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Calvary Baptist Church - Simpsonville |
 We were back on the road from a two-week break, but the Lord gave us great grace last week at Calvary in Simpsonville. Our team was able to connect with friends in the area that attended Calvary, and with the Pettit Team as they were recording in Greenville. We also had a great time with Pastor Taylor and his family. The Taylors treated us to deserts and fellowship at their home, although the highlight for the kids was to see Luke Taylor’s pet snake.
The Lord gave us grace last week with notable conversions. The first day of meetings, a lady in the church accepted Christ. Throughout the week many children either made assurance or accepted Christ as their Savior. Our Irish Concert had a great turn out from the community. Many church members went out and invited neighbors and friends and we praise God many guest were able to hear a clear presentation of the gospel!
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Raising Up Parents - Aaron Coffey |
 Psalm 127:3 says, “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb in his reward.”
One of the biggest breakings going on in my life right now is over my daughter Ella. She is full of life, full of personality and fills our little family with so much fun. In the midst of it all, however, I can’t explain how deficient I feel in trying to properly train and raise my daughter. Our lives are so exposed and everyone sees so much of our parenting. We find ourselves constantly second guessing our decisions or anxious about how we are going to handle this situation or that. We are being tempted to make choices based on the fear of people and what they think of our children and our parenting. What this has all produced in Stephanie and me is a renewed dependence on our Heavenly Father. WE NEED HELP! We don’t know how to be good parents. We don’t know the perfect choice in every given situation. We don’t always know when to come down heavy or when to show mercy. We need God! We need God to raise our children through us. He actually loves Ella more than I do, and He is actually concerned for her soul more than I am. He actually knows the perfect blend of justice and mercy. He’s the only one who can help my little Ella. She doesn’t need me to fix her, she needs Jesus to fix her. Our prayer is a continual plea for mercy. Mercy for Ella’s soul (and Asher’s). Mercy for Ella’s future. Mercy for me that I can show my daughter the love of Jesus. Mercy for me and Steph that we will be God dependent parents instead of control-freaks who force our children into conformity without ever shepherding their hearts to love Jesus. It has been so comforting to see Ella’s spirit changing just in the last few months as we continue to work with her. But what is more encouraging is the way that my spirit is changing through all of this. Because God isn’t just helping us raise Ella - He’s still raising me!
-Aaron Coffey
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Why we don't pray - Will Galkin |
 Sitting in church yesterday I found it difficult to listen. My brain was
spinning. Responsibilities and cares were occupying my thoughts. Rather
than miss was a wonderful sermon I took a few moments and jotted down 15 (I
added 2 more later) items that were running my mind. I then committed to
the Lord to be thankful for these items as they are God's means of getting
me to pray. This morning the Lord reminded me of a book I had read a
couple of years ago. In his book A Call to Spiritual Reformation D. A.
Carson gives four reasons why we don't pray. I thought that some would
enjoy looking over his thoughts. Click here for a PDF of why we don't pray.
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A week in the eyes of Eliana Galkin |
 Saturday: Wow! The weather today was so nice—much warmer than when we were in Florida! The guys all got together in the parking lot where my trailer is parked to wash the vehicles. While they were doing that, Miss Reba and Miss Caroline picked up me, Anna Grace, Lilly, and Ella to take us shoe shopping. We started off with lunch at Panera—I loved getting my peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over Miss Reba. Then we hit about six stores looking for shoes I could wear with my flower girl dress for Uncle Josh’s wedding. It took so much out of us that we just HAD to stop at Miss Reba’s favorite place—Starbucks. Anna and Lilly ordered smoothies, and the nice man working there said there was some left over, so he gave me my own cup. It was a fun day!
Sunday: We went to church with Miss Caroline at Hampton Park. I really only got to see the nursery. Mom and Dad said they really enjoyed the preaching and seeing all their friends there! We went back on Sunday night too. That night, we had all the team members, current and future, fiancés, and even Grandma!, come to a pizza party. We prayed through the texts of the songs and heard some of the instrumentals that we’ve never heard before. I got to play with Ella and David in the room next door—we had a screaming competition cause the room echoed so nicely, until Daddy came and said we had to be quieter.
Monday: Today Mom and Dad have started something called “recording. . ."
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