We Will Remember

We Will Remember
On our darkest night... in our deepest trouble... we MUST remember and praise God for WHO He is, and all that He has done. (Click on the link to hear the song)

Psalm 77

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Comfort in Trouble from Recalling God’s Mighty Deeds.

For the choir director; according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

77 My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud;

My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.
² In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness;
My soul refused to be comforted.
³ When I remember God, then I am disturbed;
When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. Selah.
⁴ You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵ I have considered the days of old,
The years of long ago.
⁶ I will remember my song in the night;
I will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit ponders:

⁷ Will the Lord reject forever?
And will He never be favorable again?
⁸ Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?
Has His promise come to an end forever?
⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah.
¹⁰ Then I said, “ It is my grief,
That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹ I shall remember the deeds of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
¹² I will meditate on all Your work
And muse on Your deeds.
¹³ Your way, O God, is holy;
What god is great like our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who works wonders;
You have made known Your strength among the peoples.
¹⁵ You have by Your power redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

Pressing On...

Yes, it really has been a year and a half since we have posted on this blog.  It has been a very busy time in our lives, with lots of changes.  Austin is about to finish his junior year at North Greenville University, Heather is soon to graduate from high school, and we are in the process of starting a new phase of work and ministry. 


Yes, life is full of changes.  Most of us (self included) don't really like change.  We resist it at every turn.  The older we get, the more stationary we tend to become.  But the fact is that, while we serve a God who never changes, He is always calling us to move on.  To be dynamic.  To follow His lead, wherever He might take us.  How sad would it have been if the Apostle Paul had stopped at planting one church.  Had only mentored one pastor.  Had only taken one missionary journey.  Had decided to rest in the successes (or despair over the failures) of the past. 


Listen to his heart, as he writes to the Philippian church...  

"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ  and be found in Him...  

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Forgetting those things which are behind - let's press on.  

 

Friends from Alabama

This past weekend (Labor Day), we were very excited that our friends Jackie Allen and Cindy Colee from AL came up to visit.  We took them with us to visit the "Isom Days" festival, and we had a great time.  Thanks for coming to see us!

Colorado Rockies

Last week I was privileged beyond measure to be able to go on a elk hunting/camping trip to the Uncompahgre National Forest in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  While I did not buy an elk tag (archery season and my shoulder would not cooperate), I had a great time sitting around the fire, walking the aspen forests, basking in the beauty of God's creation, eating the best "hunting camp cooking" I have ever had, fellowship-ing with old friends and getting to know new ones.  

Many thanks to those who made it possible (financially) for me to go and MANY, MANY thanks to Rachael and Heather for "holding down the fort" at home so I could go.  I came back refreshed, rejuvenated and with a whole new perspective on life, love and ministry.  It was a great week.

Friends from home

What a great weekend we had!  The Mays Family (Matt, Wendy, Audrey and Luke) came for a visit this past weekend.  They had not been to the Campus in nearly 6 years, so it was a joy to show them around and for them to see all that God has accomplished since we have been here. We also enjoyed touring around the area - we went and saw the elk in Knott County, visited Yoders (Mennonite bulk food store and bakery), went hiking at The Breaks Interstate Park (www.BreaksPark.com) and enjoyed church together.  They just left out this morning and we just can't get over how nice the visit was and how encouraged we are to have had them here for the weekend.  "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of them who bring good news."  Thanks for coming guys, and come again soon!!

Good to be home...

Well, after a 3,000+ mile journey over the course of two weeks, we can say emphatically that "there is no place like home".  We always enjoy the travel that comes as a big part of what we do, but the best part of going away is still coming home.

The journey started this time with a trip to Shocco Springs in Talladega, AL for the Baptist Builders Round-table.  This was a great opportunity for renewing friendships, making new friends and learning a lot about how to be good stewards of the construction and renovation projects the Lord has given us to do.  From there, it was on to the Equestrian Ministry International semi-annual conference, this time hosted by the White Oak Conference Center in Winnsboro, SC.  Once again, renewing friendships, making new ones, and learning more about opportunities for Equestrian Ministry.  Another purpose of this conference was to sense the Lord's direction on someone to come to the Campus to be our Equestrian Ministry Director.  Nothing is firm at all, but some great contacts were made and we are praying in earnest that this ministry will soon be able to get off the ground. 

After a couple of nights at home, it was time to head to Asheville, NC for Missions Forum 2010.  This is an annual event where mission pastors and mission leaders from all over come together to learn from each other and from mission leaders around the world.  The focus is on strategic mission planning (like Acts 1:8 strategy) and missions partnership.  It was a joy to have our pastor, Brother Mike Caudill, his wife Alice and her mom along with us, along with Josh and Marti Feltner, fellow MSC missionaries from Knott County to attend the conference too!  And, as always, what a joy it was to renew friendships and make new ones!  Is there a recurring theme here? :-)

After one night at home, it was time for all three of us (Rachael, Heather and I) to pack pack up (just swapped dirty clothes for clean) and head out for Montgomery.  This was to be a very quick "down and back" trip, with no real time for visiting much.  We left on Thursday afternoon so we could stop off and eat supper with Austin and a couple of his friends (Sean and Tyler) at a local Mexican restaurant.  It was great to see Austin and catch up with him, and we also enjoyed visiting with Sean and Tyler.  Austin got a haircut that kinda surprised us, but it looked great on him.  The next morning we headed for Montgomery.

Rachael's Aunt Marilyn was visiting with her parents, so we stayed with the Pouncey's in Wetumpka  this trip.  Friday night we went and met Rachael's folks and aunt at Red Lobster (Earl's treat! thanks!) and had a great visit.  On Saturday we got to relax a bit with the Pouncey's and Jamie worked on a slide show for Sunday while Rachael made a quick trip in to Montgomery for some shopping.  On Sunday morning we had a blast visiting with our home church, Thorington Road Baptist and sharing in the morning worship service.  Rachael and Heather treated us to a duet of Casting Crowns' new song "Always Enough" and did a great job.  Brother Wade brought a great message from Hosea about the importance of faithfulness in our covenant relationship with God.  An awesome Sunday morning!

Sunday afternoon we got a quick nap and then packed up to head home.  On Sunday evening we got to visit with our "other" church home at Mountain View Baptist in Wetumpka, and share briefly in the evening services there.    It was so good to see so many friends, even some that came just to see us!  How very blessed we are!  After church, we were "on the road again", headed home.  Our intention was to drive as far as we could (all the way if possible), and we actually made it as far as SC before we had "gone as far as we could go".  We got a good night's rest and finished our journey home on Monday morning. 

We have almost recovered now, and we're certainly glad to be sleeping in our own beds.  Max, Rolex and Spices all say to tell you "hey" from KY.  It will be nice to not have to "stare through the windshield" for a while, but we hope to head back to AL in April so we can spend more time visiting with friends and family, and I am sure there will be some trips to visit in churches in the next few months.  Take care, and may God bless you richly.

"As long as we've no place to go..."

Actually, we did.  We were supposed to be headed down to the Greenville, SC area today to speak in a church tomorrow, but the storm kinda changed our plans.  While we got about 7 inches of snow here at the Campus, with 4wd that normally would not have kept us home.  But with the higher mountain gaps we would have had to have crossed getting between one and two feet, and with the Greenville area getting socked in with ice, there was no point in even trying.  We'll reschedule for next weekend and hope the snow that is supposed to come then will not be so bad.

Turns out to be a nice day to sit by the window, drink coffee and watch the snow fall.  I mean, as long as we've no place to go...

NY, NY!

New York, New York!

Year End Update

The month of December was quite the month for us.  Austin finished his exams and made it home from NGU just in time to repack his bags as the Reynolds Family headed out for New York City!  You see, two and a half years ago, for Austin's 16th birthday, we decided to let him decide where we should go for our family vacation with our four free plane tickets.  He picked Seattle, WA and we had a great time.  Well, in December Heather turned 16 and once again, we had enough Delta miles for 4 more free plane tickets.  This time it was Heather's turn to pick and she decided we should all go to NYC.

We browsed the internet making our "wish list" of places to go and things to see, and then watched good "training films" like On the Town and White Christmas.  You can understand On the Town, but why White Christmas?  Well, because we were blessed with tickets to go see it on the night of Heather's birthday - on broadway!!  How cool is that?  We also went to the top of the Empire State Building, rode the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty at sunset, ate lunch at Mr. Tangs on Mott Street in Chinatown, went to Coney Island and the original Nathan's Hotdogs, toured Carnegie Hall, took a carriage ride through Central Park, and even got pretty good at getting around on the subway and bus!!  Of course, we saw and did many other things, but those were some of the highlights.  We also attended Sunday morning services at Brooklyn Tabernacle and went back one evening to see their Christmas cantata. 

While there we got to spend time with our dear friends, Jimmy and Bernice, and their wonderful kids Janice and Jaime!  Jimmy retired from the NYPD the same month I retired in Montgomery, and he was a great tour guide.  Bernice is an elementary school principal, so she is a hero in our eyes!  Jimmy and Bernice joined us for White Christmas, they all met us at Katz's Deli for pastrami on rye and potato knishes, and then had us over to their house for a wonderful family meal the night before we came home.

Oh, speaking of coming home... wow, what a trip that was!  Back in October, we had booked our flight to go from Tri-Cities Airport near Bristol to Atlanta and on to Laguardia in NY, with the return flight going through the same airports.  A couple of weeks after we booked, we got an email from Delta saying they had to change our return flight to go through Cincinnati, with a 6 hour layover.  Well, beggars can't be choosers they say, so we were still just glad to have the free tickets.  We arrived in Cincinnati a little late because our flight leaving NY was delayed, but we still had 5 hours to kill.  We went and had a nice leisurely supper, found our gate, and settled in for the wait, no problem. 

After a while we got thirsty for some Starbucks (our closest one in KY is 2 hours away) and so I headed back to the concourse where we had seen it.  When I got back, I noticed they were no longer scrolling our flight number on the board over the desk.  Hmmm... Rachael and the kids said that there had not been any announcements, and there were only a couple of people in line at the counter, so I wasn't overly concerned.  I casually walked over, but as I got closer I could tell that the guy at the counter was being given instructions on getting to a hotel and to come back in the morning for "standby".  Not a good sign.  Sure enough, not only was OUR flight cancelled, but so had just about all flights in and out of anywhere near the eastern KY, eastern TN, western NC area.  The issue...?  SNOW STORM

I motioned for Rachael and the kids to come over and off they went to try to rent a 4wd vehicle to drive home while I waited my turn to ask for our luggage to be sent to the claim area.  By the time I ran to catch up with the family, there was a ton of people in line behind me.  Just in time.  We were able to rent the last 4wd vehicle they had (thank you, Lord) and we hopped in our Toyota Rav4 and headed south.  We made good time on the interstate, but what a mess there was on the parkway!  What is normally a 3 1/2 hour drive was a little over 7 hours that night, but the Lord sent us two trucks and then a snow plow to follow and got us home safely.  We had no power (for a couple of days), but we were home in our own beds!!  I took the rental to the airport in TN the next day, and I lost count after 100 of all the vehicles wrecked, stuck and abandoned in the snow.  No doubt in our minds that God's grace and mercy got us home. 

That snow storm on December 18th started the coldest, snowiest winter that this area has seen in many years.  We are still "in it", so to speak (low of 12 tonight and more snow tomorrow), but by Thursday it is supposed to hit 40!!! HEAT WAVE!  We have been blessed thoughout this time to not have any significant problems with the cold and snow and ice, and we are sure that God's mercy is the reason. 

After our travels, we were quite ready to stay home for a while, and that's what we did for Christmas.  Rachael's folks, Earl and Jan, came up for Christmas this year and it was very good to have them here.  I DID notice that they waited until the power came back on before they came.  :-)  The week after Christmas we were blessed with the Mountain View Baptist Youth Retreat and a trip to the Creation Museum.  We also were able to take them to see the elk herd, went horseback riding and toured the Kentucky Coal Museum in Benham.  Great week!

As Mountain View pulled out on New Year's Day, Austin was not far behind them.  He wasn't headed to school, though, he was headed way down south to attend Passion 2010 in Atlanta with some friends from school.  He had a great time and said the conference was great.  We were so glad he was able to be a part of this.

Well, it's hard to believe that 2009 is completely in the books now.  As our pastor said this morning, this is 2010 and we have never been here before.  It's a new day and many opportunities lie ahead.  May we all look for opportunities (and take advantage of them!) to be involved in building the Lord's Kingdom even more than ever before.  Until the whole world hears...

New ministry newsletter

For those interested, the latest version of The Calvary Compass, our ministry newsletter, is now posted on the website (http://www.calvarycampus.org/) and available for reading online.  The paper version should be back from the printer and mailed out sometime next week.

What a great Thanksgiving!

What a great Thanksgiving Weekend we have had!  Austin got in from school on Tuesday evening and we had dinner together as a family for the first time in quite a while.  Wednesday and Thursday were spent relaxing, talking and enjoying good food together and (of course) helping Austin get caught up on his laundry.  On Friday afternoon some good friends from Greenville, SC arrived to visit for the weekend and we had a great time with them. 

On Saturday we drove over to The Stables at Creekside Glen (Meridzo Equestrian Ministry) to help unload 200+ bales of Coastal Bermuda and to get 20 bales to help feed Rolex and Spices.  More good food and fellowship last night was followed up with a great worship service this morning, including another "hit the nail on the head" sermon from Brother Mike.  Our friends are now headed home to SC, Austin is headed back to school, Heather is practicing her piano, Rachael is napping, and we'll head out shortly for choir practice and evening church.  How blessed indeed we are - our cup overflows.

North Greenville U. Family Weekend

This past weekend we got to go down to North Greenville to visit with Austin during their "Family Weekend". We had a great time, and Rachael's parents even drive up for the festivities. Friday night was prime dinner followed by worship led by "Joyful Sound" and then some skits by ActII, both are BSU groups on campus. Saturday we had a great parent's session, brunch in the dining hall, visited a gun shop in Greenville that Austin had been wanting to check out, and even stopped by for a visit at the UpCountry History Museum (which was pretty kewl).

After that we went back to the Campus and played some pool in the student center, and then headed over to the stadium for our "Low Country Boil Supper" (shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes, chicken, etc) and to watch the Crusaders play Wesley College. Grandpa wore his Methodist hat with his NGU t-shirt, but he behaved and we didn't get tossed out or anything. :-) Sunday morning we worshipped together on Campus and then Sunday dinner in the dining hall. It was a great weekend and very good to see Austin doing so well.

Before we headed back, we made a stop at Campbell's Covered Bridge, just a few miles from the Campus.  This is the only covered bridge left standing in South Carolina.  It was quite nice - cool in the shade and quiet stream flowing.  Nice ending to a nice weekend. 

Austin in the museum

One of several 'ministry' statues on Campus...Christ washing Peter's feet

Beautiful stained glass adorning the main entrance to the football stadium

Heather at the covered bridge

Austin coming to Sunday AM worship

Austin the 'pool shark'

The family after Sunday worship

Smell the roses

Having been here in Kentucky for 5 1/2 years, we have learned to appreciate a lot of new favorite things. It's funny how your perspective and priorities can change so subtly that you aren't aware of it at the time, but in ways that can be quite profound. One of our new "favorites" is our new favorite time of the day.

Regardless of how busy the days are and what important things have to be done, and the myriad of places to go and people to see, one of the things that remains constant...every evening we feed the horses. Yes, we do know that you don't have to feed horses every day, especially in the summer, but it's a great way to "keep 'em comin' to the barn", if you know what I mean. We also give them supplements they need through their feed as well. Anyway, so every day we feed horses. Rain, heat, sunshine, thunderstorm, late at night, snow or ice (yes we do get that), and extreme cold aside, regardless of the weather or how tired we are, we feed horses.

Even though it is a chore in a sense, we find ourselves looking forward to it most days and lingering for a while at the fence after they are fed almost every day. There's just something very special about a 1,500 pound bundle of affection rubbing their nose on you and hanging their neck around your shoulder and leaning closer so you'll scratch the top of their head. They love to be loved on, and we love to do it. Tonight was no exception, but as we were walking away I couldn't help but notice the picture I was seeing. I didn't have a good camera with me, but I did have my phone, so here it is. Hope you enjoy the picture and hope you have moments like this in your life. Not necessarily with horses, but here's to stopping to smell the roses.

New Chapter

We have started a new chapter in our lives. Austin is now a Freshman at North Greenville University in Tigerville, SC. We moved him into his dorm room yesterday morning, ate lunch together in the "caf", picked up a couple of last minute items at the campus bookstore and then went to a parent/student meeting. After the meeting, we drove back over to the dorm and said our goodbyes, admitedly with a few tears shed.

While we are excited for him and looking forward to the opportunities the future holds, we are still missing him already. Pray with us that the Lord will do great things in this new chapter in his life.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phillipians 1:3-6

Chuggin' along...

It really HAS been almost a month since I have updated. For that I apologize. I did have my shoulder surgery on July 9th and was home that night and into therapy the next day. Dr. Visk got the bone spurs scraped out of the AC joint and found that there was actually no tearing or visible damage to the rotator cuff or any tendons or ligaments. PTL! He did find, however, that at some unknown point in the past (years ago), I had broken my collar bone and there were bone fragments floating around in there and he cleaned that out was well. I am doing fine, although I find myself wishing I was already 100% back to health and strength and endurance. Ha. The Lord has a sense of humor.

We are all doing great, continuing to enjoy some great mission teams and seeing the Lord do some pretty amazing things in and through them. Austin is down to just 23 days until time for us to move him into the dorm for freshman orientation at North Greenville University. He has met (over the phone) his roomate and he sounds like a really nice guy. Austin is certainly excited and looking forward to going off to school, but also has some first-time jitters. Heather is still enjoying seeing old friends on the mission teams and making new ones as well. Rachael is holding us all together with her superior juggling skills.

We hope this finds you doing well and making a difference in your neck of the woods.

Here we go again... God is still on His throne!

When I started this blog a year and a half ago, the intention was to make it like a daily journal (or at least a couple of times a week), where anyone who wanted to could kinda look over my shoulder and see what was going on with our family and what the Lord was teaching us. I never imagined that it would turn into a medical journal! LOL

Indeed, it is time for more surgery. Some of you may know that I have been having problems with my right shoulder since around Christmas, but may not know that it has gotten progressively worse in the last month and a half or so. When I went down to Spartanburg in May for my kidney surgery check-up, I stopped in to see my orthopedic doctor, who gave me a cortisone shot and said that it might “hold me” until the summer was over. Unfortunately it hasn’t. I have an arthritic bone spur in my AC joint, creating an “impingement”, which will tear the rotator cuff if left alone. So, on July 9th, I will have arthroscopic surgery (outpatient) to correct this.

The doctor says I will only have to take it easy for a week or so, but that I will pretty much be out of doing any “hard labor” for six weeks or more. As you can imagine, this will insure I will finish out my summer “sabbatical” from working with mission teams here.

I wish I could tell you that I knew the significance and deeper meaning of this one, but right now I am just accepting that that Lord is saying “I said… sit down!” Once again, I find myself saying that I know God is able, that He is walking through the fire with us, and that we submit our lives for His glory. Let’s keep our eyes on the Father as we wait to see where He leads next. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Still living one day at a time with eternity in view,
Jamie

Wow, it's hard to believe it has been so long since I last updated the blog. We have been so busy I didn't even realize... Things are going very well, we have already had 4 great mission teams in and out, lots of progress on several projects, 2 kids saved in VBS and and we now have a great team here this week from Rockford, IL doing VBS at 2 churches. Pray for us! LOL :-)

Thank you so much for your encouragement, cards and emails and most especially for your prayers throughout my cancer diagnosis, surgery and recovery. I am now about 90% recovered from the surgery and feeling better every day. Most days I do pretty good at following the doctor's and Rachael's orders, but you know how it is when things need to be done. I go back in November for another CT scan and blood work, but only as a precaution to insure I am still cancer free. We are blessed beyond measure to have God as our Physician and Provider, and you as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Many blessings to you and yours!

Quick Update

Things are going well this week, just crazy busy as always. We had a great time visiting with Tabernacle Baptist in Pelzer, SC on Sunday and even discovered we had been praying for their pastor for the last two years, but had not made the connection that he was their pastor until we got there! How "small world" is that?! He is doing great and we are looking forward to their visit to the Campus in July and seeing what the Lord will do.

Austin got registered on Saturday at NGU, and he is really starting to get excited about starting school in the Fall. Rachael and I are wondering where the time went. After 18 years, our buddy is going to be moving into the dorm in 83 days. When did THAT happen?

We were able to get The Calvary Compass (our ministry newsletter) in the mail on Tuesday, so if you have not recieved it by now it probably means we do not have you on our mailing list. If you would like to be, just shoot me an email with your snail mail address and we will get it out to you. If you would like, you can also read it online at www.CalvaryCampus.org

We are going to try to get our garden planted this weekend, so hopefully we haven't waited too late. (Here's a couple of pictures of Austin doing the last round of tilling yesterday.) After the temps (low 40's) we had a few nights ago, maybe it's OK. Many blessings! Have a great day!

Updates and such

Well friends, we are delighted to tell you that my 3-week checkup Thursday went great! Dr. Kinard said I am progressing fine (not as slowly as I thought), and that I am right on schedule for where I should be recovery-wise. He did say that he missed the fact (when I was still in the hospital) on my path report that it was indeed a stage-3 tumor, but he said even that was good news in that it was a HUGE blessing that this stage-3 cancer was caught and removed before it could get outside the kidney. God is sooo good! My next visit will be in November for a CT scan and blood work, just to make sure everything is still as it should be. Praise Him, Praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness! Sing, oh earth, His wonderful love proclaim!

Yesterday we were at the orthopedic doctor for my right shoulder. Yes, I am falling apart at the seams...LOL. Even this was great news in that the problem is my AC joint (where the collar bone meets the shoulder) and he gave me a steroid shot in the joint and he said that should clear it up. If not, he will need to go in and scrape away some of the rough stuff in the joint, so pray with me that the steroid shot will be all the cure that's needed.

Right now I am sitting with Heather and Rachael in Einstein's Cafe, across the street from North Greenville University while Austin is going through placement testing and pre-registration. We walked around the Campus for a bit and even bought a NGU coffee cup in the bookstore, so now we are enjoying a cafe mocha and free wi-fi. Thank you all so much for your prayers, notes of encouragement, emails, cards and everything. I am blessed beyond measure with the best family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ. My cup indeed runneth over!

Tomorrow we will be at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Pelzer, SC. A mission team from their church will be coming to the Campus this summer and we will be sharing the ministry slide show with them during Sunday School and I will be preaching in the morning worship service. After lunch at the church we will be headed back home. Pray with us that we can be an encouragement to the folks at Tabernacle and that the Lord will give me the right words to say from His Word. Pray also that we will have safe travel home. We love you all! Many blessings to you and yours!