Watching Miracles Grow

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from the home front. I will be spending some time here enjoying my family, friends and my beach cottage. I will continue to report in from Ohio until I meet up with my parents down the road a bit.

I hope you had a great week! We had a fantastic time in Tennessee this week. It is always good to spend time with our road family at Beechfork Holiness Church.

Watching Miracles Grow

I was inspired to write this post by a line in a song that I sing. The song is titled, Faith. The line says, 

"When you're praying for answers to things you can't change

Hold on to faith."

Most of us have those things on our hearts that seem impossible. We have been waiting for answers longer than we had hoped to wait. God is still the God of impossibilities in 2022. He is still working miracles.  

One of my favorite kinds of miracles to reminisce and Thank God for is the gift of life. We have witnessed God bless several families with children. It is a joy to watch these children grow!

A few months ago, we were able to see four of our miracle friends in Mississippi. Each child brings joy to their family and church family. I thank God for answering prayers every time I see them!

The Sheffield Family has been blessed with two precious miracles. Caleb and Katie are now 10 and 8! They are sweethearts! We love them so much. You can read about them in our posts from 2011, 2013 and 2016.

February 2022

Next, we have James Holland. James was born in the fall of 2015. He spent several weeks in the NICU. 

Several of you joined us in praying for him back then. Those prayers worked! James is finishing kindergarten. He is a growing boy full of life.  Here is a post that I wrote back in 2016.

March 2022

Then there is my buddy Lucas Brownlee. We prayed for several years with Lucas' parents, Jamie and Allison. In late 2016 they found out that God was granting the desires for a child. We rejoiced with them!

Five years ago On May 4th 2017, their world changed when Lucas arrived! He was worth the wait! He brightened everybody's lives that know him! I wrote about him in 2017.

Lucas is an amazing little boy. He liked to ride with me on my scooter this year. Lucas called it a treadmill. He would ask to ride on my treadmill. LOL

February 2022

A miracle that is still in progress is my cousin Deidre's baby, Chloe Jean. Several of you have asked me how she is doing. Chloe Jean is doing fantastic. 

We are so thankful for her progress. She is eating and growing well. Chloe is laughing, smiling, cooing and full of life.

Doctors are continuing to monitor her liver issues. We are believing God for her complete healing! 

Here is a recent picture of Chloe Jean. I am hoping to see her soon when she comes to Ohio for her first visit.

While we were on our Virginia tour, I met Oliver Tinnon. I had been waiting months to meet this little miracle.  He is the son of my friends Bro. Jonathan and Sis. Whitney Tinnon.

Last year I was excited to learn that Baby Tinnon was on the way! I immediately told Whitney to pencil me in for baby time on my visit to Virginia in 2022.

Oliver came several weeks early. He immediately started surprising the doctor with his progress. God was answering prayers daily for my friends. Oliver is a fighter. He was determined to overcome life's obstacles!

By early December, He was home and going to his first church service. Today you would never know that he spent weeks as a preemie in the NICU! God is so awesome!

There are many more stories that I could share. I will save those for another post. Today I want to encourage us. Our answered prayers will happen. The miracles are still growing. We will rejoice in the future!

Thanks for stopping by to visit with me today. We must remember, 

"When you're praying for answers to things you can't change

Hold on to faith."

Odie

One Year Ago Today, March 24, 2021

March 24, 2021, is a day that will remain in my memory banks for a long time to come. Allow me to take a moment to tell you why.

On Sunday, January 31, 2021, Odie and I tested positive for Covid in Bernice, Louisiana. By the end of that day, we were loaded up in the BoggsMobile and on our way home. We arrived home about noon on Tuesday and by Thursday I was as sick as I had ever been in my life.

By the seventh day, Saturday, February 6, 2021, I was beginning to believe that the extreme body temperature fluctuations would kill me. That night, Bro. John and Sis. Ann Gabbard called and prayed Heaven down on me. I will never forget that night either. I will explain in a moment.

By Wednesday, February 10, I could not absorb enough oxygen. It was pretty scary. Two preachers brought me supplemental oxygen about midnight in a snowstorm and saved my life.

From there, I started gaining. After three weeks or so, I was mostly using supplemental oxygen only at night. Soon, I was working in the barn and preaching single services here and there.

The truth is, I was probably overdoing it. I was trying to do the right thing by exercising my lungs and not sitting down, but I am pretty sure I was harming my lungs rather than helping.

On March 13, I began sliding backward in my ability to absorb oxygen and in a few days I was laboring to get my breath at all. On Wednesday morning, March 24, I was struggling to breathe and I told Kelly Jo that my lungs felt like they were almost full. I had no signs of pneumonia, but my lungs felt nearly full.

I suspected that once they were full, I would not be able to breathe. I could not keep my oxygen level in the mid 80's even with full supplemental oxygen. I was in a dangerous place.

A few minutes before 9:00 PM that Wednesday night, March 24, 2021, one year ago today, Pastor Mike Metzger called. He said "I am going to my knees to pray for you right now." AND pray he did!

He prayed for 20 solid minutes while we prayed with him and enjoyed the presence of the Lord in the BoggsMobile. I took off my oxygen and marched in place for several minutes expecting to be healed any moment. It was a glorious touch from the Lord.

After 20 minutes or so, Bro. Metzger said I am going to keep praying after we hang up. I do not know how long he prayed, but I suspect it was quite a long time. We rejoiced quite a long time in the Lord that night even though I was not completely healed in that moment.

I was not able to rest that night after the glorious experience, but each day after that, I felt a little bit stronger. 

But I want you to know something. When Bro. and Sis. Gabbard prayed for me on February 6, the Holy Ghost fell on me and I felt the Lord every moment of every day for over three solid months.

When Bro. Metzger prayed for me one year ago on March 24, the presence of the Lord intensified on me and carried me through the valley of the shadow of death. Hallelujah!

I will never forget those prayers. I will never forget the closeness of the Lord. I will never forget how He walked with me and talked with me every single step of the way.

It was near the end of August before I was able to travel and preach anywhere near consistently. It was mid December before I set aside the portable oxygen machine. I am still pulling with all of my might, trying to be able to preach every night as I have for over nineteen years. I still need God's help.

However, I will never forget the Lord's presence that I felt more steady and strong than I have ever felt Him before. Hallelujah!

When I tell this story in a few years, I believe the main point in my mind 

Will not be the sickness and suffocating, but the presence of the Savior! 

The focus will not be disease and discomfort, but the Deliverer!

The focus will not be the hardship and heartache, but Heaven that rested on me

The focus will not be Covid, but Christ!

Hallelujah!!!

If the Lord does not come back for his church in the next several years, I will face death once again. Time will see to that. However, if the Lord will come near me like he did one year ago, I will be able to walk that lonesome valley.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Davy

It Has Actually Been A Great Year!

We interrupt our normal broadcast for a special bulletin. Please tune in tomorrow at this same time for The Weekend Dispatch that you would normally find here on Monday.

It Has Actually Been A Great Year!

We celebrate dates here on Mile Markers. It is one thing we do consistently. We mark birthdays, anniversaries and special days of all kinds. 

We usually do not mention dates that mark events that we would rather forget, but marking dates happens in my mind whether I want to remember the date or not. It is part of my psyche. It is who I am.

Even though the dates I would rather forget stick in my mind like neon billboards, I usually do not commemorate them here among all of the hallowed dates. I especially do not push off a normal weekly feature post to mark such a date, yet here I am.

This date, January 31, has some significance because it is a date that is relatable to my readers. It may not be your date, but many of you have a date in the last two years that rings true with my date.

One year ago today, January 31, 2021, is the date that Odie and I tested positive for Covid in a small hospital within walking distance of where I sit this very moment at Abundant Life Holiness Church in Bernice, Louisiana.

Yes, January 31, 2021, is a date that I would rather forget for many reasons. It is a date that I wish was wiped off the calendar and all of the bad events of that day with it.

Beginning on that date, Odie and I became sicker than we have ever been in our lives. We stayed sicker longer than we have ever been sick in our lives. One year later, I am still dealing with after effects of that horrible day. 

On the evening of January 31, we pointed the BoggsMobile toward home. On February 2, we pulled the bus into the barn. The trip home had been difficult, agonizing and stressful on all three of us, but by God's grace, we made it!

In the course of those three days of driving, at least four Pastors had invited us to park at their church while healing. For nearly 1000 miles I wondered if I should have taken one of them up on their kind offer. It surely looked like we were not going to make it home.

Over the next few months, I would praise God repeatedly that He had given us the strength to make it home. Hallelujah! Once we made it to Ohio, we were so glad to be there!

Two days after arriving home and pulling into the barn, there is no way in the world I could have driven the bus one mile. I was too sick to do it. We are very thankful that I did not reach that breaking point out on the Highway somewhere.

By the seventh day, February 6, my body temperature had been wildly fluctuating for over 36 hours. It would go from outrageously low to dangerously high and back again in only minutes. I was tracking the violent temperature swings with two thermometers and I felt like my body could not take it anymore.

I do not mention the actual temperatures, because I am not sure that anyone beyond people that know me well would even believe the numbers.

About 9:00 PM on February 6, Bro. John Gabbard called and said, "Me and Ann are going to prayer right now." And boy howdy, did they ever go to prayer. I was instantly saturated with the Holy Ghost as they prayed and while they were praying my body temperature went to normal and never rose or fell again!

Put a finger right there in the story because it is important.

I had been marching in place and singing several times a day since we had arrived home. I knew I must keep moving and I intended to build my voice strength. I thought I would be back to revivals in 2-3 weeks and I knew I must have breath and my voice.

On day 11, four days after God touched my temperature, I could not breathe. Through miraculous intervention two local Pastors, Bro. Philip Hoskins and Bro. Danny Lamb brought an oxygen bottle to me and later that night an oxygen machine. They did this late at night in the middle of a snowstorm and saved my life.

In week number six I started struggling to breathe again, even with supplemental oxygen. In week seven, as my lungs filled with inflammation, I felt like my breath would soon stop. With full flow oxygen, my levels were very, very low. 

One evening that week, Pastor Mike Metzger called a few minutes after 9:00 and hit his knees in fervent prayer. KJo was in the bus at the time and she is my witness.

While Bro. Metzger prayed, the Holy Ghost covered me and Kelly Jo. We rejoiced, praised God and we were lost in His Spirit for over 20 minutes. I was not instantly healed, but I received a glimmer of hope that I might live to preach again.

Now, let me go back to the night of prayer on February 6. From the moment Bro. John and Sis. Ann prayed for me until way up into May, the presence of the Lord was near me, more consistently near me than I have ever felt Him in my life.

All I had to do was raise my hand or whisper His name and His sweet Spirit would overwhelm me, strengthen me and help me. It was an absolutely amazing three + months and that is reason enough to mark this terrible day.

January 31, 2021, was the beginning of something awful in our lives. It was also the beginning of three of the best months of my life. Hallelujah! I never want to be that sick again, but IF I could have God that present and real every moment, I believe I could take it.

There is no time to tell the whole story here, but we remained mostly in our home area for 203 days. It was late October, over ten months before I felt like I had turned a corner and began to build strength. It is still a road we are walking. 

Yet, from the very beginning, good friends would call and text and remind me that God had told them I would rise up and preach again.

Thank God for His sure Word of prophecy! 

Thank God for His protection. 

Thank God for His provision. 

Thank God for His healing power

Thank God for His people. 

He has brought me, yes He has brought me a mighty long way!

So to sum up this January 31 anniversary, it has actually been a great year. It has been a horrendous year and it has been a wondrous year! We look forward to another year that is hopefully and prayerfully more wondrous than horrendous.

Thank you for riding along with us. You prayed with us and you stayed with us and we will never forget it. May God bless you abundantly for it.

Have a great week.

Davy

Visual Journey

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in today. I hope you are doing great this weekend. Can you believe that we are speeding through April 2021? Time seems to be flying by faster with each passing day.

Seven years ago this month, in the blink of an eye, my life suddenly changed. If you are a new reader click here to see the full story. It was an extremely terrifying time.

Many of you remember that time in our lives. You helped pray me and my parents through that season. I will forever be grateful to all my brothers and sisters in the army of God! You rallied around my family and went to war on our behalf! 

The prayers and support worked! We came out victorious and I do not want to lose sight of that victory! Reflecting on what God has done for me with my vision caused me to look back at the big picture of my journey.

Visual Journey
Here is a brief recap of my vision history. My first visit to an eye doctor was back in 1999. The doctor prescribed reading glasses. Once I had my reading glasses I  found that they were extremely helpful. 

I no longer had headaches every day after school. Turns out all of the headaches were not Algebra or Science related like I had thought. My reading glasses saw me through both junior high and high school and into my twenty's.

By 2006 I realized that I was wearing my glasses most of the time. I could feel my eyes straining without them. I decided it was time to get my eyes checked again. 

I made an appointment with an eye doctor in Pittsburg, Kansas. That doctor gave me the expected eye exam. Then he also expressed some serious concerns that worried him. He encouraged me to find an Ophthalmologist and have some specific testing done. 

That was the beginning of my in-depth eye journey. The concerns that the doctor in Kansas voiced really worried me. Our precious friends at Faith Tabernacle in Weir, Kansas prayed for me that night. I remember that God visited me with a special blessing during the revival service.

A few months later we were home and it was time to get the tests done.  We spent many hours at the eye doctor as they performed a series of tests.

The conclusion: My eye pressures were high and my optic nerves are misshapen. I was given the title of a Glaucoma Suspect at just twenty years old. They decided to just keep checking routinely and watch for changes. The doctor said that the anomalies in my eyes might be Cerebral Palsy related and might not give me any problems.

Eye doctor checkups became normal for me every time we were home. Thankfully things stayed the same. My prescriptions would change from time to time, but nothing dramatic happened.

Then in April 2014, my life changed! I woke up on a Sunday morning to find my vision was gone in my left eye. I felt like I had a massive black smudge over my eye. Suddenly we were navigating uncharted waters. We were trying not to drown in worry and fear. 

Why had my vision suddenly left? Was this because of the other issues the doctors were watching? Could my vision loss be corrected? Was I going to be completely blind? Would I now have to navigate life blind and physically handicapped? Those were just a few of my questions and it was so hard to find the answers.

Every moment that we walked this unknown road we prayed and believed for a miracle from God. On the ninth day, God began to answer those prayers. My vision began to return! It was a real miracle! Within a few months, my sight was better than it had been before it left! 

I want to stress that to you. My vision is better in both eyes now than it was before I had the period of blindness! Hallelujah!

During my time of vision loss, I prayed for God to heal me and or direct me to the correct doctors that I need. I can honestly say God answered both of those prayers.

The doctors diagnosed me with Optic Neuritis, which is where the Optic Nerve is inflamed. Optic Neuritis is a strange ailment. It is hard to pinpoint the actual cause and impossible to prevent it from happening again. There is not a promise that vision will return after Optic Neuritis, most likely never fully return. Praise God I am completely better!

The Optic Neuritis does not seem to be connected to the existing issues. The Glaucoma Suspect worries are probably linked to trauma at birth or Cerebral Palsy. 

We personally say that my sudden vision loss in 2014 was an attack from the enemy. We rebuked the enemy from attacking my life while praying with a friend, and we pled the blood of Jesus over me. My vision instantly started to return.

I have continued to routinely have checkups with my fantastic eye doctors. I am blessed to have Dr. Amy Kopp on my team. She is genuinely concerned about my vision health. She is not afraid to say that God has worked a miracle in my case.

Last month I went in for a checkup with Dr. Kopp. They did the routine vision checks. My prescription changed slightly. My eye pressures were perfect. The pictures of my optic nerves were unchanged. We will continue to monitor things with the checkups.

All of the periodic tests are normal to me now. I do always have a knot in the pit of my stomach when I go for these visits. Getting the good news helped me tremendously. I value my sight. I thank God every day that I wake to find my vision to be clear!

Thanks for coming on this visual journey down memory lane today. I am always grateful that you take the time to read my post. See you next time!

Odie

Yes, Best of Times and Worst of Times

To paraphrase Charles Dickens, these are the best of times, these are the worst of times. To interpret, this has been an awesome week and this has been a horrible week. During this week we have been covered by the Spirit of the Lord over and over and we have been slammed over and over with sickness.

Yes, these are the best of times and these are the worst of times.

Since Saturday, March 13, I have sliding backward in my breathing. By Wednesday morning of this past week, I perceived that I was in trouble. By that evening it felt like I had no more room in my lungs for breath and we began to reach out to friends and family for prayer.

The pressure on my chest was severe and constant. Then God's people began to pray. One dear friend called a few minutes before 9:00 eastern Wednesday night. In moments his prayer was covered by the Holy Ghost and we were too. It was glorious for over 20 minutes. KJo and I were ushered into the presence of God right in the BoggsMobile.

Later, I found that others were in serious and fervent prayer for us at that very time. They were touching God, God was touching them and God was touching us! All over America, they were praying and we were feeling it. Praise God!

Even though we felt wonderful in our spirits, Wednesday night was a rough night for me physically. I could barely get enough oxygen, even with supplemental oxygen.

Thursday was shakey, but I rested better Thursday night and Friday night and we have been praising God for it. I still have a long way to go to get back to where I was three or four weeks ago, but I think I am headed in the right direction.

Thank you for praying for us, please continue.

Some Misinformation

By Thursday morning, the word was out to many, many people that I needed prayer. I always appreciate people praying, but some told me they had heard some things that were not true.

Some heard that I was in the hospital on a ventilator and might not make it through the night without a miracle.

Others heard that the doctor had told me I had double pneumonia and needed a miracle.

I am so sorry for the misinformation that was spread. 

I am afraid it is like the news stations that make every rainstorm into the storm of the century and then nearly nothing happens. Soon the people do not even listen to the genuine warnings.

I was very, very sick. I was lower than I have ever been in my life. I did think there was a possibility that I could die without God's touch. I am tremendously thankful for all that prayed for me and that touched God on my behalf. 

However, I am sorry if you received an alert that was not true. I can not do a thing in the world about it, I have no idea how it began, but I am sorry if you received prayer requests that were not true. I hope that does not harden you the next time you get a very serious request to pray for someone.

Thankful!

We are very thankful for the help and guidance that we have received from doctors and nurses and other medical personnel that have offered guidance, advice and direction all the way through this mess. We are thankful for you.

We are also tremendously thankful to all of you that have fervently prayed and offered scripture and words of encouragement. May God bless you for your kindness and thoughtfulness toward us. Some have prayed for hours at a time and others have not gone 15 minutes during the day without praying for us. Thank you.

I am better than I was Wednesday and Thursday. I had no other good direction to go, but up. However, I am not out of the woods yet. I am not able to go, I am not able to preach, I am not able to exert at all. I need some time to heal and I need God's help to heal. Please keep praying.

If the truth is known, I was probably trying to preach and sing and work too much too soon. That may be part of the reason for the recent physical difficulty.

We appreciate you joining us today on Mile Markers, friends.

Davy

Testimony Time

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in. Today is a big day, spring is officially here! We have survived another winter season! Cold weather and snow could still be in the forecast, but I am happy for most of it to be behind us for now. I love warm weather!

Testimony Time
I am rewinding to 2005 for this testimony. Dad and I have both wrote about this time in the past. I feel the need to share this part of my testimony again.  I do not want to forget how God carried us through this valley!

Several of you helped pray us through this rough battle. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I will never forget the family and friends that rallied around us during this time!

I had a lot of health problems in January and February of 2005. I was in excruciating pain on several different days. It was an extremely scary time for us. We thought that I was having kidney stones. I could get no permanent relief.

We were in revival the last week of February at Beams of Light in Cantonment, Florida. Pastor Philip Deane and his church rallied around us in our trouble. I believe we were in the right place at the right time. God used His saints to encourage us so much!

The end of that week found me in the hospital in Pensacola, Florida. Tests showed the doctors that kidney stones were not my problem.  The first thing they found was a large mass of old blood. After draining that, they discovered the main problem.

The doctors found that the source of the old blood was a big ugly abscessed tumor had consumed an organ.

In the blink of an eye, we were overwhelmed with the surprising developments. At 19 years old I was now facing emergency surgery and a distinct possibility of cancer. There was a chance that I could lose several of my organs in the initial surgery.  

I never imagined that I would be facing a possible cancer diagnosis, especially as a teenager. My whole life was possibly changing. I was terrified of the unknown!

God was working the entire time. I could not clearly see how He was working everything out. It felt as if I was struggling to keep my head above the water. Now I look back and realize that I was securely in the palm of His hand.

March 1st was the day reserved for surgery. I do not think that I will ever forget that day. I was so scared to have surgery. I had never had to be put to sleep and I was worried about what the doctor was going to find during surgery

I remember Dad encouraging me that day. He stood by my bed and reminded me that even though we do not know how this situation will end, we do know that God is still with us. God was still God no matter what the outcome. We were determined to praise God through it all. 

Dad encouraged me to quote Psalms 23 as I prepared for surgery. I will never forget the comfort that this passage of scripture gave me on one of the toughest days of my life. It was the Word that I needed in my distress. 

God answered multiple prayers related to the surgery. I believe God handpicked the doctor that performed my surgery. We really liked the cancer doctor that was going to be on standby. At the last minute, the surgeon that was scheduled to actually do my operation was nowhere to be found. The cancer doctor had to step in and do the full surgery.

Dad says the doctor assured him multiple times that he was qualified to do everything that needed to be done. My Dad was trying to keep from shouting right in the hospital. He had prayed that morning for God to put the correct doctor in place to do the operation.

The surgery was a success. The doctor only had to remove the tumor and the one organ that was affected by the tumor. The best news of all, the tumor was benign! Sixteen years later I am still praising God for the miracle that he gave me that day.

Current Events
March 1, 2021, passed by a few weeks ago. I was thanking God for what He brought me through in 2005. I was once again overwhelmed with gratitude and praise! 16 years later the full picture is much clearer than it was in 2005. God's faithfulness is very evident to me now more than ever.

As I reflected on this specific incident in my life, I felt a gentle nudge in my spirit. I felt that God was telling me, I brought you through the unknowns of that battle. I am aware of your current life events. I will bring you through this time too! 

I am choosing to hold on to that reminder that God placed on my heart. It puts a smile on my face and sparks joy in my heart. I have claimed that promise many times in recent days! I praise God in advance for what He has planned for me now.

I wanted to share my encouragement with you. Friend, God knows exactly what is happening in your life right now! He will see you through as well. Please remember that God loves you!

I encourage you to praise Him for what He has done in your life in the past. Then look ahead to the future and remember that He has a plan for your life.

Thanks for visiting with me today. I pray that God moves for you this weekend. I look forward to seeing you next Saturday.

Odie

Amazed By God's Provision

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in with you. How are you doing? I am doing great. I am grateful that I am alive to praise God for another day.

Amazed By God's Provision

We broke ground to build the home where I now live on April 17, 2017. I remember a memorable text that I received on that groundbreaking day. Bro Gary Lee said, “You are watching a miracle happen right before your eyes.” His statement to me was one hundred percent true! This miracle began taking shape years before that time, but that day we could physically see progress. Over three years later I am still amazed by God's provision. 

The vision behind the whole project was to provide a home for my future. A house that was accessible for my physical needs was a dream of mine. It was difficult to imagine that my dream would actually be a reality. 

The house project was a long process of vision, bravery, faith, prayer, planning, time, labor and money. I watched a huge series of miracles and God was always faithful. He provided just what was needed. The finished product is a beautiful place built just for me and I can access everything. 

My house was approved for occupancy on June 1, 2018. Immediately I started to make the house my home. I will always remember the joy of spending my first night here. Surprisingly it immediately felt like home. Two years I am still excited to be in my house.

It is impossible to publicly thank every individual that performed any part in my miracle. Countless people sacrificed abundantly for me. I appreciate every person that showed their love for me. Their incredible gifts turned my dream into a reality and their generosity continues to bless me! I am still overwhelmed by their kindness. 

I know several of you, my dear friends, will read this post. The words "thank you" have never fully expressed my sincere gratitude accurately. I do not want them to just be hollow words, but I mean them with heartfelt passion. I have been praying extra for the people who made my home a complete miracle.

I planned for a while to be home for a month this spring. I was thrilled to enjoy being home. Well, due to circumstances beyond anybody’s control, I had an extended stay at home. Nobody had any idea that a world crisis would happen, but God provided me a wonderful place to hide from the virus! I have had plenty of time to reflect on my blessings.

During the pandemic, I have been so grateful for my beach cottage. I remember what Wendy Bagwell once said about his home.”We ain’t got no ocean in Smyrna, Georgia." Well, we ain’t got no ocean in Waynesville, Ohio, but I am surrounded by a home that reminds me of the ocean. The sight of a beautiful ocean is my happy place. Living in a bright beach cottage has helped me stay cheerful!  I am so thankful for God's provision for me.

I will close for now. I am always grateful that you spend part of your day with us. Thanks for reading as I reflected on God's amazing provision for me. His blessings are awesome! If you are new to the blog you can click here to read more about the house. You can see all the posts about the house by clicking here.

Odie 

Road Life = Prayer Life

Most Monday's I have a post ready to tell about the weekend, however, once in a while I have other things to say and I post the weekend report on Tuesday. Let's talk about buses and road life for a few minutes today.

First, a reminder of why we constantly pray as we travel and why we ask you to pray for us too. This bus below belongs to the Southern Gospel group, The Perry's  http://www.perrysministries.com/

A large tire and wheel came off of a Jeep traveling in the opposite direction. 

The tire jumped the concrete divider wall and bounced its way down the interstate until it hit the front of their bus. The hardest hit was just below the windshield. An initial impact a few inches higher and the driver would have probably been instantly killed and the lives of the people on the bus and in the cars surrounding would have been in serious jeopardy.

As it was the driver was able to miraculously control the bus and safely bring it to a stop even with glass raining all around him and complete confusion and chaos crashing in as well.

The crash was unavoidable for the driver of that bus. The tire was probably in his face faster than a human can react. That is why we must have the help of the Lord. This is a horrible mess, inconvenience and expense for the Perry's, but they are thanking God and we are thanking God for them that it was not much worse. It could have easily been a life ending tragedy.

I have also been thanking God for all the people in cars and pickup trucks behind the Perry's bus. Without the bus in front of them to take the hit, some of them would likely have been killed.

One friend text me and said, "I had to stop and thank God audibly for constantly keeping His hand of protection on you all after reading about the Perry's bus accident."

Amen! Amen!

A Little Bus Work

After leaving Easley, South Carolina we had a couple of projects completed on the BoggsMobile in Vonore, Tennessee. It feels like home when we pull into Jeff Rowe's place. They make us feel at home and always take care of us top notch.

We pulled into Tennessee Luxury Coach on Thursday last week and in a few minutes, they had removed the original tail lights from the bus.

I do not have a picture of the originals Thursday, but here they are freshly washed in February.

24 years of use had left them cloudy and downright dingy. I could not get them to clean up properly. That is the main reason for replacement. They were not bright enough at night. When cars and trucks are coming up on me at a high rate of speed, I want them to see me for a while before they get to me.

The incandescent bulbs were constantly going out and I could never seem to keep them all working at the same time. It was time for LED.

I had asked Jeff about them quite a bit ago, but I could never get by his shop at the right time. This time the stars lined up perfectly.

Kelly Jo and I tackled another project while in Vonore. Occasionally, the Jacob Brake (Jake) on the BoggsMobile would stop working. The Jake is an engine exhaust brake that slows the bus considerably and saves the regular brakes a lot of work.  It would work perfectly all day and then suddenly nothing. 

It used to happen very occasionally, like maybe 20 times in 10 years. Since November, it has been much more frequent. It would reset if I turned off the engine and then started the engine again. That told us it was most likely an electrical problem.

The wiring harness that was replaced in Houston also energizes the Jake. We figured the problem was solved when that was completed. Nope.

The ECM, engine computer, sends the signal through the wiring harness to the Jake. We figured the intermittent Jake problem would be repaired once the ECM was replaced in Alabama. Nope.

There was one more thing to check. There is a Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) that is mounted to the back of the "gas" pedal. It sends the position of the throttle to the computer. It determines how much fuel you pour into the engine and makes it go faster. It also affects the cruise control and the Jake. The Jake is activated when you take your foot off the gas pedal.

On our way to North Carolina a couple weeks ago the Jake quit again. We stopped at a rest area, but did not turn off the bus. Instead, we unplugged the TPS and then plugged it back in. The Jake worked perfectly! BINGO!

The TPS is normally easy to replace. Two screws and an electrical plug removes the old one and two screws and an electrical plug installs the new one.

Of course, life can not be that easy all the time. They have changed the plug on the replacement TPS so they also sent me a 3-4' wiring harness with the new TPS. You now have to replace the TPS and the wire that plugs into it. That wire is fastened to the pedal and to the floor then goes through the floor and plugs into another harness.

This picture is taken looking up from laying on my back directly under the front seat and floor area.

Once we had that wire out, we fished the new wire in, plugged it in below, wire tied it very good below and then fastened the new wire to the floor and pedal. It took a little longer to do it than to describe it, but it was not too bad. AND, so far it works!

I am working on another thing or two, but nothing major. Things that need to be completed are just enough to keep us praying. 

Thank you for joining us today.

Davy
1995 Prevost XL
1996 Vantare Conversion

Preparing For My Miracle

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from Tennessee. It is wonderful to be back in this beautiful state. It was here as a girl that I learned to love the beauty of God’s creation and I always look forward to visiting Tennesse. 

Tomorrow revival will begin at Beechfork Holiness Church. We will be here thru Wednesday night with our Tennessee family Pastor Herman and Sis. Margaret Woods. We love being with them and their sweet congregation! I look forward to a wonderful revival by faith. 

This Thursday and Friday, April 4th and 5th it is time for the Pentecostal Fire Youth Conference. You still have a few days to make your plans to be in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for this year’s PFYC. We hope to see you there this week at the LeConte Center. Click Here to learn more about PFYC 2019.

Preparing For My Miracle 

Most of you know that I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) when I was about 2 1/2 years old. The damage probably happened while I was being born. They say brain does not send the correct signals to my leg muscles to allow me to walk properly. I have relied on the aid of people and things for my mobility all of my life. I have never been able to walk on my own. I do believe that I am going to walk on my own and I have always dreamed of that day. 

My parents taught me of God’s healing power and from a young age. I have trusted and believed that God would heal me, but honestly, I never dreamed that I would wait over 30 years for my miracle to be completed. God has always been faithful to me! I cannot complain, because the Lord has been so good to me. I have had times of discouragement, but I have always found my refreshing in the Holy Spirit. 

I am a planner I like to know the schedule and have a general idea of how things are “supposed” to go. I would love to know the exact time of my healing, but God does not work by our time schedules. Therefore it is impossible to plan a date and a time for my healing. Whenever God has my miracle planned, then I am ready!

My imagination does get carried away at times wondering where, when and how my miracle will take place. I have imagined many different scenarios over the years of how it might happen. I have considered how can we share the news here on the blog. I do not have the answers to my many questions. Today I just wanted to alert you, please do not be shocked when you see the news of my healing. I believe in my heart that it is coming soon!

You may be wondering how I can declare that my healing is coming soon? I have had two special experiences during church services recently that I thought my healing was happening that very instant. It is impossible to know why that was not the appointed time for my full miracle, but I absolutely refuse to be discouraged. Instead, my faith is encouraged and strengthened. I believe my healing is right around the corner! I am excited about the future and what is to come!

New Years Eve 2010 my Dad preached on faith and that night I shouted the new year in believing that my healing was happening soon. January 1, 2011, I started a list on my phone of people that I had to let know when my miracle happens. I have carried that list with me for eight years. Occasionally I go over the list adding more names. I pulled my list out recently in anticipation that I will be needing it soon. 

Now I also began a mental list of places that I would like to go or things that I would like to do after I am healed. My life has been absolutely incredible! I have met so many people and I want to go see them all again, walk into the church and let them witness the miracle of God's healing power with their own eyes! That is going to be awesome.

I have been so blessed to have a ton of amazing experiences in life. I think it would be great to go back to revisit some places with the ability to walk. I have a few things that I would like to do that are practically impossible in my current physical condition. Today I am dreaming big and I am preparing for my miracle. 

This is just a little glimpse into my thinking lately. I appreciate you stopping by to visit with me today. Are you looking forward to what God has in store for you? Please allow me to encourage you to believe, plan and dream! I hope that our prayers are answered this very weekend. 

Odie

The Story of An Apostle, An Epistle and An Old Bus

We are moving beyond the bus saga that began January 24th as we pulled to the shoulder of I-45 with the bus not running. I am still sweating bullets and the girls are praying behind me every time I reach for the key to crank the engine. Eventually, hopefully, we will learn to trust our beloved home again.

1996 Prevost XL

The two weeks the BoggsMobile was broke down in Texas and the week it was broke down in Alabama could have taken a big chunk out of our sanity for a very long time. I have been candid here about the potential for this to be overwhelming.

Detroit 60 Series 12.7 Liter

I have also been very open about the way the Lord has helped our minds and my nerves through the whole mess. God has strengthened us, sustained us and blessed us each and every day from January 24 until right this very moment.

I have been careful to document on Mile Markers the entire ordeal including our highs and our lows. I am assuming that most of you are familiar with the story, but IF you are not, you can catch up by reading the links in the previous three paragraphs that look like this.

I have told you about the church at Gainesville having special prayer for us on a critical Sunday morning when I was needing God to help me. Help me He did in a tremendous way! While I was praying, my brother Steve sent me a Word from the Lord and the Holy Ghost fell on me. I did not even know at the time, those blessings were in response to a whole church specifically praying for me at that very moment hundreds of miles away.

Bus Conversion

God's people prayed for us, encouraged us and God infused us with the power to move forward one moment at a time. With two major breakdowns behind us, we have emerged with most of our emotions entirely intact, the bus running and the bills paid in full.

Prevost Community

We are praising God for the series of miracles He has performed in our lives. Thank you to everyone that prayed and responded to our crisis with so much kindness and love. May God bless you for it.

However, there is more to this whole story that we did not know until a week After the bus was repaired the second time. I would like to share that with you now.

The Apostle Donald C. Williamson and his wife, Sis. Gayla (The Epistle😁) are no strangers to Mile Marker readers. Bro. Donnie is Pastor of Tanner Williams Holiness Church and they have been dear friends for many years. They have purposefully encouraged us and strengthened our hands every step of the way.

Naturally, I informed Bro. Donnie of our first breakdown in Texas so that they could go to prayer for us. He stayed in contact with me closely, encouraging me as only he can. When we arrived at their church on March 7, I learned the rest of the story.

Bus Repair

BEFORE the bus quit and coasted to the side of the road, Sis. Gayla had a vivid dream that she was trying to comfort me as I was crying uncontrollably like a little boy. She told Bro. Donnie they needed to pray for our family fervently because we were needing God desperately. They shared that need to pray with their church and everyone was praying for us BEFORE they or we knew we needed fervent prayer.

Can you understand how that affected me when they told me that? 

I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for his divine providence AND to the Williamsons and the Tanner Williams church for being sensitive to the Spirit of the Lord. They took our needs to God with heartfelt, intercessory prayer without any specific knowledge of our needs at all.

That tells me that BEFORE we broke down, God was already making provision for us physically, emotionally and financially. God planned the path out of our difficulty BEFORE we ever walked into it! Hallelujah!

I have preached that so often! God will make a way out before you ever walk in! My family has heard it during conversation so often. I should not be surprised at all that God did it again for our family. Praise God!

Our God and His people are so amazing!

Today I am thanking God for the Apostle, the Epistle and you for partnering with us in prayer through this little detour. You held our hands when they hung low. You strengthened our feeble knees. You lifted our head. You comforted a little boy that could have easily been crushed by the adversity. 

Miracles Answer to Prayer

May God bless you for the time you have invested in us and may God bless you for the resources you have entrusted to us. Praise be unto The Lord!

Thank you for reading.

Davy