Did You See Deidre And Ben?

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting it from Sweeny, Texas. I had no idea where I would be reporting from at the time that I first wrote this post, but here we are.

When I prepared my blog for last Saturday I did not have a clue that the BoggsMobile would be hospitalized last week! I do thank God for protecting us during our scary time on the side of the interstate last Friday! He is so good to us! You can read more about that night here in Monday’s post and more about what is going on HERE.

Thankfully the Green Machine carried us safely on to Sweeny, Texas and we were able to have revival as scheduled. It is great to be with Pastor Larry Lamb. We enjoy visiting with our family and friends at Lighthouse Full Gospel. I appreciate them providing us with a place to stay while the bus was in the shop. They have went out of their way to help us this week! 

We did have to cancel or postpone our revival in Elba, Alabama. I hate that so back. We love being with Bro. Jon Isaacs, his sweet family and his church. Maybe we can get by there later this spring.

Deidre and Ben

You probably spotted some familiar faces in our Revival In Pictures post at House of Prayer. It was good to have several dear friends visit us during that meeting in Gainesville, Texas. It was extra special to see some very important family too!

My cousin Deidre and her husband Ben Shoemaker now live in Sherman, Texas. They are working as Youth Pastors at First Assembly. Gainesville, Texas is only 30 minutes from them and I was hoping we could catch up while we were close. I am so glad that it actually turned out that we were able to see them 3 times.

Deidre and I are super close and any time that I get to be with my DeeDee is awesome! Several summers Deidre traveled with us and I will forever cherish those times that I spent with her. We are happy for any time along the way that we can add new memories and adventures on the road.  

Deidre is now working with her husband in ministry and I am so proud of them. Ben has fit well into our family too. We gladly claim him in our Boggs clan. 

You know I love you too, Ben!! 😀 Thanks for smiling for a picture. I know that your Mama will be happy as well!

Deidre and Ben are embarking on a new adventure together. In a couple months a son will be joining their family! I am super excited for Charlie’s arrival! I would appreciate it if you could keep Deidre, Ben and Charlie in your prayers. We are anxious to meet this little guy and spoil him!

I was so happy to see Deidre and Ben once again. Who knows when or where that we will catch them next time? Thank you, Deidre and Ben, for sacrificing your free time to come see us. I love you!

Well, I will close for now. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to check in with me. Have a great weekend. 

Odie

Revival In Pictures - Sweeny, Texas

The bus work is going as planned at Prevost Houston. I was up there for a few hours on Thursday and I plan to go back today. There is nothing really that I can do, but I like being close and I love to see the mechanical side of it. I may be all thumbs mechanically, but that makes others doing it well even more fascinating for me.

The revival was scheduled to close here in Sweeny last night. However, since we could not make it to the next revival in Elba, Alabama due to bus difficulties, Pastor Lamb asked us to stay on a few days here. We will be here for service tonight, Saturday night and their regular services on Sunday by God's grace.

I have been having myself a time preaching this week. I am not completely sure that translates into good preaching, but it sure has been fun to try. I am looking forward to the next few nights.

Bro. Lamb and his folks have been so very good to us this week. We appreciate them having a place for us to stay. It has saved us a lot of trouble and expense. Having a kitchen has kept us from having to eat out all the time too. May God bless them bunches.

Odie has been getting a few pictures of the folks each night and we present them to you now in this Revival In Pictures post.

Thank you for dropping in.

Davy

The BoggsMobile and Kelly Jo

They pushed the BoggsMobile into the shop at Prevost Houston about 1:00 PM Wednesday. They were planning to begin the work on it a little later in the day. Once it was inside, Kelly Jo and I grabbed our things and headed back to Sweeny.

We had gone to the bus yesterday morning so that Kelly Jo could work on erasing the effects of the whirlwind that blew through the bus on Monday. When the mechanic wanted to access the engine from the floor in the bedroom there was only one choice, everything had to be removed from the under the bed. 

There was a lot of stuff under the bed!

When all was said and done, I had stuff all over the kitchen counter, the bathroom counter, the shower and in Odie's bunk. There were also things in the floor on one side of the bed and at the end of the bed. The mattress was standing on the couch wedged against the ceiling.

All of that proved to be unnecessary, but there was no way to know that at the time. The people that converted the bus had built the bed in such a way that getting to the built-in access into the floor was nigh unto impossible without removing the whole bed. 

We could not see that without removing all of the things stored under the bed. Once we could see the floor, there was really no reason to have taken everything out. The access panel could not be reached from there.

The bus was supposed to go into the shop sometime Wednesday and we knew that the inside of the bus might not be easily accessible after that. We decided it might be best to try to straighten the bus now rather than later. If we waited until we had moved back into the bus, it would be a double hardship.

We drove up Wednesday morning after the traffic had time to clear. When I first looked at Google maps it was showing over way over a two hour trip. By the time we went, we made it in an hour and 24 minutes. Much better!

My little Kelly Jo is a trooper and a miracle worker. In about 90 minutes or so the effects of whirlwind Davy had been erased and I was helping her put the mattress back in place and making up the bed. I could not believe the difference in such a short amount of time.

One Pastor used to brag on Kelly Jo 20 years ago. He said repeatedly that she was the best evangelists wife he had ever had in his church. I told him yesterday that he should see her now!

Wow! What a lady! 

Here we are broke down in Texas with all of our things scattered between the bus and an evangelist quarters 80 miles away. Our life feels like it is in disarray. That bus is not only our mode of transportation, but it is our home. It is not running. It is in the shop. It is not coming out without major work. We have already canceled one revival.

There is a lot of uncertainty. There are a lot of things that could go wrong. That is enough to kill most women and men. Lesser mortals would be putting their evangelist husband's name in for Pastor at a church and calling for a vote quick!

Kelly Jo not only tends all the duties of keeping a home going in a constantly mobile and changing environment, but she cares for me and sees to the needs of an adult child that needs extra attention. She also manages all of her responsibilities during the revival, the ongoing responsibilities of keeping the business side of the ministry caught up and the general cares of life, while knowing it is going to take the hand of God to pull us through.

Is she falling apart? Is she an emotional wreck? Is she in turmoil? Is she in distress? Is she sliding into despondency? 

NOPE! She is solid as a rock. She is ready to go. She is believing God. She is ready to run on. She does not seem to be one ounce discouraged!

She is incredible! That is what she is, wildly incredible!

Kelly Jo makes me believe I can climb mountains. She makes me believe I can pull all of this together and make it work. She makes me believe that she believes in me.

Yes, sir! I know we are going to climb over this big bump in the road. 

First, I know that God is in control. 

Second, there are a bunch of people talking to God about this. 

Third, I know God has his hand on Kelly Jo and Kelly Jo's hand is at my back. 

We gonna make it fine.

Thank you for reading today.

Davy