Thoughts for today.....

Whew! Today is over and it is the start to the new week. Here is what is running through my head!

* I love Jesus Christ! How about you?

* Thank you Lord for my wonderful wife! Sometimes I feel that I don't deserve her.

* I sure like Jolly Ranchers...especially the cherry flavor.

* I sure like Sandra's lunches better than the boys' schools.

* Can you believe the number one and number two seeds in the NFL playoffs are done??!! Go Steelers!

* Speaking of football....I sure miss seeing my boys play! I can't wait for the FALL again!

* Sometimes....don't you wish you could just throw your computer off the top of a building? It would be a lot more amusing than to have them give you headaches!

* Gotta be at the FBC staff meeting at 5:00? Right? Better make sure.

* A big thanks to Mike St. Clair for the grain crumbles to feed my chickens. I need to get his trailer back soon.

* Wow! We have two baby lambs born!

* I sure love the puppy that I got my wife for Christmas. It's the goofiest Welsh Corgi!!!

* I hope that I have the music right for the new "UnHindered" song we will do for the youth on Wednesday night!

* Looking forward to bible study!!!! We've got some good teaching going on at First "B"!

Hope you're having a great week! God bless you!

Jeff

It's 2009? Already?

This is late coming out, but Happy New Year to all. I pray that all will have a blessed and safe 2009! Are you like me? I'm wondering where this last year went. Is it really 2009? Where has the decade gone? I guess I'm just getting older and the time is flying by!

* It's hard to believe that we have been in Worland, Wyoming since 2002 already!

* Caleb was in 4th grade in 2002, now a sophomore. Jacob was in kindergarten, now in middle school as a 7th grader. Joshua was at Worland Preschool and is now in the middle of 3rd grade! Boy..the time sure flies by!

* I moved here in my thirties....now I'm in my 40s?

* Sandra is putting up with me after all these years? She's still my sweetheart!

* It is still a pleasure to serve the Lord and being a part of our 1st Baptist family...or as Pastor Shaun calls it....First "B"!

2008 HIGHLIGHTS FOR ME!

* Continued service at First "B" with Shaun, Jodi, Becci, Jess, and now my wife, Sandra.

* Lambing and Kidding season

* The Egg Drop Event

* Picnic at the Park

* Branding Season

* Coach Pitch, Little League, and Babe Ruth Baseball!

* The Boys' School Ministry

* Fishing whenever possible with the boys.

* The county fair, seeing the kids showing their animals and doing well!

* Our anniversary...married since 1990!

* Football!!!! My kids playing high school football, middle school football, and community flag football!! THE NFL and Fantasy Football!!!!!!!!!!

* Taking the student ministry kids to the Quakes hockey game!

* Taking the student ministry kids to Acquire the Fire! Skillet rocked the house!!!

* Having Thanksgiving at our house this year and watching football!

* Seeing the candles raised up high in celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Christmas Eve Worship service!

* Staying up late New Year's Eve bringing in the New Year with the boys and family. Having a great dinner and snacks..with soda pop!

God bless you! I hope you have many wonderful highlights in your new year, 2009. God bless

you! To my out-of-state family, we hope to see you soon.

Jeff Garza and family

What a Christmas!

Hello Everyone. Ever had one of those Christmases where it didn't seem or feel like Christmas until the last minute? That is how this Christmas was for us......well...for me.

1) First of all, before I describe our Christmas, I do have to say that the 1st Baptist Christmas Eve service was the highlight of Christmas for me this year. The celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ turned out wonderful. The sanctuary was filled to capacity with many many people from the community! I am so proud of those that participated in the program. Thanks to one and all that sang, played instruments, ran media and sound, lit candles, ushered, etc. I thank God for you and the wonderful job that you did! You were outstanding! I am sure that the Lord was pleased because I know that the message of Jesus Christ was clearly presented. Jesus is the reason for the season! I want to thank Pastor Shaun and Jodi for their hard work and help in the production. A big thank you also goes to Wendy Compton for allowing us to use her choir risers for our chorale group.

2) Christmas for the Garza family seemed like we were playing "catch-up" the whole entire time. Christmas shopping? All late. Christmas cards? Late. We were also singing a made up spoof of "Oh Christmas Tree" called "NO Christmas Tree".

3) Weather and Christmas shopping didn't seem to mix this year. I know. I know. We should have started Christmas shopping in October, right? We were thinking....okay...start in December! We were able to get some shopping done locally in Worland, but of course, we needed to get to Billings or Cody for savings. All I know is, we hit some pretty nasty weather trying to get to Billings, Montana. It was so bad that we were creeping at about 20 mph through a white wall of blowing snow and gusts with cars stopped in the middle of the road in the storm! Sandra and I decided that it wasn't worth the risk, so we turned around and headed back. We then decided that we would go to Cody, Wyoming instead. While in Walmart, the horrible weather hit Cody too. We started to overhear people talking about an 11 car pile-up and a woman losing her life. After we heard about a school bus being involved, and we knew our boy Jacob was coming home from a basketball game on a bus....we knew we had to get out of there! It was a horrible time trying to get home in the blizzard. We should have just stayed home that day.

4) The weekend right before Christmas, we still didn't have our Christmas shopping done, we didn't have a Christmas tree either. We finally made it to Billings. There was snow and ice everywhere, and the people there were driving "nutty"! It was dangerous! No Christmas trees could be found! Christmas shopping was almost done that day, but had to be finished the day before Christmas back in Worland.

5) We finally were able to buy a artificial "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree from True Value in Worland for 40% off. This is the first Christmas we didn't have a real Christmas tree. Oh well.

6) Then it happened...Christmas Eve. God taught me a huge lesson! Such a simple lesson! This is what God showed me..."Jeff. I know you have been stressed. I know that you are behind and trying to finish up all the loose details with Christmas worship and the program. I know that you have been hustling to get Christmas shopping with your family done. So what if you do have or don't have a Christmas tree! Remember me.....Jesus! Remember me....I am Lord. Remember me.....celebrate me!" God really revealed Himself to me in the Christmas Eve worship service that I mentioned earlier. Yes...this was Christmas. Emmanuel..God With Us! After the choir sang the program "A Night to Remember"....and the the congregation raised their lit candles singing "Silent Night", I finally finally had my eyes opened. God taught me a great lesson. He is in control. He takes care of us. All things are possible.

1John 4:4 "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

7) We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Have a blessed and Happy New Year, 2009! God bless you!

Great Week and Weekend

Hey everyone. I hope you are doing well. What a nice Thanksgiving we had with about 15 people crammed into our house for the turkey dinner. It was wall-to-wall people, but I am thankful to the Lord for the many blessings!

Here are some of my thoughts to start off the new month:

1) Can you believe it's already December?

2) Just a few more practices left for the "A Night to Remember" Christmas Eve Program!

3) Do I start Christmas music for worship at church yet? Maybe one more week....

4) The youth praise band did such a wonderful job leading worship yesterday! They are really learning to serve more and more. I'm sure proud of them!

5) It was nice to spend time with my family over the Thanksgiving break. Boy did we need a break!

6) No snow in Worland yet. I hear the snowy weather will be hitting soon...... later this week!

7) It was good to talk to my mother and brothers in Idaho and California over the holiday.

8) I hope my family from out of state can come to Wyoming some day.

9) The NFL is really heating up again! My fantasy football team got knocked out of first place after many weeks at #1. Wheels Warriors / a.k.a. The Spoiler Kids (Dennis Wheeler) got me this week. This changed my seeding in the playoffs. It may be the end for me this year. Oh well...I guess I deserved it after talking smack. Great fun this year!

10) I got to drive Rusty the Bug again yesterday, after a few days off. Lots of fun! Rusty is sitting right outside ready to go again.....I love the lower gas prices!!! VW's rock!

11) Did you hear Pastor Shaun and I yelling from blocks away enjoying the Sunday night football game??? Shaun and I both agree that football is the best sport!!! Go Cowboys! He won't agree with me about my team though!

12) Jacob is wrapping up basketball season soon. I'm proud of him. He has worked so hard trying to play and suffering from a deep cough at the same time. He says he's ready for the season to be over. He can't wait to hurdle again in track. I don't blame him.

13) Joshua and I made an igloo out of sugar cubes for his Native American project. It took forever! We had fun though....especially sealing the cubes with white cake frosting. It was finger licking good.

14) Caleb is doing well. Everyone better be careful driving the streets and walking on the sidewalks....he turned 16 and got his drivers license!

15) Why does car insurance have to be so expensive?

16) I've gotta lose some weight......have you seen Pastor Shaun?

17) I guess I just have to take Hank the Cowdog for walks. That would help.....but we call our dog Hankenstein....he's a monster! Go figure....walks won't be easy.

Hockey with FBC Student Ministries!

Wow! What a Saturday we had! I had a great time taking the FBC Student Ministry kids up to Cody for a Yellowstone Quake hockey game! I drove 6 kids up in our Explorer.

We all met at the Cody Burger King first to chuck down some cheeseburgers, fries, pop, etc. Then we drove a few blocks to the event center. Of course we had to wait for the tickets because we were early, but the kids enjoyed goofing around in the mean time.

When we finally got inside. We got some great rink side seats. Yes..it was cold at first, but once all of the crowds got there, it quickly got warmer in the building.

The action was great, seeing the players knock each other into the plexi-glass in front of us, and the crowd screaming and yelling! Things even got rough on the ice when some players let their anger get the best of them. The Yellowstone Quakes were winning all through the periods until the last :38 seconds on the clock, when The Billings Bulls scored and sent the game into overtime. Then the world came crashing down for the Quakes.....They lost in sudden death with another 30 some seconds on the clock.

Oh well. We all had a great time anyway. It was wonderful getting rowdy with the youth from our church. Can't wait to go to Acquire the Fire now!

Blessings After Broken Down!

Last Saturday our car broke down in Cody after we left Walmart. It was chugging and dying! How were we to get home? Well, the Lord took care of us! I know we broke down, which was frustrating, but God worked some miracles. First of all, I thank Him for the fact that we have AAA insurance and roadside assistance. I called AAA and they informed me that we had a 100 mile radius towing package. This was the first miracle. We live exactly 98 miles from where our car was! Praise God! Other miracles? It wasn't snowing, raining, or freezing! We could have been out in the middle of the Wyoming NOWHERE! Walmart gave us good shelter until the tow truck was able to get there. And....we had a really good driver who knew what he was doing that took us back to Worland.

The weird thing is what we found out after we got our car fixed. A bug somehow got past the air filter, got stuck in a sensor and shorted the sensor out. It is amazing how a little creature could knock out a big car. Well anyway.......Thank God we made it home!

Wednesday's Thoughts

Do you ever have those times when a million things are racing through your head? Here is a list of my thoughts today:

1) Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful wife and family!

2) America is getting a new president.....Lord please come back soon!

3) I need to call my brothers a whole lot more. I finally talked to my little brother Monday night.

4) I feel like having some tacos from Taco Johns!

5) My break at work is almost over.

6) My Dallas Cowboys are playing horrible this year!!!!

7) I wish all three of my boys were playing football again and the season wasn't over!

8) Will the Cubbies make the playoffs and make it to the World Series next year?

9) I need to learn more songs to teach to the youth on Wednesday nights. I have to make time to sit down and do it!

10) How many rehearsals do have this week???!!!

11) Lord please reduce my stress!

12) Boy! Pastor Shaun's brother is ruthless in fantasy football! I've got to beat him this week.

13) I love the smack talk that we have in the fantasy football league. Can you believe that Pastor Shaun and I have even written smack poetry?

14) My son, Jacob Garza, is playing middle school basketball. Can't wait to see him play.

15) Lord please help me coordinate the sound crew, media, and musician rotations. Some people will be gone on their rotation.

16) Yikes! The Christmas Eve program is quickly approaching!

17) Kids in my class are getting ready to leave the Wyoming Boys' School. Lord....are they ready for the real world?

18) What can I do to motivate the boys at the WBS to earn their positive weeks?

19) I've got to do more walking and exercising!

20) I've got to lose weight but.....man do those tacos from Taco John sound good!