Rainy Days

What a wonderful day! We have much needed rain falling right now. I have had over an 1 1/2" so far with it still falling. Me and Kady (my pup) are watching it fall with joy.

God is good. He always sends us rain exactly when we need it. We sometimes think we need rain, yet when we get rain, we seem to waste it. I get tickled at folks who gripe about dry weather. When it does finally rain, the first thing they do is tie a plow onto a tractor and plow it out. We have some farmers that practice limited or no tillage. I wish you could see their crops when it does dry up. The crop hangs on much longer without showing signs of moisture stress. And you know what, their yields show the difference too. I realize the need for tillage, don't misunderstand what I'm saying, but with the technologies we enjoy today, there are better agricultural practices. These technologies are what keeps me interested with my career.

Thanks for reading today!

Preston

Ivory Palaces

We sang a song tonight at worship that I haven't heard since I was a kid. My friend and brother in Christ, Todd Bissitt, lead the song. Todd is an awesome song leader. His dad is a band director in the Frenship school district.

"Ivory Palaces" #343

1. My Lord has garments so wondrous fine, And myrrh their texture fills; Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine, With Joy my being thrills.
2. His life had also its sorrows sore, For aloes had a part; And when I think of the cross He bore, My eyes with teardrops start.
3. His garments too were in cassia dipped, with healing in a touch; Each time my feet in some sin have slipped, He took me from it's clutch.
4. In garments glorious he will come, To open wide the door; And I shall enter my heavenly home, To dwell for evermore.

Chorus: Out of the ivory palaces, into a world of woe; Only His great eternal love, Made my savior go.

In the past couple of years, the words of the songs we sing touch me differently. I have learned to worship in song, as we are commanded. Now I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but I love the singing part of our worship. The words sometime bring a tear to my eye. Can you imagine what the garment of our Lord and Savior must look like? All the splendor? I can't wait!

I almost forgot to mention it here, but one of my first post here talks about brother Dee Copeland. Brother Dee will be 100 October the 24th, and yes, he lead one of my favorite songs tonight, "His eye is on the Sparrow".

Thanks for stopping by today!

Preston

Prayer

Just heard an awesome sermon on prayer. Do you ever wonder why we don't pray more than we do? I know that I don't spend as much time in prayer because I think God has bigger fish to fry than me. I know that is crazy to think that way, but sometimes I do. And I know that a lot of the good in my life comes from my friends praying for me. I also know that God always answers prayers. You have to look for his will in those prayers, and the answer is not always what we expect. I am reminded often of a prayer that Paul prayed for the church at Colosse. Collossians 1:9-14 "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that (I always like to highlight the "so that's") you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin."

What an awesome and eloquent prayer! This prayer has completely changed the way I approach the Throne in prayer. To be filled with the knowledge of God's will is really awesome. I don't claim to have all the knowledge of God, nor will I ever. But that doesn't stop me from looking to Him for answers that builds my knowledge. And to live a life worthy of God! How in the world can I live a life worthy? I struggle with this daily! I know that Christ's blood still flows for me. That's what keeps me worthy. And you know what? That blood never coagulates like our blood does. It's still flowing, cleansing us, just as it has for the past 2,000 years. And it will till judgement. And what an awesome day that will be. To stand before God, with his son sitting at his right hand, having already been judged for my sin by Him! 2,000 years ago!!!

I am also reminded of another prayer by Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 1:8 "Remember". I just find that fascinating that Nehemiah is reminding God of his promise. The instruction He gave Moses. I would have never thought about reminding God of anything. Maybe it's a way Nehemiah needs to show himself that he knows what the promise was, I don't know.

I am praying for you all!!

Preston

The week in review

Just wanted to spend a minute here and reflect on the week.


The one thing that really sticks out in my mind this week was the RNC. I think the party is beginning to unite and rally around their candidate. Sarah Palin is for real. I think the picture of her family together on the stage after her electrifying speech was a sweet picture. Her husband, Todd, is a hard working man. He has won 4 snow machine championships. From what I can read about that, it must be extremely challenging. The Fact that she Sarah sold off the states luxury jet was very impressive. Her family didn't live in Alaska's governor mansion. She stood up to the status quo in Alaska politics. Her speech was absolutely, positively the best political speech I have ever witnessed. I think the unity of her family, even with the challenges they face right now, proves her ability to both govern and raise a family. And yes, the new baby will be a blessing.


Another thing that's been on my mind is the dead-beat-dad thing. I hope that all of you went and visited the Faith, Love Hope Ministries blog and, if you can, support this ministry. There are a lot more single parents out there that need our help.









I haven't talked a whole bunch about this on my blog this week, but my company continues to help me in becoming comfortable in selling corn seed. I spent all day Friday looking at different hybrids from 3 different companies we represent. I have always been a huge NC+ fan. I have been schooled up on our proprietary brand, Dyna-Gro, and on the Dekalb Hybrids. Hopefully, I have gained enough confidence that I can be successful in that area of my business.




I have made contact with an old friend. She and I first met at Tech many years ago. It will be fun getting caught up with her and her family.



The West Texas Friday Night Scoreboard show kicked up into high gear this week. I was about 5 minutes late getting there last night because of our game here in Lockney. It was full blast answering the phones and recording live reports. We had fun last night.



The Lockney losing streak continues. I think we are nearing 25 straight losses. Pray for my community in this endeavor. Small town football, especially in West Texas, plays such a vital part in our community's pride. Especially the confidence of our young folks that are living through this. We love you kids! Keep your heads up and continue to give 100%. This streak will rebound soon.




The 90th consecutive Floyd County championship was played last night. Lockney and Floydada has the longest consecutive rivalry going in the state. The trophy will remain in Floydada for at least one more year. The festivities last night reminded me of a small college football game. I think everyone in Floyd county was in Lockney last night at the game. You should have been trying to get to Floydada last night after the game. The traffic was almost like rush hour traffic in the metroplex! LOL! Kurt, Martha, Amy and myself did a little tailgating at the game last night. It was a lot of fun.



My daughter, Sarah, is cheering for the little league football team here again this year. I always enjoy seeing her get out in front of people and perform. She's a little bit timid. She doesn't like to draw attention to herself. I pray that this will help her in that.



As for the week ahead, looks like it will be a busy week for me. Making sales calls and prospecting potential corn seed customers. Also, Sarah has her open house at the jr. high Tuesdays night. I look forward to that.

Prayers for the week: continue to pray for our service men and women that are in harms way. Pray for all the single parents out there that are struggling to make ends meet without support from their former spouses. Pray for the AIM program at SIBI. I can't wait to get to see our Aimers tomorrow. Pray for missionaries around the world, both those that are currently working to spread God's word and those who are in training. I need your prayers. Pray that I be the best example to my kids that I can be. Pray for me to continue to look for opportunities to teach them about Jesus.



Have a good week everyone! I love you all!
Thanks for stopping by!


Preston

Thursday!!!!

Well, I did it again last night. Stayed up and watched all the RNC speeches again last night. It's starting to catch up with me. Sarah Palin didn't only hit the ball out of the park, she won the World Series. Wow, what a speech. Just your typical family down the street facing the same challenges we all do. I loved the Hockey Mom bit!

I am a bit disappointed this morning. I have found out about a couple of instances of dead-beat -dads. I guess living on Lockney, I am sheltered from this phenomena. I'm sure there are some dead beat ex spouses here too, just not as many. In both instances, the dead-beat-dad has left a woman with more than one kid. The thing is, even if they don't want to have anything to do with their kids, they still have a financial responsibility. In one of the instances the guy had a job that paid in excess of $100,000 and quit his job to keep from paying child support! And to leave these women to pay for health care, clothes, food, and a roof over their head. Here is a blog I found this morning if you would like visit. http://faithhopeloveministries.blogspot.com/

Have a good day!

Preston

The difference between Hockey Moms and Pit bulls

I had to make a note of this. Sarah Palin has yet to disappoint me.

"Do you know the difference between Hockey Moms and Pit bulls? Lipstick!"
Sarah Palin (R) Governor of Alaska.


BYE!

AIM Kids

One of the things I absolutely love about my church is our AIM kids. I talked about the group we have this fall in an earlier blog. These young kids really push me to be the example God would have me to be. There is no question in my mind why He allows us to have the kidos for the time we have them. Many of the past AIMers we have had I still keep up with. My first introduction to the AIM program was in 2002 when when my friend, Russell "T-Bone" Harris, introduced my son Jonathan to the program. I fell in love with all the kids the first night he was there. The kids come from many walks of life. Some from very grounded, 2 parent backgrounds. Many from broken homes. They come from around the world to live in Lubbock for 9 months and get the best missionary training in the world.

Here in Lockney, we have had kids from Alaska, Brazil, and Peru plus many other states. These kids all have a single, binding influence, Jesus Christ.

My favorite time with them is their first long weekend here. They usually show up on Friday evening and stay till after worship Sunday night. I always make it a point to feed all the kidos on Saturday night. We sit around here in my home, share our Jesus stories, and really get to know them. I usually keep the boys here in my home. I have an extra bedroom and a bunk house that they stay in. They are a hoot! We have tons of fun.

Our long weekend is coming up in about 3 weeks. I am so ready to have them in my home. The only thing I regret is the fact that it's not my weekend to have my girls. All of the kids have left lasting impressions on them.

Love you all!
Thanks for stopping by!