Gregg Harris Conference

Near the beginning of November Dad, Mom, and I made the trip down to Texas for a Household of Strength conference by Gregg Harris which was held at our friends' church.

 Mr. Harris spoke several times Saturday.  His talks were excellent!

 Here are a few quotes from the various talks:

~ Noah included his family in his life's calling.  Lot attempted to save the city by neglecting his family.

~ The law of God is for our good.  Not doing God's will is shooting yourself in the foot.  Every command is a delivery system for blessing, or a protection from harm.

~ Take delight in doing the will of God.

~ Nations don't survive long when the family declines.

~ Row yourself to the battle.

~ Men grow with the heat lamp of respect on them.

~ Be careful how you introduce something to your child.  if you don't love it, they won't either.  Give your children a taste for your own delight in God.

 Making breakfast Sunday morning. :)

 Dad and Tim talking before church.

 Mr. Harris gave the sermon Sunday and also installed the first elder and two deacons for this new church.

 It was a full weekend - but a very good one!!

Texas Travels etc.

We left for Texas on a Tuesday evening, drove through the night and, arrived at the Cl.'s home in Missouri Wednesday afternoon.  It was a long drive and we were very thankful for their kind hospitality!

All of us girls :)

Dad and Mr. Cl. studying maps and planning travel routes...something they both enjoy.

After a good night's rest, we headed out right after breakfast.

We were in Oklahoma when I thought I saw my first REAL cowboy herding cattle along the road!  But wait, on second glance... I realized they were not so real after all.  A metal cowboy and metal cows?  *sigh*  Well, someday I hope to see a real one working cattle. :)

Mom knitting.

At the Texas welcome center!

FLOWERS in OCTOBER!!

We arrived at the N family's home late Thursday evening. They have 6 young children, 5 boys and 1 girl - (they were such fun!)  I had the boys room and this is what was above the bed!  =D  Not the sort of decor I am used to...but I slept well anyway!

This little guy was so smiley!

:)

Friday evening we went to the rehearsal dinner which was held at an apartment complex Tim used to manage.  It was a beautiful place!

Jordan and Tim, ready for the big day!

I already posted about the wedding, which was Saturday...so I'll skip to Sunday.

Since they rent another church building, church was at 2:00 PM, which gave us a nice relaxing morning with the N. family. :)  Here some of the men are praying before church started.

That evening we packed up and moved over to stay with our Cx. family. 

But first we had our picture taken with all the N. children. :)  We enjoyed them so much.

  

According to Mr. Cx., Blue Bell Ice Cream is the best in Texas.  It was good!

Monday, a friend took us out to eat at a Mexican restaurant for lunch  What a treat!  Thank you!

Desserts: From left to right: ice cream rolled in toasted coconut and pecans and drizzled with chocolate and caramel, (I cannot remember the Spanish name for it though),  Tres Leches cake, and Sopaillas, which are served with honey (seen in the background). Yum!

:)

Back at the Cx.'s home...

Ana copying down a recipe.

One of the flower arrangements from the wedding.  Some of the roses were beginning to droop...

..so we hung them from the chandelier to dry!

~~ We so enjoyed our stay with the Cx family!  We left for home late Tuesday morning.   ~~

The drive home was long....but it went well.  Thank you Lord!

About 2 hours from our place we got to see the men working on the new power lines.  See the guy hanging from the helicopter?

Almost home!

Here we are with Anna and Maria, the sisters who house sat for us.  They are the best!

What a trip!

The Semper Reformanda Conference!

Exactly two weeks ago tomorrow afternoon we arrived at our friend's home in Houston Texas for the Semper Reformanda Conference that GfBC puts on. We are so thankful for the C. family's invitation to stay with them. They welcomed us into their home and made us feel like part of their family.  We are so grateful for them and their hospitality to us!!



Lunch time Q&A time

The conference was a huge encouragement and challenge to us in many ways. In the main sessions, (and also the breakout sessions I went to), I was really struck by the emphasis that was placed on prayer.  Also, the reverence and care with which they preach the Word and run their church was very refreshing.  They really desire to do what would be pleasing to the Lord and not just follow along with what everyone else is doing.

The courtship Q&A session.

 Here are a few quotes from Mr. Paul Washer's talks:

"The heavens declare the glory of God" - man created in God's image should be declaring it even more. 
Don't let the heavens take over what should be our ministry.

I must love and cherish Christ and look out and love the elect of Christ.

The greatest gift I can give my children is to pour into them the word of God.

We must be alone with God so He can empower us through prayer.

Our sword is a book and you must know it in order to conform your family to it.

Can you be alone so that God will be the greatest reality in your life?

Give the first part of your day to prayer and the word of God. "I have discovered that my flesh hates praying more than it hates the study of God's word."

You do not adapt the church to the culture. Do church according to the scriptures and not according to your whims.

Ana and me with new friends Elena and Lauren!

Lovely ladies ready for lunch!

Amy Ellen H. came by Monday morning to visit. :) 

We were sad to leave, but are looking forward to seeing our Texas friends again someday!

Traveling to Texas!

We left on the 20th of October for the Semper Reformanda Conference in Houston, Texas. The U. sisters came and house-sat for us again. They are the best!

Dad looking through the maps we got from AAA. :)

Sunrise somewhere in Oklahoma. One of the 'benefits' of driving through the night are the sunrises!


The welcome center in Oklahoma City.

The chandelier in the welcome center.


Part of a huge mural over the desk.


Words on a mirror at the center!

The older man working there was so kind and friendly and showed us local attractions on a city map....and how to get to the Cowboy Hall of Fame!!
Since we'd been there about 20 years ago and had enjoyed it, we thought it would be fun to stop there again. :)

We discovered that is now has a new name and has been majorly expanded/remodeled. There was not time to go through the museum be we went into the gift shop and took a few pictures.


A sculpture of two friends on horseback visiting.

This huge statue below, used to be at the end of the museum tour...now they have it in the lobby!

The view of the lobby once inside the front doors.

This truck was parked at the museum. :)

We drove by the city capital on our say out of town.

I had to take some pictures of the wild roads they have in Dalas Texas...

What a jumble!

~~~~~~

The hotel we stayed at in Enis Texas.

There were roses blooming in the gardens around the entrance!

The lobby.

We found out there was a huge Drag Race going on in the area and the hotels were almost full. This one had three rooms left. The man working there gave Dad a deal on two rooms since they do not allow 5 people in one room. At first we were not too keen on being separated, but it worked out well...we girls had our own bathroom and we were all able to get going earlier in the morning. :) We were absolutely exhausted, went to bed around 7:00 PM and slept like logs until about 6:00 AM!

On our way the next morning. A good night's sleep is so refreshing!

Our rental van. According to the license plates, we were 'from' New York.

We drove into Enis to look for a place to mail some post cards. It was a cute town.

We stopped at a rest stop just north of Houston to eat lunch. It was flying the Texas state flag. :)

We drove into Houston...well actually in was probably a northern suburb...but anyway, we got a bit lost....

...in a fancy part of town. This place was all decorated for Christmas. Hmmm..

This was an interesting sign....why would anyone want to go there?

Well, anyway, we eventually arrived at our friend's home!!!

More about that in the next post. :)