Catching Up...Again

Thanks to my sweet husband, my computer woes are over!!! Last weekend we purchased a laptop before the old computer completely crashed on us. I am finding that I love the portability of the laptop. Before when working on things on the computer, I was confined to our room. Now, I am in the living room, right in the center of things. This makes me better able to keep an eye on what is happening while doing my needed computer work.

The last 18 days have just flown by! It amazes me how quickly the weeks pass. I do wish I could slow the days down, but then, if I had more hours, I'd just find something else to do with them.

On March 5th Hannah had her 14th birthday, and on the 7th Caroline turned 11. They opted for a simple shared birthday party. We ate hot dogs for dinner and then Gene & I took the birthday girls to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. After ice cream we took them to a nearby mall they hadn't visited before. After our mall excursion we came home to a streamer decorated family room and kitchen. Hannah and Caroline each designed and made their own cakes. It was strange for me to not be making their cakes, but I am pleased that they wanted to practice their baking skills.


On the 7th Cindy ran an interview with me about our ministry. I had some very challenging comments and questions, which the Lord used to help me grow.

Interview Part One

Interview Part Two

On the 10th we held an Evangelism One Day Training Course in The Highlands. We had about 15 people in attendance. It is a great blessing to be able to train others to share their faith Biblically. Our hope and prayer is that in some small way, we can encourage them to follow the call that every believer has been given, which is to preach the gospel to every creature.

One of our evangelism team members, Janna was married on the 11th. On the 9th, before our regular Friday night witnessing, we all met at El Rey Taqueria for dinner. It was our first time to meet her fiance, Jed. Last Saturday night(the 17th) I received a call from Jed & Janna telling me about their first street evangelism effort together as a married couple. It was wonderful to hear the excitement in their voices as they shared about their time together witnessing. I felt a great amount of encouragement when hearing how they are starting their lives together by placing their focus firmly on seeking to save that which is lost.

On Friday the 16th, we had a great time on streets. One of our team members, Jason, brought his Harlequin Great Dane. He is 14 months old and weighs a whopping 140lbs. His name is Niko, short for Nicholas. He was such a sweetheart and he got lots of attention, which is exactly what we wanted. We called him our Texas Chihuahua. We all know everything is bigger and better in Texas. He was a great prop to break the ice with people. As people walk down the street they tend to walk quickly by, and they often won't make eye contact with you, because they don't want to have to tell you they don't want what you have. But, Niko had people stopping to stare, which gave us the chance to talk to them about him, and offer to let them pet him. We had several instances where a person would refuse to take a tract from one of us, but after visiting with Jason & Niko, they were happy to take one. I don't know how many tracts we gave out as a team, but Gene & I were able to give out about 150. If you haven't tried giving out tracts in a busy place before, let me encourage you to do so. What an easy way to get the gospel into the hands of a lot of people in a short amount of time.


Sunday the 18th Gene spoke at the Philippine-American Good News Fellowship. They had their annual Rodeo Day (because of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo). The people were very welcoming and friendly, and we all had a great time. Gene taught on, "The Top 10 Signs I Was A False Convert." The sermon seemed to resonate with many people, and we pray that the Lord was able to use it in their lives. After church there was a fellowship dinner of cowboy fare. We had bar-b-que chicken, sausage & brisket, and for sides we had potato salad and baked beans. We had great fellowship along with great food.

Monday Hannah & I took my van in to see about having a piece of trim replaced. They ordered the part and it should be in one day this week. After our trip to the car dealership Hannah and I ate breakfast at La Madeliene's. Then we came home for a short while, going back out later to run errands and grocery shop.

Well, that should have you up to date on my life now. Hopefully, now that I have this new computer, I'll be able to update more often.

Computer Woes

My computer has been showing signs of a terminal illness and it is causing me to be able to post. I'm hoping I can get this typed and up before it shuts down again!! I will try to borrow one of the girls computers to post later.

It's been over a month...

Today is March 1st and it has been over a month since I posted here. This last month has been full of many ups and downs and my prayer is that the rest of the year will not follow suit. I'll try to catch you up on some of the things that have happened over the last month.

Jan. 25th was my 43rd birthday. It was pretty low key. That afternoon we received an e-mail that greatly changed things for us. The e-mail was a final straw which caused us to sever ties with The Great News Network. It was a hard decision to make, but over the last month the Lord has re-affirmed that we made the right decision.

Because of this change, we had to change domain names and re-work our website(which is still getting re-vamped). Our new ministry name which isn't really that new to us, as it's the name we had before joining up with GNN. We've gone back to Master's Key Ministries. You really wouldn't know that there was a change, except for our name and that Gene won't be going to Bootcamps any more. We will still be doing the same things we were before; meeting up with friends to evangelize on the streets every Friday night, and we will be adding some new family evangelism activities. We love teaching classes; equipping and encouraging others to share their faith in Christ, and we will be teaching a class on the 10th in Baytown.

On the 4th Gene spoke to a youth group at a Philippine/American Church. The people were kind and very welcoming. The youth were very attentive and receptive to what Gene had to say. Their pastor, Pastor Dindo, has a great heart for evangelism and wants his people to learn to share their faith. We look forward to hitting the streets with some of the people from this church.

Lindsay has been suffering with asthma/allergy problems for quite a while, we've tried many things, but most of them are ineffective. She began to get worse and on Feb. 1st I took her to the doctor again. She had a terrible sinus infection which was putting quite a lot of pressure on her ears; causing them to hurt a good bit. The doctor gave her a three week course of antibiotics, prednizone, and some decongestant. The next week we had a drastic change in the weather which set her asthma off and by 2am on the 10th we were headed to the hospital. This was our first time to go to the hospital due to someone's asthma. They gave her a couple of breathing treatments which did wonders for her. The hardest part was getting out of the hospital. They had several critical cases come in and every room in the ER was full. It took 2 1/2 more hours, just to discharge us. During the interim, Lindsay and I became rather slap happy due to the combination of no sleep and her drugs... we were quite the silly pair. Our Monkishness took over in rare form. As we sat in our room with nothing to do, we began to notice all of these things that were out of place. The game became for me to straighten up, but to make sure none of the nurses could see me through the glass door and windows. First there were the pens and items on the counter, they were just sort of scattered around. Then we noticed that the rubber glove boxes weren't centered in the dispenser. One of the trickier items was the hospital gown tie that was hanging out of an overhead cabinet, which was on the other side of the curtain and right by the sliding glass door. Lindsay was finding new things for me to "fix" as she played lookout for me. After the 2 1/2 hours we were able to straighten the whole room, feeling much better about it all. We were finally discharged at 7am and came home to crash for the day. This adventure wiped Lindsay and I out for most of the weekend. She did much better after her treatments and the doctor gave her a prescription for a nebulizer and albuterol so that she could do treatments at home. The treatments have helped a great deal, though the drastic fluctuations in temperature have played havoc with her asthma. I took her back to the doctor on Tuesday and her sinus infection is still here, so we have started another round of antibiotics and prednizone.

On the 19th Caroline came down with a stomach bug, and since then things have gone downhill on the health end of things here. Caroline is hardly ever sick, so I was surprised at her coming down with something. She was over it in a couple of days, but then Hannah came down with the same thing, and Rachel came down with an upper respiratory virus. Rachel's is still going strong, and last night Caroline awoke coughing. This morning she sounded just like Rachel. Pray for them... and for me through all of this.

The only other bit of news for me was that we bought a new-to-us vehicle a couple of weeks ago. My old van was getting to the stage of needing many repairs, you know, the money pit stage, and we decided to get a Toyota Sienna. We debated between it and a Suburban for a while, but chose the Sienna in the end. I love it, and believe a mother must have designed some of the features, as I love them. It even has hooks in the back for Wal-Mart bags so that they don't slide around the back of the van. I think my favorite part is the cd player, I'm able to listen to music now, which I hadn't been able to do in my other van, for quite a while.

Well, I think that brings things back up to date. I'm going to be starting some special projects around the house and will hopefully be posting about them here. I will also be doing an interview on Cindy's blog in the next week or so, I'll post here when she has posted it. The next week will be quite busy as I have two birthdays, a washer repairman coming and a class to prepare for, as well as all of these sick girls. So, if you think about me, send a prayer up.

Bible Study

I have really been praying and thinking about my Bible study and the motives behind it. My original plan for this year was to read the Bible through in a year. I had never done that before and thought it to be a good goal. As I got into it though, I didn't really feel satisfied. It was much like eating a very light meal, when you're really hungry; at the end of the meal, you still want more. I also felt I was doing it out of obligation. I would think, "I need to get my 7 chapters in or I will be behind." While Gene was gone I prayed about it and decided that I would pick one book a week and study it. My plan is to read it through each day and to add study materials such as concordances and commentaries. I will also take notes on what sticks out to me.

This week I am going through the book of Titus and many things are really resonating with me. In verse one Paul describes himself as a bondservant of God. A bondservant was one of the most menial of positions yet he proclaimed that title with gladness, not with shame, or remorse. In 2:9-10 Paul begins to describe what a good bondservant is and is not. In verse 9 he says he's obedient, the question I ask myself is, "Am I being obedient to what the Lord has given me to do?" He then says we are to be "well pleasing in all things." Does everything I do please the Lord? If not, should I be doing it, and making excuses for it? Then he says a good bondservant doesn't answer back. How often do I argue with God over the things I know He wants from me? How often do I say in my heart, "I know this is wrong, but it's not that big of a thing."? A good bondservant also shows fidelity, or loyalty. Am I being loyal when I do what He hates, and don't do what is most important to Him? Then he says we are to "adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things," in other words we should look & act differently than the world.

Titus talks so much about how we should live our lives, and it shouldn't be for ourselves or our desires. While Gene was gone to Vegas, God really did some things in my heart deepening my desire for Him, and the things that are important to Him. One of the things that is repeatedly hitting me is the need to evangelize the lost. Many people say things such as, "That's your ministry.", "That's what God has called your family to do.", "God hasn't called us to do that." I'm going to be very blunt here... HOGWASH!!! When Christ put out the Great Commission, he gave it to all who are His, not just the 12 disciples. If you believe that as a Christian you have to be called to evangelize, then you are believing a lie! If you believe that to be true, take this as a challenge to prove it. Also, if you believe that your lifestyle is the mode in which your evangelism should take, I challenge you to prove that also. If you look at what the disciples did, you will not see that to be the case. Paul wasn't thrown in jail because he was a nice person, and taught Sunday School. He was thrown in jail for boldly proclaiming the name of Christ.

These quotes by Charles Spurgeon sum it up best.

Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself, be sure of that.


If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one GO there UNWARNED and UNPRAYED for.


Answering a student's question, 'Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?' thus, 'It is more a question with me whether we, who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved.


We are not called to proclaim philosophy and metaphysics, but the simple gospel.

Sermon of the Week

While Gene was gone to Las Vegas, I spent my time in a great deal of prayer, & work around the house. While I worked I listened to some really great sermons by a man named, Paul Washer. He has a ministry, HeartCry Missionary Society, which helps missionaries around the world. His sermons are hard hitting, and right on target. He's known for not being asked back to places because many "Christians" don't want to hear the truth of his message. Some of his messages send me down on my face; they are so convicting. My plan is to link to one each week, and I hope that you will take the time to listen to them, and allow God to work through them. I'd love to hear your feedback afterwards.

The sermon this week is: Regeneration & Self-Denial

In a Flurry

There has been a flurry of activity in our family since my last post. On the 5th we went on our weekly evangelism jaunt. We met early that night and had dinner together, having a wonderful time of fellowship. Two of the families on our team were leaving on the 9th to go to the Philippines to become missionaries; so we had prayer with them and said all of our good-byes. The prayer was filled with tears of both sadness and joy. We will miss both families greatly, but we are overjoyed at their dedication and service to the Lord. We heard from them earlier this week, and they seem to be settling in to their new lives.

On the 6th we put on another one day training class, which went quite well. We had about 30 attendees and about 15 of them went out witnessing with us afterwards. It was exhilarating to see so many people excitedly sharing their faith. I especially love to be around people who are excited to see what God is going to do when we are obedient to his command to share our faith. The students were even able to see Gene get busted by the police...again. No, they didn't arrest him, but they did tell him to stop witnessing...or else.

On the 10th Gene spoke at Baytown Christian Academy during the chapel services. He was able to present the gospel to about 250 kids & their teachers, while also encouraging them to share their faith. We were able to give all of the kids a tract before they left, which we also encouraged them to share.

On the morning of the 17th Gene flew out to Las Vegas for 5 days of evangelism. The first night they had a banquet with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. Before the banquet they were all in the lobby of Circus Circus talking and Gene called his sister. He asked to talk to Brittany, her 16 year old daughter, and then he put Kirk on the phone with her. Brittany has watched Kirk her whole life on Growing Pains, and talking to him on the phone was very special for her. I think it took her a little while to start breathing again.

Yesterday they preached at UNLV and last night they hit the strip preaching. They were on the strip all day today after they spent a morning in prayer. Please continue to pray for them as they spread the light of the gospel in the darkness of Las Vegas.

Looking Forward

The holiday season is now behind us and now with the new year ahead I am looking forward. This past year has been amazing; I can't believe how quickly it passed. It has made me aware of how fleeting our days are, and how we truly need to set our focus on the things of God, not wasting a minute.

When I think back to all of the wasted minutes, time wasted on things of no eternal value, it spurs me on to make changes in my life. I think of how much time and money we spend on entertainment and pleasure, which really convicts me. I know that there is a balance; but it seems that those shouting to keep everything in balance, are often doing little to serve the Lord. I know that sounds like a harsh statement, but over the past year I have seen it time and again. We often get criticized for our evangelism, and our "method" from people who are not evangelizing at all. The phrase we have begun to use with these people is, "You don't like what I'm doing, more than what you are not doing."

As we all look back at the past year and ahead to the coming year, we should prayerfully consider the changes the Lord is laying on our hearts. One of the changes He is laying on mine is to read the Bible more. Like Cindy I would like to read my Bible before touching my computer. I failed at that today, and when I read that she had the same thought, it made me more determined to press toward that mark.

The Lord has blessed us immensely over this last year; not materially, but spiritually. Yes, compared to the rest of the world, we live like kings. But, that is truly not important. What is important is teaching my children to love the Lord their God more than anything, and to teach them to yearn to reach those who are perishing. Even among Christians we tend to teach our children more about how to make and keep the almighty dollar, than how to sacrificially serve our Lord.

It is no wonder that today's Christian teens and young adults act and behave just like the world. They are being taught by the mainstream church to be as much like the world as they possibly can. They have pastors like Joel Osteen telling them to "get their best life now." That is not the life Christ called us to. He called us to take up our crosses and follow Him. His cross wasn't padded and comfortable like the seats at Lakewood. His cross was full of splinters, it was heavy and hard to carry, there were times he felt the weight of it was too much to bear. We are called to emulate Him, not someone who's telling us to get all we can, while we can.

I hope and pray that my focus in the coming year will continue to shift more from me and toward Him. My goal for this blog is to direct people toward Him, and I pray I do that more each day. We can serve Him more by being better wives, mothers and evangelists. What a blessing it will be to our children for them to have a mother who enthusiastically, compassionately, and fervently shares the glorious true gospel of Christ. I pray that through this humble blog, I may in some way encourage you in these areas.