Last Saturday was the 60th Anniversary of our Pastor Bill Jackson in his ministry as a preacher. He started to preach at the age of 17 and until now he’s still preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and winning souls for Jesus. He served the Lord that long, and he and his devoted wife Ms. Joyce are still faithfully serving the Lord. The celebration was from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. There were lots of people who came, members from our church, friends and kins of the pastor who came all the way from other state. The fellowship hall was really crowded and most of all there were lots of foods. All the church members brought foods and there were lots of leftovers that they had frozen for the coming Songfest on Sunday afternoon. The church members and the friends of Pastor Bill showed their love and appreciation for all the things he has done by giving him gifts and greeting cards. Also there was a video made especially for him for his 60 years of ministry. It was really a good celebration and fellowship at the same time.

Below are photos of Bro. Bill & Ms Joyce as they opened their gifts.

My husband and I with Bro. Bill:

The buffet table full of foods:

Sofia and I:

me with friends Sofia & Toni:

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George got to preached in our church yesterday night. It was 3 years ago since the last time he preached and that was when we were still in Alvarado. When our pastor here in Wichita Falls learned that George is a licensed and ordained preacher, he said that one of these days he’s gonna let him preach. Last Sunday night after our church service, the pastor talked to George and told him to get ready because he’s gonna preach Wednesday night. My husband has been preparing his message and then he told me that he already got one last Monday. But then he felt that the Lord wanted him to preach another message so he changed it and made another one on Tuesday. I’ve been praying for George everyday to the Lord to give him heavenly wisdom so he can deliver his message with confidence and peace. I prayed to God to use George in a mighty way and I asked the Holy Spirit to be with him as he brings the message. I know it’s not easy to speak infront of many people especially this is his first time to preach in our church here in Wichita Falls and also it’s been a long time since the last time he preached. When we were in the Philippines, our pastor there asked him to preach in our church a number of times. I remember the first time George was asked to preach in our church in the Philippines, the pastor announced to the congregation during Sunday morning service that George is gonna preach in the evening service. So that night, the attendance in our church increased. Our church members who don’t usually attend the evening service came to hear my husband preach. It’s not everyday that they hear and see an American preach in our church so maybe they got curious. The congregation were so quiet and they were listening so intently that you can even here the sound of a needle drop on the floor. I know that George got conscious or maybe a lil’ bit nervous that he didn’t preach that long. But the next time he was asked to preached again, he was already relaxed and preached longer. Last night before we went to church, I suggested to my husband that we should pray first. So we held each other’s hands and prayed to God to be with him as bring his message in the church. We asked God to speak through him and use him as a tool to share God’s word. Before we left I took this photo of him.

We arrived early at the church because I know that George is looking forward to preach and perhaps excited. I’m excited too to hear him preach again so I took a photo of him while we were waiting for the service to begin.

Then I asked my friend Sofia to take a photo of me and George, (napaghahalata talaga ang mahilig magpapicture, lol).

When it was time for my husband to preach, I listened to him but my heart was beating fast. I was the one who was nervous. Before George started his message, he told the congregation first about his life before he got saved and how the good Lord has changed him when he surrendered his life to God. He got saved October 18, 1986 and he was ordained as a preacher August 13, 1989. The title of his message was "Can We Limit God Almighty?" His text verses were Psalms 78: 35-42. He outlined 3 things that limit God. I) Inconsistent Christian living limits God (Isa. 59:2), II) Lack of faith limits God (Matt. 13:58), III) Shallow and selfish prayers limit God (James 4:3). My husband had delivered his message well and it took him maybe more than 30 minutes to preach his message.

After the service, most of our church members came to shake my hubby’s hand and told him his message was a blessing. Well, I shook his hand too and told him, well done my beloved preacher husband. I believe that the Holy Spirit had a free reign and just used my husband to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. George was not really a talker. In fact he is shy and don’t like to be in a big crowd. He said that when he was still a student, he didn’t want to do a book report because he was so shy to speak infront of the class. But now, when it comes to sharing the Word of God, it’s different. He overcame his shyness and become bold in sharing God’s Word and speak infront of the people. That’s the power of God there. He changed people only if they let Him. I took photos while my hubby was preaching but it was not clear as it should be because I had to turn off the flash of my digicam so it won’t distract the attention of the people.

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It’s been cold again today. It seems like winter came back. I went to see my vegetable plants at the back yard again and the leaves of my sweet potato (camote) is turning brown already. Also my cantaloupe seedlings are also turning a lil’ bit brownish all because of the cold temperature. My tomatoes and eggplant are still green though. I guessed I planted my vegetables early. When I planted them the weather was already warm and it’s been spring time but all of a sudden, cold weather decided to come back. Texas weather is really unpredictable. It changes so quick, like a fickle-minded lady. I’m waiting for the vegetable seeds that I sowed to germinate. I sowed different kinds of seeds and I’m keeping my fingers cross that they will soon spring out. Those vegetable seedlings that I planted, I bought them at Sutherlands except for the sweet potato.

Last year, my vegetable garden provided me fresh organic vegetables like tomatoes, squash, okra, bitter melon (ampalaya), string beans and bell pepper. I wish and pray that my garden will do good again this year. In our frontyard, my flowering plants are coming back like the sweet william, hibiscus, azalea, roses, lantana, mums, irises, and hydrangea. It was so windy yesterday that the flowers of my azalea got blown by the wind. The daffodils didn’t have flowers this time because it got so cold when they were about to bloom so the flowers withered before they bloomed. I like to plant perennial plants so they come back each year. I got tired planting annuals and they will just die during winter. It’s just a waste of time and money. I’m glad that my flowering plants are so green and my roses are about to bloom. I really love gardening. It thrills me when I see the flowers bloom and also when I reap my vegetables. There’s joy in sowing and reaping. I thank God for His bountiful blessings.

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I would like to feature my 2 friends here in my blogs namely Chu and Elena. Both of them are single, never been married and residing in Caloocan City, Philippines. They both work as electronics assembler for many years now. Chu is 30 and Elena is 31. Both of them are friendly, pretty, hard-working and jolly persons. They’ve been searching for that special someone in their life but until now they’re still searching and waiting, lol. They requested me to feature them here in my blogs. So if there are guys there who are interested just ask me their e-mail address and I will give it to you. Here are the photos of Chu and Elena respectively.

Request granted my friends. Good luck in your search.

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There’s a new addition in the Lowrey clan. Stacy gave birth on her 2nd baby on March 2 with a bouncing baby girl. They named the baby Consuelo Renee. She is cute and chubby baby. Consuelo is our 1st granddaughter and George is so much delighted. Imagine he has 5 grandsons already and finally here comes a granddaughter. Consuelo is growing so fast. I talked to Stacy on the phone yesterday and she told me that her baby has gained 2 lbs. already since the last time I saw her which was 3 weeks ago. Oh my, that baby really drinks a lot of milk. When we were there in Alvarado, she cried like every hour and each time she cries, she wants milk. I told Stacy and Manuel that Consuelo is like a piglet, LOL! Stacy said that she was planning to just give her baby water instead of milk and just limit her milk intake because infant formula is expensive but I don’t know if she really did that. Stacy also told me that her son L.A. got jealous when his baby sister was born. I think that’s just normal to every firstborn child that when they have a sibling, they don’t get the 100% attention of the parents anymore so they get jealous. That happened to my nephew Ken-Ken. When my sister gave birth to her 2nd son Mak-Mak, Ken-Ken got jealous. The attention of the parents suddenly shifted to the newborn baby but still they love their firstborn child. I took some photos of Consuelo when we went to visit them in Alvarado last spring break. Here they are:

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