An Incredible Blessing 33 Years In The Making

No church tonight (Thursday) because of severe storms in the area. 

We are having a great time at Crosslight with Bro. and Sis. Birdsong and all the great people. Of course, we expect wonderful things each and every time we are blessed to be here. Tomorrow, I plan to have pictures of our first three nights of revival so you can share in our visit.

Crosslight is in Moore, Oklahoma. For those that may not know (Not everyone is an expert on Geology😂) the city of Moore is sandwiched between Oklahoma City and Norman. We can be in either city in only minutes.

The people and the churches have been good to us for many years in this area. We have preached dozens of revivals and special meetings within an hour of OKC in the last 33 years. 

Our first revival in the general area was in June of 1990 and we have been in service this week with some of the people we met on that trip. That is pretty awesome. It is overwhelming to think that people we encountered on a "random" trip to Oklahoma so long ago have become enormously important to us all these years later.

Many of our closest friends now and through the years, live within an hour of where I sit right now. There is no way we could have known that when we were a young couple. At that time, our whole world was not much more than Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

That is perfectly fine for some folks, but I shudder to think about all the great things, places, food, friends and spiritual experiences we would have missed if we had never ventured out here in 1990.

We had been through Oklahoma a few times and even preached one night in 1986 and a couple times in 1989, but the 1990 trip was to a church we had never heard of, by invitation of a Pastor I barely knew, traveling in sketchy transportation and with no resources.

Driving that 1984 Plymouth Reliant Station Wagon here in June of 1990 might have seemed to some a foolhardy thing to do. I understand that now. We had no credit card, no extra cash, no backup plan and we were driving a $900 car that would not start when I bought it two days before.

We preached a week or two of revival for Pastor Kevin Clounch, attended a few services of two youth camps and then drove the beat up Plymouth back to Ohio. KJo and I had no idea we had stumbled into our life's calling.

Even though we have worked in two churches and spent a six year stretch living in Ohio, attending our home church and working public jobs, we have spent over 23 of the last 33 years singing, preaching, traveling and trying to be an instrument of revival.

What an amazing adventure we have been blessed and privileged to enjoy all of these years. All the glory belongs to God and we give him praise from our hearts.

But I must give a little shoutout to the Pastors and friends in OKC and the surrounding area. The evangelistic ministry the Lord has allowed us to have really began right here among these precious people and has continued to flourish because of their love and kindness.

This is an incredible blessing 33 years in the making and this wonderful week of revival keeps adding to it!

Thank you for stopping in today. May God bless you.

Davy

Special Friends, Days And Memories

Hey Friends,

Thanks for stopping by for a visit this Tuesday. This is Odie writing again today. I hope you are doing well. 

My phone alerted me of a special photo memory on my phone a couple of days ago. This photo was taken on May 14th, 2016, during City Reach in Atwater, California.

Seven years ago, I was happy to have spent two fabulous days with my precious friend Tammy Ferguson! Those days we spent together laughing, crying, praying, planning and dreaming. We enjoyed great fellowship, shopping, food, coffee, church and special blessings from God. I will always treasure those memories! 

Two days later, God called Tammy home! She has been in her ultimate home now for years. I still miss my dear friend. Oh, I would love to see her sweet face, hear her voice and laugh again! 

I am so grateful that God placed Tammy in my life. We never said goodbye when we parted ways. She chose to say, "See you later." I will see her again! 

Today I am 7 years closer to seeing my friend again in Heaven. I am warming up, getting ready to run the race on the streets of gold that we planned to run together.

May 16th is a big day for another one of my special friends. Today is Gunner Burris' 21st birthday. 

We have known Gunner all of his life. His parents have been our friends for many years. In May of 2003, we made our first visit to their home in California. Gunner had just turned 1. He was the cutest toddler. His name for me back then was Woie, and he would follow me everywhere, calling my name. 

Happy Birthday, Gunner! It is hard to believe I have been celebrating your birthday with you for 20 years. I hope this is your best year of life yet!

Here is the latest photo from our collection thru the years. This was taken just a couple of Sundays ago.

Here are a couple more of my favorite from his toddler years. I found these in our California archives from 2005 and 2003. 

 

See you next time. 

Odie

Then And Now With Nicole Estes

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from the road. The BoggsMobile is bound for Colquitt, Georgia. We are excited to be with Pastor Jonathan Prickett and our friends at Mount Olive. I am expecting a great week of revival ahead.

I have been contemplating doing some flashback posts with pictures from some of my friends and pairing them with a more recent photo. My dear friend Nicole Estes recently sent me some old pictures. I thought it was a great place to start my periodic Then and Now posts.

It is always neat to see pictures of my friends and me when we were much younger. I still see most of the kids in this picture semi-frequently. 

 

This is definitely a blast from the past. If my memory is correct, this was taken in 1994. We were in Oklahoma visiting family, and we stopped to see our friends in Blanchard, Oklahoma too. 

I first remember meeting Nicole Estes and her sisters in January 1993. Dad preached a three week revival at their church. We played together and really hit it off. We have many good memories from that revival.

I did not realize as a girl that I was making lifelong friendships. I can look back and see the fingerprints of God at work. He was introducing me to young ladies that would be a very important part of my life.

Here are some pictures from our latest visit during the Allentown meeting last month. 

After thirty years of friendship, we can always pick up where the last visit ended. We do not have to be in constant contact for our friendship to be solid. 

It is great to have friends like Nicole that have my back. We can laugh, cry and pray together. I appreciate that she has never let my disability stand in the way of being my friend.

I am so grateful for the wonderful friendships God has brought me! Every year I am learning the value of a true friend even more. I am trying harder to show my appreciation for my friends!

Thanks for visiting with me today. See you next time.

Odie