Exciting Sunday, Full Monday And Terrific News

There is a whole lot to tell in this post but if you want to get straight to the terrific news about Odie then scroll down to the bottom.

Sunday started with Homecoming service and then dinner at Dodds. We were parked right in the parking lot so we did not have far to go to church. There was a full house and we had a tremendous service. Thank God for His help. I appreciate Pastor Kelly Rogers inviting us to be a part of Homecoming.

They followed service with a great meal and wonderful fellowship. It was all good.

Pastor Rogers and his wife just added their forth child to the family two weeks ago. Sunday was his very first church service. He was the main attraction.

My old friend Dewayne Coffman was on his way to church with his two kids Sunday morning. His wife was unable to come but she had told the kids they were going to hear a special speaker for Homecoming. They were asking Dewayne about the special speaker. He said, "He's not all that special, he's just my old friend Davy Boggs."

Thanks Dewayne. I love you too!

Sunday evening we went to Dryden Rd. and we were blessed to be in an awesome service. I have a feeling it was just a small taste of what fellowship meeting is going to be like this week at Dryden Rd. I hope you are making plans to attend if you are close by.

One special part of service was getting to hear Bro. Bill Houston sing again.



Bro. Bill had a heart attack the third week of March and hung in the balance between life and death for several weeks. It is an absolute miracle that he is alive and singing and preaching again. Praise God for helping Bro. Bill.

Saturday I was trying to get everything in order so that we can leave after Dryden Rd. meeting and kick right into tent revivals. I was trying to raise the lift in the tent trailer but it would not go up. I suspected the batteries were down so I let them charge all of Saturday and Sunday. Late Sunday night my Dad and I put a meter on them and they seemed fully charged. However when I tried to raise the lift it would only go a few inches.

Monday afternoon we took them to the parts store to be load tested and they tested bad. I have had the trailer 2 1/2 years and the brother who donated the trailer to Boggs Family Ministries owned the trailer at least 1 1/2 years so I assume the batteries were at least 4 years old. I bought two new heavy duty marine batteries and installed them in the trailer. The lift went right up. Problem solved.

20 minutes later I tried to crank the bus and it would not crank. You want to guess what the problem was? Yep! You guessed it. The batteries were low. Isn't that the way it works? They were not very low but that big Detroit needs 26 volts plus to crank and they just did not have the juice. I put the 24 volt charger on them and in less than an hour the motor was running like a top.

I replaced the four group 31 batteries that start the bus the end of December 2011 so they are over 2 1/2 years old. Normally I would be disappointed in batteries only lasting 2 1/2 years but these were batteries that had set on the shelf too long and they were given to me. I can not argue with free batteries that last two years and nine months when $600 worth of batteries will probably only last five years.

I will probably take everything apart and add water to them and see if I can milk a few more months out of them. No sense throwing away a good battery. Lol

Once the bus cranked we drove to Dryden Rd., parked and then met my parents at Longhorn Steakhouse nearby. It was so good and also very good to get to spend a little while with Dad and Mom. It is a blessing to have them in our lives and I cherish all the time we get to spend with them.

Monday evening we spent some time at the church helping adjust the sound system. Actually we did not do any adjusting we just sang in all the mics while some of the men turned the knobs. It was a lot of fun playing music and visiting with some of the folks. We have some dear friends here at our home church and it is a great blessing to get to be with them this week.

You ready for some terrific news? Odie had another follow up appointment with the ophthalmologist Monday morning. They ran a full range of tests on her vision and it is still improving. The doctor said her vision is 20/20 in her good eye and is 20/30 in her left eye that was blind just 17 weeks ago. Also her color vision is almost completely back to normal. He was very, very pleased and obviously we were too. We are praising God for His help through this whole ordeal!

Odie has always had very poor peripheral vision in the bottom of her eye. She can not see down with out looking down. The doctor said that in his opinion the peripheral vision in her good eye has improved since he first tested her in April. If that is true then God is giving Odie back even more than she had before the enemy's attack. She may walk out of this trial yet!

She has a follow up appointment with the neurologist this morning. We are praying for great news there too.

Thank you for praying.

Davy

Schedule Change - Nigeria

While we were in Metropolis, Illinois in mid July I had an unusual thing happen to me. We were worshiping during song service one night and I begin to have a very hesitant feeling about going to Nigeria in December. My mind was not on Nigeria at all and suddenly there it was and I could not shake the sensation. There are not many things I love more than going to Nigeria to preach and I am usually bouncing off the walls ready to go, so this was a very strange feeling for me.

I said something like "Lord, are you trying to tell me something? If you are, I want you to know that as bad as I want to go, I do not have to go to Nigeria this year." In a moment I felt completely at ease and I went back to worshiping and preparing my heart to sing and preach.

I did not mention it to my family but after a few days of prayer I wrote an email to Bro. Shobanke to tell him I was praying about the hesitant feeling I had about the scheduled trip. He called me the next day and graciously told me that I had proven my love and devotion to him and his people and that he trusted me completely to make the correct decision. Those were exactly the words I needed to hear because I did not want to disappoint my friends.

I had to make a decision before the last week in August because the tedious and complicated visa process needs to begin about 90 days before the departure date. As we made the trip through New England the last two weeks Nigeria was never far from my mind. I did not receive a firm direction but I could never shake the hesitancy I felt in July until I would tell the Lord in prayer that I did not want to go this year without clear direction and then I would feel at peace.

So with great reluctance I sent Bro. Shobanke an email Saturday confirming to him that I would not be able to be with them in December. Kelly Jo and I love to go but we could not do it this year. My Pastor taught us that often we do not know the real value of a decision until after the decision has been made. I have found that to be true again. Even though my mind is filled with disappointment at deciding not to go, my heart feels a whole lot more peace since I made the decision.

I am praying for all of my friends there and I am believing that God will make a way for us to go in the future. I did not save time in our schedule in 2015 to go since I "knew" I was going in December 2014 but God can work all that out IF I need to go.

When Kelly Jo and I were in Nigeria in November of 2013 we took a suitcase full of school supplies to the Good News Christian School in Abeokuta. Bro. Shobanke's daughters Sis. Ruth and Sis. Rebecca run the school of over 100 children. We have believed in and supported the school before it began and with the help of God's people we are continuing that support.



Pastor Larry Lamb and his church in Sweeney, Texas purchased most of the school supplies we took over last year. We really did not know what they could use so we took a little of everything. I asked them to let us know which things worked the best. They sent me an email several weeks ago with a list of items they could use and we have been planning to fill up a piece of luggage when we return this winter.

Since I have decided not to go I was stumped on how to get it over.

We just found out that Bro. David Eldridge from northern Kentucky is going to Nigeria in September. I called him a few days ago and he has agreed to take an extra suitcase with the much needed school supplies. We have already purchased the supplies and they are waiting in one of our old pieces of luggage. We will gladly pay the extra baggage fee. It is well worth it to deliver these things to directly Sis. Ruth and Sis. Rebecca. Total cost for about 65 pounds of supplies is about $400.

We are also sending an offering for the school, Pastor Shobanke and some others we try to help there. IF any of the folks that regularly help with Nigeria would like to help with some of this just let us know. When we all work together it really does not take that much.

We had a tremendous day on Sunday. Homecoming was great at Dodds and the service at our home church at Dryden Rd. was awesome. The Lord really touched a bunch of folks including our family and I did not touch a microphone the whole service. That is unusual and nice.

Indoor Fellowship Meeting cranks up Tuesday night at Dryden Rd at 7:00. Come see us!

Davy