Saturday, February 7, 2009, Nashville, TN., 10:45 a.m., C.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

Howdy!  Bill Sandusky here.  Hope this finds y'all well and happy!  I couldn't be any better; thanks for asking!

In a little under an hour, I will be joining up with some friends from church at Golden Corral; we will have lunch and fellowship together.  We've started doing this on the days where I'm off work (have been doing it for about a month now), and we really enjoy the time with each other!

Meanwhile, wifey is at work; and her parents get to watch the children, who are still probably in their beds as I write this.  :)  Yes, they are:  don't hear any activity or noise from their rooms; yes, they are still slumbering in dreamland! :)

Doesn't happen very often, this quiet time, especially this late.  Usually by now, Casa Sandusky is bursting with noise and activity.  I guess this is one reason why I really look forward to our dining out; that way, I can have some peace and quiet!  LOL

Church is going well:  we are gearing up for our revival, which is the week before Easter.  The Gaither Vocal Band and the MacGruders will be singing, sharing their testimony with those who attend the revival; it will be a most wonderful time in the Lord!  Then comes our Easter Cantata; we will probably do a dramatization about Christ's last days on Earth and the Crucifixion, as well as the Resurrection, where He rose from the dead:  anything to drive the real meaning of Easter home.

After that, in June, we will have our second installment of Cleansing Stream (or, as my son, Johnathon, calls it, Cleansing Scream! LOL).  For those who have attended the previous one back in November, they don't have to take the classes:  all they have to do is attend the retreat; while those first timers who haven't done it will take classes and then go to the retreat. 

We went last fall to Cleansing Stream, and many strongholds were broken; it was a mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit, and, as a result, our lives still aren't the same!

Tomorrow at church, Pastor Bilkey is starting a brand new series of sermons:  he will be preaching on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  He's done this once before; he feels it's time to do it again for those who didn't hear his first sermon about it.  I am sure it will challenge many people to think about what their gifts are and how to utilize them for God's glory.

I've come to find out that my gifts lie in prophecy and laying on of hands (praying for the sick).  I think it is because of my prayer life that I've seen people healed, delivered of things; let me tell you, there's nothing more satisfying than to know that it was because of your prayers that you've made a difference in somebody's life!  And God has been faithful in rewarding me with provision and the blessed assurance that He's still in control, no matter what may come our way!

Besides church activities, I have some good news to share.  I am no longer doing door greeter at Wal*Mart.  I have been promoted to security.  I sit in an office with other security officers, where we watch the monitors; if there's any suspicious activity afoot, all we do is call the managerial staff, and they get involved before it gets too crazy. 

I like it a lot better because I can sit down, and I don't have to worry about people running into me or mowing me over as much.  I also don't have to put up with rude customers so much; it's a lot less stressful on me!

I got a $1.00 raise; that will help out in the long run!  It may not seem like much, but when you're raising a super-large family, every little extra money helps!

The weather has warmed up a little:  temps in the forties instead of in the twenties.  Feels a lot better on my arthritic body!  And I thank God the ice is gone; we had a doozy of an ice storm that damaged several of our oak trees in our yard and killed one person (he was driving; he was killed when his car hit a tree, snarling traffic for hours) on I-65, one of the main drags here in Nashville.

We got our packet for Fan Fair/CMA Music Festival; we will be going again in June.  Besides the Crawfish Festival and the LeCajun Awards, the CMA Music Festival is a big happening in our life; we have to go if at all possible.  Now we have to manage to squeeze that amongst Cleansing Stream, the Easter Cantata, and the revival at our church!  Sheesh!  I'm not going to be getting much sleep in the months, weeks ahead, the way it looks now!  I'm already exhausted just thinking about it!  LOL

Well, it's time for me to run along.  I am about ready to hit the door, to head on over to the Corral, where I can meet my church buddies Ken Wakefield, Ryan Goldman, Wess Gingham, Errol Finn, Fred Reichard, Barry Cole, Quenton Davis-Lewis, Uriaih Wong, and Yancy Venneman for lunch.  The thought of pipin'-hot buffet-style food is starting to sound mighty yummy about now!  Take care, and may God bless you mightily; I will write in here again soon!

~Bill Sandusky.  :)