So Much To Be Thankful For-Happy Happy Thanksgiving 2023

We are very thankful for so many things in our lives. As individuals and as a family we have been blessed beyond measure. Thank you for being a huge part of our lives. May God bless each of you on Thanksgiving 2023! 

Below you will find a few pictures of our formal Thanksgiving meal earlier in the week at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, Missouri. 

Speaking of being thankful, as we were preparing to walk into Lambert's we saw a dear friend, Bro. Ray Riggs from West Plains, Missouri and he provided the money for our Thanksgiving Feast! 

He was 170 miles from home and we had been parked next to his home in Junction Hill only a few hours before. We had no idea we would see him that afternoon. Wow! Thank you, friend.

Thank you for reading today and thank you for being our friends.

Davy

Thankful For Heaven

 Hey Friends,

This is Odie; today is a travel day for us. We are changing states this time around. The BoggsMobile is headed toward Wichita, Kansas. We anticipate a great week with Pastor John DiZazzo and the Bethany Revival Center church family!

It is November, our Thanksgiving month in the USA. I decided to write about things I am thankful for this month. This week, I have been thinking a lot about Heaven. I am so grateful that I can look forward to Heaven! 

We have had several friends finish their earthly lives this year. Lately, we seem to get sad news far too often. It has been hard to think I will not get to be with them again here.

The person who has left this life gets to leave this crazy world behind. Now, they forever live in a perfect place. They have finished their race. Heaven was their ultimate goal! They are winners! Once they have reached Heaven, they are healed, happy and whole. Most of all, they have met Jesus face to face!

Part of me is happy that they completed their life's journey. Then my heart aches for the family and friends left behind! I wish I knew what to do or say to help people in their time of pain! I always feel extremely inadequate in this area.

Saying goodbye down here seems so final. Nothing ever fully prepares you for those sad days! I do not care if it is an expected event or comes as a complete shock. The finality of that friend or family member taking their last breath on earth never gets easier.

There is a song Titled Better Off There by The Browns. It was released in 2020. I  have loved the message in this song for years. Earlier this year, I pulled it up to play for Mom. That is when I discovered Sonya Isaacs Yeary, her husband Jimmy Yeary and Wayne Haun co-wrote the song. No wonder the message is strong in the lyrics! Sonya and Jimmy are two of my favorite writers!

I have found this song coming to my mind many times over the last several months. I will forever miss all of my family and friends that have gone home before me. I know they are Better Off There! We will meet again someday soon!

I am so thankful that I have Heaven to look forward to. Do not get me wrong, I love my life now! I am blessed beyond measure and eternally grateful! When God says, my time is here is finished. I am looking forward to Heaven.

We all have a set time to live. God has numbered our days. Once a Christian has left this life, we get the reward of Heaven. If we have received Christ as our Savior and lived according to His word in the Bible. We will see Him and our Christian loved ones in Heaven! Oh, What a blessed hope we have!

Most of you reading this post are looking forward to achieving your goal of Heaven, too! It will not be long until we are all there together with Christ! We can praise Him for the first million years for all of His goodness to us! Then, meet me on the streets of gold. I will be running, catch me if you can! We will all be Better Off There!

There is one more thing I have to get out today before I sign off. Friend, if you are not a born again believer in Christ, I pray for you! Life here without having God to guide you is miserable. When this life is over, without Christ, hell and torment are all you have to look forward to. I do not want one more soul to have to experience hell. There is nothing fun or beautiful there! It will be a place of utter pain! Please do not go there!

I encourage you to find someone to talk to about Christ right now. You can always reach out to us if you need help finding Christ! We love to show others how to get to Him! Contact us here.

See you next week!

Odie

Update On Upcoming Nigeria Trip

We are gearing up for our trip to Nigeria soon and we are excited about it. Kelly Jo and Odie have been buying school supplies and hope to wrap all of that up this week. The supplies are fully funded and we are going to have extra funding to give to the school and we are very thankful for that.

Thank you to those of you who had a burden to help the school and contribute to other needs of our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. May God bless you for your kindness and generosity.

Your graciousness and goodwill will not be forgotten. 

-For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Hebrews 6:10

Bro. Shobanke has a Minister's Conference scheduled for us the first few days of our trip and an outdoor Gospel Crusade the next week. We will also be preaching a combined service at the main Christ Ambassadors Holiness Church on the first Sunday and at another church in Abeokuta on the second Sunday.

Our place to stay has been reserved and they are waiting for us to arrive. Kelly Jo and I are excited to see our dear friends again in Nigeria and we are expecting the Lord to guide us and help us each step of the way.

Thank you for praying for us concerning this short trip to Nigeria. There is no telling what the Lord will do for His people.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Davy

5 Years And Still Thankful

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from my Ohio Beach Cottage. I am happy to be home for a quick visit. We have a busy weekend and week on the books. Check back in the coming days to see our fun with family and friends. 

June 1st was the 5th anniversary since I officially moved into my Beach Cottage. Here is a picture from that first night.

It does not feel like it has not been that long. I am so grateful for the beautiful place to call my home! In the last 5 years, so much has happened in the world and in my life. It has been a major blessing to have my own safe place!

The entire home is a series of miracles! I do not want to forget God’s provision! The love and support from my family and friends turned a dream into a reality. My heart still overflows with gratitude!

Many of you reading this post played a role in helping us build my home. Thank you one more time from the bottom of my heart. I thank God for you! I still pray for God to bless you abundantly!

This week marked another 5th house anniversary for me. August 17th, 2018. We were joined by many of the incredible people that help us build my home for house tours and dedication. It was a privilege to show off my finished miracle. We had a sweet dedication on my front porch!

That evening was fantastic. We had friends from near and far come to celebrate with us. Lots of prayers, money, blood, sweat, tears and work brought us to that moment. It was an extraordinary day of memories that still warms my heart! 

I encourage you to read this archived blog post here. Dad summed up the wonderful dedication day in an excellent way. Below is just a sampling of photos from that night that are special to me.

I will never forget the love I experienced that day! I am blessed beyond measure! I just wanted to pause for a moment to thank God for His unspeakable gift of my beautiful home!

Thank you for joining me as I stroll down memory lane. Here is a small tour of the front portion of my home. This was recorded during our 2020 online covid revival.

See you next week. 

Odie

New Windows and New Paint

Hello, everyone!  I hope all is well today. We are doing great, by God's grace. Thank you for the feedback on the video posted yesterday. I appreciate it much. 

One of the things we have purposed to do as a family and ministry is to support missions as much as possible. I mentioned in the video that we have been traveling to and supporting the work of Bro. Shobanke, Christ Ambassadors Holiness Church and the GoodNews Christian School in Nigeria.

While I was busy posting the video, I received an email from Bro. Shobanke concerning a good dose of money we were able to send to them in early June. It used to be impossible to wire money reliably to Nigeria, but now we can send an international wire straight from our ministry account to their bank in Abeokuta.

We have done it numerous times over the last two+ years in increasing amounts and we have not lost a cent. It costs us $60 for each international wire so we try to send a worthwhile amount each time.

Some of the money the last two times has been sent specifically for the main church and Bro. Shobanke mentions in his email how it was spent and expressed his gratitude. He also attached pictures of the new windows and paint on the prayer tower. 

I am including the pictures in this Mile Marker. It is beautiful! If you have ever contributed one dollar to Boggs Family Ministries, the sincere thank you from Nigeria belongs to you.

Thank you for dropping by.

Davy

Below is the email from Bro. Shobanke. I have removed the personal remarks.

From: Pastor E. Ade Shobanke

To: Evang. Davy Boggs

Dear Evang. Boggs,

Calvary greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, I received the money you sent with thanks and I gave to everyone as instructed and they were all appreciative.

The money you sent to our main church was used to paint our prayer tower. The windows of the prayer tower were fixed in December with the money you sent to our main church in December.

We are indeed grateful and appreciate you and your ministry for being a great blessing to the work which the Lord has entrusted unto our care in Nigeria.  You are indeed a great partner with us in the ministry.

The money you sent has indeed added great beauty to the prayer tower, to God be the glory. I attached the pictures of the painted prayer tower.

We are all praying for you and your ministry. Thank and God bless you.

Pastor E. Ade Shobanke

Tunnel Vision Travel

I thought about skipping today's post and letting yesterday's Mile Marker remain as the top post in case some of you missed it. The post was lengthy but I wrote it from my heart and tried to answer all of the questions you might be asking.

It might explain things if you read it. You will find yesterday's post HERE.

We appreciate all of the calls, texts emails and comments letting us know you are praying for us. There are some calls I could not answer because driving, breathing and talking at the same time was a little beyond my skill set at times, but we appreciate your kindness much!

Among the encouraging communications we received Monday, were a few more invitations to park the BoggsMobile in a few more places while I heal. May God bless all of them for the offers of kindness and hospitality.

Travel

When we left Sweeny, Texas Thursday morning we expected to land at our next revival about 280 miles later. We drove 142 miles Thursday and thought we were halfway there.

After a very bad night and worse morning, we sought counsel and made the decision, after much deliberation, to slowly move toward the southeast. We drove Friday, Saturday and Monday, for a total of 660 miles since we left Sweeny.

I could not figure out why I was weak and weary Monday afternoon until I counted up the miles and hours. Duh! No wonder I felt like I was under the bus instead of in the bus.😍😎

Maybe I should have driven halfway and rested a week there. I guess my tunnel vision is showing. Once the decision was made, I could not see anything but reaching our goal, even though we were traveling slower than usual.

I suppose you live and learn. At least you should live and learn.

Thank you again for praying for us. We truly appreciate it. Thank you for reading today.

Davy

Purposely Thankful!

Several years ago a Pastor opened up a revival service for testimonies and his young son was one of the first to stand up. We could see the lump in the Pastor's throat and apprehension in his face as he wondered what his son would say. He was probably questioning his own decision to open up the floor to testimonies.

The young man said with complete sincerity, "I want to thank God for my family. We are not a perfect family, but we are a family."

I know the Pastor/Dad felt like crawling into the Bible stand as we all smiled politely and laughed like crazy inwardly. We all had a good tease and laugh about it later but it has become a common phrase in the BoggsMobile.

We will look at one another quite often and say, "We are not a perfect family, but we are family."

That pretty much sums us up. Even though we might like for the world around us to view us without all of our warts and other imperfections, the truth remains we are not perfect, we are not whole, we are not exactly what we planned to be by now. Yet we are thankful we are not what we use to be and certainly not as low down as we could be.

We are very thankful as a family that God has been so very good to us. That does not mean that everything is rosy or that we can even begin to understand some of the things that are going on around us. It simply means we are thankful for the place that God has brought us to at the moment in spite of what we think about the present circumstances.

We are thankful every day. We must be. When Paul describes the perilous times we live in, he includes two words grouped together; unthankful, unholy. I do not believe these words are placed side by side on accident. When we are unthankful, unholy will not be far behind.

I am determined to be purposely thankful. God has been so good to us. He has walked beside us and blessed us every step of the way. Surely, His goodness and mercy follow us each day.

 

There is no doubt that we live in an evil world, infected with 6000 years of sin that will beat you up at every chance. But we are determined to trust God and allow Him to work things out for our good according to His will.

Thank you, God, for loving us and helping us and guiding us.

Thank you, friends, for walking through this life with us.

Davy

Thank you, Karen Boggs!

The last couple of years being named Karen has been pretty rough. A "Karen" has come to be known as a white woman that perceives herself to be entitled and is seen as demanding to be treated beyond the limit of what they may deserve.

Most of us have seen videos of women (and men for that matter) making a huge scene over a perceived injustice or slight, often with racial or difference in class overtones. They might as well scream, "I am better than you, lowly pig!"

We have all seen some despicable and disgusting behavior. Acting repulsive is becoming normal. The name "Karen" is applied to them as a slur. There may need to be a name that applies to entitled snobs who act angry, hateful and obnoxious in public. 

But why "Karen"? Was the woman in the first viral video actually named Karen? Maybe so, but it is unfair to lump in all of the nice, kind and gracious Karens in the world.

We know several sweet Karens and one of them happens to have a significant place in our lives. My sister-in-law Karen could clean up the reputation of Karens worldwide if everyone could spend a few hours around her. 

She is an incredibly generous, compassionate, unselfish and thoughtful woman. She is also amazingly hard working. I am talking about Energizer Bunny hard working. She loves people freely and often demonstrates that love by considering their needs way before her own.

Karen was with us this week in Alabama. She came to be a help and she was a substantial help to the success of the Tent Revival in Thomasville.

Deidre Shoemaker is the Pastor's wife in Thomasville and Karen's daughter. Diedre runs a preschool and the first week of school happened to coincide with Tent Revival. 

What timing you have, Davy!😍

Karen helped Deidre with her baby, Chloe Jean and worked as hard as we did each night at Tent Revival.

She arrived Monday and went right to work. She helped us unload and set up the equipment before church and then helped us load it all back up after church Monday through Friday. 

She was in charge of making sure the cases and all the rest were loaded in the trailer in an organized fashion after church. That is a difficult task, made a little more difficult by having different people help each night.

She helped roll up and down the wall each night as needed and absolutely anything else that might need to be done. She even planned her return flight home so that she could be there to help us take the tent down Saturday. Wow!

She did all of this while probably working online for her actual job every free moment she was not helping us or helping Deidre.

Karen and my brother Steve have helped us do the physical work of evangelism and other work in many places over the period of many years. They have never wanted attention. They have been content to work behind the scenes and without applause.

Well, it is time for a polite round of applause. That is right. Maybe clap a little louder!

Thank you, Karen! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are precious to us.

 

Maybe you can think about our pleasant Karen the next time you are tempted to label a mean spirited woman with that sweet name.

Thank you for stopping in today.

Davy

A Look Back At An Important Day

In this post, I am looking back four years to a hugely important day. It needs nothing more than an introduction. 

I am looking back to August 17, 2018, the day we dedicated the house we built for Odie to live in. I have laughed and cried as I have read over this post concerning that special day.



Today's post is long and has lots of pictures. Many of the pictures came from friends that graciously allowed us to post them. We were a touch to much in the moment to take many pictures.

Friday, August 17, 2018, is a day that will bring a smile to our faces and joy to our hearts for a long time to come. It was a beautiful day adorned with family and friends from across the country as we celebrated the completion of the house, praised God for His provision and dedicated the house in prayer. Yes, it was a super great day indeed.

We invited all the churches, families and individuals that had helped build the house for Odie to live in. There were at least 35 churches across 16 states and 2 countries that contributed and we knew that only a fraction of those could come, but we wanted to give them an opportunity to witness first hand the miracle that God used them to bring to pass.

We do not know how any people attended, but we are very pleased with the response. We secured the use of the Dodds Fellowship Hall next door and used it as a staging ground for tours of the house and also served light refreshments in the fellowship hall.

Light refreshments included a few lunch meat sandwiches, five gallons of salsa from Acapulco and at least five quarts of the best guacamole that has ever been made, also from Acapulco! Oh and a whole bunch of Acapulco chips to go with the salsa and guacamole.

When Kelly Jo arrived from Acapulco about 11:30, Bro. Mitch Boggs and I taste tested the chips, salsa and the guacamole to make sure they were fit to eat. Thankfully they were tolerable. I appreciate Mitch helping me. I "might" have been able to do it by myself, but it would have been difficult. It is nice to have friends around to help.

😀

People began arriving at the fellowship hall at 4:00 and Kelly Jo, Odie and I began tours of the house at 4:30. The next time I took the clock seriously it was about 7:10. Wow! That went fast.

Lisa, my sister Theresa, Steve and others kept things rolling in the fellowship hall, Karen organized and shuttled people back and forth in the Dodds Church van and Bro. Scott Morris shuttled people in Bro. EJ's golf cart. A well oiled machine, I say.

We were blessed with good weather. At 3:50 it was pouring rain so hard that we had rivers running every where. The rain stopped before 4:00 and stayed dry. It was too muddy to have people walk from the fellowship hall to the house, but that was solved by the golf cart and the van.

We intended to take pictures of every one as they came through the house. We managed well for a while, but it kind of broke down as we neared the time for the dedication at 7:30. We did get a bunch though.

This couple, Ryan and Bekah, came from Kokomo, Indiana. We had never met them, but she and Odie know each other through our blog and her blog. I called Odie and Bekah co-stalkers.

Ryan and Bekah have been planning to attend this for a long time and they TOTALLY surprised Odie. We should have been videoing Odie's face. It was awesome!

It was very nice of them to take time to drive several hours to be a part of Odie's special day. Thank you both. It was great to meet you.

We love it when our friends meet our friends and they actually like each other. We had a lot of that going on Friday!

Not everyone had toured the house yet, but shortly after 7:30 we gathered the crowd that was still there on the porch, sidewalk and driveway for a short dedication service for the house.

I told a little of the house story, Odie said a few gracious words, Bro. Scott Morris spoke and then our Pastor, Bro. Bennie Sutherland said a few words and prayed a very touching prayer over Odie, us and the house. Bro. Eddie Deane led us in a spontaneous song and we all enjoyed the obvious presence of the Lord. It was even better than we imagined it would be.

Most of you know that it was Bro. Scott Morris that got this whole project rolling. He never wants me to say much about him and I understand that. But I can not tell the house story without telling his part. I will be brief, Bro. Scott.

He told us on January 15, 2015 that God spoke to him over the previous months to build Odie a house. We were blown away. We were fearful. We were cautious. But if Bro. Scott said that God said, then we decided we could trust that.

God did speak. There is a house to prove it.

We celebrated the truth of that Friday night with a bunch of friends. God spoke. Bro. Scott listened. Bro. Scott spoke and God honored His Word and and Bro. Scott's word.

The whole project was made possible as God moved on people to take part in it. 

There were several Pastors that signed their name to the project and believed Bro. Scott’s vision and loved Odie.

There were individuals, families, churches and businesses that gave of their resources, time, material and heart. Everyone that gave, gave freely and many, many gave sacrificially. 

Our families worked many hundreds of hours helping us on this house for nothing more than the satisfaction of knowing they were doing it for Odie.

My Dad and Mom (Eugene and Martha Boggs), Kelly Jo's parents (Dan and Betty Morgan) and my brother Steve and his wife Karen worked especially long, hard and often. Then they gave sacrificially on top of their work.

Pastor Wade Hicks repeatedly saw a need and rallied men to work and saved my hide numerous times.

And the list goes on and on and on. There was one miraculous intervention and provision after another throughout the whole process. We were celebrating that Friday night.

The evening was an open house style event so people came and went throughout the whole time. This picture below shows the crowd that was there moments after the dedication. That is beautiful!

A few closeup pictures.

When the dedication was complete, we gave more tours of the house then went back to the fellowship hall for more salsa, music, fellowship and then clean up. We finally ended up back in the house until all of our friends and family slowly filtered out. 

Kelly Jo wrote on grease boards the names of all the people that contributed finances, labor and material to this house. These boards were displayed in the fellowship hall along with a PowerPoint presentation. I tried to post some closeups too. I hope they are readable.

This is Bro. EJ Lamb's golf cart. I think it looks good in Odie's garage. Maybe we should have built a two car garage.

And finally, the highlight of Bro. Scott's trip from Mississippi was when he drove Steve's tractor! He was a happy man!

As I bring this to a close I am thinking of 10 more things I would like to say about Friday evening, but I have rambled on too long already. It was a super celebration and we are grateful for each one that was able to come. What an amazing night it was!

Every time we think of Odie's house, we will think of the miracle. Every time we think of the miracle, we will think of the people that made it possible! May God bless them all. May God bless you all!

Thank you for reading today.

Davy

There are dozens of posts detailing all the little things about building this house. Here is the link. It will display them from the most recent to the oldest. This is one of the first posts about the house from January 2017.