planning NOW to attend the one in January. We have not fixed the date yet, but it will be posted under Coming Events as soon as it is decided by the membership.
And now for the BIGGEST news!
As you have probably noticed, the landscaping timbers around the church sign at the intersection of Rt. 49 and Bethany Road are getting in very bad shape. I have wanted to replace them for a couple years now, but honestly the church has not had the money to do this. Last week we received a VERY generous donation to the church from one of our good neighbors here on Bethany, and with the permission of the property owner where the sign is located, Judy started calling around to see what was available to replace these with. I wanted to use Castle Wall landscaping blocks like the ones used in the landscaping around the church, but they have been too expensive. Judy found that Lowes in Dickson had a supply of them left from summer, and they have been discounted due to the landscaping season ending! We drove over and picked up enough to do the sign, and also bought some solar powered lights to put on the sign so it can be read at night. On Tuesday, I mowed and trimmed the church and sign, and Wednesday I tore out all the timbers, laid the new blocks around the sign and installed the lights. It looks GREAT!! While not as bright as it could be, it is visible at night now, and CAN be read from 49 as you drive past it! Yesterday, I mowed the church, and everything looks NEW again!
Drive by and have a look at the new landscaping!
If and when the funds are available, I hope to improve the lighting to make it brighter.
June 30th
Many of the members missed out on a FABULOUS church dinner last Sunday! I even cooked something myself for it; Green Bean Casserole. I made some changes to the recipe, and I believe it came out very good this time.
Other dishes included Barbecue, Swedish Meatballs, Corn, Fresh Cucumbers, Home-Made Pickles, Cole Slaw, Cheese Pasta, Potato Salad, Cherry Cake, Chocolate Pie and Cookies, with a variety of soft drinks, Everyone ate well, and fellowship was very enjoyable.
Plan to attend the NEXT one, folks, in September.
June 10th
Both Judy and I have been through the flu now, and are getting back to normal. I have mowed again, and it is due again now, but rain may prevent it this week. At our service Sunday, we discussed our church dinner, and picked the last Sunday of this month for it, which is June 28th.
Fathers day is a week from Sunday - Dad, get up and bring your family to CHURCH!!!
May 21st
Well, it stopped raining on May 11th, and I spent two days mowing and trimming, but got it all done! I was coming down with the flu, so it is a good thing I did it then, because by Wednesday I would not have been able. I am GETTING better now, but Judy is down fully with it. This MUST be that new strain of Swine Flu, because it is by far the worst either of us has ever had.
I have kept my voice enough to do the daily devotional, though, and was able to conduct service last Sunday as well.
Please keep Judy in your prayers, as well as anyone that is down with this horrid stuff.
May 8th
I managed to get the mowing done once, then the rains came. It has been over two weeks since that first mowing, and it has rained every single day since. There is no let-up in the forecast, so wear your boots when you come to church Sunday, as the grass is very high, and will be wet!
Mushroom season came and passed, and I only found about a dozen.
BUT they were the largest I have ever found; the tallest one was 11 inches, and they ranged down from there, the average being about seven inches tall. We had one meal of just morels, and one omelet flavored with morels, and both were delicious!
Sunday is Mothers Day - be sure to GLADLY go with Mom to church.
Mom's like that.
Yeah, they do!
April 15th
We had a blessed Easter service last Sunday, and I pray that all reading this did as well in whatever church they attend. The spring has been put on hold here for the time being, as cold nights continue. In spite of plentious rain, the grass is being hampered by the lack of sun and warmth. Also, no mushrooms yet due to the cool weather! As wet as it is, this would have been a GREAT year for the morel, if it had only warmed up!
My birthday is past, and I don't feel any older.
Judy's is next Monday, and the jury is still out on how she feels about that
The new discussion group continues to grow! Come and join us, and help make it grow even more!,
March 31st
It is hard to believe that this is the last day of March already! I am six days from being 66 years old, and it seems no time at all since I started drawing early Social Security at 62.
The new group is growing slowly, but it IS growing. I have been working to find interesting things to post, as well as contacting various web-sites and groups to invite people. If you know anyone interested in Origins issues, please give them the address: www.tao.invisionzone.com.
The grass is growing - soon, I will be mowing the church yard once again.
Keep us in your prayers, please, folks, as we keep all of you in ours.
March 3rd
At church Sunday, I spoke to the congregation regarding my Talk About Origins discussion group recently displaced when MSN stopped hosting their MSN groups. I outlined the problems I have had finding another free site to host it, and told how it has had a very major decline in activity as site after site fails to host it. The church voted unanimously to finance a PAID location for the discussion group, and I vowed to do my very best to grow it once more into a place where Creationists and Evolutionists can hold CIVIL debate of origins issues. Today, I ordered it, and it is being created by Invision Zone as I type this. When they notify me it is ready, I will do some customizing on it, create a nice home page on it, and start inviting my former members to join it.
The address will be:
Come and check it out, and join in the discussions there.
Thank you for the vote of confidence, folks; I will do my best to make it a good outreach of Christianity.
February 23rd
Well, several members missed the church dinner yesterday - and my, did they miss a GOOD one! Fabulous meats, wonderful salads, fantastic deserts, tasty vegetables and starches -
Oh - to the members that had to leave after only eating for an hour - please excuse me for not meeting you at the door and saying goodbye. I was deeply involved with my fourth plate of goodies, and honestly did not notice people were leaving until I was the only one still sitting at the table eating.
And it is four months until our next one -
sigh - - -
February 21st
The winter is finally passing! Around us, we see trees budding out, grass turning green, and dafodils poking up through the soil. Of course, they are occasionally coated with ICE yet, but they are at least THINKING about it.
Our church was featured in the Stewart Houston times, which did a very nice piece on it - THANK YOU, folks, for the nice coverage!
Our church dinner is tomorrow! I have already started fasting for it - - -
God's blessings to you!
January 14th
If you missed the Christmas service, you missed a really good time. Many interesting things were shared, some brought tears, some brought laughter, and we even had a game of competition between two teams made up of the membership.
I have just submitted Bethany to the Stewart Houston times to be included in their 'featured church' section, so watch for that in the next paper or so!
Our next church dinner was delayed to February due to the pastor completely forgetting about it being due in January, and it not being fair to the numerous cooks to not give them more advance notice than this. The date will be determined either next Sunday, or possibly the one after that.
God bless each of you!
December 20th
We voted and decided to do two of the three proposals for our Christmas outreach. First, we are supporting two elderly Jewish people in Israel by providing prescriptions for them for the next year. Second, we removed ALL remaining names from the Angel Tree at the nursing home in Erin, and bought gifts for these folks that no one had picked yet. These were wrapped last Sunday, and another church dinner followed, which was GREAT!
I wish each one of you a most BLESSED Christmas season, and that we would all remember the reason for the season -
Not a "happy holidays", nor a "wonderful winterfest" to be uttered by ANY of us!
December 6th
Wow! We just returned from the most FANTASTIC weeks vacation we have ever had! Our daughter and her husband took us with them and their three boys on a West Caribbean Cruise aboard the Carnival Legend. We went in a submarine in the reefs around Grand Cayman Island, We walked through the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico. We rode horses through the jungle in Belize. And we had a dolphin encounter in Roatan! We stroked them, petted them, hugged them, and got kissed by them! This has built memories in both of us that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. And I have a ton of pictures, too!
Yesterday, we had our annual decorating party at the church, followed by wonderful food. We exchanged names for our gift exchange as well, and I drew - - Oops - that is a secret.
We have not decided yet what our Christmas outreach will be this year; we have three proposals on the table, and everyone is thinking about them so we can have a vote closer to the date.
If I don't talk to you again prior to the date, I wish each and every one of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS, and that the spirit of Christ whose birth we celebrate at this time may dwell within you and keep you close to him.
October 22nd
Judy and I have returned from our annual retreat to East Tennessee, and are worn out but VERY relaxed. The fall evenings were quite nippy in the low mountains there, but the foliage was outstanding. I believe it is good for everyone, every now and then, to escape the daily bustle and go to an area that has no telephones, no television, and no computer access. It gives you time to reflect on the things that are TRULY important in this life.
