Welcome to Les's Blog

Hello! I can't believe that I haven't written on this blog since the end of August! Things have been way too busy these past few months, well, 4 months. Now that I think about it, it is really inexcusable. I have been stressed. I have been tired. I have been distracted and I have been overwhelmed! I tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist, maybe more than a little bit. I just want everything to go just right. And I don't want to make mistakes. I want everything I do to be perfect. Well, life is not perfect. I am not perfect. Nothing is perfect. We make mistakes. We live through them. And as I get older I seem to get worse in these things . Life gets harder but God is the only One that can bring us through whatever things we are going through. Whatever mistakes we make. Whatever imperfections in our lives. HE is in control! HE is perfection! We don't have to be. HE is our Maker! HE is the author and perfecter of our faith! ...looking unto Jesus the author

  From the dock at Bluewater, Hilton Head Island, SC Hello! Last post I was talking about running away. We shouldn't run away from God but to God! I think that there is a song about running away from God. Here it is so listen to the words. I think that we have all been there at some point in time. Fugitive from God I did sort of run away and go to the beach, alone. You say, how could you do that? Well, we had an extra week paid for and hated to let it go to waste. My husband had to work. And I just did it! I did it actually seeking to find God and draw closer to Him. But I wanted Him to have His way! He certainly did! His glory was so evident! I met people, other Christians. And those who may not have been. The beach and the sunrises and sunsets were amazing. I took lots of pictures much to my husbands dismay. I came home and showed them all to him and he just shook his head and said that he can't understand why I take so many pictures of the same thing. A

Running away for me is first to God, then my husband and then to the beach! Good morning!                                                                                                              Earlier this month I talked about running away! Yes, running away! When we think about this we think about a child who gets mad at home because things at home are not going the way that they think they should. Maybe not going their own way! So, they run away! There is really no thought except to get away. Well, as an adult do we sometimes think that if only I can run away things will change! Then, things will go right! Now sometimes maybe so. Then again maybe not! Thinking about this, first of all, who or what do we want to run from? Are we running from God? "This Christian life is too hard." Or "life is too hard", if we are not Christians. Are we running from a person? (If we are running from a person, then maybe it is high time that we get some prof

  Good morning to you! "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus  Christ. I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God  which was given you in Christ Jesus..." 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 I have not written here for awhile. I believe that I didn't even finish the blog through the Choctaw Mission Trip. I always have great intentions but then we get so busy and exhausted that  I don't get take the time to finish. Then I get home and I choose to make a slideshow, video and picture DVD and then burn 40 or so DVD's for each team member (2 for each family because I couldn't fit it all on one) and write thank you notes and figure out our financial records for the week and send those to our ministry that registers and insures us. And then my Dad came for a week and then my son and family came for the weekend and then through all this I have a husband and a home to take care of, and among many other things too, a small busin

Happy 4th of July to you! Our God is an awesome God! I am so sorry that I didn't post this weekend. I was trying to catch up on my rest. I somehow caught a summer cold or bronchitis or something a couple of days into the mission trip and it has gotten worse instead of better.  But God is in control both of our circumstances as well as our country. I plan to keep my focus on Jesus no matter what. Even when I can't breathe or can't stop coughing. I hope that each of our team had the opportunity to brag on God or give our testimony at church yesterday of what God did while on the Choctaw Mission Trip. He is to be high and lifted up. He is to be honored and glorified. He blessed our team so much. The last couple of nights Lori's whole class prayed the prayer of salvation as well as 10 from Miss Debbie's class and 2 in Miss Stacey's class.  God knows their hearts. We must pray for those children. We must pray that they will be become disciples of Ch

Good day to you!  And it is a good day. An awesome day but somewhat of a sad day for our team. We had to say goodbye to each other. Our team, our circle of prayer, will never be the same. In all the years we have never had exactly the same team members. There is always those who come back and those who don't come back for whatever reason. We are always just very thankful that God puts our team together. We have made new friends and seen old friends. But I know that some of us have drawn closer to Jesus because of His amazing grace. This year we tried some things new. We had a young adult/parenting class. We also had an Biblical Abstinence/Responsibility lesson one night for the youth. One night was girls and one night was the boys. This turned out to be an amazing time. And this was something that was really needed. The Choctaw adults who came said that this was something that was really needed. They said that this should be done every year. The teen pregnancy rate  is ve

Hello all, We are so blessed! God is so good! I keep saying this over and over but it is so true. Tuesday night we had our biggest VBS in all our 31 years with 170 Choctaws coming to VBS. And we are surely praising God for it all. It didn't rain Tuesday except before we left to go to the church and it poured a bit. But then not on our VBS. Praise God! Last night we had an amazing group for VBS of 162. Another record attendance! Now these numbers I have been reporting are not including the team. All the numbers are Choctaw only! Children and adults! We have had more God moments on this trip than I have remembered. God is working mightily. We do not come here for us. We come here for the Choctaw people and Jesus! But we are truly blessed when we serve God. I know I am! And I hope the team is! Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this

Good morning to you! Yesterday was awesome. Our team is getting so much work done. Part of our team built and painted a new ramp for one of the dorms. Nick fixed the lawn mower and mowed the lawn. Some of the weeds were more than a foot tall. The weedeater, the tractor were both repaired also. Plumbing was fixed. A new sign for the mission is being made and will be installed. We have rented a tractor to demolish a house on the property and move an old fallen down church farther from the driveway. We plan to repair the gravel driveway from lots of erosion. And of course most important and top priority is our Vacation Bible School. God is so good! We had lots of God moments yesterday! Our number was 136 Choctaw who came to VBS last night. One of our God moments was that we prayed it wouldn't rain between 5 and 9 last night. God stopped the rain exactly between 5-9. We left to come back to the mission a few before 9 and then it started pouring. Praise God!  We have been s

  Good morning to you! "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus  Christ. I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God  which was given you in Christ Jesus..." 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 I have not written here for awhile. I believe that I didn't even finish the blog through the Choctaw Mission Trip. I always have great intentions but then we get so busy and exhausted that  I don't get take the time to finish. Then I get home and I choose to make a slideshow, video and picture DVD and then burn 40 or so DVD's for each team member (2 for each family because I couldn't fit it all on one) and write thank you notes and figure out our financial records for the week and send those to our ministry that registers and insures us. And then my Dad came for a week and then my son and family came for the weekend and then through all this I have a husband and a home to take care of, and among many other things too, a small busine

The Choctaw Children's Choir Good morning! How awesome God is! How wonderful are His ways. And they are not our thoughts or our ways. They are His alone! And they are amazing! Church yesterday at Great Spirit UMC in the Bogue Chitto community of the Choctaw Reservation was wonderful. The Choctaw Children's Choir sang in English and Choctaw. Part of our team sang as a put-together-quick choir. We kind of butchered 10000 Reasons. We didn't have the lyrics and the piano player didn't know it. But we did it anyway and God was there. Someone on our team gave a prayer. One who doesn't pray in public. Someone sang a solo who doesn't do that. The Holy Spirit was so strong and awesome. And God is so good! We had 116 Choctaw come to VBS last night. That is a great number for our first night. Usually it is around 90. So we praise God for that! I will add several pictures. This is all I can post today! It has taken me close to 5 hours

Good morning to you! As usual the first day arrival was a little chaotic. Stuff in the trailer ended up at the place for where we have VBS 25 miles away. But that is a normal day in the life of Choctaw. Choctaw time is not our time! Chaos is a little bit of a normalcy! Each year God gives us an awesome lesson in patience and faith in Him!  These pictures are bits and pieces of our team. First picture is of the group in the vicinity of Jones Chapel UMC, Athens, TN. Then we met up with  our group from Kingston UMC area. We met at McDonalds in Charleston, TN. Then we met up with the rest of our team from Bessemer, AL area. And now here we are in Choctaw, MS. And we praise God for it all!   “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16.33 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”   Psalms 46:1 “And let the peace that comes fr

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! We are on the road. We have 9 cars at least in our caravan. That is a little rough. When we get on the road it gets hard to know if we have all "our ducks in a row". We don't want to lose anyone before we even get there. Traffic was heavy in Chattanooga but not too bad. When we got into Birmingham it was stopped. Right before downtown it was four lanes having to go down to one lane. We lost an hour of time. O well! Isn't that like life? We get all busy with every thing going on around us. We flitter here and we flutter there and our focus is not where it should be. It is panic, and stress and so on. When all along our focus should have been on the One who loves us so much that He gave Himself on the cross for all our sins. And just maybe we wouldn't have had the panic and stress that we have had if our eyes were focused on Jesus! So we praise God for the team of 24 that He has put together. And we know that He is wi

Saturday it is! We leave Saturday  for the Choctaw Mission Trip!  How excited we are! How ready are we? My heart is certainly ready! But the team stuff and my stuff, not so much. Well, I am close and here I sit writing this. I had better get moving. I have been working hard on and off for a year since Bert, my husband, and I are the team leaders. I couldn't do it without Jesus leading and guiding me all the way. He is my hope and my stay (from Hymn-My Hope is Built, verse 3). Every year the team comprises some of the same people-Praise the Lord!-and many new people-Praise the Lord again. This trip is a great first mission trip. We don't go too far (6 hours from Chattanooga) and it doesn't cost a lot of money. To check out trip info (this year's), go to: www.lesbear.wix.com/choctaw . Soon after we get back from this trip, I will try to update the website for the 2017 trip. We go every year and this team has been serving God in this same place sin