How We Ended 2008!

Noelle & I before leaving for New Albany
Bethany

Cale and Tony II


Natalie and Noelle


Friends!

2008 came and went! Some days seemed like an eternity, but most days of the year flew by. God was faithful as always to us in 2008. Dec. 31, 2008 was a busy day in the George family.
That's a norm around here most days. If there's not much going on, we take it upon ourselves to find something. But, we have fun; as I told someone just yesterday, there is never a dull moment with us. On days that I get tired and weary, I remember something Scot once said:

"We are blessed with family, friends, and good health. We could be sitting around bored with no family, friends, and good health, wishing for the blessings of the three." So, I take my vitamins, pray, and enjoy the busy-ness that our blessings bring. (and occasionally, work in a nap!)

New Years Eve night, we went to our church service and enjoyed a time of scripture reading and testimonies. After church, we Georges loaded up and headed for New Albany. Scot had been invited to preach at Enterprise Baptist Church. They were having a New Years Eve service. Their dear pastor and his wife and children are very precious and treasured friends of ours. We met them in 2006 through homeschooling. Their daughter Natalie and our daughter Noelle are the same age and they graduated together in 2007. We arrived at their church around 9 that night, and when we walked in, they had just started their evening meal. They had already had some preaching and singing. We got in line and got in on all the good food! I've never been to Enterprise when I didn't enjoy the food! They had soups of all kinds, sandwiches, all sorts of dips and spreads, and scrumptious desserts! After we ate, the Men took on us Girls in a game of Pictionary. We had a ball! It was soooo funny! Of course, we gals brought home the trophy!

Mark aka Mater with wife Brandy

Mater & Brandy's son telling Tony and I about his coon hunting adventure the night before. He shot a coon, it fell out of the tree into the water, his dog Steve and Bro. Tony's dog CD (Coon Dog) got the coon out of the water. He had pictures to show us too. He was very dramatic telling his story!

Me drawing Permanent Press! I drew a shirt- then I drew an ironing board with an iron. After they guessed shirt and ironing, I crossed out the ironing and pointed to the shirt, and they guessed it!!! What fun! After the game, we went back to church. We received blessings from several congregation songs and from several specials. I sang Thinking About Home. There was such a free, sweet spirit in the church. I had such freedom! Scot said he had freedom during his message as well.

After the singing, Bro. Tony, Pastor at Enterprise preached an outstanding message. He preached from II Timothy. He encouraged us to be 1. Strong in the Lord, 2. Sound in our doctrine, 3. Sensible, 4. Steadfast, and 5. to be found Serving. The word Serving, Serve, Service, Servant has pretty much haunted me lately. I get tired and weary and weepy and I find myself serving, but not happily, not joyfully, not willingly. I want to serve in the right spirit and his message really inspired me to do so. And when Bro. Tony prayed, he said something that really stood out to me, and I wrote it down. He was praying for God's will, nothing less, nothing more- nothing else! I loved that. That is my prayer as well. After Bro. Tony's message, we sang another congregation song, had a couple more specials, and I sang Just One More Soul. It was time for Scot to preach. His text was from Mark 9:1-9. He brought out that our salvation is a personal salvation. God doesn't' call us or convict us as a family, as a church, or as a group, He speaks to each one personally. Scot has a cold and I had been concerned that he'd start coughing during the message, but he didn't cough at all. His voice was a bit hoarse, but God gave him strength to deliver His message. At the end of Scot's message, they gave an invitation, and then, we all gathered in the altar and prayed the old year out and the new year in. What a wonderful way to end 2008 and begin 2009.

Tony II and Lisa (pastors wife & my sweet friend) singing.

Bro. Scot