BOO’S NEWS

BOO’S NEWS

Updated July 6, 2007

I would like to share with you something that we recently experienced.  It was a Saturday night in June and we had a singing at a church that we had never been to before.  We were anxious and excited because we love going to new churches and meeting new people.  It was a small and friendly church that sat just outside of town.  The service began and we were called up to sing.  After we finished singing, the choir director stood up and asked if there was anyone else who would like to sing.  That is when I heard this voice from the back.  From where I was sitting I couldn’t see her without turning around, so I just sat and waited.  She said that she was just passing through and that she had never been to this church before, but that she had a song on her heart that she would like to sing.  The choir director told her to come on up and sing.  She stepped outside to get her guitar and then made her way down the aisle.  As she passed by my pew I turned to look at her and thought to myself that this lady was different.  She started to sing with one of the purest, sweetest, most innocent voices that I have ever heard.  Some people may have thought of her as an average singer, but to me it was captivating.  The message in her song was about forgiving someone that had done you wrong, just as God forgives us.  When she was finished she said thank you and started to walk off the stage. Someone in the congregation spoke out and asked her what her name was.  She softly spoke “Elizabeth” and then went and sat down.  As the service was coming to an end the choir director asked if anyone had anything to say before we dismissed?  Once again Elizabeth spoke up.  She said she felt like someone needed to let go of the hurt in his or her heart and let forgiveness take place.  She said if we don’t forgive others then God won’t hear our prayers.  The service ended and everyone stood around outside and talked.  Someone asked Elizabeth where she lived.  She said right now she was geographically challenged and really didn’t have a particular place to live.  That seemed a little odd.  I forgot to describe to you what Elizabeth looked like.  She wore a long denim-like jumper with a  matching bonnet on her head and the sweetest smile on her face.   She looked as if she came from another period in time.

           I think back at that service and I wonder was Elizabeth an angel or was she just a humble servant doing what the Lord told her to do?  I’m not sure, but I do know this: Elizabeth’s song and testimony hit home to me.  The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:2  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

                                                 Boo

 Psalm 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Updated April 30, 2005

            In some of our songs, Jamey and I write about how God is with us through the storms and valleys in our lives.  We recently experienced this first hand when our daughter Hailee, came to us and showed us  several knots on her neck.  At first, we were not worried, but when we took Hailee to the doctor, he was immediately very concerned.  Results from tests did not look very good and the feelings that we experienced  as her parents were scary.  Hailee continued to get worse and even had to be admitted to the hospital.  None of the doctors knew exactly what was wrong with her.  We heard all the bad news it could be and as parents we were  heartbroken and felt helpless.

          When all of this started, we instantly turned to family and friends for prayer and support.  James 5:15 says, “The prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up.” 

          On the way to the hospital with Hailee, we found out that the doctors thought that Hailee had mono.  Even though Hailee had to stay in the hospital for 2 days, we were grateful that God was helping our daughter.  She has had to recover slowly, but today she is well.

          Hailee had to withdraw from nursing school, but will be returning to school this month.  I can’t express how grateful we are for God’s healing our little girl. We also are so thankful to all of you for your prayers and the kindness you showed us during this time.

          As we all go through life, we experience things like Hailee’s  sickness.  It is easy for us to all FEEL the emotion of songs about life trials, valleys, or storms when we think of these kinds of experiences in our lives.  Praise God, though, we have all weathered these things through God’s mercy.

Updated April 30, 2005

      Recently my husband Jamey and I were discussing a preacher’s message he had heard about TIME.   Time is something so precious that each one of us takes for granted everyday.  Time is kind of like money.  You spend it, but are you getting the true value out of it?  As each second of our lives tick away, that time is gone and never will return again. 

This preacher said one of the best gifts that you could give someone is you time.  Time is priceless.  To spend time with someone and give them your undivided attention is a gift that they will remember for a lifetime. 

We all need someone to talk to, to discuss how our day went or to talk about some burden that we are carrying.  When you have someone really listening and really caring, that is one of the best gifts that a person could give you.  So many times we get wrapped up in our own lives and our own problems, that we get self-centered and forget what Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia.  “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

 The biggest heartache that I have ever experienced was the loss of my mother.  I thank God that he blessed with loved ones and with friends in my life to cry with, to say some uplifting words,  or just to listen to me in my time of grief.  Sometimes that is all we can do for someone; just listen.  That may be all they want or need at the time.

Going through this experience has made me have the desire to be a better servant for God.  Being there for someone, giving them my time and maybe making their burden a little lighter.  I know I’m not much, but God can use all of us.  We just need to be willing.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.  (1 John 3:18)

Updated April 30, 2004

       First of all I would like to thank everyone who came and supported our singing with Jody Brown and the Indian Family and the Carter's. Thanks to everyone who helped and made donations. We love and appreciate all of you!
I personally would like to thank Chad, Polly, and Julee for all of the work they did. Every time we put together a singing like this, they are the one's who the rest of us depend on to direct us on what needs to be done next. I love and appreciate you guys very much.
    Second Mother's Day is right around the corner, so I would like to make this edition of Boo's News about Mother's Day. What is the meaning of the word "MOTHER"? I am sure that the dictionary has a nice version of the scientific meaning of the word, but I think it goes way beyond that. I don't believe that you can define the true meaning in just a couple of sentences. I would like to share a true story with you between a Mother and her daughter that demonstrates a good example to me of what a Mother is.
    My dearest friend was in the hospital in labor with her first child. It wasn't quiet time for delivery yet, so the doctors allowed visitors to go in and see her. I was sitting in the waiting room when her grandparents arrived, so I told them that I would take them to see her. As we entered her room, which was filled with several visitors already, my friend's Mother decided to leave the room so that it wouldn't be so crowded. As my friend watched her Mother walk toward the door she cried out "Momma Don't Leave Me!" Her Mother smiled and walked back to her daughter's bedside.
    I often think back at that story. I feel there was two reasons my friend didn't want her Mother to leave. One, she was scared and in pain and she needed comfort that only the presence of her Mother could bring. Two, she was about to experience a miracle and she wanted her Mother, her best friend, to be there and experience everything about this miracle with her.
    So I think because of all of the unconditional love a Mother shows, the good example she lives, the encouraging and comforting words she says, the way she knows how to take care of her household and the countless other things I could name that she does, are the reasons why your Mother is the one you want by your side to share the bad times and the good times with. To me that is how I would define the word Mother.
    I wish every Mother out there a Happy Mother's Day. I want to say I thank God for the wonderful, Christian, Mother that he blessed me with and I thank him for blessing me with two wonderful children whom I love dearly.

            Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
            her husband also, and he praiseth her.
                        Proverbs 31:28

       
        Dedicated in memory of Peggy Caldwell Brackett
        My Mother My Friend.

Updated Nov. 20, 2003
            While  I was at work recently I felt an awesome presence of the Lord.  I started praying that He would fill me up and use me and that He would lay a song on my heart.  Well, He did! I started writing the words and singing to a tune and I tell you I felt like my cup was running over.  Even if no one else will get a blessing from the song or even ever hear it, it ministered to me and blessed me.

    As I was writing the song, I started thinking about how blessed I am. I sit in churches and watch the congregation as they listen to our songs.  I’ll see someone raise their hand to “I’m Saved” or  I’ll see someone shed a tear at “God Can” or “Can We Talk” and I just thank the Lord for using a song that Jamey or I have written to bless someone or help someone make it through a difficult day or comfort a broken heart, or make them want to praise your name for all you have given them, or most importantly seeing the need of salvation if they are lost. It is such a blessing that God has given me and Jamey to do his work by writing songs and knowing something you are doing is a blessing to someone else. Sometimes we have doubts about what it is the Lord wants us to do, but it is so reassuring when we see other Christians worshipping and rejoicing his name through music ministry.
  
   While I was at work  and writing and singing this song, a lady walked up to me and asked if I was writing a song. I told her I was. She told me her grandmother had recently died and as she and her family traveled to Michigan for the funeral her mother got out the Twice Born CD’s. She said the songs were really a comfort. They played the song  “God Can” at the funeral. I wrote this song a few months after my mother was killed in a car wreck. Even though this song was written about my mother, the lady told me it felt like it was written for her and her family too. As she told me this story and then walked away I thanked God again for showing me I am doing something that really matters.  Even though I am just a small piece of the puzzle, I am a piece and I matter..

   There are two points to this newsletter.  One, I want to thank God for showing me what he wants me to do for Him. Two, if there is someone or something that has truly been a blessing to you like your preacher, a teacher, a family member, a friend, or whoever, could you let them know you appreciate them and their work for the Lord?

   Oh, Father, my prayer is that we would be willing to do what you ask of us and that we give you all of the  praise and glory for it.
                                                -AMEN

"AND LET US NOT BE WEARY IN WELL DOING: FOR IN DUE SEASON WE SHALL REAP, IF WE FAINT NOT."
        GALATIONS 6:9 

Home