News, Prayers, and, Wait, Is Anyone Hot Yet?!

Friends:

Good afternoon, everyone! I don't know about you, but I could use a trip to Montana or something at this point. Oh well. Look at it this way. 103 degree heat in July in Texas is better than -75 degrees in South Dakota in January (sorry VanZees!)

First off today, we need to say a big welcome to Doug and Gayla Dwyer. They were guests in our class this morning. Great to have you, Doug and Gayla! I do hope that you will come back and see us again next Sunday. We'll be looking for you!

Us Nulls brought the goodies this morning, so thanks to us! Next week, Shawn and Shelley Buhner are in charge. Thanks, Buhners!

As seems to be the case this time of year, we have lots of news, prayers, and praises today. For the Block Party, we are officially signed up to help with the Big Bull (that's right; the Big Bull, not the little one). I have officially agreed to ride the beast. I was told the crowd would need a standard by which to judge everyone else. Look out, baby. I'll be bustin' out my cowboy hat for this.

Let's go ahead and get to our prayers and praises

PRAYERS AND PRAISES

There are quite a few people from our class who are traveling this week. These are the travelers that I know about:

Hudsons (Houston, I think)
VanZees (Missouri for a VanZee family event)
Ramsdells (off to an Ag teacher conference)
Shawn Buhner (fly-fishing in Montana; can you believe that?!)
Nicholsons

Please pray that God will watch over all of our travelers this weekend and throughout the week.

We also have a praise for Matt Ramsdell! He has accepted a 6th grade English teaching position with Waco ISD. He also will be coaching and helping some with the Waco High football team. Congratulations, Matt! Please pray that God will be with Matt as he prepares to begin his teaching and coaching career.

Mary and Vince have asked that we pray for two of their friends--Todd and Beth Evers. Todd and Beth are also adopting a baby from China and, sadly, their home was broken into recently. They lost numerous possessions, including lots of important passport and citizenship papers for their adopted girl from China. Please pray for God's strength for the Evers family during this difficult time.

Also on the Erickson front, Mary has asked that we pray for her grandmother, Ella. She has been struggling with colon cancer and may be moving to a nursing home soon. Please pray for health and decision-making for Ella and for everyone else who is helping her at this time.

Bernie Hookham would like for us to pray for Kay Bailey, the wife of one of the partners at Bernie's architectural firm. Kay will be having surgery soon. Please pray for a successful surgery and a quick recovery for Kay.

Bernie also brought a praise that Sarah Dudley, the wife of another partner, had a successful surgery last week. Please pray for continued good days of recovery for Sarah.

Doug Dwyer has asked that we pray for Amy, a lady he knows from work. Amy has had multiple brain surgeries for brain cancer and will be going in for another procedure soon. Please pray for strength and recovery for Amy.

Doug also would like for us to pray for him this week as he makes some important decisions at work. Pray for wisdom, discernment, and guidance for Doug.

Christina G. would like for us to pray for her Aunt Lisa. Lisa's home experienced some damage last week due to Hurricane Dolly. Please pray for Lisa as she goes through this time of rebuilding.

Christina also has asked that we pray for a friend of her Mom's. His name is Mr. Cobb. He is battling cancer and needs our prayers for his strength as he goes through chemo treatments.

Last but certainly not least on the Christina front, Christina was accepted into Baylor's Master's degree program in the School of Social Work. Congratulations, Christina! Please pray that everything will go well for Christina as she begins her graduate school career.

Let's be sure to continue praying for our expectant mommies (at least the ones I know about!): Mary Erickson, Elizabeth Nemec, Amy Nicholson, and Dana Null (oops, wait!; that was a joke, mainly to reward those of you who are still reading; the Nulls are not having another baby, but the other three ladies listed above sure are!)

Finally, please pray for Dana. She is still experiencing some pain from having her wisdom teeth removed. Pray that Dana will have a good week.

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I think that's all for this afternoon, everyone. Don't forget to put the Erickson shower on your calendars (see last week's blog post for details).

We hope that all of you have a great week. We look forward to seeing you again next Sunday morning!

Wes and Dana