Little Dairy Miracles!

Wow! It's that time of year again when you see little miracles being born. Last night three brand new baby Nubian goats were born in our barn to our oldest dairy goat, Adrena. I know it happens every year at our place, but it never stops me from being amazed by God's creation. Two little males (bucks) and one little female (doeling) were born. (This picture is of some of our baby goats last year.)

Of course we are anticipating more to be born in the coming weeks. My wife, Sandra, really takes all of this seriously and is always right there like a nurse, putting her veterinarian skills to good use.

Now comes the early morning and evening ritual of milking the goats. Sandra is very fast at it. Jacob is very fast too. Me? I guess I do alright, but I wouldn't enter a contest. I'm glad I'm just the alternate milker.....I'll work on the other chores while they take care of filling the pails.

I guess we loaded the oats up in the barn just in time last Saturday. The oats really help our dairy goats to produce more and better quality milk. I can't wait to pour the milk over my cereal each morning before I take off to go to work.

Thank you God for these little miracles.

Prayer requests and random thoughts!

I come to the point again where I just feel like sharing some prayer requests and some random thoughts. I hope that all of you are doing well, and that God has been a blessing to all of you.

1) Please keep my son Josh in prayer as he is getting over pneumonia.

2) Please keep my nephew Trae in prayer...he is getting over pneumonia too.

3) Please keep my brother-in-law, Chisum Bennett, in prayer as he is anticipating back surgery and is having quite a bit of pain. Please pray for Amber as she is still trying to be a loving and caring wife and mother in the situation.

4) I am so thankful to God for my wife, Sandra, for being such a wonderful wife and mother during these times of sickness in our family.

5) I am thankful for the team members of our First Praise. We often forget they volunteer each week to bring us a time of worship to our God each and every Sunday. Thanks team for all of your hard work. We look forward to worshiping with you this Sunday.

6) Keep Pastor Shaun in prayer for traveling mercies as he is visiting his grandfather back in Ohio. At the same time, pray that the Lord will continue to heal Shaun after he had his surgery.

7) I am so thankful for forgiveness. Thank you Lord for your mercy, grace, and strength that we learn about from your word!

8) I am looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully we will be able to get healed up and have some rest and relaxation. Oops. Gotta clean out some pins to get ready for kidding. No lambs this year.

9) We are probably going to have some baby goats born out in our barn this weekend. I can't believe that it's that time of year again. Spring is right around the corner!

10) I gotta work on my car this weekend. I'm struggling with rusty bolts. I guess that's why I have named my VW, Rusty the Bug!

Have a great weekend. Thanks for all of the prayer! We will see you for worship this Sunday! God bless you!

Not So Super Bowl Weekend!...but...

As some of you may know, I had the stomach flu bug heading into the weekend. It was not fun. I missed work last Friday. I missed a family birthday party and dinner on Saturday. I was very weak in the knees leading worship on Sunday morning and left after church to go home and rest, missing the church's Super Bowl Party. In short, I missed all of the things, except worship, that I was looking forward to over the weekend. Why Lord? Why?

Well, today it dawned on me.. some blessings that the Lord taught me from it all. It's just amazing how God does that! Here are a few:

1) I have a loving God that knows that I need rest to be able to continue in ministry, serving Him, providing for my family, and teaching the boys at the Wyoming Boys' School.

2) I have a beautiful wonderful wife that cares for me "in sickness and in health".

3) God has blessed me with my sons that were able to continue the farm chores, including hauling and stacking alfalfa hay bails when I was down.

4) I have a wonderful church that I attend with people that support and pray for me.

5) I have a great pastor, Pastor Shaun, who encourages me spiritually and prays for me not just when I'm sick.

6) I have a great boss at my day job, Steve Wake, that makes sure that I can get coverage when I'm not feeling well on the bad days...but also supports me when I need a day off for the good days. I am so thankful that the bad days have been few and far between.

S0...there you have it. Leave it to the Lord to show the good, even when things look bad.

Super Bowl Sunday!

Okay...It's official! Even though I had several players from the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints that got me to the fantasy football championship this year, I have to go with the New Orlean Saints in the Super Bowl. Yup...I'm rooting for them to win!

I figure...Peyton Manning has already had several opportunities to get to the Super Bowl and has a championship ring. New Orleans has never been to a Super Bowl, and I think that it would be great for New Orleans and the surrounding area to win...especially after Hurricane Katrina. I also think its funny that Peyton Manning's father, Archie Manning, was the quarterback back in the day, for the Saints. So, I'll root for Archie Manning's old team. Well, there you have it...my reasons that I would like to see the Saints be Super Bowl Champions this year.

Good luck to Drew Brees, Robert Meachem, Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, and the rest of the New Orlean Saints! Represent the NFC well! I'm hoping this Super Bowl will be a "shootout" rather than a "blowout"!

By the way...First Baptist Church, Worland is setting up a Super Bowl party with surround sound, prizes, food, and you guessed it fellowship! We hope to see you there! Come before kick-off!

Wow! Our Children Can Worship!

I was so blessed and almost in tears, beaming with joy as our youth praise band led the 1st Baptist congregation yesterday in worship. Their voices blended so well, especially with the large group that we had! The instrumentalists did a great job as well, keeping the chords and the rhythm going in sync. Over all, the Name of the Lord was lifted up and greatly praised. I am so pleased with the youth wanting to praise and with the fact that they are learning what worship is all about!

A special thank you to Ben McMillan for playing drums on the new song that my son, Caleb Garza, wrote and introduced as the special music. I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't proud of my son. I am very proud and thankful that he and my son, Jacob Garza, are both pursuing their gifts in music and giving it back to the Lord. It is my desire that our youth continue to use their gifts for the Lord, whether it be music, acting, writing, etc. and to really strive to discover their spiritual gifts as well.

Please continue to pray for our youth, that they may gain greater knowledge of our Lord God. Please continue to pray for our Pastor in Student Ministries, Jess Rollema and his wife Heather, as they continue to minister and enrich our young people and enhance what we should be teaching our children from the Bible. Please pray that the Lord will continue to guide me as I teach our kids about worship too. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.