Cindi and I, along with our children and grandchildren and family just returned from the funeral of my grandmother, Loie Williford Avery Emerson. We are so very blessed to have had her with us for so long. She was my mother’s mother. She lived a good long life (92 years) and is now resting in Christ. Thank you to our friends all around the country for your love for us and your generous affection during our time of loss. We will miss our grandmother. She is gone but not forgotten. In times of sorrow we often remember. Granny married our grandfather, Papa Avery. Just now it took me a few minutes to remember his name: Raymond. One of my cousins is named after him. They married when she was only 14 and gave birth to the first of five children, my uncle Clyde when she was only 15. My mother was next, then two more sons, and a daughter. She became a grandmother at age 36 when my cousin Denise was born and then again when my sister was born. I came four years later in 1959, the oldest grandson. Papa died when Granny was only 52. There are 15 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, and 7 great-great-grandchildren. I have been blessed. I am blessed.

What are some of the things I remember about Granny? Naps! As a child, I never liked to take a nap. Things are a little different now. At Granny’s everyone takes a nap, including Granny. I remember lying on the floor of her house on a pallet, my brothers and most of the time a few cousins around me, with an oscillating fan slowly moving over the air over us: air conditioning. I remember breakfast: fresh eggs right out of the nest, big, warm, biscuits covered with butter and chocolate gravy we called “coco” and fresh country ham. Speaking of eggs; I remember actually “gathering” those fresh eggs when I was a boy by following the hen and crawling under the house to the nest. At Granny’s house I was free, free to explore the world around me, to run, climb, play, sing, swing, and laugh without fear. Life was simple. The days were long and filled with love, joy, and peace. I could go on and on, but I believe you get the picture. I had a wonderful childhood because I had a wonderful grandmother; perfect through the eyes of her grandson.

Thank you: To my Christian brothers and sisters at Enola for allowing me to be away for the funeral and then to “summarize” our house in South Carolina. Yes. Our house hasn’t sold yet, but we remain hopeful that it will sell before too much longer. Please pray for us as we live a little tighter until it sells. The house and property is in good shape and move-in ready. All we need is a buyer. God always provides for our needs sufficiently and completely. I’ll be preaching on this subject this coming Sunday evening at 5:00 at Enola – “God is Able to Provide for Our Needs Sufficiently and Completely.” We must remain faithful. God is always faithful in everything.

We will begin a new series of sermons this Sunday, April 1st entitled “Growing in Gladness.” We will take a look at how we can grow in gladness when it comes to our assembly together, then how we can grow in gladness through prayer, the Lord’s Supper, singing, giving, and studying God’s word. I hope you will be here for every lesson.

Did you enjoy your “Spring Break?” It will be good to have everyone together again for worship, fellowship, and study this Sunday. God bless you and us as we grow in gladness!

Spring is has arrived. I love the flowers in bloom, the trees budding out, and those warm Arkansas breezes. Of course, the pollen and our allergies stand in the way of the total enjoyment of these wonderful spring days. Many of our Christian brothers and sisters are out of school and on vacation this week for Spring Break. Remember that Christians are never on break from our Christian lives. We can never take a break from our guard against the temptations of our enemy, the devil. We can never break from prayer, worship, from our daily meditations in the Bible, or our service to God and the people around us.

Our monthly “Ladies’ Bible Study” and our monthly “Men’s Fellowship” are both going very well. These meetings are scheduled each month at a different location, in the home of the host. The primary purpose is for the men of the church and the ladies of the church to stay focused on spiritual things while at the same time getting to know one another better as brothers and as sisters. Check our website http://www.enolachurchofchrist.com for dates, times, and details. You’ll find our calendar of events and activities on the cover page.

Have you noticed that we are now presenting the announcements each Sunday on our projection system? Sister Ruple emails the bulletin to me on Friday and I take the information and place it on the PowerPoint program to have it ready on Sunday morning. No problem. I like it very much. I hope you do too. Just another way to show and share the love of our blessed Savior Jesus Christ to the church and to the world!

Our Sunday morning series “God’s Questions – Man’s Answers” came to a close last Sunday with God’s final question for Adam and Eve. Take a look again at the four questions God asked Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Where are you? Who told you that? Have you sinned? What have you done? Use these questions every day. Know where you are in your relationship with God. If you hear something that sounds different from what the Bible teaches, ask who might be saying these different things. If there is sin in your life, repent of it, confess it to God, and grow from it. Know that sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, cost you more than you want to spend, and when you are ready to let go of sin, sin is never ready to let go of you. Our next series will center on…just wait and see. You’ll be glad you have made meeting with the church for fellowship, study, and worship a priority in your life.

Our Sunday evening series continues – “God is Able.” He is able to help us in the hour of our temptation. He is able to keep what we commit to Him – past, present, and future. He is able to provide for our every need sufficiently and completely. Do you believe these things? I do? Trust Him. Show Him.

The Enola Church of Christ is only a short drive out to the country from where you are. You will be welcomed, encouraged, and challenged to hope in Christ Jesus.

The Enola Church of Christ had a wonderful Sunday this week even though it rained and rained all day long. We had 134 present for worship and fellowship together. I noticed that there were a few who came for worship but intended to be present for Bible study. “Daylight Savings Time” came upon us suddenly and a few people slept right through the change. I’m so glad my daughter-in-law called us on Saturday night to remind us of the time change. Whew! That was a close one. I do enjoy having the extra daylight in the evenings. Cindi and I took advantage of the change today by working in our flowerbeds.

I drove over the Morrilton today, Monday for the monthly area-wide Men’s and Preachers’ Meeting at the Harding Street congregation. Brother Charles Bane has been the preacher there for several years and is a very good friend. He preached for the church at Enola many years ago for a short time. Three young men from the Downtown congregation shared the lessons they plan to present at the annual Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes convention in April. All three young men did an outstanding job with their lessons. Our son, Ben participated in this nationwide program when he was in middle school and high school. As a matter of fact, he met his wife at a Lads to Leaders convention in Orlando, Florida. Please promote any and every Christian activity and event you can with your children and grandchildren. Brandon needs our help in the promotion of Christian activities above other extracurricular activities. I realize that every family is very busy with sometimes too many things to do. Time and energy will not allow us to do everything we could do when it comes to providing ourselves and our children with good things to do. It is vital that we provide and promote Christian activities for our children. Case in point: This past Sunday afternoon the monthly area-wide youth devotional was hosted by the Robinson and Center congregation in Conway. Where were our young men and women from Enola? Parents: Did you promote this youth event with your children? Or did you allow the rain, the time change, or some other temptation to keep you from promoting this event? Our young men and women befriend, date, fall in love with, and marry the young people they are around. Let’s make sure they are “around” Christian young people in addition to their friends elsewhere.

I have enjoyed preaching our Sunday morning series on God’s Questions. Man’s Answers? I hope you are being challenged and encourages by this study from God’s Word and Genesis 3. This Sunday, March 18th we will conclude this series and look at God’s final question for Adam and Eve. God asked Eve; “What Have You Done?” Oh, what a question! Just think about how many people down through the ages of time have asked this very question. The person who drinks, drives, and kills…The person who commits adultery…The single person who gives into temptation on a date…The parent who neglects to train up a child to know right from wrong…The person who thinks that one time won’t hurt…The person who thinks that strength and youth will last forever… What have I done?

I look forward to seeing you at Enola for study, fellowship, and worship. If you are reading this blog and are not meeting with any congregation of the Lord’s people, please make the short drive out in the country to see what you have been missing for so long. We love God. We love one another. We will love you, too.

Spring is on the horizon and boy, am I ready! I just love country living, cattle on a thousand hills, country dogs stopping by the house to visit, sitting on my front porch reading God’s word, watching the glorious sunrise early in the morning, looking out from my back yard at the beautiful sunset in the evening, going for an walk with my wife beside me discussing the events of the day, listening to the silence of the night. Thank you, Lord for your grace and mercy , for your rich blessings today and every day. Oh, that others could experience such wonders of God!

Wow! What a Sunday we enjoyed at the Enola Church of Christ this past Sunday, March 4th! We had a wonderful Bible study together with Brother Jim Montgomery teaching on the Missionary Journey’s of the Apostle Paul. Of course our teens and children meet for Bible study in their age-specific sessions. We had a good crowd (142) for worship. I am preaching a series entitled “God’s Questions! Man’s Answers?” Right after the morning worship hour we walked over to the fellowship hall for a luncheon together. What a sight to behold! We have the best cooks in the state! Not bragging! Just stating facts. After lunch we met back in the main building for our afternoon worship hour. God is blessing us. May we, today and always appreciate His rich blessings by living for Him in thought, word, and deed.

Our Sunday night series is entitled “God is Able.” When we read the Bible we find that there was no limit to what the men and women believed God could do. The Lord promised Abraham that he and his wife, Sarah would have a son. Sarah laughed. She was 90 years old. Abraham believed. The Lord said to Sarah, “Is anything to hard for the Lord?” Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to fulfill His promises. God always fulfills His promises. He believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead. That wasn’t necessary. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego believed that the Lord could save them from the furnace of fire and even if He didn’t, that wouldn’t change their commitment to Him. The Lord saved them. Jesus, His disciples, and His mother were at a wedding feast in Cana. The wine ran out. Mary said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you to do, do it.” What does that say about her faith in what Jesus was able to do? He turned water into the best wine. If you have doubts about God’s ability to help you in your life, make the short drive out to the country to Enola on Sunday evening at 5:00 and find out just what the Lord can do for you today. You will be very welcome.

Ladies, remember the Ladies’ Bible study at Marilyn Ruple’s this coming Thursday evening, March 8th at 7:00. Come and bring a friend. Guys: Our Men’s Fellowship is planned for Thursday evening, March 15th at the home of Steve Mooningham at 7:00. The Men’s Fellowship only lasts about an hour. Don’t worry about being out too late. We hope the Enola ladies and the Enola men will take advantage of these very special get-togethers.

See you on Wednesday evening at 7:00. The adults are studying “The Deep Things of God.” This week we are looking at the second coming of Christ. Very interesting!