MINISTERS RETREAT

We had our annual Minister's Retreat in Pigeon Forge.  It was an absolutely awesome time!  We were all refreshed spiritually as well as socially. 

Of course, we all fellowship the best when there is food involved, so everybody congregated in the breakfast area every morning.

Shane Warren was our speaker, and he was exactly the right person for this time in our district. His messages were very timely, and it was great seeing our ministers being touched in the altars.

This is the only picture I have of him...he is not only a great preacher, but he is pretty crazy at times and fun!!

On Monday night, after the service we had "Tennessee's Got Talent". I knew we had a lot of talented people in Tennessee, but there were also a lot of pleasant surprises. Dottie Culberson was our MC, and she did fantastic. She was a natural!





 
We also had a pretty good panel of judges, if I must say so myself! We had tough job picking the winners because there was so much great talent, so we ultimately decided to go by the audience's response.

Our judges!  We had a difficult time deciding on our winners, so we ultimately went by the audience's response.

 

The Blues Brothers were definitely a big hit!

 

The audience seemed to really enjoy the show.  I was told there were some in the back who were on the floor laughing at some point during the show!!

 

First place winner:  Scott Dobbins.  He really stole the show with his love song that he sang to Loni.  He still has his charm!!




Third place:  Randy Berg who sang his famous song to the tune of "Rawhide".




Second place:  Lambeth Woodward.  He surprised everybody with his amazing talent!

After the retreat was over, the next day Terry met with a group of pastors for AG Coaching 501 training. So, the wives that were still there had a fun day.
 

Loni Dobbins had just gotten this convertible, so we decided to go in style!





Do you like our hats??  We found these in a little shop, and the employee was an amateur photographer and was happy to oblige.



So, Minister's Retreat 2011 was a great success. If you didn't get to come, you must try to make it next year. We plan to have another "Tennessee's Got Talent". You don't want to miss it!

SIPS N STROKES

When I was in my pre-teen and teen years I loved to sketch pictures.  I definitely wasn't the best, but I spent hours doing it.  I wish I had kept some of them.  When my friend, Michele, asked me to go to a place we have in Hendersonville called Sips N Strokes to paint a picture, I was excited but also a little apprehensive.  I've never painted a picture before.  She finally convinced me, saying it was really fun.  This is the picture we painted.  It was really fun, but this picture really didn't match any of the colors in my house.

 
The next time we decided to go, Rachel wanted to go with us.  This time I really liked the print we were going to paint. 

Here we are with our finished pictures.  We had a blast!  This was taken on a phone, so it is not the best picture.

I decided to put it in my kitchen area.  It definitely suits my taste. 

I'm looking forward to the next time we go.  By the way, the only "Sips" we took was water or a soft drink!

Difficult times

I just got back from staying with Terry's mom in the hospital for about a week. She has Alzheimer's disease. She broke her arm two weeks ago, and after that she stopped eating. Her arm got infected, so she was hospitalized. She has rapidly gone downhill since then. It was so hard watching her in the hospital. Alzheimer's is such a tragic disease.



When I got back from staying with Terry's mom, we got the terrible news that Terry's brother took another person's life. He is in jail and is being charged with first degree murder.

Please pray for our family. This has been very difficult for Terry. He and Wanda have to make some decisions about their mom's care in the future. We hope to get to see John in jail soon. We serve a faithful God, and I know he is walking every step with us.