Friends:
Good afternoon, all! Lots going on this weekend. The Baylor Bears have a double-header today, and the Cowboys play tomorrow afternoon at 3:00. Busy weekend!
GOING AWAY LUNCH FOR BARRY & ERICA
I'm writing to remind you of a couple matters. First of all, we will celebrate (and mourn!) Barry and Erica's departure tomorrow afternoon with a Going Away Lunch at Fuddrucker's. We will head over there after class. We'll dismiss a bit earlier than usual. I hope that all of you can make it! I have purchased a few special gifts for the Sullivans. Thanks to all of you who have donated to this effort! If you would like to contribute and have not yet told me that you want to do so, just send me an email.
Not to worry, Cowboys fans. We will be done at Fuddrucker's in plenty of time to be home for the game.
READING FOR TOMORROW
As I mentioned in my message last Sunday, we will be discussing Chapters 4-10 tomorrow from the Transformed Life book. For those of you who have time to do the reading (do the best you can!), I would like for you to pick out 1 or 2 points or sections from the book that you think are most important and plan to share them with us tomorrow. This will help to move our discussion along!
I think that's all for now. Dana and I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow morning.
Sic 'em Bears!
Wes
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Prayer Request from Ashlee McCrary
Would like to also request an addition to the prayer list. My oldest and best friend, Casey Faubion passed away yesterday in the ICU at Temple's Scott & White. She was 21 yrs old. She was born with cerebral palsey and was lucky to have made it this far. Please pray for her family. They're going through a really tough time right now. They all live in Valley Mills, Texas. David, Rylie, and I hope to join you all next week, as the past weeks have all had another commitment keeping us from attending. Thanks again for everyone's prayers.
Ashlee
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Going Away Lunch for Barry and Erica Next Sunday (Jan 13)
Friends:
Please plan to join us next Sunday after class for a Going Away Lunch for Barry and Erica. We will plan to dismiss class a few minutes early so that we can be sure to beat the Baptists to Fuddrucker's.
Let's take this time to celebrate this important step in life for Barry and Erica. As far as I can tell, they have been with our class for at least five years. To show our appreciation for their dedication to our class (and for other reasons), we will be giving them a gift (or perhaps two) next Sunday. I would like to invite all of you to contribute. If you would like to do so, just respond to this email. Dana and I will take care of getting the gift(s) for Barry and Erica. As you can see, I am making no effort to keep this a secret!
By the way, Barry, all I expect following your departure is for you to send us a photo this March when you take part in the annual Breakfast With the Easter Bunny event in Gainesville. Don't all of you think a picture of Barry sitting in the Easter Bunny's lap would look good on our blog?!
I hope that all of you will do your best to join us next Sunday to celebrate this transition in Barry and Erica's life.
Wes
Please plan to join us next Sunday after class for a Going Away Lunch for Barry and Erica. We will plan to dismiss class a few minutes early so that we can be sure to beat the Baptists to Fuddrucker's.
Let's take this time to celebrate this important step in life for Barry and Erica. As far as I can tell, they have been with our class for at least five years. To show our appreciation for their dedication to our class (and for other reasons), we will be giving them a gift (or perhaps two) next Sunday. I would like to invite all of you to contribute. If you would like to do so, just respond to this email. Dana and I will take care of getting the gift(s) for Barry and Erica. As you can see, I am making no effort to keep this a secret!
By the way, Barry, all I expect following your departure is for you to send us a photo this March when you take part in the annual Breakfast With the Easter Bunny event in Gainesville. Don't all of you think a picture of Barry sitting in the Easter Bunny's lap would look good on our blog?!
I hope that all of you will do your best to join us next Sunday to celebrate this transition in Barry and Erica's life.
Wes
Class News and Related Stuff
Friends:
Good evening, everyone. I hope you've had a great Sunday. Thanks to the VanZees for bringing the bagels this morning! Good stuff, Brian and Jill. Next week, us Nulls will take care of the snacks.
I plan to send a separate message about this, but we will be headed to Fuddrucker's next Sunday after class for a "Going Away Lunch" for Barry and Erica Sullivan. Please plan to be there if you can. More details in a separate message.
PRAYERS AND PRAISES
Please continue to pray for Brad Burney's Dad, L. M. Burney. He had a heart attack earlier this week. He is home now and seems to be doing fine. He had 3 stints put into his chest. Please pray for his complete and speedy recovery.
----
Franci would like for us to continue to pray for little Eddie. The good news is that he appears to be making progress! Here is the latest from Franci:
Just a quick update on Baby Eddie. He is officially breathing on his own! They took the breathing tube out late last night and he was doing well this morning, according to Chris. Thanks for the continued prayers.
Franci
----
Brian VanZee asked that we pray for Brian and Pam Bartram. Brian's grandmother passed away this past week. Please pray for Brian's family during this time of mourning. We're praying for you, Brian!
Erica Sullivan brought a praise today that her step-father is doing better. The treatments appear to be helping, but please pray for his continued recovery.
Mary Erickson has asked us to pray for the Serma (sp?) family. They are part of a difficulty custody battle. Please pray, especially, for the grandmother in the situation who has agreed to keep one of the little ones at this time.
Last but not least, let's continue our prayers for Barry and Erica as they make the transition to Gainesville, Texas. Barry will be in Gainesville working all week.
--------
READING FOR NEXT WEEK
I wasn't sure how things would go with our new Treasures of a Transformed Life book this morning, but I was pleased with our discussion! Thanks to everyone for contributing! That's what will help things to go well with this book. Lots of contributions from all of you. For next week, I hope that all of you will plan to share something from a piece of the book that you enjoyed. Let's do our best to keep up with the church by reading one chapter per day. We're slightly behind that schedule, but that's okay. Next Sunday, we will plan to discuss Chapters 4-10.
Dana and I look forward to seeing all of you next week!
Wes and Dana
Good evening, everyone. I hope you've had a great Sunday. Thanks to the VanZees for bringing the bagels this morning! Good stuff, Brian and Jill. Next week, us Nulls will take care of the snacks.
I plan to send a separate message about this, but we will be headed to Fuddrucker's next Sunday after class for a "Going Away Lunch" for Barry and Erica Sullivan. Please plan to be there if you can. More details in a separate message.
PRAYERS AND PRAISES
Please continue to pray for Brad Burney's Dad, L. M. Burney. He had a heart attack earlier this week. He is home now and seems to be doing fine. He had 3 stints put into his chest. Please pray for his complete and speedy recovery.
----
Franci would like for us to continue to pray for little Eddie. The good news is that he appears to be making progress! Here is the latest from Franci:
Just a quick update on Baby Eddie. He is officially breathing on his own! They took the breathing tube out late last night and he was doing well this morning, according to Chris. Thanks for the continued prayers.
Franci
----
Brian VanZee asked that we pray for Brian and Pam Bartram. Brian's grandmother passed away this past week. Please pray for Brian's family during this time of mourning. We're praying for you, Brian!
Erica Sullivan brought a praise today that her step-father is doing better. The treatments appear to be helping, but please pray for his continued recovery.
Mary Erickson has asked us to pray for the Serma (sp?) family. They are part of a difficulty custody battle. Please pray, especially, for the grandmother in the situation who has agreed to keep one of the little ones at this time.
Last but not least, let's continue our prayers for Barry and Erica as they make the transition to Gainesville, Texas. Barry will be in Gainesville working all week.
--------
READING FOR NEXT WEEK
I wasn't sure how things would go with our new Treasures of a Transformed Life book this morning, but I was pleased with our discussion! Thanks to everyone for contributing! That's what will help things to go well with this book. Lots of contributions from all of you. For next week, I hope that all of you will plan to share something from a piece of the book that you enjoyed. Let's do our best to keep up with the church by reading one chapter per day. We're slightly behind that schedule, but that's okay. Next Sunday, we will plan to discuss Chapters 4-10.
Dana and I look forward to seeing all of you next week!
Wes and Dana
Friday, January 4, 2008
Hope
Friends:
I was a bit inspired by one of last night's speeches, which led me to put together some of my favorite pieces of text. Feel free to share with your friends:
Wes
--------------
Lamentations 3:21-24—Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him.”
Psalm 71:14-15—But I will keep on hoping for you to help me, I will praise you more and more. I will tell everyone about your righteousness. All day long I will proclaim your saving power, for I am overwhelmed by how much you have done for me.
---------
Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Red, Shawshank Redemption (after finally listening to Andy), “I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”
---------
Barack Obama, January 3, 2008--
But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.
Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.
I was a bit inspired by one of last night's speeches, which led me to put together some of my favorite pieces of text. Feel free to share with your friends:
Wes
--------------
Lamentations 3:21-24—Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him.”
Psalm 71:14-15—But I will keep on hoping for you to help me, I will praise you more and more. I will tell everyone about your righteousness. All day long I will proclaim your saving power, for I am overwhelmed by how much you have done for me.
---------
Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Red, Shawshank Redemption (after finally listening to Andy), “I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”
---------
Barack Obama, January 3, 2008--
But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.
Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Prayer Request from Brad Burney
Friends:
Please pray for Brad Burney's father, L. M. Burney. He had a heart attack yesterday. Although he remains in ICU at Providence, he seems to be doing okay.
We also need to pray for Brad. He's going in for an MRI this week to check out a tumor on his back. Thanks for your prayers for Brad and his family.
Wes
Please pray for Brad Burney's father, L. M. Burney. He had a heart attack yesterday. Although he remains in ICU at Providence, he seems to be doing okay.
We also need to pray for Brad. He's going in for an MRI this week to check out a tumor on his back. Thanks for your prayers for Brad and his family.
Wes
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008, Prayers, and Other Stuff
Friends:
Good evening, all! Well, our family has at last returned home from our visit to New Mexico. We enjoyed seeing our family very much. Our kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We're also glad to be home.
I want to thank Steve May again for teaching class this Sunday. I also want to thank Shawn and Shelley Buhner for bringing our snacks. Next week, Brian and Jill VanZee are signed up to bring our goodies. Thanks to all of you for your terrific service to our class!
We have several important prayers this week. Here are two messages of note, the first from Franci R. and the second from Steve M:
-----------
FROM FRANCI ROGERS:
Thanks for all your prayers for Eddie! They're working! We had to leave Minnesota without seeing the little guy because we're all sniffling and sneezing (I guess that's what 4 below will do to wimpy Texans like us) and we didn't want to risk sharing our germs with him or his family. But the surgery went well. Here's what Chris had to say:
The surgery is finished and Eddie is back in his room!
Everything went just as the doctors had hoped--he was able to have the Hybrid Norwood (which means he didn't have to be put on the lung/heart bypass) a much less stressful surgery for his tiny body.
He is settled into his room, "sleeping" and being monitored--he is incubated at the moment, but that will be removed within the next couple of days.
As before, everything is in God's hands--and we pray that he will continue to help Eddie be strong and heal just the way he's supposed to.
The journey is just beginning, but I feel like we got over this first big step in fine form!
Thank you, thank you thank you for your prayers--since Eddie won't be allowed visitors until the doctors say it's safe--your prayers are the best form of support you can give us.
I'm off to gaze at the boy and maybe catch a few winks.
Thank you again.
Franci
--------------
FROM STEVE MAY
I had two friends of mine pass away over the last couple of weeks:
Jeff Roe - 34 years old, married with a 2 year old daughter. Passed away unexpectedly in Austin on Dec. 17.
Dave Beckman - 62 years old, married with 2 grown children. Lived in New Jersey. Some blood thinners he was taking caused some bleeding in his brain and he went into a coma. He was removed from life support today and passed away soon after.
Please keep these families in your prayers.
Thanks,
Steve
-------------
Thank you for continuing your prayers for little Eddie and his family. Thanks, also, for praying for the families that Steve mentions above. Let's also continue to pray for all of the families who are traveling home this week.
READING FOR SUNDAY
As I suspect most of you know, our church has been kind enough to hand out a book entitled Treasures of the Transformed Life to all of us. I think it makes sense for us to set aside our Perfect Leader book and, instead, discuss the Treasures book along with the rest of the Church. For next week, we will plan to discuss the first three chapters of Treasures. The chapters are short, so we're talking about pages 7-24. I think that all of us will enjoy reading this book with the rest of our church.
I think that's all for now. Dana and I are excited about getting back in our normal routine now that Christmas and New Year's have come and gone. We'll look forward to seeing all of you on Sunday morning!
Wes and Dana
Good evening, all! Well, our family has at last returned home from our visit to New Mexico. We enjoyed seeing our family very much. Our kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We're also glad to be home.
I want to thank Steve May again for teaching class this Sunday. I also want to thank Shawn and Shelley Buhner for bringing our snacks. Next week, Brian and Jill VanZee are signed up to bring our goodies. Thanks to all of you for your terrific service to our class!
We have several important prayers this week. Here are two messages of note, the first from Franci R. and the second from Steve M:
-----------
FROM FRANCI ROGERS:
Thanks for all your prayers for Eddie! They're working! We had to leave Minnesota without seeing the little guy because we're all sniffling and sneezing (I guess that's what 4 below will do to wimpy Texans like us) and we didn't want to risk sharing our germs with him or his family. But the surgery went well. Here's what Chris had to say:
The surgery is finished and Eddie is back in his room!
Everything went just as the doctors had hoped--he was able to have the Hybrid Norwood (which means he didn't have to be put on the lung/heart bypass) a much less stressful surgery for his tiny body.
He is settled into his room, "sleeping" and being monitored--he is incubated at the moment, but that will be removed within the next couple of days.
As before, everything is in God's hands--and we pray that he will continue to help Eddie be strong and heal just the way he's supposed to.
The journey is just beginning, but I feel like we got over this first big step in fine form!
Thank you, thank you thank you for your prayers--since Eddie won't be allowed visitors until the doctors say it's safe--your prayers are the best form of support you can give us.
I'm off to gaze at the boy and maybe catch a few winks.
Thank you again.
Franci
--------------
FROM STEVE MAY
I had two friends of mine pass away over the last couple of weeks:
Jeff Roe - 34 years old, married with a 2 year old daughter. Passed away unexpectedly in Austin on Dec. 17.
Dave Beckman - 62 years old, married with 2 grown children. Lived in New Jersey. Some blood thinners he was taking caused some bleeding in his brain and he went into a coma. He was removed from life support today and passed away soon after.
Please keep these families in your prayers.
Thanks,
Steve
-------------
Thank you for continuing your prayers for little Eddie and his family. Thanks, also, for praying for the families that Steve mentions above. Let's also continue to pray for all of the families who are traveling home this week.
READING FOR SUNDAY
As I suspect most of you know, our church has been kind enough to hand out a book entitled Treasures of the Transformed Life to all of us. I think it makes sense for us to set aside our Perfect Leader book and, instead, discuss the Treasures book along with the rest of the Church. For next week, we will plan to discuss the first three chapters of Treasures. The chapters are short, so we're talking about pages 7-24. I think that all of us will enjoy reading this book with the rest of our church.
I think that's all for now. Dana and I are excited about getting back in our normal routine now that Christmas and New Year's have come and gone. We'll look forward to seeing all of you on Sunday morning!
Wes and Dana
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