Cooking with Grandma

We are so glad that the kids have always enjoyed cooking, and one of the best ways to enjoy cooking is to do it with Grandma. Here the kids are making a homemade apple pie (they also made sweet potato, pumkin and cherry) with their Grandma.

Letcher County Roots

Some of you know that my Mom was born and raised in Letcher County, where we now live and serve. We had actually committed to coming here before we realized that her hometown of Jenkins was in Letcher County. So, in a manner of speaking, coming here was like coming home. We have been here now for 3 1/2 years and it is certainly home to us.

For Christmas, we were able to find a blanket for my Mom that depicts scenes from Letcher County. The top picture is the old Jenkins High School, where she graduated. The 3rd picture down the left side is Blackey Presbyterian Church, which is about two miles from the Campus and where the wedding in "Coal Miner's Daughter" was filmed. And, of course, Pine Mountain is right in the center. My Mom will be able to warm herself with scenes from her "home place". It just seemed like the perfect Christmas gift.

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

Hope you had a good one. Ours was great! On Christmas Eve the Robinsons invited us over for the traditional turkey/dressing dinner, along with the Weiss Family. The food was fantastic, but the fellowship was even better. The kids made the deserts and we sat and talked for hours. It was a great evening. After dinner we fed the herd (Rolex and Fred) and then did our traditional Christmas Evening with the Christmas Story from Luke 2, singing Christmas carols with just the tree lights on, and then the kids opened one present. It was a great evening.

Christmas Morning dawned as a beautiful day, and after opening presents and eating breakfast, we enjoyed spending the day with each other quietly at home. Our wish and prayer for you is that the coming year will be Christ-filled and the best year you have ever had. May God bless you richly!

A Shelter in the time of storm

As you may know, we have a couple of horses (actually - a horse, Rolex, and a pony, Fred) here on the Campus and hope to eventually have an Equestrian Ministry. Being able to offer riding lessons, trail rides from the Campus up into the mountains behind us, and special equestrian events, is something we are lookng forward to doing. While we are praying and working toward that goal, we still need to take care of the horses we already have. We have been needing a "run-in" shelter out in the pasture so that we don't have to put Rolex and Fred up in their stalls every time the weather turns bad. Casey and I have been working on that that this week, along with help from Gunner. We finished it yesterday afternoon, just in time for some cold, all-night rain. Austin came up and took some pictures of the finished product, although Casey said the only picture he wanted was one of the horses using it (after all that work!). :-)


A shelter in the time of storm... no wonder the psalmist used that illustration in describing our awesome and mighty God. He never promised that we wouldn't go through storms... just that He would shelter us and be with us through them, and that during the storm (and all other times) we could trust and rest in Him.

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
Psalm 91:1-2

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The last few days for us have been filled with wonderful Christmas-time activities. Heather and Rachael did some decorating, we got our tree up and decorated, the Christmas cards are getting taped up all over, the Nativity Scene is in place. We even played some Christmas music. What a joyous time of celebrating Christ's birth we have been having.

Last Saturday night, we enjoyed a great Christmas party at Joe and Olivia's house, and Free Indeed was even there to bless us with a few songs in addition to all the caroling we did. The food was fantastic! Many thanks to Joe and Olivia and all the folks that helped make it such a wonderful evening!


Monday afternoon a group of ladies came up from Southside Baptist in Spartanburg to do a Christmas party at our nursing home in Whitesburg. They did a wonderful job and everyone had a great time. We even caroled up and down the halls for all the residents who could not come to the party. These ladies then took us and the Robinsons out to eat at the Pine Mountian Grill. I have to admit I fully enjoyed my baby back ribs! Thanks ladies! After supper we headed back to the house and there we found out once again just how wonderful our God is and how wonderful His people are. Two Sunday School Classes from Southside "adopted" us and the Robinsons and lavished (and I do mean lavished!) us with food, gifts, gift cards and love! Our cup ran over! How blessed we are to have family like all the wonderful folks at Southside!

Our hope and prayer is that you are enjoying this season of celebration and reflection. How blessed we are to be recipients of God's lavish grace! Merry, merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Heather!

Yes, our "little girl" is growing up. Quite the young lady, she turned 14 last week amid joyous celebration. Monday night we took her our for dinner at Applebees and a movie. She knew what most of her presents were (she helped pick them out), but we did get to surprise her a little bit. By the way, her choice and delight was to make and decorate her own cake. As our "artsy-craftsy" girl, we think she did a great job. She got a lot of that gene from her Grandma (Jan Heath), whose birthday was the next day. Happy Birthday to you, too, Grandma!

Dad and Son time

OK, OK, I know it's been a couple of weeks since I "blogged". Things get kinda busy sometimes, you know? The day after I bloggged last, Casey and I went over to Lynch for a ministry training seminar. That night we finished packing, I took a nap and then about 1 AM Austin and I headed out for a week of deer hunting and spending father/son time in Alabama. Doug Crouse and Doug Kenerly were generous in letting us spend a week hunting at the hunting club I used to be a member of with them. Doug Crouse was very gracious in letting Austin and I stay in his camper on the hunting club property all week. Austin was not able to get his first deer, but we still had a great time together. Staying busy with ministry and travel and school, we don't often get that opportunity. It was a good week. Thanks to the hospitality of Rachael's parents, Earl and Jan Heath, Austin and I were able to run into town for showers during the week and a good night's sleep the night before we left.

Ealy Sunday morning Austin and I headed to Pelham, GA to First Baptist Church. Our good friend and former police chaplain in Montgomery, Kim Grueser, has been pastoring this church for 7 years. He and his wife Diane have accepted a call for him to pastor Pittsburg, PA Baptist Church, which will put him back "home". This was his last service at 1st Pelham and they honored him Sunday with a dinner and clebration of his ministry. It was a privilege and honor for us to participate in this celebration. We wish Kim and Diane godspeed and God's richest blessings in their new ministry adventure.

We got back home in plenty of time for a joyous celebration of Heather's 14th birthday (can you believe it?!?), but more about that in another post. Time to go help decorate the tree. :-)

Family pictures, wind, fuel pump, etc...

Yesterday afternoon the Robinsons asked if we would take a family picture for them today before we all headed out to church. Of course we said yes, but then this morning, with everyone in their Sunday best, the weather decided not to cooperate and sent one of the windiest days we have seen. Needless to say, the girls' hair just did not want to cooperate. We still managed to get a few pictures made and hopefully they found one they could use. In the meantime, we decided to give it a try ourselves, and they snapped one of us during one of the brief moments of less wind.

This week was a busy one, again. No rest for the weary, they say. Casey and I headed down to GA for a funeral on Wednesday. The 14 year old son of a member of one of our very supportive mission teams was killed in a hunting accident over Thanksgiving weekend and the service was on Wednesday. We wanted to go down to show our support for him and the rest of the church. Our plan was to come back that same evening, but the fuel pump on our car decided to quit on us and left us "stranded" in GA. We were hardly stranded, though. Our friends at that church took great care of us... feeding us, putting us up for the night, and a mechanic in the church even replaced the fuel pump at no charge! Wow!

Although the circumstances that neccessitated our trip were horrible, it was a great time of fellowship and seeing God's provision once again in our lives. Speaking of God's provision, on Saturday we all travelled over to Lynch, KY, where a mission team from Union County, SC had prepared a wonderful time of celebrating Christ's birth. They brought food and games for the kids, and each family there was "adopted" by a church or family from SC. They brought presents and we got to "have Christmas" with a wonderful couple from SC. Ricky and Nikki are now our dear friends and brother and sister in Christ. We were excited to see how God is working in their lives and so overwhelmed by how they blessed us in this way.

This next week looks to be another busy one, with ministry training for me and Casey, and a deer hunting trip for me and Austin. Hope you have a great week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I know, Thanksgiving was actually 3 days ago, but this is the first chance I've had to post since then. My Mom, my Uncle Jim and Aunt Brenda and their grandson Daniel came and spent Thanksgiving with us here at the Campus. We had one of the best meals ever and got to spend lots of time catching up and reminiscing. Friday afternoon we drove over to Jenkins as my Mom and Uncle Jim showed us their old stomping grounds and lots of where things "used to be". We kept heading east to The Breaks park on the other side of Elkhorn City, and enjoyed the Christmas lights there. Yesterday was a little bit quieter, with the ladies going over to a new scrap-booking store on Hwy 15, then we all went out to dinner in Hazard and back here to watch the Iron Bowl. All-in-all it was a great weekend and a great time to spend time with our family. They are headed home today (Sunday), so if you read this post today please pray with us for their safe travel back home to Montgomery.

Autumn leaves, Jesus doesn't

What a great weekend this was! We were so excited to have 6 college students from 1st Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL here at the Campus. They got in Friday night and spent the weekend helping us rake the 80 gazillion leaves that have fallen thus far. They all worked hard and had a great time, and they are even talking about when they can come back! Thanks guys and gals for all your help, but thanks especially for your friendship and fellowship in the Lord. We are looking forward to seeing what God will do in all of your lives as you continue to trust in Him.

Brrrr....

I think it's probably safe to put away the shorts and sandals for a few months. Winter seems to have officially come upon us here. Last night was one of the hardest frosts we have had this year and the temps this morning were quite chilly. We have team of awesome college students from 1st Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL here this weekend. We started off the day by unloading 50 bales of hay for the horses that some great folks from North Carolina graciously donated. We spent the rest of the day raking about a gazillion leaves, meaning we are about 10% done with leaf raking for the Fall/Winter. By noon almost everyone had shed their heavier coats for sweatshirts and sweaters, but the chill returned with the setting of the sun.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be outside and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. The trees, the wind, the mountains, the sunshine, the stars at night and the clear blue skies.... they all sing in chorus of how great and awesome He is. The day came to a close in one of my favorite ways... a campfire under the stars. And you know what? He'll wake us up tomorrow morning with new mercies. Sleep well friend, and enjoy a great Lord's Day tomorrow.

Out with the old, in with the new...

This weekend we enjoyed the fellowship and hard work of a great group of guys from Southside Baptist. They are in the final stages of the renovation of the Pastor Resource and Study Center. This weekend they were installing the new bookcases, desks and cabinets that they have custom built to go in the room. The top of the bookshelves that will go under the windows will be level with the bottom of the windows, so the old window sills had to go. While it's exciting to think about the new use and ministry of this room, it's also neat to think about how long this Campus, this building, and this room, have been used for God's glory. May it serve the people of the mountians for many years to come.

I am in Elizabethtown, KY for the annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. I am looking forward to 2 days of great preaching, super worship, renewing old friendships and making new ones. And on Wednesday I will look forward even more to being back home with my family.

My favorite season is...

Yes, you can certainly look around the Campus and see that Fall has arrived - in the form of millions of leaves all over the ground. While that does mean a lot of raking and blowing, I still enjoy this time of year. I think my "favorite season" has become whatever season is arriving or has arrived in the past two months. My "least favorite" must be whatver season has been around for the last several months and I have grown tired of. Isn't that a hoot? As humans, we get so easily and quickly tired of whatever blessing is right in front of us...so forgetful. I am glad that the Bible says that His "mercies are new every morning".

" The LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:23-24

Grateful for what's right in front of us. What a concept. Our little Welch pony, Fred, finally got a visit from a ferrier yesterday. We have had such a hard time finding a ferrier that can come on a regular basis and keep his feet trimmed. We think we may have finally found someone (actually the Lord sent him to us) that can come often enough to get Fred's feet back into shape. We are grateful for Darryl.

Yesterday, we unloaded a trailer load of desks and chairs that were donated to the Campus by My Office Products in Spartanburg, SC. We are so grateful for our new desks and chairs.

This morning there was a knock at the door and Annie (4) and Josie (3) were there with a plate of four homemade Rice Krispy Treats for us. We are so grateful for a family like the Robinsons, we are not only like-minded and kindred spirits, but are such a loving and sweet family as well.

Tomorrow I will be driving down to SC to pick up the bookshelves and cabinets that will go in the Pastor Resource and Study Center. We are so grateful for ministry partners like Southside Baptist.

Let's spend the day being grateful for what's right in front of us.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig...

It is always good to travel. It is always great to see folks you haven't seen in a while. It is always fantastic to get back home again. :-)

I pulled back into the Campus last night about 8:30 pm and it sure was good to be home. I had a great weekend - the Men's Retreat, the AMRBC Concert Saturday night, great fellowship in Sunday School, wonderful worship and preaching in church, dinner with Rachael's foks Sunday night, chillin' with all the guys at Keith's house.... all of that was part of a super weekend. But there's just no substitute for warm hugs and "welcome home" from your own sweet wife and kids.

Rachael and the kids had a good weekend, too. While Austin had an all-day Saturday class as part of his Driver's Ed class, Rachael and Heather spent the day shopping. Sunday they visited at First Baptist, Hindman, and on Monday Austin finally got to make it to an eye doctor's appointment for some new glasses.

Now to catch up on some email and phone calls and "to-do" list and...

Many thanks

Many thanks to our good friend and pastor, DJ Horton, his wife, Laurel, and their wonderful church, Anderson Mill Road Baptist from Spartanburg, SC. DJ has been a great encouragement to us and our home church many times over the last several years, but never so much as in the last few months. This weekend was no exception.

The TRBC Men's Retreat was this weekend at Lay Lake and DJ spoke from from 1 Peter and encouraged and challenged everyone there. His church choir and orchestra and other church members traveled down for a great time of fellowship, music and time in the Word. Tomorrow we will share another great service of worship, praise and preaching. Many thanks to DJ and the host of friends at AMRBC. You all are "da bomb"!

Thanks guys!

The guys from Mountain View just pulled out and I will be shortly behind them, headed down south. They did a fantastic job with the back porch and deck, and I am sure that their investment will pay off for many years to come. I am headed down for our home church's Men's Retreat. Rachael and the kids will be staying here. Pray for safety as we all travel today.

Pray that I would be more like Jesus. 1 John 1:9

Don't you just love that smile...?

We have a new camera, thanks to a generous gift from a sweet lady in SC. We had been needing to replace the old one for a while, so the timing was perfect. One of the things that the new camera allows us to do is zoom in a lot closer and faster than we have ever been able to do before. This is a really kewl thing for me, as I love to take face close-ups of people, especially when they aren't expecting it. This was my favorite picture today. Don't you just love that smile...?

New back porch

Mountain View Baptist is here and they are working hard at building a new back porch for the Apartment Building. It's already taking shape and they have only had one day at it. We finished the framework for the deck today and tomorrow we will start on the roof. The picture is of me helping Casey tear out the old porch. We hope to be able to use the old porch to make a "run-in" shelter for the horses out in the pasture.

Good to be home...again

Yes, we were home for a whole day, and then Sunday we were off again to Spartanburg to pick up the kids. They had great time, but for some reason seemed a little tired...? Can't imagaine why. :-) They really had a blast, but I think they were ready to head home. We spent the night with some good friends (Gerry and Teena Smith), and then after a great home-cooked breakfast we headed to the Campus.

We arrived home in time to welcome our friends and mission partners, Mountain View Baptist Church from Wetumpka, AL. They are here this week to re-do the back porch on the Staff Apartment Building. The old "shed roof" was adequate, but with a new deck, new roof and screened in, it will really enhance and expand the usable living space of the whole apartment building. Not hugely important right now (although it will be a great place for the kids to play), as the Staff here grows and more people are living in this building, it will be more important with each new personnel addition. But not only are these guys doing a lot of work, they will be a great encouragement to us ( as always) as we work and fellowship together.

Well, it's been a long weekend and the alarm clock will be sounding off pretty early tomorrow, so I better hit the sack.

Staring through the windshield

Rachael and I are back home now, after spending what felt like two whole days staring through the windshield. After we dropped the kids off in Spartanburg on Thursday, we drove 3 hours over to Knoxville. Some of you know Lonnie and Belinda Riley and their son, Brian. Brian was involved in a bad accident on Wednesday and was flown to UT Medical Center in Knoxville.

We arrived in Knoxville Thursday night too late to go by the hospital, but we spent the night and went by yesterday morning. Brian was doing amazingly well, depsite the seriousness of his injuries, and we got to spend some time with Lonnie and Belinda and their family. We then drove the 3 1/2 hours back to the Campus and it sure was good to be home. We have a few things to get done today, but it looks like we will have one relaxing day before we get back in the car to drive back to Spbg to pick up the kids.

Hope your Saturday is relaxing, too. Have a great day! :-)

Off to fall retreat

Yesterday we dropped off our most precious possessions (Austin and Heather) at Southside Baptist in Spartanburg, SC for them to go with their youth group on a Fall Retreat to the beach. This is a great opportunity for them to fellowship with their friends in this group and to have some "away" time. As you can imagine, between home-schooling and living and working "on-Campus", they get more than their share of "adult time", and could really use some time just to spend with their friends and hear from God's Word from somebody besides mom and dad. Pray with us that they will all have a great time and that mom and dad won't exerience too much "empty nest" syndrome while they are gone. :-)

View from the front porch...

Yes, this is the view from our front porch. Before we moved here, we promised ourselves that no matter how long God allowed us to live in the mountains, that we would never lose the awe of their beauty and granduer. Everywhere we went for those first several months, we were constantly telling each other "Oooo, look at that!". But, as you can imagine... after time we got to the point that we didn't notice as often. Then one day, we were driving somewhere and one of the kids pointed at a pretty view. I looked up and before I knew it, I was thinking; "Yeah...seen that before". I caught myself and I looked up again. Yes it was a pretty view. I had forgotten to appreciate it. When we got back home that day, I went out on the front porch and looked across the yard at the mountain on the other side of Rockhouse Creek. I just stood there, looking for a while...

Not only had I forgotten to notice and appreciate the beauty in God's creation, I had also lost an appreciation for the opportunity He has given us here. We have a new lease on life. As we used to say when we were kids playing kickball, we get a do-over! God has chosen to take us off the shelf and put us to service in His glorious Kingdom of Light! What an awesome privilege!

Every once in a while we need to stop what we are "doing", and just go take a look at the view from the front porch...

Rain, rain, don't go away...

What a beautifully dreary day it is here! No, I haven't "lost it". It's raining! SWEET! We have had such hot, dry weather for so long, and now it has been raining fairly steady since yesterday afternoon. How refreshing it is for us, the earth, the horses... God's love is like that, too. When we are so dry spiritually, He sends His mercy and grace. Actually it's been there all along, He just reminds us that He is still there, refreshing us with His presence. What a beautiful day!

The first "real" post

Well, I got to thinking about it and realized that I can't really call this a blog if I don't put anything on here about what's going on with us. We are finally getting some rain here, as we speak, after the driest summer and fall that anybody can remember. Of course, this is no different than most of the country, but we are thankful to God for sending us some rain.

We have had a great fall with mission teams coming in on a regular basis and with us traveling around to speak in different churches. This has been the busiest fall we have had since we moved here, but the funny thing is that it's not because we finally have heat in the admin building. We haven't even needed it yet. :-) The picture is us on a visit with our good friends, Mitch and Christy Schumacher, who are fellow Alabamians-moved-to-Kentuckians.

We will have a team here next week from Alabama that has been here so many times we have almost lost count. Mountain View Baptist from Wetumpka, AL will be here and they will completely rebuild the back porch, deck and roof framing on the Staff Apartment Building! What a blessing that will be. One of our other regular groups and more of our closest friends, Ivy Creek Baptist from Buford, GA will be here the week after that to put on the metal roof, screen in the covered part of the deck and install siding and gutters. Finally, we will have a nice place for Staff families, guests and visitors to relax and recreate on the back part of the building.

But, enough of Calvary Campus, how about some family news... Heather and Austin will be going on a Fall Retreat to the beach this weekend with one of our partner churches, Austin is taking driver's ed (pay your insurance up!), Rolex and Fred are doing great, we had a super visit from Rachael's parents last week, the Robinson's baby is here (Westin, 8lbs1oz, Oct 2), and Max still hasn't learned not to bark like a mad dog whenever someone knocks on the door (or just walks by). I will be heading down to Alabama next weekend for the TRBC Men's Retreat, Rachael gets to serve Jury Duty next month, my seminary extension class is going well, my Uncle Jim/Aunt Brenda and my mom are going to come up for a visit at Thanksgiving and we will all be in Mtgy for a few days after Christmas.

Wow, I just caught you up through Christmas... now, what will I write about tomorrow?

New Blog for the Reynolds Family

Yes, that's right; I have finally taken the plunge into the cyberworld of blogs! I have been putting this off for quite some time, but I have finally admitted to myself that it is time. I think I may actually be able to find more time to update this than the struggles I have had with keeping our family website, http://www.reynoldsrap.com/, updated. So, we will try this out and I certainly relish input and suggestions. Please give me a reasonable amount of time (like a few months) before lambasting me too bad. :-) Ok, here we go...