Xelda Mae Arlen Ditmer

As many already know, Xelda Ditmer passed away last Monday. She truly loved the Lord here on earth, and I'm sure that she is loving Him even more in Heaven. She served the Lord many years and in many ways. We will miss her tremendously! She is in such a better place with our Lord Jesus praising Him!

The first time I met Xelda was about seven years ago when my family and I moved to Worland, Wyoming. We wanted to go to church and worship, but didn't know where to begin looking. We decided to try 1st Baptist because we came from a baptist church. Right when we walked into the front door of the church, Xelda was there to greet us. We asked about Sunday school for the children and of course for us. She pointed us in the right direction and helped lead our children, Caleb, Jacob, and Joshua to their Sunday School classes. We felt comfortable from the very start at 1st Baptist. We have been at 1st Baptist ever since. Had we not felt comfortable with Xelda helping us, we may have been at another church now.

Thank you, Lord, that you had Xelda in our lives. We also thank you for her husband Bob Ditmer; we will continue to keep him in our prayers.

One verse that she always quoted to me was: Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Xelda.....we will keep seeking first the kingdom of God. Thanks for the encouragement!

Are you ready for some football?????!!!!

Hey football fans! It is that time of year again. My favorite! Fall and football! I'm looking forward to watching Worland Warrior Football with Caleb playing, Worland Braves Football with Jacob playing, and watching Joshua getting to play flag football!

On top of that.....yesterday was a glorious day....NFL KICKOFF! I am playing in a fantasy football league again this year along with Pastor Shaun, Dennis Wheeler, Brent Kalfell, and eight other guys, following the NFL season. I'm hoping to get back into the playoffs again this year! Good luck fellas...and and watch out for the Wyo Cowboys.

Back to our local kids......please pray for the safety of our local athletes. They just want to have fun against their opponents. Please pray that the Lord will have His protective hand over them.

Let's get ready to rumble!!!!!

New Baby in the Family!

Hey Everyone! We are excited all over again! Pastor Jess and Heather Rollema now have a new little one as part of their family.......part of our family too! Heather gave birth to a 7lb-12oz, 22 1/2” BOY! His name is Kyston James Rollema! I'm here to tell you....when this new nephew of ours is old enough. We are going to wind the kid up and let it go like a top......pay back Uncle Jess!

With that aside and out of my system. Congratulations Jess and Heather! We love you! We're glad that you are doing well. You are also in our prayers. We are so happy for you guys! You have our commitment to help you when needed. God bless you!

Me Love COOKIES!

As some of you may know......besides being the worship minister at 1st Baptist, I teach multiple subjects at the Wyoming Boys' School. We just wrapped up our summer school session and have started the 1st Quarter of the 2008-2009 school year.

We received a wonderful treat from our church. COOKIES!!! Boy..were they yummy! On behalf of all the teachers in Worland, including the ones out at the Wyoming Boys' School, I want to say thank you for the cookies and prayer! Gail Carver and her Creative Ministries team did a wonderful job baking, organizing, and delivering about 150 DOZEN cookies to all of the school staffs in Worland.

It all started with a vision called "Cookies and Prayer" at 1st Baptist Church. I received many "thank yous" from the WBS staff that needed to be passed along to those that worked so hard to make this vision happen. Our educational folks need prayer along with our students for safety, peer relations, and of course learning.

Col 3:23 &24
"And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."

Gail and team....wonderful job serving! We thank you! I know that the Lord thanks you for all of your hard work. May God bless you and the ministry.

What a Weekend!

Yes....what can I say? This was a very busy weekend! But...you have probably figured it out already that it's like this all the time!!

* Friday Sandra and I drove to Winchester and got a truck load of oats out of a field with a combine. We were itching all of the way home.

* Saturday Caleb, Jacob, and I unloaded the oats into bags. We were able to save $$$ by doing it this way instead of buying it by the bag at the feed store. We were itching and scratching the whole time....but it was worth it, especially in today's economy. The only bad thing about bagging the oats was trying to avoid breathing the chaff in.

After the lawns were all mowed we then got ready for Joshua's 9th birthday (kid) party. The kids had a great time throwing water balloons at each other and playing on the slide/play set. We then had a fun time beating on the panda pinata. A little girl from down the road hit the pinata the very first whack and knocked the panda's head clean off. Everybody laughed like crazy....you had to have seen it to appreciate it.

After chores then we had to head out to my in-laws house for a dinner and cake/ ice cream. Joshua of course enjoyed opening presents with cousin Trae Bennett helping.

* Sunday I was down at the church at 7:30 am to practice before the 8:30 early service. The Digital Hymnal was not working properly.....after a little coaxing and a phone call, I finally got it go. The worship team then led for the 2nd service. Pastor Shaun taught an incredible sermon on Revelations. We look forward to more of it next week.

After church, the worship team had a barbecue at the park in appreciation. Then we rushed home and got ready for another barbecue that Student Ministries was having at our house. We quickly set up tables, chairs, a volleyball net, and other games. The students finally hit our house from 5-8pm. Wow! What a great turnout it was!

Even though I'm drained today....it was ALL worth it!

Training Up Children!

Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

God never said that this would be easy.

Sandra and I love our boys. They are full of energy: playing, they are musical, athletic......but the most important thing is they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Just like every kid, our boys need attention in many ways. They are getting ready to go back to school. Meaning, they need school clothes, books, binders, pencils.....Yikes! It can get expensive! They need to get back on a schedule to get ready for chores, school, and sports practice. They have been going everywhere this summer and their schedules have been thrown off. The mood around the house isn't the greatest when Sandra and I are trying to get them going on a normal schedule again. It can be difficult.

Parents....I know you are probably going through some of the same things that the Garzas are.... trying to get your kids ready for school and back on a regular schedule. As I mentioned above......it's not easy. We need to rely on God to help us with our children. Let's pray that not only will we take care of the physical needs of our children, let's pray that we will continue to train up our children spiritually in Jesus Christ.

As the new school year starts, we pray DEAR Lord that you will guide and protect our children. Help them to make godly decisions in Jesus' name. Help us as parents to guide our children to walk the Christian walk in the way that you want us to. Lord...Help them with their studies, their peers, their teachers, and of course their relationship with You. Lord, help them to stick up for their beliefs in You and not be side-tracked with worldly psycho-babble! When our children are old......we want to be sure that they have not departed from you. Lord....we love you...In Jesus Name.

Amen

My Wonderful Wife!

Ephesians 5:25
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it..."

I know that husbands are commanded to love their wives. I truly do love my wife! Sandra has been a blessing in my life. She is hard working, a great mother of our children, my help-mate, and the list goes on and on. I wish I could do more for her.

For the last 2 days we were able to get away and stay in Billings, Montana for our anniversary. We have been married 18 years as of Tuesday, August 5, 2008. She really wanted to go walk around, shop, and spend time together. We spent a lot of time walking and talking. We had a great dinner. We have our favorite Chinese food place in Billings! AWESOME! We even got to have Cold Stone Creamery ice cream together! All I can say is, it was a treat to get away, especially mid-week.

I thank God that we had a great time together and had a safe trip there and back. The only bad thing about going to Billings was the traffic! Even in the traffic, Sandra and I had time to share with one another.

If you read this....Thank you Uncle Jess (Pastor) and Aunt Heather for staying with the kids and helping us with our farm animals while we were gone.