New Mexico & West Texas District Convention

I’m so thankful to have been able to go to a Convention!!! ~sigh~ It was wonderful.

We loaded up on Friday and headed to Alamogordo, New Mexico, stopping at Roy’s Soda Fountain in Carrizozo along the way. Of course. :-) We checked in to the Motel 6 and there was a guy sitting outside of our room drinking beer. It just wouldn’t be a trip to Convention without somebody drinking beer outside of our motel room. For real! It’s usually a whole group of people. I don’t know if it’s an Alamogordo thing or a Motel 6 thing or just a Motel 6-in-Alamogordo thing, but it’s always the case. We’ve never had any problems because of it. In fact, they’re usually very friendly and never get rowdy—and we’ve often been able to talk to them and invite them to Convention. Still, it strikes me as strange that it happens every time we’re there!

Convention Friday night was great. Brother Tanny and Brother Banuelos both preached. The kids were thrilled, of course. They love to hear Brother Tanny preach. He didn’t disappoint them, preaching about the three little pigs. Again. :-) This time he was talking about how we build and making sure we have a firm foundation. Brother Banuelos preached about the body of Christ. He talked about the different functions of cells, in particular, the fat cells in a body. He said it is their job to receive, store, and then distribute later on when the body needs those nutrients. If a cell fails to distribute it will either cause the body to grow fat and unhealthy, or it will develop into a cancerous cell that will spread disease throughout the body. There were some very interesting analogies in that. :-)

After service we fellowshipped enjoyed some refreshments with everybody, but were still hungry so went through the drive-through at Taco Bell on our way back to the room. Jeremiah came to see us (and brought his parents) and we had a good time visiting in our room for… oh, quite a while! I intentionally didn’t look at a clock to see what time they left because I thought it might make me more tired the next day if I knew. ;-)

Sunday morning we had messages by Brother Soto and Brother Sam preached about being in the sheepfold and about Christ, the Head of the body. Brother Soto had cared for some sheep (and accidentally killed several of them, unfortunately!) in years past and had lots of good insights to share. He said that the sheep were very protective over their lambs and if he was carrying one of them, trying to help them, the sheep would sometimes “attack” him and try to knock him over so he would release their babies. Don’t you know some parents like that?! When God begins to take things into His hands and work in their children’s lives they freak out and want to “free” their kids from what God is doing. I don’t want to be like that—I want to TRUST the Shepherd with my children, knowing that He will do what is BEST for them even if I don’t understand at the time. That really wasn’t the point of Brother Soto’s message, but it struck me strongly and it’s what I remember most! Ha! Brother Sam talked about Jesus, as our Head, suffering with us. When He spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus, He didn’t ask why he was persecuting the Church, but “Why persecutes thou ME?” He feels and hurts with us and for us, because we live, and move and have our being IN HIM. Soooooo many good thoughts!

As always, the Alamogordo folks had a nice, big meal planned for everybody and we all stayed at the church for lunch and fellowship. I love that part. :-)

I couldn't decide which of these to post, so I'm adding both. Jeremiah and Ruth met each other at Convention--he's twice as old as she is. Ha!




Sunday afternoon Brother Chris preached one of the very best messages I’ve ever heard on Church government and the reasons for being thankful for it and staying under it—and the dangers of fighting against it. I love the protection available in God’s Church. And I’m fearful of ever pulling back and struggling to accept the direction of those over me in the Lord. They are watching for my soul. What a blessing!

Then James preached on the Espoused Bride. Right down his alley! Ha! He preached about being prepared for the wedding and the 7 steps involved in a Jewish wedding celebration. It was very interesting and good. He also felt the need to clear up a few confusing ideas people have about Christ being the head of the Body… but it would be too much to try to explain here! ;-)

We had a wonderful Convention with good Church of God preaching, good singing and worship, and good food and fellowship—naturally, we were with our Spanish folks! :-) After the Convention was dismissed, Sister Jesusita’s husband who was there came to James and asked prayer for a heart condition. Several of the guys gathered around and began praying and the Lord began to move. After a few minutes he began wiping his eyes and said, “I want to get saved!” Praise the Lord!!! One of the Olivarez’s sons (not Moises, but the one that looks just like him) came and said he wanted to be saved, too. How exciting! Sister Pauline wanted prayer for herself, but felt led to request prayer for her daughter Gloria instead. Sister Gloria’s knees have caused her so much pain and she has been hobbling along with a cane for some time now. As the ministers prayed for her the Holy Ghost fell on her AND on Sister Pauline and they were both healed and dropped their canes! Ha! Love it! Sister Gloria marched all over that building, high-stepping in and praising the Lord and claiming the victory! Sister Jesusita’s grandson Michael came and got saved, too, and several others were prayed for for various needs, spiritual and physical. Brother Soto spent a good while pouring his heart into seeking for the Holy Ghost. He wasn’t baptized that night, but he’s on the right track. Brother Adrian from Hatch was sanctified… Oh, I can’t remember what all happened—and all of this AFTER the end of the Convention! There were three saved and two sanctified and numerous healings. God is just sooooooo good. Here are a few pics...





There was no evening session planned, but by the time all of that ended and we left the church it was after 8:00 and we were all famished. We ended up at Wendy’s with the Clarksons and the Kaufmans and enjoyed one more good visit before hittin’ the road. It was a long night, but so worth it. We got home sometime between 1:00 and 1:30 in the morning. Made for a short night of sleep, but I actually felt quite rested and wasn’t tired at all in service. Another good one here, too. James taught the Sunday School lesson on the Church flag and did a GREAT job. When it’s time to pull out Church history and statements and Assembly Minutes, he’s your guy. :-) He had so many good “extras” to add to the lesson and it was very, very good. We were all recalling with what POWER the Holy Ghost confirmed our current flag in the General Assembly a few years ago. We may have to get the video out and watch it again one of these days. Brother Chris preached a good message on restitution and shared lots of scriptures and personal testimonies. It was excellent and one of our regular attendees (not yet a member, but we’re hopeful!) testified that night to God moving on his heart about asking forgiveness of a man for having hard feelings toward him. The other guy had done him wrong and still owes him money, but he feels led to “make restitution” and ask forgiveness for any ill feelings because of the other guy’s actions. I love it when God moves on our hearts like that!

Sunday afternoon was spent cleaning the house up, changing sheets, scrubbing bathrooms, etc. When I was finally so tired I felt like I might get sick (!), I laid down and took a short nap. It actually ended up being just right and I felt great in the evening service, as well. We’ve got one lesson to go in the Body of Christ book now.

We came home and ate a late dinner, then put the kids to bed and just hung out until our company arrived. Josh Davis and his son Tanner got here sometime after 10:00, on their way to Andrews, Texas. We visited with them until 12:30 or so and had a great time. Got up this morning and, being the poor breakfast cook that I am, put Brother Josh to work in the kitchen. :-) I made bacon and eggs and started the hashbrowns while Brother Josh helped Katie with biscuits and “slugs” (don’t ask) and finished up on the hashbrowns. My kids were thrilled to have a REAL breakfast. They love it when company comes. Ha!

Brother Josh and Tanner stuck around until nearly noon before heading out. A short visit, but we really enjoyed having them and look forward to them passing through again on their way back north. The kids can't wait. Katie thought Brother Josh was hilarious and Joe loved it that he took the time to play the guitar with him.

The agenda for the rest of the day was: NAP! Ha! It’s been a very long weekend and we’ve been very short on sleep for several days, so I made NAP a priority and thoroughly enjoyed it this afternoon. The kids finished up on their school a little while ago and now Sam has gone somewhere with James, but I have no clue where. I’m sure I was told, but I can’t remember. I do remember hearing the part about them bringing dinner home with them when they come. :-)