Post by benshelpmeet on May 26, 2009 13:07:25 GMT -5
Dear Friends,
We have needed alot of prayer recently the past month or so, lots of discouragement, and hardship. I have not wanted to ask prayer.
Not sure who is Friend or Foe
People you thought were your friends turning on you, conniving behind your back, talking against you, turning hearts against you, manipulating. This is deeply hurtful.
Then Ben's health has worsened because of all the drama, and stress, he almost became so bad off health wise with his arthritis, that he was thinking he was going to loose his job, this was extremely discouraging to him. He is the provider for our large family. The Lord encouraged him and brought him back up to where he could keep a job, he is still of course not healed of his affliction (which he has suffered for 23 years) but the can work, ( but with much effort, pain, and affliction.) Please keep him in your prayers.
My health has been suffering too, stress causes my kidneys to act up, not to mention my heart, my sleep is affected too.
The Lord has been with us through it all.
We have questioned, if the Internet is really worth all of the stress. We desire to encourage, and bless others through this site. It has not been without it's adversaries.
1Co 16:9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
The ministry is not without it's troubles, and problems, when one is ministering for the Lord they are put on a higher than human pedestal, and scrutinized heavily, every word, thought, and even the intent of their heart. Which no one but God knows that.
This does not mean one should crumble to pressure and not minister for God, these are just the tactics of Satan to get you to quit. If he can shut up your voice for God he has won a victory. So yet again we march on for the Lord. Not looking behind but forward. Encouraging ourselves in the Lord.
The Lord is our encourager too! What would we do without the Lord, He encourages, provides our needs, sends blessings our way.
Saturday May 2nd....Bro Ben and I have a Cuban Attorney friend that showed us how they make and drink Cuban coffee, ( when we were visiting at his house his wife made it for us ) We really liked it. It is Espresso they pronounce it Expresso. He knew I wanted a Cuban coffee pot so when he went to Miami Fl to visit his family, he bought me a coffee pot and creamer cup to cream the sugar in. He gave this to me the week end before mothers day, as a gift, he had given me a bag of Cuban coffee (Pilon), on our first visit to his house.
Sunday May 10th... Bro Ben took me to the'' Bed Bath and Beyond'' store and bought me a demitasse coffee set, it has a metal holder for the six white cups, and the 6 white saucers. It is a nice set. We could not find a Cuban looking set, just a whit set, we are going to keep looking.
Our friend says he will pick me up a set next time he goes for a visit to Miami Florida.
Cuban expresso (espresso) has to be drank in small coffee mugs, because you only get about 1/4 cup of coffee. ;D Not much, but boy is it good.
My coffee pot is a 6 cup coffee pot, and it makes 1 1/2 cups of espresso.
Monday May 11.... Bro Ben and I was driving to the grocery store and saw a man on the side of the road holding a sign that said,
'' Free Bibles, While They Last. ''
Well our curiosity caused us to go find out who this man was. Come to find out he is an Ind Fund Baptist (that doesn't like to be called one, he says he likes to just be called christian because he just happens to attend a Baptist church. That was neat!
He has only been saved for a little over a year and is on fire for God! He was such a blessing and encouragement to talk too.
He is from Chattanooga (2 1/2 hours away) and is an Electrician, he has been working in our town (from Mondays to Thursdays, then returning home for the weekends,) since February!
We invited him to our house for a meal, his face lit up, and he said he'd love that! He said he wished he would have met us sooner, and we felt the same about him. We call him the Evangelists, he really loves the Lord, and seeks to tell lost souls about the saving Grace of Jesus!
Tuesday May 12th.... The next day he came to our house for a meal, we had a wonderful time of fellowship, he is very learned in the scriptures, and drawing close to God. He was a great encouragement to us, to meet a christian who loves Jesus with his whole heart.
Friday May 15th.... Our neighbor across the highway has chickens,( big white Araucana's, they lay green eggs, they are very unique ) She came over and asked if we wanted her Rooster and Two Hens, She said she had Three but when she penned them up, wild dogs got in and ate one. She said she penned them up to keep them out of her flower beds. That can be frustrating!
We went over and turned the children loose and they caught every one of them, that was not easy either, she had taken them out of the pen so the dogs would not get to them, and she said for us to come after dark when they would be roosting, so we did. Those birds flew and ran all over the place and it was dark, the children had a squealing blast trying to catch them, and catch them they did...they even caught the big wiley rooster. The elderly couple were surprised that they caught all of them and they were over joyed.
They gave us about 5 gallons of Black Walnuts.
Yummy! She said, she had collected them this fall and had not done anything with them, and was going to throw them out for the squirrels, but she said she couldn't do that, so when we stopped by to visit she gave them all to us! 
What a blessing!
Tuesday May 19th.... Bro Ben went to a thrift store in Nashville and found me a set of two ''Juan Valdez'', demitasse coffee cups and saucers. They are so nice. They look authentic. He was so excited about giving them to me. He could hardly wait to get home so I could make Cuban expresso and we could try out our new cups.
Friday May 22nd.... Our Cuban friend knows our refrigerator is going on the blink, it rotted a brand new jug of milk 3 days after we bought it, and some newly opened luncheon meat went bad.
Well he called us up and said his friend was having a garage sale, and he did not have a refrigerator but he had a stand up freezer for $30.00 and a hide a bed for $30.00, so we went and bought them. The freezer is pretty nice, and the bed is needed too.
We have asked our neighbor, and a few friends here in our town, to let us know if they hear of a good used refrigerator for sale, because ours is on it's last leg. I told my elderly grandmother so she could pray for us.
Saturday May 23rd.... We got a phone call from Lowe's a building supply store in our town, telling us that they were delivering a 14 cubit foot freezer today between 10:00 and 2:00...What! 
A freezer, from who? Well they could not tell from who, just that it was suppose to be delivered to Ben Smith at our house, and they called our phone #. Wow! How neat! I told Ben, he said well that is wonderful, but we are freezer rich, and refrigerator poor. He said for me to call and see if they would swap it for a Refrigerator so I did, the young man said the delivery guys had not loaded up or left yet. ;D Yippee!
So he then told me, he could swap it. Great! How much is the 14 cubit freezer? He said, ''it costs $449.00, and he could swap it for a 18 cubit foot white Frigidaire refrigerator! Wow! How wonderful! They delivered and set up our brand new refrigerator! Oh Praise The Lord! God is so very good! I can hardly believe it! We cannot figure out who would have blessed us like this. Who knows, maybe the Lord Himself ordered it to be sent. We know when man blesses it is by the prompting of God.
We are so thankful for our new refrigerator! It's beautiful, it works great, and it's Free! I went out and bought 2 gallons of milk and a jug of buttermilk. We are so blessed and so Thankful!
Monday May 25th Memorial Day!....We got a call from the meat processing plant to come Wednesday and pick up ''Free Beef'', about 4 coolers worth, from an unknown source that gives us Organic grown beef every time the man butchers a Steer.
This has happened Jan 08, April 08, Dec 08, and now again May 09. This is very good tasting beef. We are so blessed to get it. When it runs out, were never sure if the blessing will come again, but when it does...Boy are we thankful, and blessed. We get to pick up our 4 coolers worth of beef Tomarrow! God is so Good!
Well the last month or so has been filled with heart aches, and struggles, but the blessings, and encouragements of the Lord have been almost constant. We have alot to be thankful for.
I know I did not feel confident enough to ask prayer on board here for our health needs, and physical need of a refrigerator, but the Lord heard my prayers, and has blessed over and beyond. He hears our heart cries and answers our prayers, and provides our need. Thank you Lord for all you do for me and my family.
Blessings, ~ sister Darlene ~
We have needed alot of prayer recently the past month or so, lots of discouragement, and hardship. I have not wanted to ask prayer.
Not sure who is Friend or FoePeople you thought were your friends turning on you, conniving behind your back, talking against you, turning hearts against you, manipulating. This is deeply hurtful.
Then Ben's health has worsened because of all the drama, and stress, he almost became so bad off health wise with his arthritis, that he was thinking he was going to loose his job, this was extremely discouraging to him. He is the provider for our large family.
The Lord encouraged him and brought him back up to where he could keep a job, he is still of course not healed of his affliction (which he has suffered for 23 years) but the can work, ( but with much effort, pain, and affliction.) Please keep him in your prayers.My health has been suffering too, stress causes my kidneys to act up, not to mention my heart, my sleep is affected too.
The Lord has been with us through it all.
We have questioned, if the Internet is really worth all of the stress. We desire to encourage, and bless others through this site. It has not been without it's adversaries.1Co 16:9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
The ministry is not without it's troubles, and problems, when one is ministering for the Lord they are put on a higher than human pedestal, and scrutinized heavily, every word, thought, and even the intent of their heart.
Which no one but God knows that.This does not mean one should crumble to pressure and not minister for God, these are just the tactics of Satan to get you to quit. If he can shut up your voice for God he has won a victory. So yet again we march on for the Lord. Not looking behind but forward. Encouraging ourselves in the Lord.
The Lord is our encourager too! What would we do without the Lord, He encourages, provides our needs, sends blessings our way.
Saturday May 2nd....Bro Ben and I have a Cuban Attorney friend that showed us how they make and drink Cuban coffee, ( when we were visiting at his house his wife made it for us ) We really liked it. It is Espresso they pronounce it Expresso. He knew I wanted a Cuban coffee pot so when he went to Miami Fl to visit his family, he bought me a coffee pot and creamer cup to cream the sugar in. He gave this to me the week end before mothers day, as a gift, he had given me a bag of Cuban coffee (Pilon), on our first visit to his house.
Sunday May 10th... Bro Ben took me to the'' Bed Bath and Beyond'' store and bought me a demitasse coffee set, it has a metal holder for the six white cups, and the 6 white saucers. It is a nice set. We could not find a Cuban looking set, just a whit set, we are going to keep looking.
Our friend says he will pick me up a set next time he goes for a visit to Miami Florida.
Cuban expresso (espresso) has to be drank in small coffee mugs, because you only get about 1/4 cup of coffee. ;D Not much, but boy is it good.
My coffee pot is a 6 cup coffee pot, and it makes 1 1/2 cups of espresso.
Monday May 11.... Bro Ben and I was driving to the grocery store and saw a man on the side of the road holding a sign that said,
'' Free Bibles, While They Last. ''
Well our curiosity caused us to go find out who this man was. Come to find out he is an Ind Fund Baptist (that doesn't like to be called one, he says he likes to just be called christian because he just happens to attend a Baptist church. That was neat!
He has only been saved for a little over a year and is on fire for God! He was such a blessing and encouragement to talk too.
He is from Chattanooga (2 1/2 hours away) and is an Electrician, he has been working in our town (from Mondays to Thursdays, then returning home for the weekends,) since February!
We invited him to our house for a meal, his face lit up, and he said he'd love that! He said he wished he would have met us sooner, and we felt the same about him. We call him the Evangelists, he really loves the Lord, and seeks to tell lost souls about the saving Grace of Jesus!Tuesday May 12th.... The next day he came to our house for a meal, we had a wonderful time of fellowship, he is very learned in the scriptures, and drawing close to God. He was a great encouragement to us, to meet a christian who loves Jesus with his whole heart.
Friday May 15th.... Our neighbor across the highway has chickens,( big white Araucana's, they lay green eggs, they are very unique ) She came over and asked if we wanted her Rooster and Two Hens, She said she had Three but when she penned them up, wild dogs got in and ate one.
She said she penned them up to keep them out of her flower beds. That can be frustrating!We went over and turned the children loose and they caught every one of them, that was not easy either, she had taken them out of the pen so the dogs would not get to them, and she said for us to come after dark when they would be roosting, so we did.
Those birds flew and ran all over the place and it was dark, the children had a squealing blast trying to catch them, and catch them they did...they even caught the big wiley rooster. The elderly couple were surprised that they caught all of them and they were over joyed.They gave us about 5 gallons of Black Walnuts.
Yummy! She said, she had collected them this fall and had not done anything with them, and was going to throw them out for the squirrels, but she said she couldn't do that, so when we stopped by to visit she gave them all to us! 
What a blessing! Tuesday May 19th.... Bro Ben went to a thrift store in Nashville and found me a set of two ''Juan Valdez'', demitasse coffee cups and saucers. They are so nice. They look authentic. He was so excited about giving them to me. He could hardly wait to get home so I could make Cuban expresso and we could try out our new cups.
Friday May 22nd.... Our Cuban friend knows our refrigerator is going on the blink, it rotted a brand new jug of milk 3 days after we bought it, and some newly opened luncheon meat went bad.
Well he called us up and said his friend was having a garage sale, and he did not have a refrigerator but he had a stand up freezer for $30.00 and a hide a bed for $30.00, so we went and bought them. The freezer is pretty nice, and the bed is needed too.
We have asked our neighbor, and a few friends here in our town, to let us know if they hear of a good used refrigerator for sale, because ours is on it's last leg. I told my elderly grandmother so she could pray for us.
Saturday May 23rd.... We got a phone call from Lowe's a building supply store in our town, telling us that they were delivering a 14 cubit foot freezer today between 10:00 and 2:00...What!
A freezer, from who? Well they could not tell from who, just that it was suppose to be delivered to Ben Smith at our house, and they called our phone #. Wow! How neat! I told Ben, he said well that is wonderful, but we are freezer rich, and refrigerator poor. He said for me to call and see if they would swap it for a Refrigerator so I did, the young man said the delivery guys had not loaded up or left yet. ;D Yippee!So he then told me, he could swap it.
Great! How much is the 14 cubit freezer? He said, ''it costs $449.00, and he could swap it for a 18 cubit foot white Frigidaire refrigerator! Wow! How wonderful! They delivered and set up our brand new refrigerator! Oh Praise The Lord! God is so very good! I can hardly believe it! We cannot figure out who would have blessed us like this. Who knows, maybe the Lord Himself ordered it to be sent. We know when man blesses it is by the prompting of God. We are so thankful for our new refrigerator! It's beautiful, it works great, and it's Free!
I went out and bought 2 gallons of milk and a jug of buttermilk. We are so blessed and so Thankful!Monday May 25th Memorial Day!....We got a call from the meat processing plant to come Wednesday and pick up ''Free Beef'', about 4 coolers worth, from an unknown source that gives us Organic grown beef every time the man butchers a Steer.
This has happened Jan 08, April 08, Dec 08, and now again May 09. This is very good tasting beef. We are so blessed to get it. When it runs out, were never sure if the blessing will come again, but when it does...Boy are we thankful, and blessed.
We get to pick up our 4 coolers worth of beef Tomarrow! God is so Good! Well the last month or so has been filled with heart aches, and struggles, but the blessings, and encouragements of the Lord have been almost constant. We have alot to be thankful for.
I know I did not feel confident enough to ask prayer on board here for our health needs, and physical need of a refrigerator, but the Lord heard my prayers, and has blessed over and beyond. He hears our heart cries and answers our prayers, and provides our need. Thank you Lord for all you do for me and my family.
Blessings, ~ sister Darlene ~
