It,s been so long.

My goodness it,s been so long since I,ve blogged that you have probably gotten tired of looking for me. I just haven't had alot to blog about. My life is very exciting because the Lord is teaching me a whole lot about life and humility. Lately I have been spending a whole lot of time in the word and in some wonderful christian based books. I have been reading Smith Wigglesworth books " Ever Increasing Faith" and his book " The anointing of His Spirit". They are old books written back in the 1800's . He was born in 1859 and had an amazing ministry that went all over the world. He was an uneducated man full of the Holy Spirit. He saw many souls brought to Christ and loads of healing's. He knew a whole lot about walking in humility in step with the Lord. If you want to see wonderful results in your walk with God, I would highly recommend them. I had read them years ago but I guess that I just wasn,t ready to receive them. God works in mysterious ways. Right? Some of the other things that the Lord has had me into is a book called " As America has done unto Israel" I believe that this book should be in every classroom in America. I have ordered a few copies to loan out to others. May America never turn her back on Israel. Milt and I love the ministry to the Jewish people called the Fellowship. It is instrumental in bringing the Jewish people back to their homeland along with other phases like feeding the widows and supplying needs to the immigrants. There is so much to be done and so few workers. Is it not just like what Jesus said. We are praying to be so filled with HIS SPIRIT that we will know HIS mind and HIS heart continually. A few months ago I wrote a song for JESUS. This is the words to it. Hope you like it.
Come Holy Spirit,Sweet Holy Spirit
Search deep into my heart
Help me to listen,to hear you so plainly
That folks just can't tell us apart

Come Holy Spirit, Sweet Holy Spirit
Help me to listen for you
To hear you so clearly
To love you so dearly
Come Lord and fill me anew

Come Holy Spirit,Sweet Holy Spirit
Shine your pure light down on me
Show me thy Kingdom that I have been granted
Because I have trusted in thee.

Tag:
Show me thy kingdom that I have been granted
Because I have trusted in thee.

Lovingly, Roberta

It 's June

Hi all, It,s June can you believe it, We have been busy doing all kinds of things. Planting and spring cleaning,UGH The nice part is that we are almost though. The flowers are looking so beautiful and I wished that I knew how to put them on my computer so I could show you all like KIM does. Never the less I do have a neat message for you all. The LORD is alive and well and He can,t wait to tell us so. Every time that I look at the awesome new spring coming to life once again it reminds me of HIS Love for all of HIS creation. Makes me want to be full of all the virtues of His Holy Spirit,You know,like Love,Joy,Peace,Patience,Kindness,Goodness,Faithfulness,Humility,and of coarse Self-control. Oh yes,good old self-control. As a child of GOD I am eligible to have received all of this wonderful fruit but I sure do wished they would all manifest themselves continuously with no interruptions. In the meantime as a christian, I will seek the fruit of the Spirit, which is the nature of Jesus being produced within me. It,s all to wonderful as we see Jesus working out His perfect will for each of our lives. I love and trust HIM more each day. Enjoy HIS Blessing as we walk in HIS appointed path in the coming day,s.In HIS LOVE, Roberta

It's almost JUNE

Where does the time go.It seems that the older I get the faster it goes. It's almost two weeks since I've blogged. Today the Lord really blessed us because we went shopping for the flowers to put at the cemetery for memorial day. We put them there every year for the memorial day celebration. Do you all do the same on memorial day? We were able to find some real pretty potted plants at a reasonable price so we felt so blessed. They always have a parade with the different branches of the service leading the parade. How wonderful that we still honor our fallen soldiers in a world of such turmoil. Those that paid the supreme sacrifice for all of us. Let's never forget all that they gave and are still giving for us. We are still free to live in a country that honors their dead. May GOD continue to Bless America. May we all stand strong in the Lord proclaiming the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. GOD, Guts and Guns, let's keep all three. Love ya all, Roberta

oh my goodness

O my goodness it,s been so long since I've blogged just because I've been so busy. It's great to be busy and about my Fathers business. We have started going to a new fellowship on Sunday mornings and it has been quite an experience. Of course we're still going to our other fellowship also. It's called the Bridge and their main ministry is crossing over into the lives of people who probably have never gone to church or maybe never will. They just go out and become a friend to anyone that needs friendship and encouragement. Last weekend a group of young people from New Hampshire came and ministered to us. They go all over New England with the message of Gods love regardless of the response, There were probably fifteen of them in their early twenties,from all walks of life. The Lord has blessed them with His gifts and some of them have been able to interpret dreams and also the gift of healing has been flowing through them and they are seeing quite a few healing's. It was exciting to see them so full of the Holy Spirit. After the meeting they prayed for everyone and sent us all out with fresh power to witness and just be there for anyone who has a need. The young man who spoke over Milt and me, gave us a word concerning maturity in our walk with the Lord and that the Lord wanted to use our wisdom to minister to the younger folks in the fellowship. It was a great meeting and we left truly built up in the Holy Spirit. Since it was Mother's day Milt took me to a real fancy eating place right on the water. We didn,t know that we were supposed to have reservations' but of course my LORD prepared the way and had someone not show up and we got a lovely seat right on the water. Of course I don,t eat much beef but I ordered Prime rib. It was huge and I got to take it home for Milts and my dinner the next day. It seemed really funny because the tip was more then we usually pay for dinner. It was fun and I felt so blessed. Later we went down to our regular Sunday night fellowship for church and one of the guy's made Lobster Rolls for afterwards. We always have a fellowship snack, meal time after the service. Then we went to see our son who gave us two more Lobsters from his trap's for our dinner on Monday. Our children all called and sent cards and Andy brought us up ten pounds of fresh haddock. Talk about feeling special. God is so good to us. I hope that you all had a really blessed day. I try to read at least a few of your blogs, I love hearing about all you are doing. Love and Hugs, Roberta

Trouble on every side

Hi All, What a beautiful day here in Maine. Lots more leaves are budding and it just smells like spring. Milt is trying to get the lawn in shape but there is just so much to do. We love to read and pray together in the mornings so unless we have something really pressing like a Dr. appointment, we like to spend our mornings together doing just that. At ten we love to watch the 700 club. We have watched it for many years. So that makes breakfast at around 11 for me. Almost seems sinful doesn't it? Most of our friends know that we don,t make many commitments before noon. Retirement is not all bad. It keeps you close to the LORD. Even as we listen to all the things that are going on in our world, I can not help thanking GOD for all of HIS Blessings and HIS protection. Surely HE is our safe harbor. As I write this I have just heard that the swine flu is now in our state and in our local hospital. We will be praying that it will not spread through our town. Reminds me of a song that I sing quite often. It,s called " Greater is He that is in me" Satan's like a roaring lion roaming to and fro, seeking whom he can devour - the Bible tells us so. Many souls have been his pray to fall in some weak hour ; but GOD has promised us today, His over coming power. That same overcoming power is still our's today. Thank GOD!!! Love ya, Roberta

It,s all about Freedoms

Hi All, Just checking in this evening to say I sure have enjoyed reading your blogs and comments today. It,s just been an ordinary Monday around here. My true love has been working down in the back forty today so I decided to clean my bathroom in preparation for the new flush and sink top. They have needed to be replaced for a few years. My knees felt like spaghetti when I finished. Andy our son came up after work to help his father put it in. About the same time a couple of our friends came by and he pitched right in and helped too. God is always so good and supplies our need just when we need it. I had a neat time sharing with Ellen and I,m quite sure she heard alot about my grandchildren in Fl. There,s nothing worse then a bragging Nana. lol. It,s all about God and His love for us. As I have said so many times " We are so blessed" Reminds me of a song that I learned many year,s ago. Freedom to laugh is my privilege, Freedom to cry is my choice, Freedom to have the Lord Jesus and in Him forever rejoice. Freedom to smile in my sorrows,Freedom to pray through my prayers,Freedom to have life eternal and constantly conquer my fears. Freedom to win men to Jesus, Freedom to bear the good news, Freedom to bring them salvation And teach to them corporate views. Freedom to pray for your burdens Freedom to be one with your fears. Freedom to share with your sorrows, Freedom to have the Lord near. Freedom to live in the body, to be fed from the throne up above. To be hid in the fruit of the Spirit, to be led by HIS heavenly dove. Is this not our walk and our privilege. We thank GOD for our freedoms every day. Surely there is true FREEDOM in the constrains of our Heavenly Father. He really does Love us. My prayer is that I will Love like HE does. Blessings, Roberta

IN Times like these

Hi All, In quietness and confidence shall be my strength. Is 30:15 We are so blessed. Never since the beginning has the need for people of faith been as great as at the present, wars on every hand,high inflation, dilemmas abound. What a time we are in. What is it that one person can do? Let me ask you a question, Can energy costs go so high that GOD cannot afford them? Can GOD supply food as He did for forty years in the wilderness? Is our God too small? If WE put GOD in a test tube, how can He answer big prayers. We are living in a time when we need a big GOD, a God capable of meeting our needs. GOD did not merely save and then hang us out to dry. Chuck Swindoll recently said " BELIEVE IN JESUS " then " BELIEVE JESUS". GOD when He saved us made us part of His family, His responsibility. No father desires his child to starve, to go unclothed nor to be raised contrary to His own principals. GOD does not meet our needs because we are good children but because we are HIS children. Consider the LORDS prayer in Matt 6 OUR FATHER in verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread v 12 forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. The LORD put asking for provision before asking for forgiveness. We can ask GOD for provision at any time- HE IS OUR FATHER. Now GOD might not be pleased with us BUT you and I are still HIS children and HE will supply our bread. Maybe not just what we want but what we need. I had a friend that told me of an experience that he had in Bible school,every morning while at family alter they would pray for coal, for that day, for the stove and every day GOD would send enough coal to last for that day. One particular day it was his daughter's turn to pray, she said LORD send us enough coal to last us the rest of the winter and I don,t even care if YOU send it in paper bags. About mid morning there came a knock on the door. There stood a man who said, I have a load of coal for you, I hope you don't mind if it's in paper bags. I stopped writing this testimony of GODS goodness for several weeks and had no idea why GOD was holding back and telling me to wait. We were getting low on fuel oil and I was trying to make what little I had stretch until the last of January. GOD told me that HE wanted me to experience what I was writing about. If I am going to write about faith, I would have to exercise some so I started to pray for heating oil. Sure enough somebody came along and gave us some oil enough to last us the whole month. So you see Faith is the confidence that our GOD will deliver.LORD, Please increase our Faith to that level of true dependence upon you. In JESUS NAME. In christian Love, Roberta

Till the storm passes by

A few day's ago we met an old friend, a brother in Christ at the grocery store,asked him how everything was going and what he had been up to. He started to relate to us how the Lord was using him mightily by giving him small but uplifting messages for folks that had either lost their way or through sickness, no longer were attending church. It had turned into a very effective ministry and he is able to reach these people by just placing his conversations with the Father on paper and passing them out. The Lord began speaking to me about placing some of them on my blog. Hope that you enjoy his thoughts and blessings to the body of Christ like I am. The first one is called " In times like these" Till the Storm passes by. I being in the way the Lord led me Gen 24:27 You've been discouraged, perplexed and confused. You've come to the end time and time again. Only to find no end in sight. You have even wondered about your relationship with the Lord. Sorrows abound, maybe it's a sick child,spouse or other loved one. When does it end? I remember Dr. Jacob Gartenhaus,the founder of inland board of Jewish missions had a message, " What makes a man great" I missed the message but asked a friend, What does make a man great? He answered, Troubles, Problems and Heartache. There would NOT have been a Daniel had there not been a lions den, nor a Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego had there not been a fiery furnace. There would Not be a book of Job if he had not lost all of his children and the scores of other things that happened to him. Cheer up! GOD is working on you to make you better,greater, and a more worthy servant than you already are. I often sing this song " Keep me close till the storm passes by" In the dark of the midnight I have oft hid my face,while the storm raged above me and there is no hiding place.But I know Thou are with me and tomorrow I,ll rise where no storms ever darken the skies. Till the storm passes over,till the thunder sounds no more, till the clouds roll forever from the skies. Keep me safe ,Let Me Stand in the hollow of thy hand, Keep me safe till the storm passes by. Can anyone relate to a plea like this? Lovingly, Roberta

Home safely, THANK GOD

Hi all, Seems like forever since I've blogged. We had a wonderful trip home, without incidence and that was such a wonderful blessing from GOD. There is so much traffic out there and some people just seem crazy. We only stopped over for one night so we were both bombed out for Easter Sunday. We just crashed and were so thankful for John Hagee and several others on Sunday morning. Sunday evening we went to our church service. It was great seeing all the Maine part of the family of God. They were glad that we were back and it's nice to be missed. I'm sure that they will tire of all the stories that we have to tell and the bragging that we do about our grandchildren. Every time I would find Milt at the fellowship after the service, he would be telling a Jeffrey story. However,coming home has had it's trials with our furnace messed up and the dryer refused to heat. We had to have a new something for the furnace and the man that came to fix the dryer told us that it was in the electrical box. So after charging us 68 dollars, Milt changed out the breaker and it worked great. So much for foreknowledge, at least where we're concerned. However I said all that to say this. I know that my God has a plan and that it is a perfect plan and that He is bringing it all to pass. I'm so thankful for my church family and my immediate family who love us and watch over us even when we are apart. It is hard for me to be away from them but it's only for a little while. We are so Blessed. Thanks for your comments, they are a like a great big hug. Love you all, Roberta

Maine or Bust

Hi All, Another Monday, They seem to roll by so fast. It,s almost time for Pa-Pa and me to take the long treak back to Maine. I always have withdrawal pain's for a couple of weeks before we leave. I really have a kind of separation anxiety until we get on the road. I guess that I think no one can understand my grandchildren as well as their Nana can. We have spent so much time just doting on them all winter. Now it's again time to trust the Lord and their parent's to take up the slack. BUT we sure will miss them all. Spiritually, we have grown a little more into maturity in the Lord. We have attended a wonderful spirit filled ministry called "Our Fathers House. " and met some really sweet people there. We have joined a great fellowship group. We have read some wonderful books together including Billy Grahams new book called " 'the journey" I would recommend it to everyone. It,s Christianity in a nut shell. We just loved the way He put it all together. We also took the Fireproof Love Dare, and we've been married a long time. It,s really worth your time and effort to do it with your spouse. I,m going to try to continue doing the blogging at least once a week after we get home. We are so busy up there. I will be back playing my violin for church and hoping that my neck doesn't give me the trouble that I had last year. I,ll be reading your blogs to see what the Lord is doing in all of your lives. It will be interesting to see what the Lord has in mind concerning the economy,right. I still want to be a 1st class soul winner. We,ll see. Remembering " Is anything to hard for the Lord" Genesis 18:14 Affectionately, Roberta

Little Reminders

Hi All, A few thoughts for the day, Today I talked with one of my dearest friends from Maine. She told me of a highly respected man from our town had passed away. He was so friendly and such a cheerful sort and everyone liked him alot. Then she added that she was almost sure that he had never accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. I knew him and his wife quite well. I felt in my spirit a great sadness arising, a feeling of failure at the thought of where he may have ended up. I began asking myself " Do I do enough ? Is my life counting for anything when it comes to winning people to the Lord? Is just living my christian life in the face of the world enough? Today I am starting a prayer diary, recording my prayers for the lost. I am going to ask the Lord to give me the faith to trust Him for souls in these last day's. I want to have the same Holy boldness that I see in some others. Not many. Do you think that Soul winning is a gift, handed out like the other gifts of the Spirit, or do you think it,s got alot to do with unbelief ??? I would love to have your input on this. In Him, Roberta

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday everyone!
Hi all, sorry I got so busy this past week and didn't get a chance to blog.
I am thankful for sooo many things. First and foremost I am thankful for my relationship with the Lord Jesus! I love praying and waiting on Him before moving in decision, large or small. He keeps me out of a lot of wrong decisions. It has taken me many years to learn this lesson and though I have not always listened as faithfully as I should "I've come a long way".
I'm also thankful today for my wonderful husband, of fifty-five years, because he has always believed and supported everything I have ever been involved in. He is my best friend on this earth and our love for each other is the foundation of our marriage.
I'm thankful for our little cottage the Lord has provided us with.
And I'm thankful for the relationship I have with our children, it is a relationship that has stood the test of time. So you see we have so much to be thankful for!!
It is my prayer on this Thankful Thursday that all of you will be as happy and fulfilled as we are.
Lovingly with the Lord's blessings.
Roberta

For more thankful thursdays go to Lynn at Spiritually Unequal Marriage.

Ponder for a moment

Hi,

A few years ago I wrote a song-at a time in my life when I was doing a whole lot
self examination of my walk with the Lord.
It went" Ponder for a moment what God really has in you.
Does He really have my all, share in the things I do
It went on to say" God really care,s for us you see" He longs for a friend in you and me.
One who will seek Him faithfully, children of God in reality.
Reminds me of the verse in Isaiah 55:6

" So you should look for the Lord before it,s too late; You should call to Him while He is near."
It has made a real difference in my walk with Him. Not that I have arrived, but now it,s much easier to tell when I'm not walking close or am having a real dry spell.
I want to keep my walk close and my accounts short. How about you?
Reminds me of the old hymn " I need thee every hour" Blessings, Roberta

PS. We had a wonderful time over the weekend with our children over in Kissimmee.
Chris is a chef at Disney World and Debbie( his wife) is a teacher at a christian school in St. Cloud.
They make us feel so LOVED. r.

Nothing special.

Another week has gone by,where does the time go. Does it rush by for all of you like it does for me? This morning Kim from ( Homesteader's Heart) came and peeked through our window and said that she was serving us all pecan pancakes for breakfast. We all love them, especially me. So after we finished devotions we all had them with real maple syrup. yum. After cleanup,Kelsey, our 15 year old granddaughter and I went shopping.
We went to look for a special pair of shorts for her and a couple of top,s for
me to wear to church. You'll just not believe how the Lord blessed us.
We had looked at a real pretty bed comforter a few weeks ago but thought it was too much money. Today found the same one for a quarter the money. We are so blessed. God is always giving us the desires of our hearts. He knows exactly what they are. He only wants us to walk in faith.
Speaking of walking in faith,I just love reading some of the different blogs ,I try to read another one everyday. They are so uplifting even if some are having it kinda hard. I enjoy reading them and being able to pray while I read. It,s like getting to know friends from all over the place.
God tells us to bear each others burdens and it,s a blessing to pray for other's. We're going to be gone for the weekend,so will post again when we get back. Please pray for the guitar learning experience,sometimes it's a real bummer. Till then. Roberta

Thankful Thursday

This is the first time that I have done thankful Thursday so here goes.
I am thankful for so many things. Today I am thankful for the LORD's love for me and my family
He is everything all rolled into one. Next I am thankful for His protection over our family.
For the way that He plans our footsteps when we follow HIS leading.
I am also thankful for our heritage because I come from a long line of Christians and that is such a blessing to me. Psalm25:9
He shows those that are humble how to do right,and He teaches them His ways.

For more Thankful Thursday posts go see Lynn @ Spiritually Unequal Marriage.
Blessings!

Grandparents Day out.

Well here it is, another Thursday, seems like the weeks fly by so quickly.
This morning I woke up real early to read my Bible and be able to meditate on
what the Lord was trying to say or get through my thick head.
I just love it when He wakes me early to spend quality time with Him.
I just kinda bask in His presence and let my thoughts dwell on the things that He is
showing me from the Word or some other Spiritual book.
Lot,s of times He will just let me sink deeper into His amazing love for me and I will feel a very deep and special release from the cares of this world.
It has not always been this way, when we were raising our children and my husband
was still working. It was usually hit or miss. We never got to pray together and I
always had devotions by myself. Now it,s so nice to be able to pray and read
together. Retirement isn't all BAD.
Today we had grandparents day out. No takers except Jeffrey. We went out for
lunch and then to do a little shopping. It,s such fun. Pa-Pa and I really do enjoy
our Grand kids . They teach us so much about life and help keep us young.
When we get tired,we can retreat to our little cottage in the back yard and relax.
We believe that the Lord watches over us and all of His children. Watch for His
Blessings. Remember He is the one who said" Blessed are they that hunger and
thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Peace and Grace to you all, Roberta

Hi all, I just got to thinking today about all of the blessings that God has bestowed on us. I get to play with my grandchildren every day. This morning,three year old Brody and I got to play 3 games of Candyland. Later I got to encourage six year old Jeffrey with his schoolwork. Sometimes I remind myself that if it wasn't for Jesus we probably wouldn't even be here. I know that it's not good to let ourselves become to attached to the things of this world, but my children and my grandchildren are forever. So I can never get to much of them. I know that a whole lot of grandparents are still working just to keep things going. Some are even raising their grandchildren. I can't imagine having all that responsibility. Most day's I get to walk with fifteen year old Kelsey. She is getting so grown up and is such a joy to be around. She would remind you of her mother, lots of laughter and lightness of spirit. Tonight Kim treated us all with a thanksgiving dinner. Turkey with all the fixing,s. We were all stuffed. Kelsey even baked a pumpkin pie. Reminds me of a song that we used to sing.
The things that I love and hold close to my heart. their just borrowed their not mine at all. Jesus only let's me use them to brighten my path.
So remind me,remind me dear Lord.
Roll back the curtain of yester,year and then. show me where you've brought me from and where I could have been,
Remember I'm human and humans forget. So remind me, remind me dear Lord.
I guess you can gather that we feel very blessed. Love ya all, Roberta

Momday again Praise the Lord

Hi all,
It,s Monday again and here I am thanking God for a great weekend. Yesterday the Lord was so awesome because we expected to have a great day in Him. We went to church at Our Father's House. We are really getting to know the people there. Yesterday they had a luncheon for the new people. We learned alot about their doctrine and it all sounded good. It is a non-denominational outreach. The Pastor has been there for 17 year's,serving with elders and deacons. We have been going there for about 6 weeks. It's always hard to go to a different church. We just hadn't found any place that felt right. Hard to get plugged in when we are here 6 months and in the north the other 6. The Lord has been really dealing with me,concerning the Sabbath. Making it a very special day for Him. I get so excited when He starts dealing with me on any given subject. Do you ever just know that He is working on your heart? Reminds me of the Song: Lord it's my desire just to be like you. Say the things You say,Do the things you do. Let me hear your still voice above the other noise and let me be what You want me to be.
We also got an invite to join a fellowship group from the church. That was nice.
Today we've had fun with the grand kids and received our Sky Angel pkg. and Brad, our Son-in-law hooked it up for us. We are so Blessed. Love in Him. Roberta

For is Glory

Hi everyone, It's kinda late but just want to say that God is so good to me.
Every day is so full of the goodness of God. I just finished writing to our two boys that we have through compassion International. One is from Haiti and the other is from San Salvador. They are so thankful for our support and we just love hearing from them. John is twelve now and is growing in the Lord. He tells of the terrible storms that the Lord has protected him and his family from this last year. It's such a blessing to read his letters and to watch what God is doing in his life. Wilber is only 6, but he and his mother attend a Church of God in their country. His mother has been very sick for such a long time,with terrible headache's. We have been praying for her for a couple of years. In his last letter, the Lord had completely healed her. His letters,written by either his mother or an aunt are always filled with their love of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed to be apart of their lives. Can you even imagine what our reunion will be like in the hereafter. Do you think that we will recognise them and they us? I just know that God will see that we are all joined together in all of our earthly relationships because that's just the way HE is. Sometimes I can hardly wait. I find the older I get, the more I find myself contemplating these things. Thanks for reading my note's Love ya, Roberta Romans 12:10

For His Glory

Hi just had to put something on here, even if it's only to say Hi. I've been praying and believing that the Lord will give me some real great revelation to blog about. So far it ain't happened. We got to take Brody our 3 year old grandson with us for the first time on a shopping trip today. He was so good and had such a fun time with us. Grandchildren are so much fun. I think when you are the parents you just don't have the time or the energy to really enjoy them. Honestly, they come out with the funniest and the most intelligent wisdom ever. Today we had a family of ten over for dinner, our 6 yr. old grandson came out to tell us that this family really likes grapes, so we just felt we must go to Sam's and get them some for their enjoyment. Amazingly he was right,he had observed them at the church dinners and knew exactly what would please them. Who would think a 6 yr. old would be so observing? Anyone got any grandkid stories??? I love them. Love In Him, Roberta

For His Glory Feb. 25th

Hi all, Busy,Busy Day,
I'm wanting to do it all. This blogging is so much fun.
Today I'm just trying to get it all together, but it's just not working.
Did I mention that I'm trying to learn the guitar. It's harder then it looks.
Maybe not for some people but I'm just not one of them.
I struggle and pray, not always in that order. At 73 it's not so easy,but I an determined
to keep going . I try to spend at least an hour at it. Especially since my sweetie got me a beautiful guitar for my birthday. Did I tell you all that we have been married for 55 years. It doesn't seem like that many years. I love hearing from you all, I'm trying to read and make comments with someone new each day. See you tomorrow, Roberta

For His Glory

Hi, Seems funny not blogging my testimony after so many day's. Thanks for being so faithful to read it. Today has been busy watching the children while Kim took Kelsey to the library for books. Then calling up Sky Angel to sign up for their new programing.
I,m going to try to be faithful to blogging every day. I love hearing from you all. Going to try to read a new blogger's story every day. Hugs to you all, Roberta

My testimony Part 18

While we can,t say that there have been no trials along the way, we are reminded often that He never said that we would never face hard times. Rather ,He promised to make a way and deliver us out of them all.

My Mom passed away in 2001, at the ripe old age of 94 after living with us for many years. She never had any loss of her memory but her house just wore out. Even at the end of her life she still trusted Jesus to take her home. Even at the time of her death she could still be found lying with her hands raised to the Lord in total surrender to His will. The attendants would say to her, Mrs. Rice, " Put your hands down" and we would have to tell them that she was worshiping the Lord. I felt no sadness at her passing because I was so sure of her walk with God. She was a wonderful mother and mentor to me and my children.

Many of these testimony,s have been passed out over the years. When the Lord impressed upon me to start a blog, because it would be another way to Bless others and tell of Mom,s experience.

It was my Mother,s and my sincere desire that every reader of this testimony might be blessed by it,s message, proclaiming salvation and victory through Jesus Christ.
We want only to honor God with this story of faith, power and love.

If you do not know Him, our prayer is that you might be willing to pray from your heart a simple prayer like this:

Dear heavenly Father, I don,t even know if I believe in you, let alone in this testimony. But if You are real and if You do enter into the affairs of men,
Please come into my heart and life. I want to know you.
I know that I have sinned. We have all sinned.
So please send your HOLY SPIRIT with the free gift of salvation for me.
I receive it now. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I receive You as my Savior,my Lord and my coming King. Amen.


Thanks so much for reading my testimony. Love and Blessings to all. See you tomorrow, Roberta

My testimony Part 17

At first I was afraid of being hurt again,fearing that she might to reach sixteen and be taken from us. As we thought about all the promises of God, however, we once again became excited about the arrival of a new baby.

I will never forget the day that we went to pick up our new baby girl. I had envisioned a tiny infant all pink and cuddly..
My friends and our church family had given me a huge baby shower, so there were at least thirty little dresses hanging in the nursery. All that we were told was that she was available and that we didn,t have to take her if we didn,t want to.
When we saw her, we understood why they had spoken to us in such a way.
She was covered with red sores and blotches over her face and body. At seven weeks of age, she weighed in at a whopping seventeen pounds.
They assured us that we didn,t have to take her. But If we decided to, they were sure a low-fat diet would clear up her complexion and normalize her weight.

Placed into a foster home for a short while after birth, she had simply enjoyed too rich a diet.
All I could think of at the moment was those beautiful little dresses that she would never be able to wear,if we decided to take her.

Looking at Milt,Andy Chris and me, our welfare worker suggested," Why don,t you go out for coffee and decide between yourselves?"
After a few more moments with the baby,we left.

Shortly after huddled around a small table in a lunchroom. I remember asking,"Honey what do you think?"

Before Milt could answer Andy spoke up calmly . " why don,t we take a vote?"
Then Milt expressed himself. "She is the baby girl God has given us."
We all knew then we,d be taking her home.
Today we still treasure the little pink stretch suit that she so neatly filled. After bundling her up,we headed home with our new little God given treasure.

Kim never did get to wear any of the pretty little dresses,but it has been a wonderful blessing for us to have had her, to lead her to Jesus and to see Him working so mightily in her life.
Surely she has payed a very important part in our lives.WE ARE SO BLESSED!!!!!!

As you probably have guessed by now, she is your friend and mine and you hear from her about every day. As the Homesteader in Progress. I thank God everyday for all the wonderful gifts He has bestowed on her and how He is blessing her life.

To be continued, God bless till Monday,Roberta

My testimony part 16

About this time some of the couples in our church were adopting children. Since we had three boys , we were hoping that a baby girl might come our way. We had applied a couple of years earlier and had been told that baby girls were not often available in our area. Still, we were trusting God to bring it to pass.
Giving ones self to raise a special child for Jesus seemed like a wonderful idea. We were all excited when our application was approved by the state. Through there were no available babies at the time, we decided that since we wern,t in any hurray, we,d pick out a name for her, then settle down to wait. We decided to call her Kimberly.

Little did we know that by the time she arrived, Jeff would have already gone home to be with the Lord.
In the meantime we had become acquainted with an eight-year- old girl who had been brought into our church by a family which often boarded foster children.
She had had a very rough start in life. Sadly abused and extremely shy, she seemed in dire need of a permanent home and someone to love her.
She was so sweet,and we started bringing her home with us on Sunday afternoons and during school vacations. She soon fit not only into our home but also into our hearts.
For more than a year, she visited with us at those special times and we all loved her.
We had been praying about what we should do, as our social worker had informed us that Maxie had once again become available for adoption.
We were already having a hard time thinking of her being uprooted again.Perhaps we would never see her again, and she would be torn from what little love and security she had known.
We asked God for a sign to help us to do the right thing about adopting her.
One year to the day of Jeff,s accident, God moved Maxie into our home.
Skeptics would say it was coincidence. We knew that it was God,s love for us,placing His seal of approval and once again proving Himself to us.

Finally came the day when we received a phone call from the state, telling us there was a baby girl available.
To be continued, God Bless, Roberta

My testimony part 15

A full page tribute to Jeff appeared in his school yearbook, including a smiling photograph of him: It read

In memory of Jeffrey Bernard Kelley.
We the class of 1972 dedicate this log in loving memory of Jeffrey B. Kelley, who passed away April 17th 1970. God took him home, it was His will.
But in our hearts we love him still; his memory is as dear today as in the hour he passed away. We often sit and think of him when we are all alone, for memory is the only friend that grief can call it,s own.
" For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21,) 1954 to 1970.
Sadly missed by all his classmates and everyone that knew him.

During the next few years I spent hours in the Word. One day as I knelt by my bed in prayer, The Lord spoke to my heart about what it truly means to know Him in His fullness. As I thought about His bruised body,my spiritual eyes were opened and I was able to see that following Jesus was more than just getting saved.
To really know Him, I must walk in obedience , being careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit, I have not been the same since.I wept as I began to realize that our calling goes far beyond receiving Jesus as Savior. We must also know Him as Lord.

To be continued, Roberta

My Testimony Part 14

Later, Rosie,s sister told of a neighbor who had come to their home,some forty miles away. and related a dream with almost the same message from Rosie. Our God is no respecter of persons. He would not bless one family without blessing the other.

We have been told that Jeff also stood at the bedside of a friend he had led to Christ and told him that he would be waiting for him. I praise God for the beautiful manifestations at that time. They brought comfort and assurance to the body of Christ at that time.
This was the second time that our family had been blessed in such a manner. My grandmother on my mother,s side, told about the death of her nine year daughter.
On the day of her death, as my grandparents sat at her bedside,she told them about angels and the beautiful music she was experiencing. " Can,t you hear the music?" she asked her mother repeatedly. A few hours later, she drifted off to the strains of that music especially created for her, a special gift from God that no one else could hear.
We were reminded that God never promised to deliver us from trials and tribulations we would encounter on this earth; only to deliver us in and through them.
He has a plan for each of our lives that is especially designed for us.
Though He never sends disaster to His children,He uses every circumstance,large and small, to mold each of us to fit into His eternal plan.
What Satan meant for evil,God meant for good.

Only eternity will reveal the converts and blessings resulting from Mom,s testimony. She had been a believer since childhood.
God has honored her faithfulness and has truly blessed us through her testimony.

Looking back over Jeff,s post-death message revealed even more exciting blessings and revelations.
1. Jeff said that they were both very happy-an impossibility after such an accident had they not already entered into the presence of the Lord.
"To be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord" ( 2 Corinthians 5:8)

2. Had they seen Jesus? Oh, Yes they had seen Him.
Where is He now? He is everywhere, proving that Jesus is omnipresent- able to be everywhere at all times.

3. Have you seen Abraham,Isaac and Jacob?
No Mamie,but their are so many people here....I have seen your mother and father,proving that when a born-again christian goes home he is gathered unto his own,just like the Bible say,s. Abraham,Isaac and Jacob died and were" gathered unto their own. Jeff also died and was gathered unto his own.
Jeff couldn,t have possibly known his great grandfather, a devout Christian who had passed away long before Jeff was born. His great grandmother died only a few months after his birth.

Because Jeff was always so faithful to call home and let us know where he was.,Jesus allowed him to call one last time before we meet again in heaven.
Jeff was always calling home,saying, " Hi Mom " or " Hi Dad." This is Jeff" Dad would respond," Jeff Who?" then they would both laugh. Whether He was to be 15 minutes or two hours late, he always let us know in advance.

Jeff,s first words to my mother were, " Hi, Mamie, this is Jeff."
Coincidence? Perhaps. But the reality of God is ever present in our lives if we will only be sensitive to His Holy Spirit.

To be continued. Thanks for being so patient and reading my blog. Roberta

My testimony Part 13

The testimony of Mrs. Velma Rice.

The maternal Grandmother of Jeffrey Kelley on Monday April 27,1970, around 10:20 in the morning, Mrs Rice testifies that she was standing alone in her living room when all at once the most perfect sense of peace came over her.
She paused in the midst of her morning,s work,and she discovered that the living room had become strangely quiet. Then she heard a voice speaking to her which she immediately recognized to be the voice of her deceased grandson.

" Hello, Mamie, this is Jeff. Tell Mama not to feel bad,
The air was very still,very clear.
" Hi, Jeff she replied. Where are you?"
" I,m here " And she immediately knew what what he meant.
" Is Rosie there with you? She asked. " Yes she,s here.
We,re both very happy".
Have you seen Jesus?" " Yes we,ve seen Him."
"Where is He now?"
" Oh, He,s everywhere"
Then not knowing what else to say, she felt prompted to ask,
"Have you seen Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"
"No not yet. There are a lot of people here. But I have seen your
Father and Mother."
" Did they know you?"
"Oh,Yes" Then he added, "I,ve got to go now,Mamie."

And all at once he was gone again.
He was always faithful in calling home to report where he was. So she believes that the Lord honored this quality in him, and for the benefit of his family and the corporate body He allowed him to report in to them in this way for the last time till we all meet again in the hereafter.

At first she wasn,t going to tell anyone of her encounter with her grandson,Jeff
.After considering the content of his message,however she decided to write down exactly as it happened and call me.
I was at home,still busy writing cards and letters of thanks and appreciation to each one for all their acts of kindness when the phone rang that morning.
My Mom exploded with the news. " I,ve just heard from Jeff" she proceeded to tell me the words that he had spoken to her. I could hardly believe my ears,but one thing assured me that it was true. I knew that ,in all my 34 years, I,d never known my Mother to lie-not to me or to anyone else.
We agreed she would give her testimony at the prayer meeting,which would be held on the following Thursday night.

To be continued. Roberta

My testimony Part 12

Some of our friends assured us that our faith in God would carry us through this testing time. Others felt that we would turn against God because of our loss. But helping us through those many days and weeks was Jesus Christ Himself; knowing the reality of Christ in us, our hope of glory, day by day.

To this day, I still marvel that not once has God allowed me to be bitter toward the man that was responsible for their deaths. I felt only remorse for Him and his family. They, too, must have suffered at his passing. I pray that they have found the Lord.

God had been more than enough. We would have been satisfied just for the assurance of Jeff,s salvation and to know that he was now in heaven with Jesus. That wasn,t Gods plan, however, as He added another remarkable plan to our lives.

Just ten days after Jeff and Rosie,s death, my mother, Velma Rice a christian since the age of eight, was standing in her living room. As she was about to turn on her vacuum cleaner , she suddenly noticed that the room had become strangely quiet. This was certainly out of the ordinary, for her home is located just above and between two very active boatyards and the noise of their chipping and pounding on iron carries through the neighborhood loud and clear. As she stood their quietly in the stillness, She recognized Jeff,s voice speaking to her. It startled her to say the least. Not ever having experienced anything of this nature before, she was rather frightened.

Here is how the testimony of Mrs. Velma Rice was introduced " To the Corporate Body of the Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church.

We are printing this not for the sake of idle curiosity but for the benefit of those who knew Jeff and Rosie and loved them and will be comforted by this testimony and wish to have a copy in their possession.
As Pastor Stevens has rightly taught us , we are not to seek for this sort of communication deliberately, but if God for His own glory and to build up His corporate body and to strengthen their faith sees fit to permit thoes who have gone home to be with the Lord to say a few words of comfort to thoes left behind, this is His sovereign right.
And who can say Him nay?

Mrs Rice is a born again believer of unreproachable character and unquestionable honesty who sincerely loves the Lord with all her heart. As she herself is the first to admit, she is ordinarily not in the least subject to having visions or auditions or experiences of this sort.
Though her real name is Velma, Jeff had called her Mamie ever since he was a child. And as for her own parents,they had passed away before Jeff could possibly know them.
Jeff togather with his friend Rosie Brawn were killed in an automobile accident on the night of Friday, April17th 1970.

So how true this testimony is we will now leave the Holy Spirit of God free to bear witness to you in your own heart.

To be continued, Each time I read or share moms testimony, I again am in awe and so Blessed of God. Roberta

my testimony part 11

The next few hour,s were full. Our pastor, my folks and many of the body of believers gathered around us. It all seemed like a bad dream and soon,and soon we would be waking up. I remember walking to the edge of the woods behind the house. I felt numb all over and wondered if those terrible sobs, the gut-wrenching sounds, were really coming from me.
My hurt went so deep that it was far beyond anything that I had even heard about, let alone experienced. I felt if the Lord didn,t do something for me, my heart would burst.

Around 3 AM., everyone left. After checking the children one more time, we went in to lie down, maybe try to sleep a little. It didn,t seem to matter anymore.
Climbing into bed, I felt indescribable sadness. Suddenly I felt a definite presence in the room.
I lay very still, hardly daring to move. Soon I felt the arms of Jesus encircling me in such a warm embrace that everything else faded away. I slept in the arms of Jesus till I awakened at 7:am.

God,s promise that His grace is sufficient for all our needs lifted Milt and me to a higher plane, and for the next few days we drifted above all the circumstances and arrangements that were going on around us.
Meanwhile, our friends and relatives were wonderful, cooking and sending gifts,cards and flowers. We will be forever grateful to everyone that was so kind to us during those days.



It was a beautiful graduation service for Jeff and Rosie. Some came forward to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Many of our young people rededicated their lives to Jesus.
It was wonderful to see them so full of God and eager to serve Him with all their hearts.
It was like a revival, especially designed by the Lord just for our youth.
Later on, during the summer, I rejoiced as the young people introduced many others to Christ.
I visited the youth campground and saw signs posted at the entrance to the boys and girls sections: " Jeffwood" and "Rosewood" in memory of our children. It was a special blessing for me.

As we learned all of the details of the accident,the different responses to Jeff,s and Rosie,s homegoing were amazing. The man responsible for the accident was so drunk that a fellow at a service station, where he had stopped, had taken his keys away from him, returning them to him him when the man became very angry.
He had then proceeded to enter I-95 on the wrong side of the highway. After bouncing off one car, he had passed the truck in front of Jeff and slammed head on into Jeff and Rosie.

Thank God for that resurrection power that carried them away - that same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Such wonderful power has been placed into Christians by Jesus Himself.

To be continued, Blessings, roberta

My testimony part 10

Spring came with it,s warming trend that everyone looks forward to in Maine after the long, cold winter. On the morning of April 17th, I got the children off to school . It was Friday and I had many errands to run. After cleaning up the house, I left for Wiscasset where Milt operated a service station. He was busy so I went on to Brunswick to do my shopping and get my hair done.

It was about 3pm when I finally arrived back at the service station. Milt told me that a couple of our christian friends had invited us to go out and eat with them. I called my mother to see if she would care for the children. Yes,She and Dad would feed them supper,take them home and put Chris to bed. After that, Andy could baby sit until we arrived home before nine.

Jeffrey would be going to Brunswick,picking up his friend Rosie and bringing her back to the Dog House, a small restaurant in Wiscasset. After they had eaten, they would return to Brunswick where Rosie lived. This would be his first real date,even though he and Rosie had sat togather in church and we would bring her home on Sunday afternoons.
Rosie was such a sweet girl, and we all enjoyed her company. Jeff would play his guitar, and they would rehearse songs to use at the youth group meetings. We were proud of them because they seemed to be really trying to be good examples for the other young people.

They were not perfect of course, but were always encouraging others who had problums that they didn,t seem to be able to handle. Most of all they were always ready to pray for others. Jeff never seemed to lose his happy spirit, even when things didn,t seem to be going as well as he would like.

About 5:30 pM , we left to go out with our friends, returning to Wiscasset about 7:30. We stopped at the parents of our friends, who told us that Jeff had been involved in a terrible accident back in Brunswick.
As Milt wheeled the car around and we started back, I remember praying," O Lord , Please don,t let them be dead."
My mind raced with thoughts of hospitals and pain. Suddenly as I prayed , I knew in my heart that Jeff was gone. My heart turned cold.

As we arrived at the scene, police cars blocked both sides of I-95. An ambulance was just pulling away. God in His mercy and perfect timing knew that we wouldn,t be able to look upon thoes two precious shells that were now well on their way to Glory.

I remember leaning over the car, with my face pressed into that cold, hard , metal and praying.
" Lord I don,t know why, but I know that You do. Praise Your Name."
Then I turned to Milt and said, " Lets go home".

It gets better, blessings Roberta

My Testimony Part 9

My testimony part 9

Jeff had been asked to speak at a Sunday night service. He had decided that he would share thoughts from 1st Peter 1: 6,7 ( " In this ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth , though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.") As I listened to his remarks on the text, I was again reminded of Gods call on his life. It was all very exciting, to him and to me. He was very sincere, and I couldn,t help remembering two short years earlier when I was so downhearted because I couldn,t seem to shake off smoking, he had prayed for me, and the Lord had gloriously delivered me . Several times in the past I had quit, only to return to it,s bondage.Jeff would tease me about my problem. " Mom will be sitting out back of the church, bound, smoking up a storm and I will be inside, free, preaching up a storm. I knew that he was only fooling, but sometimes I hated to admit that perhaps he was right.

A few weeks later,I was invited to go to a smoking clinic. After attending only a week, I asked the Lord to deliver me from the habit. " Lord, I have to trust you to do it. I can,t do it on my own." Immediately I was set free and have not wanted to smoke since.

Anyone bound by any such addiction- drugs, alcohol, smoking-need only call on Jesus. He,s always there to help. By His mighty love and power, He is able to set us free from the bondage of sin.

Meanwhile, I had a strong desire to tell others about Jesus Christ and His deliverance from sin. It seemed almost imposable to tell others while I was still bound myself. Smoking had been my crutch. Only after I had gotten into the word of God and it was revealed to me that my body was the temple of the Holy Spirit was I able to see that He must have a clean home to dwell in if He is to abide in me and me in Him.

In 1968, I was set free, and my whole family rejoiced with me in the spiritual victory. With a renewed vigor, I began to serve the Lord. It was so much fun and we were so busy that I hardly noticed that we weren,t seeing many of our old friends anymore. I did miss them and we still pray that many of them might find the Lord. That God might reveal Himself to them as He has to us.

A few of our old friends have come to Christ, but many are still unsaved. Satan makes it seem so hard, but it,s really not. We have come to know, through the Word of God , that no one who seeks Him will ever be turned away , no matter what they have done. Jesus loves a repentant heart and longs to prove His love toward everyone.

To be continued, God Bless, Roberta

My Tesimony Part8

We were happier then we had ever been before. We had found the answer to life,s true meaning in Christ. It wasn,t long before our second son,Andy, was asking questions. "Mom," he said to me one morning as we sat alone in our family room, " everyone else here is going to heaven. I want to get saved too. It was so wonderful leading him to the one who had made my life complete. We prayed together and sealed with God the promise of salvation to all who would receive Him.

Andy continued to grow in the Lord, and we had many happy times together singing and praising the Lord. We all loved music- Andy on the drums, Jeff on the guitar and me with the accordion.We spent many of our evenings playing songs that we had learned though the years at the church.

Jeff and Andy had joined up with our pastor,s two boys, Steve and Paul, and they had formed a quartet. They called themselves the "Starlets" taken from Daniel 12:3("And they that be wise shall shine as the the brightness of the firmament: and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." The quartet became quite popular in many churches throughout New England. They traveled nearly every weekend with the pastor, playing and singing at his services.

Several years later Andy went on to play his drums for the Campbell family, as they lead many to Christ with their beautiful blend of Gospel music. Their records and tape,s have ministered to many across this country. Later, Andy played with the Eastwind,cutting records in Nashville. It was all very exciting for him. Since returning to Maine ,he lives and works as a finish carpenter in our home town.

In the spring of 1970, Jeff had just enjoyed his 16th birthday on March 4th. Andy was now 13 and Chris was 4. We were all heavily involved with the various duties of home and church. Little did we know what lay ahead and how much our faith would be tested.

We had built a beautiful new church, and I was busy helping out with children's church and the nursery. In less then four years, our church had grown to be quite large, with new people receiving Christ every week. It must have been one of the largest revivals the state of Maine had ever seen.

To be continued, Blessings , Roberta

My Tesimony Part7

(continued)

Upon arriving home, I quickly prepared myself for bed and went upstairs to wake myself bed and went upstairs to wake my husband. I wanted to tell him about the wonderful experience I'd just had with Jesus. I had to tell someone or I would burst. My husband had been asleep for several hours, so you can imagine how receptive he was.
"Honey," I said, laughing and crying at the same time, "I'm so happy; I've been saved!" Rather disgusted he looked at me as I broke into tears of joy. "Woman," he said, "where have you been? How come, if your so damned happy, your bawling?"

That upset me a bit, but I was so filled with joy, I just passed it off as due to being rudely awakened. I'd deal with him in the morning. Quickly turning out the light, I continued to bask in my new-found love.

The next morning found me up early, singing and praising God. I felt so different and tried to convey it to my children. All of them were oblivious to my exuberant joy, except Jeff. He understood perfectly, and we sang and shared until he was ready to leave for school.
I was so anxious to tell everyone, that I rushed right out to friends and neighbors. Many of them were not at all impressed, and some probably thought I had lost my marbles. They were polite, but not impressed.

At the end of my first week, I began to realize that not everyone wants to be saved. Though I prayed many times for their salvation, many of them still haven't come to Christ. Thank God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and allowed my family and me the privilege of knowing Him in His fullness. It wasn't long before my husband, Milt, and my sister, Ruth, responded to the call of God.

I will never forget leaving the church on a Sunday night, shortly after my husband had given his heart to the Lord. He got into the car and removed the cigarettes from his pocket. Then he proceeded to tell my sister and me that the Lord had delivered him for drinking, smoking, and cursing. We laughed in disbelief, but to this day - 42 years later- he has not even had the slightest desire to do any of these things.

My sister and I were still smoking and we knew Milt had an explosive vocabulary, so the drastic change we saw in him seemed unbelievable. It was wonderful having him to share with, even though he didn't seem to share my unspeakable joy and bubbly relationship with Jesus, his own relationship with the Lord was strong and steady.
(to be continued)

God bless,
Roberta

My Tesimony Part6

About two miles from the church, as we approached the old wooden bridge in the small town of Wiscasset, an impression appeared so vivid to my mind and to my ear that it startled me. :If you cross the bridge, you will never receive me," it seemed to say. I,ll never forget that warning. At that moment, I knew that I must make a decision. " I have to go back" I told my friend Betty. I didn ,t understand why, but I turned the car around in the middle of that hill. Without a word, I headed back to that little white church on the mountain road. I just had to respond to to the tugging of my heart.

As we drove into the church yard, all of my earlier embarrassment and timidity seemed to just melt away. No light shone in the church and the pastor was just locking the door. I quickly got out of the car,followed by my friend. Somehow, the pastor seemed to know why I had come back.We went into the church and down front, where the three of us knelt. There I poured my heart out to a God I thought I knew, but in reality had only heard about.

As I prayed and began to seek His Son Jesus, a release engulfed me such as I have never known before. As I continued to pray and confess to God, His Holy Spirit filled every part of my being. It was all so wonderful that I seemed to be walking in the clouds. It was late when we left the church, I was too happy to mind. I just couldn't,t seem to explain, even to myself, the joy that I was feeling.

To be continued, Blessings, Roberta.

My testimony part 5

Soon the music quieted down and the pastor walked to the podium. "Study it carefully,ponder it it prayerfully, deep in your heart let it,s oracles dwell" he said as he shared scriptural truth. Those
words will be forever be imprinted upon my heart and mind. At the end of the service he asked if anyone would like to receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Several people went forward,greatly suprising me. To me, it seemed rather belittling to admit that you didn,t know the Lord, especially in front of all those people.

Several times I was drawn back to the revival meetings, each time being reminded that knowing about Jesus Christ and actually belonging to Him were two different things. Meanwhile, Jeff was growing in the Lord by leaps and bounds. His Bible was showing signs of wear as he marked passages with red ink. I couldn,t quite understand why he was marking up his Bible like that until he suddenly announced one day that he would be speaking at church that evening. As I stood there wondering what in the world he intended to speak on, the thought suddenly dawned on me: he has the call of God on his life.

On a memorable Thursday night, I could hardly sit in my seat. The air of expectancy could hardly be explained. As soon as the message was over, the pastor ask if anyone would like to come forward. Though many came I sat glued to my seat- unable to move. I wanted to respond but something held me back. One of my best friends,already a christian, leaned over and said to me, " Do you want to go down front ?" "No" I answered with a feeling of sadness. " I just can,t"
As we started home that evening, I felt very sad. wanted to cry but couldn,t. My heart was so heavy, it seemed like the end of the world for me. Why was I acting like this? It was all so strange.

My Tesimony Part4

(continued)

A week later, I was surprised to find him outside smashing all his Beatle records. Trying to reason with him I said, "Young man, I don't know what your doing, but don't expect us to buy any more Beatle records for you." His quick reply was, "Mom, I've changed. I'm all new, and I don't need those any more."

Day after day, I watched this change in his life. He studied his Bible and talked to his friends about his new-found friend, Jesus. Little did I know the impression he was making upon them. He was in constant prayer for one boy in particular, often going to his house to share the things of the Lord.
Jeff never missed a meeting or a service at the church if he could possibly go. His life was clearly changed into the likeness of Christ. Although I watched him closely and wondered where this new-found religion would lead him, it was quite a few weeks before I agreed to go along.

On my first evening enroute to church, they all began to sing as soon as we got into the car - songs of salvation and God's love. When we arrived, the church was fast filling up and it surprised me that the people weren't all dressed up as I was accustomed to. They seemed happy, and many of them were obviously not rich.

An air of excitement prevailed. I couldn't quite explain it, but it began to stir me as well to a feeling of expectancy. They didn't seem to notice the building was badly in need of repair, with a large sag in the floor. The singing had already begun, and it seemed that the roof might lift off as the quartet burst forth in song, "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul." As for the people began to clap their hands, I had a feeling of belonging, even though I was not very well known here. I know now it was God's Holy Spirit, for it was the same feeling I had experienced earlier at my own church during communion.
(will be continued)

God Bless you!!!!!
Roberta

My Testimony Part3

(continued)

He,s such a good boy,I thought as I watched them leave,always faithful to call home and let us know where he is. We are most fortunate to have him. I was still suprised at his willingness to go with her, as he had recieved a guitar for a birthday gift a few weeks earlier and had started lessons. He was so anxious to learn to play that he had devoted most evenings to practice. Augmenting his performance on the guitar, he had a nice mellow voice and had sung in a couple of country shows in the community.

When he arrived from the meeting around 9:3o, he was unusually quiet. Going to his guitar, he began to pick out a song that I had never heard. It was called " Do You Know my Jesus?." It was really beautiful, and I wondered how he had learned it so quickly.

A short while later he put down his guitar and looked at me with a huge grin on his face. Then he announced emphatically," mom I got saved tonight" He seemed so elated that I remember thinking, I sure hope his ballon never bursts. Though I really didn,t understand what he was saying , if it made him this happy and it happened at the church, it must be alright. Having never experienced anything even close to what he said he was feeling, I felt at a loss for words to enter into his new found joy.
(To be continued.)

Blessings,
Roberta

My Tesimony Part2

(continued)

By this time, we had two beautiful little boys whom we loved dearly. When Jeff, the older boy, took first prize as the cutest baby in town, we were thrilled!
Meanwhile, in retrospect, I can see God's hand of protection over all my young married life. Years passed by with the usual cuts and scrapes, along with the everyday struggles to make ends meet plus the thrill and excitement of just being young. After family and job, I had little for God.

Finally, after 13 years of marriage, something strange and wonderful began to unfold in my life. A couple we were close to attended revival meeting in a nearby town. At first I made fun of them, joking about their new-found religion. After a few weeks, however, it was plain that something special had happened to them.
The wife kept sharing with me patiently about Jesus. Who was able to love people unconditionally. She told that I could know Him; He would answer my prayers in a very personal way. I needed only to trust Him to save me and I would be saved.
WHY couldn't she understand that I already knew about Jesus? Hadn't I gone to church and even taught Sunday school in my teen years? She didn't have to tell me about God and His son Jesus. I already knew a whole lot about them. Yet there was still a tugging and pulling on my heart I couldn't understand. Patiently, she kept inviting me to the revival meetings.

Finally I ran out of excuses. By this time, we had been blessed with three beautiful boys Jeff 12, Andy 9, and little Chris 5 months. Mid-afternoon on a Thursday, she arrived with a fresh invitation to the meeting.
After much pleading, we finally agreed that if I couldn't go she would take Jeff. He seemed so excited to go, even though he had been having a struggle about singing in the boy's church choir. He had been in it for several years; now he felt he had outgrown it.
(continued tomorrow)

God bless you!
Roberta

My Testimony Part1

His Grace is Sufficient!

Born in a small coastal town in Maine on a cold January day just before World War 2, right after the depression, I somehow managed to bring a decree of happiness to my family.

My dad had a small boatyard/hardware store which kept us going financially. Later, he went to work for the US Government in the Department of Civil Service for the United States Navy as a Government Ship Hull Inspector.

My two sisters, one older and one younger, and I caused the usual family squabbles. Mom and Dad often had their hands full trying to find out who was right and who was wrong. Nevertheless, we were pretty happy kids and really adored our parents.

Mom always made sure we were in Sunday school and church every week. We learned much about the Bible and its historical value, but somehow it didn't affect my life significantly. Full of pride and self-will, I went my merry way, fully enjoying all the world had to offer.

I married young, and I found myself straying further and further away from the Lord. Apparently, when one is young and has everything going for her, it is easy to forget God. Many times in a tight spot, however, I would stop and pray and ask the Lord to forgive me of my latest sin.
One of the rare visits to church, I could hardly restrain myself from going up and taking communion. The Spirit of God so strongly impressed me that I felt as if I might burst. Still, I wasn't ready to make a move toward anything spiritual.
(will be continued)

Have a blessed day!
Roberta