Dear Friends,
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7. And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” II Peter 1:4-8
The year we got our green truck we backed out of our drive and bumped into the neighbor’s car across the street. No one saw, so we could have disappeared from the scene! There was very little damage. But that would not represent our Lord well, so we knocked on our neighbor’s door. She was not a happy camper. All she wanted was our insurance. Her lips were sealed as to her name and her insurance. She would only give her info to the police, so we called the police. Our neighbor was not friendly to the police either. After she shut her door, the policeman ripped a page from his small notebook and handed it to me. It had her name scribbled on it and her insurance company with a notation that her insurance had not been paid for six months. Our insurance took care of her bumper, and we began waving to her when we would see her outside. My wife took the slip of paper the police had given us and stuck it in her Bible with her prayer list.
Now we are only home a few weeks a year, but we always manage to be home around Christmas. In December of 2021, Sandy and I wanted to do something for our neighbors to tell them about Jesus. We decided Sandy would make her great chocolate chip cookies, wrap them, and with a bow on top we added the book, DONE by Cary Schmidt. All our neighbors were home the night we delivered our gifts. All were surprised and grateful, even the boys of the lady’s bumper our insurance had fixed. We did not see her, but her teen boys were all smiles. Cookies do that for teen boys!
This March Sandy and I were home for four and a half days. There is always so much to do! The night before we left, I met with our adopted son, Michael, while Sandy stayed at home to finish packing. She was tired and decided to sit on the front porch for a while. A car sped down the street, stopped across the way, and one of the neighbor’s boys jumped out and flew into the house. In a couple of minutes, he ran out of the house and jumped the steps. My wife waved as always. He stopped, pointed at my wife, and said, “You’re the one who gave me that book! I read it! I read it all, and it changed my life forever!”
Wow! About a year and a half later God let us in on something that He had used those cookies and that book for, and maybe, just maybe, that boy will win his mama to the Lord! This side of heaven we will not know all the ways God has used us. Praise the Lord!
In southwest Albuquerque, NM at Rio Grande Baptist Church, I had just begun preaching when cell phone alarms started ringing throughout the sanctuary. I felt my own phone buzzing in my pocket when a mighty wind rumbled over the roof. You could almost hear heartbeats, so while God had our attention, I preached. The mighty wind fought the preaching, but the altar bloomed. After services, we had Navajo tacos in the gym, but the wind built its strength. A huge cottonwood smashed a car, and one ripped down the powerlines of the parsonage next door. The afternoon service was canceled. On the way back to our camper, our route was diverted by a blown-over camper and a semi-truck.
Sandy and I were able to spend a Sunday with the people of Trinity Bible Baptist Church in Trinidad, CO. During the morning service, I had the honor of encouraging the people to use their talents for the Lord. I issued a challenged to the ones who played guitars to join me in strumming along during the singing in the evening service as well as join me in accompanying ourselves singing Amazing Grace. I was thrilled to be joined by “The Rowdy Bunch” as shown in the picture.
On a note of humor… We were parked in Fort Scott, Kansas at Grace Baptist Tabernacle, relaxing before services that evening when a knock came at our camper door. I answered the door and stepped outside. It was the police. They had received a call in our vicinity of a man and woman yelling and fighting outside a white trailer. We fit the description: white camper, man and woman. They asked to see my wife, I guess they wanted to know if she was safe. She was, and we asked if they wanted to see our diver’s licenses. They did, so we handed them over to the officer. I explained I was to preach at the church that night and as the police left, they wished us well in our services. I invited them, but as they were on duty, they could not attend.
Thank you for your faithful support of Prayers & monthly support.
His servants,
Greg & Sandy Waggoner