Thanksgiving 2018 In Pictures

Hey Friends, 

This is Odie reporting in today. I hope your Tuesday is going well. We are trying to stay warm here in frigid Ohio. 

Nigeria 

Did you see both of my Dad’s updates from Nigeria yesterday? There were two different blog posts. You can click here for post number one and click here for post number two. I am glad that we can read the details of their trip to Nigeria and see pictures often. It sure looks like they are having a great time with all of our friends.

Thank you for praying for my parents while they are away! Those prayers are being answered. They are having a wonderful trip. 

Ohio

Last week was spent celebrating Thanksgiving with my family. I am privileged to be in two wonderful families, my Dad's family and my Mom's family. I am grateful for each holiday I get to spend with them! I love all of my family and I thank God for them. 

I owe a huge thank you to my family members! They are making sure that I have everything I need. I appreciate all of their assistance and rides to where I need to go. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

I have a bounty of Thanksgiving week pictures. I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride. Warning this is picture overload.

Morgan Thanksgiving Dinner 

Thanksgiving Day we had a Boggs Brunch. 

Saturday afternoon we had a big Boggs Thanksgiving feast. 

2018 Thanksgiving is in the history book. It was wonderful to be with family for Thanksgiving this year. Thank you for reading today. I will close for now. 

Odie 

Songs of Thanksgiving 2018 Volume 3

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from the home front. I hope you have been keeping up with my parent's adventures in Nigeria. They have been able to post some pictures and also tell about some of the exciting things that are happening. Please continue to pray for them. They have several more services ahead of them and quite a bit of travel left to do.

I have had a week packed with excitement. Last Saturday began my Thanksgiving celebrations with family. The celebrating wraps up today with a grand Boggs Family Thanksgiving. 

I am enjoying my time at home! I have worked to get settled and things are slowly coming together. Here are a few picture highlights of my week. 

My washer and dryer are working great. 

I attended church Tuesday night at Dryden Road Pentecostal Church. It is always great to be at my home church. 

Wednesday I cooked myself dinner in the crockpot. It was a success and I did not burn the house down!

I love having a place to call mine. I am still overwhelmed when I sit back and take it all in. God has blessed me with more than I deserve. I have a ton of blessings in my life. Actually, they are too many to number. I want to thank God for bestowing every blessing upon me. 

That brings to my final Songs of Thanksgiving for 2018. Click here to read volume 1 and Click here for volume 2.

Today’s featured song is Count Your Blessings by the Martins. They released this song in 1998 on their Dream Big project. This song is one of my all-time favorite Martins songs. It showcases the Martins incredible talent and the message is powerful. 

This song looks at the life of Job in the Bible. We are reminded that Job lost everything including his children, wealth and health. One thing remained, he never turned his back on God’s love! In the midst of his calamity Job trusted and worshiped God. 

I am reminded again that no matter what life brings into my path, God will always be there. I must worship Him in the good times and the tough times. 

I will close with the song lyrics. Click here to hear Count Your Blessings on Apple Music from the original recording. Click here for a 2010 Gaither video on YouTube. 

I hope you enjoyed this series. Thank you for stopping by to visit with me. Have a wonderful weekend. 

Odie

Count Your Blessings 

Written by Joe Johnston and Kim Patton Johnston 

Verse 1

He had family friends and money, 

And loved the lord with all his heart

So the devil went to God 

And said ole Job would fall apart

If you would take away his fortune

Let me put him to the test

Soon poor Job had lost his health and wealth

and all the rest

And as his troubles added up

He fell down on his knees

He said Lord I still got one thing

And that's your love for me

Chorus 

You got to count your blessing

You’ll find one if you try

Count on the Lord and watch that blessing multiply

All those might have could have should have beens, Are nothing but distressing

When you're down and out 

It’s time to count your blessings

Verse 2

You might go through hard times

When you fall into despair

Remember you're surrounded by His blessings everywhere

It's in a neighbor's helping hand

Or in the sunshine of a smile

One blessing leads to one more 

You’ll be counting for a while

It's best to look at what you have 

Forget what you have not

And just learn a lesson from ole Job 

And give thanks for what you got

Chorus 

You got to count your blessing, 

You’ll find one if you try

Count on the Lord and watch that blessing multiply

Those might have could have should have beens 

Are nothing but distressing

When you're down and out 

It’s time to count your blessings

Bridge

One risen savior

One perfect love

One holy promise

One is enough

Chorus 

You got to count your blessing, 

You’ll find one if you try

Count on the Lord and watch that blessing multiply

All those might have could have should have beens Are nothing but distressing

When you're down and out

It’s time to count your blessing

Tag

Count your blessing, count your blessing 

Name them one by one, 

Count your blessing

Songs of Thanksgiving 2018 Volume 2

Hey Friends,

This is Odie and I am happily reporting in from Ohio. Today finds me with the Morgan side of my family. The Thanksgiving festivities are starting early for us in Hillsboro. 

I love my Morgan crew so much! I am blessed to be in this family. Any time we are all together we have two things, delicious food and good times! I always seem to laugh until I hurt. I know this will be a fabulous day!

Last Saturday I started a mini-series of posts called Songs of Thanksgiving 2018. Click here to read volume 1 This week is volume 2 of 3. Songs help me put my thankfulness into words and also put in the correct frame of mind for gratitude. 

When I started contemplating this series today’s song was the 2nd one that came to mind. This song reminds us to be thankful always no matter what the circumstances. When I think about thanking God in all things I think of Psalms 107:1.

Oh Give thanks unto the Lord, For He is good: for His mercy endureth forever

I can always thank God for He is Good and His mercy endures forever!

When life does not seem to be going the way we had hoped and planned, we must still be thankful! God can see the complete picture and I want to thank Him always. Somedays I have to stop and give myself a pep talk and a reminder to be thankful. 

Today’s featured song is In Everything Give Thanks. It is another one from the archives that will always be true. Jeff and Sheri Easter first recorded this song in the early 90’s. Charlotte Ritchie also recorded it on a solo project several years ago. Both versions are favorites around our house. I could not find links to either one online. 

I did find a 2010 recording from a Gaither project. In this version, Charlotte Ritchie is joined by Jeff and Sheri Easter providing background vocals. You can find it here on Apple Music or here on YouTube.

Thank you for visiting with me today. I will close with the song lyrics. 

Odie

In Everything Give Thanks 

Written by Aaron Wilburn and 

Sheri  Easter

Chorus 

In everything give thanks

With all your heart give praise 

For the Lord we serve will never let you down In everything give thanks

With all your heart believe 

That the Lord can take a circumstance 

And turn it all around

Verses 1

 When you want sunshine

 to brighten up your day

But you find the clouds rain on your parade

Don't forget somewhere 

Someone you may not know

is thanking God for a rain 

To make the crops grow

Chorus 

In everything give thanks

With all your heart give praise 

For the Lord we serve will never let you down In everything give thanks

With all your heart believe 

That the Lord can take a circumstance 

And turn it all around

Verse 2

When troubles trouble you 

And you think life's not fair 

When you need someone

And there's no one there

Remember all the times that you feel alone 

Are the times He'll use to make you strong

Chorus 

In everything give thanks

With all your heart give praise 

For the Lord we serve will never let you down In everything give thanks

With all your heart believe 

That the Lord can take a circumstance 

And turn it all around

Thanks, Travel, Tiresome Task, Trouble, Texas and Tacos

Thanks

We have mentioned a few times the last few weeks about my Great Uncle Ed needing prayer. He has suffered for several weeks in the hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. Yesterday morning about 3:30 he passed away. Thank you for praying for him. Would you please continue to pray for his wife, Aunt Nettie. She is physically and mentally exhausted and now must face the duties of the coming days. Also I am planning to travel to Ohio to preach the funeral once the plans are set. Thank you for praying.

Travel

Our travel days this week began on Monday with hooking up the Green Machine and "doing the work of the evangelist" before hitting the road. We left Ellisville, Mississippi and drove 326 miles to the Flying J near Greenwood, Louisiana. We drove through some rain, but mostly it was a beautiful day for driving.

We arrived at the Flying J before dark and unhooked the car. Usually we do not unhook the car when parking for the night, but we did for two reasons. Number one, the RV spots were barely big enough for the BoggsMobile and number two we were going to need the car.

This is a picture Tuesday afternoon.

Tiresome Task

We had work to do and we needed some uninterrupted time to do it. It was time to tackle the part of Nigeria travel that I dread the most, wading through the visa process. I should not let it whip up on me so bad, but it does every time. The system is overly convoluted and changes from year to year in ways that do not make sense to me. It is expensive, the website is clunky and I am a flunky. That is a good summation!

The USA has created a difficult path for Nigerians to obtain travel visas here and Nigeria has returned the favor. Plus we have to pay a company to physically walk the applications into the Nigerian Embassy so that adds to the complexity and expense.

Monday evening we gathered documents that we needed, scanned them into the computer, printed out what we needed and tried to get familiar with the process again. Tuesday morning we began in earnest and by Tuesday afternoon we went to Walgreens to get photos for our visas and found a FedEx facility to send the over night package.

Whew! Our part was completed!

I did not want to drive across Dallas and Ft. Worth in rush hour traffic so I rested a while and we left the Flying J about 7:00 PM. I figured we would be at the church in Watauga by 10:00. 

About 160 miles from our destination Kelly Jo heard air escaping some where. Oh No!

Trouble

Sure enough there was an air sound under my feet and it was getting louder by the second. The gauges were holding steady and I figured they would remain good if I could keep my speed up and my foot off the break. Kelly Jo found a Pilot 18 miles ahead. We drove, prayed and made it to the Pilot.

I was able to get off the exit and into the Pilot truck stop without using my brakes or losing much air pressure. All of the parking spots were taken. We stopped, unhooked the car and I pulled into an opening that was not a parking space, hoping I could stay there long enough to get the leak repaired. I left the engine running and the pressure was down over 20 lbs from normal but holding.

I found the busted line and was surprised that it was the same line that I had repaired in November of last year in California. Another section of the same line had been repaired in October of 2016 in North Carolina. I did not realize the previous repairs were to the same air line because they were several feet apart and separated by "miles" of other air lines and wires.

Yes, this was a familiar song and dance. I knew what the third verse sounded like, but the ending was a little murky at the moment.

The line goes to the driver's seat so I could do without that line in a pinch. The Pilot mobile truck repair guy had no fittings for it, but he did have an idea. I asked him if he could cap the line. He could not, but he asked if I had vice grips. Yep, that will fix it for a while.

Then I plainly told the guy that maybe the reason I was there was because of him. I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to pray about and the flood gates opened. He needs God desperately in several situations and we are going to pray for him. Will you pray for the guy at the Pilot truck stop near Tyler, Texas?

As soon as we put the vice grips on the line, the pressure came up to normal and we finished the last 140 miles of the trip. Praise God for His help!

Texas

It was 2:00 AM by the time we were parked, hooked to utilities and half way calm enough to go to bed. It sure felt good to be in Texas!

This is a close up of the line that busted.

I have been trying to source the proper fittings here and I hope to finally get them in my hand today. 

Tacos

Did you know that today is National Taco Day 2018? Be sure that you and your family get out and celebrate this momentous occasion. You can rest assured that the Boggs family will honor this day in a big way even though we have had tacos every day this week so far! We must do our part.

Well, that is about all for today and I would say that is enough. Thank you for reading.

Davy

Prayer and The Tent Trailer

This is my sister Theresa saying, "The pizza rolls are done!"😀😀

Prayer

This has been a super great week and we have been getting quite a bit of the punch list completed on the house. There are things left to do, but I believe we are ready for the final inspection from the county. This inspection is our final hurdle and is necessary for the house to be occupied.

The Warren County and Wayne Township officials have been incredibly good to me through this whole process. They have tolerated my questions and worked around my ignorance. I have tried to do everything they have asked and have been as prepared as I could be each step of the way.

One particular Warren County inspector has been wonderfully kind and patient with me. He went out of his way to make this unfamiliar process as easy as it can be for a novice. His inspections have been informative and productive. He has held me to the standards in a friendly and helpful manner.

He has also listened to my explanations when I have changed things up or wanted to do something backward to achieve a different look or effect. He has been a joy to work with and I would love to have him for the final inspection.

Unfortunately, he retired a few months ago. I have talked to the other inspectors that have been assigned his work load and they have been completely cordial and accommodating. Still, I am a little nervous because they may look at things differently than the inspector that has shepherded us through the last year.

Pray for us concerning this today, if you will. I appreciate it very much. God knows. 

There is a small chance the inspector will be too busy to get to us today and the inspection maybe be delayed. We need this inspection this week if possible AND we need to pass! Thank you.

Tent Trailer Work

Some of the work completed this week does not involve the house at all. Monday night, for a little over an hour, there was a lot of work going on inside the barn and the tent trailer. My brother Steve gathered together a big bunch of family and we completed work in one hour that would have taken me many hours to do.

Some of you may recall that with the full tent and all 400 chairs in the trailer, we are not able to haul the Green Machine in the trailer. Kelly Jo has to follow behind in the car. Since we will not need all 400 hundred chairs and the big tent this trip, we needed to rearrange the trailer.

All the tent stuff came out, 200 hundred chairs came out and the other 200 chairs were rearranged in the trailer. 3/4 of the tent, two center poles, a pile of stakes and side poles went up on the lift, everything was strapped down and the job was done. 

I am sure the folks that helped work wish it was completed as easy as it sounds!

Odie took a few pictures.

Hot pizza rolls again!

I can not tell you how much help this was to me and Kelly Jo! We did not have time to devote to the trailer, but it had to be done. They saved me a huge amount of work and time.

Thanks to Baby Lauren, Tommy, Steve, Luke, Karen, Theresa, Jonas, Lisa, Deidre, Ben and Kelly Jo! What a great group!

There will be more fun ahead. Thank you for reading today.

Davy