Angels In Voice

We would like to share with you some good news.  Our dad went for his three month bladder scope follow up Monday morning and he is still clear.  No tumors or anything, we are thankful for this great news.  God is so good!!  Candice goes for her follow up at Mayo Clinic on Nov. 24th.  We're praying that she will receive good results as well.

Last week we gave a concert at Good Shepherd retirement center.  There was a nice crowd and some of them had their family members with them.  We sang six songs and our mom shared our story to give us a little breather.  It was truly a blessing.  After our program we had the opportunity to talk with several that attended.  There were many positive and uplifting comments.  One woman came to us and told us she was not a religious person, but every song we sang touched her.  If we can touch just one person through our music, or testimony we praise God to be in his service.  We're thankful the Lord is using us to be a blessing to people.  

The memorial service for our friend Bill Wade was on Friday morning.  The service was at Freeway Baptist Church.  Our family attended Freeway many years ago. and that is how we met Bill.   Our brother Jason was married in that church and Candice and I used to sing for the Sunday night services.  We have many memories growing up and being involved in the ministries there.  The memorial service was beautiful.  Pastor Mark Chappell officiated the service and he preached a message of salvation.  Bill knew the Lord as his personal Savior and is in the presence our Lord.  We can rejoice in knowing that he is in a better place.  Candice and I sang one of our favorite songs "I Bowed On My Knees and Cried Holy." It's one we sing at memorial services.  We know as Christians we will have the opportunity to see our loved ones again.  The message of the song describes what it will be like when we walk through the gates of Heaven.  Words can't begin to describe what it will be like when we finally meet Jesus, our Lord and Savior who died for our sins.  What a glorious day that will be.  We also sang at a memorial service Saturday morning for a gentlemen who attended our church.  We didn't know him very well but we know he also accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior.   

Friday night a couple in our church choir hosted a BBQ for the choir.  We enjoyed a potluck dinner and had a nice time of fellowship.  We also had a bubble gum blowing contest with the dubble bubble blow gum.  Candice and I stuck three pieces of gum in our mouths, but neither of us won.  Cindy and Suzanne had four pieces that allowed them to blow the biggest bubbles.  It was great fun and we thank God for our time of fellowship.

Psalm 72:18,19 NIV

 18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
       who alone does marvelous deeds.

 19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
       may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
       Amen and Amen.

I can't believe October is almost history.  Where has the time gone?  It's been yet another busy week here.  This past week was our annual Missions conference at church.  The theme this year was "Making A World Of Difference."  We had Missionaries from Kenya, Nigeria, Germany, and the Ukraine.  It's always such a blessing to hear about the different countries and how the Lord is using each of them to bring souls to Christ.  There are currently 43 Missionary families that our church is supporting.  On Sunday our Pastor invited the Associate Mission Director, BBFI Steve Bender to preach in both morning and evening services.  He and his wife were missionaries in Korea for fifteen years.  Both his messages were very powerful.  The overall message was how we as Christians need to be living our lives for Christ.  I believe we are living in the end times and Christ's return is very near.    

Last Tuesday, we sang out at the boys Juvenile Detention Center.  It went very well.  Candice and I shared our testimony and sang five songs.  Our dad even read a couple of stories to give us a little breather.  The boys were very respectful, and seemed to enjoy our music which was a real encouragement.  We pray that we were a blessing and hopefully we inspired them to want to live for Christ. They are all so young, and they need the love of Jesus in their home lives so they can have a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

On Saturday afternoon our parents dropped us off at our friend Marlowe's baby shower.  We have known Marlowe since second grade.  Many years!!  She was one of those friends who always looked out for us in grade school.  She holds a special place in our hearts.  She and her husband Joseph have two beautiful kids.  The baby shower was a welcome home celebration for her little miracle baby girl Evelyn.  She has a rare health condition and at four months old has had several surgeries.  We have been praying for Evelyn since she was born and are happy she is doing very well.  

This week is a busy week, we have our voice lessons scheduled tomorrow afternoon.  Thursday we are looking forward to singing at a retirement center out in Mesa.  We are also singing at a Memorial service this Friday morning.  Bill Wade, a longtime friend of our family, passed away last Wednesday.  He had cancer and it had already spread by the time he found out about it.  It was sad hearing this news, but we know he is in a better place now. Our church choir is having a get together on Friday evening so we are looking forward to attending that as well.  

Psalm 100 1-5

 1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

 2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.

 3 Know that the LORD is God.
       It is he who made us, and we are his ^[a]                                                                                     we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
       and his courts with praise;
       give thanks to him and praise his name.

 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations.

I apologize it has been a while since we last updated.  I really can't believe we are well into October now.  It just doesn't seem possible.  Our mom is doing a lot better thank you for your prayers.  She got a sinus infection a couple of weeks ago, and we were concerned that it may go into her eye.  Thankfully she started antibiotics and is feeling much better.  She still can't see out of that eye very well, but it's going to take a while for the blurriness to go away.  Our brother Jody is much better as well.  He had a follow-up appointment with his doctor last Monday and the doctor told our parents he thought he may have Pericarditis which is inflammation around the pericardium, the thin, tough bag-like membrane surrounding the heart.  Our parents looked it up online and he had all the symptoms of it.  Jody has had that once before several years ago and it usually lasts for a few weeks.  He started feeling better last week and is pretty much back to his old self.  Thank you again for your prayers.  We're so thankful that both he and mom are on the mend and feeling better.

Candice and I are doing very well other than fighting some sinus and allergies this week.  We are enjoying the cooler fall weather.  On Saturday the high was only 77 degrees, it was just beautiful.  This week it's warmer, but this weekend it is suppose to be cool again.  We had voice lessons today after taking a month off.  Dealing with the allergies made it a bit of a struggle for both of us in our lessons.  We're both working on some new music.  I'm working on a real pretty German piece called "Ach, Ich Fuhl's" by Mozart and I'm also learning "Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen" by Bach.  It is quite demanding vocally.  Candice is working on "Danza, danza Fanciulla Gentile" by Durante.  It's a light fast Italian arrietta. She's also working on a beautiful French piece called "Adieu" by Grandmougin.  We are looking for some classical duets to work on as well.  Our teacher Karen is putting together a student voice recital for January.  We sang at the recital last January, and it was such a great experience for us.  We love working on new classical music, it's definitely a good vocal challenge that's for sure.

Sunday was friendship Sunday at our church.  Pastor asked us to sing for our Encouragers Bible Study class.  We had about 80 people in the class that day.  We also sang the lead with our choir director Paul, for the choir special.  It was a fun Southern Gospel song called "Walking with Jesus."  Candice and I don't really sing Southern Gospel music, but this one was so catchy that we couldn't stop smiling while singing it.  Everyone in the congregation really enjoyed it as well.  We also sang our trio "If Anybody Knows" with Paul for special music.  Pastor Adrian preached a wonderful message on "Real Life, Real Pain, Real Acceptence" part four in a series on the Prodigal Son.  It was a GREAT Lord's day!  

This past weekend was the Logos Mission (Eastern Indian Church) 8th anniversary celebration.  We sang both Friday and Saturday night and had a wonderful time.  We always enjoy our time with Pastor Thomas, his wife Sucheta and their church family.  What a blessing Friday and Saturday were for us.  It was nice to see all our Indian friends again.  The theme this year was "Jesus Is Comming."  When you look around at the horrible things going on in our world today, it's easy to see that the Lord's return is soon aproaching.  The songs we chose were songs that pertained to that theme.  I feel as Christians we definitley need to be living these final days trusting in the Lord.  There is a song that Candice and I just recently learned and it's by the Hoppers.  It's called "Yahweh" (Hebrew word for Jahovah God.) This is a really awesome song and it describes the life of Jesus here on earth from his birth to his reserection.  A song with such a powerful message.  We know that he is coming again and we really need to be ready for his return.  Candice and I have a couple more bookings this month.  Next Tuesday we will be ministering for the fourth time at an all boys prison.  Please be in prayer that our message through song and testimony will be an encouragment to these boys.  They need to find hope in Jesus Christ.  Without HIM they will never be able to change their life styles.  In two weeks we have a booking at a retirement center in Mesa.  It should be fun!  We are thankful the Lord is using us in so many different places.  Our hearts are filled with joy knowing that HE continues to give us the strength we need to serve HIM.