I Love BTI!!!

...when I get to be there. :-) Even just for a little bit of it.

Saturday night I think I got to bed at about 1:00am. Got up sometime after 5:00 to finish packing and loading the van and getting everybody ready to go. We drove up to Somerville for service that morning and were so blessed there! We enjoyed such a beautiful spirit of worship and were blessed by the time and preparation that had obviously gone into what we usually call "preliminaries"--the song service and things like that. During a special song by Sister Valerie the Lord really began to move and soon enough the Mason's backslidden son, Justin, made his way to the altar. It was wonderful to see how all of the men gathered around to pray for him and with him. I am so thankful for the love and forgiveness that can be found in The Church of God! After a good while of praying, Justin testified to being saved and asked forgiveness for having brought a reproach on the Church by his actions while not serving the Lord. Thank the Lord! Pray that God will help him to live in the strength and grace that God has provided.

After service the whole church went to Ryan's for lunch. That means we ate way, way too much. I have gained so much weight since being here! That's another problem for another day though. I was able to sit with several of the ladies and I so enjoyed visiting with them and getting to know them a little better--Sister Kay Collins, Sister Emily, Sister Susan and her daughter Hailey, Sister Valerie, and Sister Reed. We talked about Camp and kids and homeschooling and how old everybody was when they got married--oh, all sorts of stuff. I loved it. :-)

We drove to West Lawrence after that and visited with the Warrens at their house for about an hour before leaving for church. Brother Dustin pulled out his AK-47 and several really neat bows, an Indian war club, a tomahawk, and a few other guns including some really neat looking thing that looked like a flintlock pistol, but I don't think it was actually a flintlock. Percussion, perhaps? In any case, he's got a ton of neat stuff like that. Even I was impressed, and I'm not very knowledgeable about such things. Brother Dustin seems to take great pride in the fact that, "You know I'm a true redneck 'cuz my guns are worth more than my house!" You have to say that in the thickest, most country sounding drawl you can muster, followed by deep, hearty laughter. :-) "No, really--they are!"

We had a good service in West Lawrence that night. I can't remember the guys name, but some man there played the guitar and sang a song that he'd written about "That Little Floppin' Tongue." HA! I love Alabama. ;-) It really was a great song. The verses talked about gossip or backbiting or bad language or just being ugly, then the chorus basically said that all of your good works aren't going to be worth a thing if you don't put a bridle on "that little floppin' tongue." I was sorry I hadn't recorded it. :-) James preached a good message that night on divine healing.

After service we visited and visited and visited some more. I'm not sure what time we finally left, but we had a long drive ahead of us that took much longer than anticipated. James didn't last too long and handed the wheel over to me. I'm the one who had really, really wanted to go on to Cleveland that night instead of waiting until the next day so I guess it's fair. :-) I was so tired though after only about 4 hours of sleep and a very, very long day since then. I did lots of praying and God did keep us safe all the way to Mom & Dad's house, where we arrived at about 2:00am. ~whew~ I was so worn out! I made the mistake however of complaining the next day about it "taking forever" to get there. I was in the presence of a couple of westerners who looked rather dumbfounded, but were quick to point out my folly. "Boy, listen to her! Been down south for a few months and already complaining about 'how far it is' and 'how long it takes' to get places. A whole four hours???" Ha! I quickly apologized and took back my complaints! It SEEMED like a long and miserable trip because it took longer than I had expected it to take--and no doubt because of the hour of day. Night, rather. But it's wrong to complain to people who drove 20 hours (with no complaints) to get to the same place you drove 3 or 4 hours to get to. I really, really don't want to "go soft" living here and being made aware of my complaint made me wonder if I have already begun! Ha!

In spite of our late night Joe was up at the crack of dawn, gathering his fishing gear. He had quite a successful time fishing throughout the week and spent many, many hours at it. He definitely got some of his Granddad's genes! The first fish was just a little itty-bitty guy, but still worth smiling over.



Then there's Sam. He caught a stick. Sorry, Mom--I did make him get all the fishing stuff and the nasty stick out of the house right away. Well, right after I took the picture, anyway. ;-)



Though we didn't get unloaded and unpacked and settled (while being very, very quiet so as to not wake up the company that was already at Mom & Dad's house--the Hortons, the Hays family, Chris Clarkson and Matt Barnes) and asleep until about 3:00am the night before, I couldn't help but get up in the morning and hop in the Yukon with Dad at 7:30 so I could be there for morning devotions at BTI. And I'm soooooooooo glad I did!!! I have always loved BTI. Always. (Except when I miss it. Ha!) But I was amazed at how I felt during that first devotion time. There is a BTI spirit that can only be felt and experienced at BTI. That's not to belittle camps or conventions or the Assembly or anything like that--some of those functions have a feeling all their own, too. But it has been 9 years since I've been to BTI and I was overwhelmed by the feeling of it--the camaraderie I could feel among the students there, the oneness in worship and direction, and--probably more than anything else--the hunger and desire to grow in the Lord. There are lots of reasons to go to all Church functions, but the core reason people go to BTI is to learn and to grow, to become better equipped to serve God and work in The Church of God. I LOVE THAT. :-) And the fact that it happens together, with so many brothers and sisters that are there for the same reason. I was so, so, sooooo blessed to be able to take part in even just a little bit of BTI here and there. I was able to make it to 3 morning devotions and 3 services, as well as just hanging out around Headquarters here and there and peek through doors to enjoy the excitement of classes that were no longer classes, but altar calls with people being filled with the Holy Ghost and healed and who knows what all. ~sigh~ Have I mentioned that I love BTI???

Unfortunately, I have practically no pictures of BTI to share. I just popped in for a minute here and there and didn't have my camera with me most of the time. I did take this one, however, because I found it amusing--though there are no people in it. (I know, I know--I fail!) Though there are four in a row, be not deceived--this is NOT the Cobalt aisle on a Chevy lot. It's just some BTI students of like mind, I guess. :-)



After morning devotions I headed back home to meet up with the rest of the family. We had some running around to do, then met Brother Chris and Brother Dustin (Jamey and the kids were in Arkansas until the following afternoon) at Fazoli's for lunch. :-) Afterward we went home to prepare for our Alabama banquet that night.

But that will have to wait until next time. I've been averaging four to five hours of sleep a night for over a week now and it's finally caught up to me! Last night I went to bed at 10:30 and slept until nearly 8:00 this morning. I still felt exhausted but managed to get a few things done, including and afternoon nap. Ha! I'm going to try to get to bed at a decent hour again tonight and see if I can get regulated a little bit. I'll do some more catching up tomorrow, I home. Until then, here are a few parting shots. :-)

We didn't get to spend much time with Mom & Dad at all this week (wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay too busy!), but we're thankful for the moments here and there. :-) Dad was able to fish with the kids for a few minutes that first night.



The Charles LOVED the pond water. That means he had muddy paws all week. I can't count the times I had to carry him in and wash and dry his paws so he wouldn't leave little brown prints all over Mom's white carpet! Everybody ought to have dirt colored carpet, especially if they have ponds in their yards. ;-)