At the time, Sharlene was leaving behind her grown, married daughter (and a grandson) and a grown son. They had lives there and didn't want to move back to the Midwest. So that part WAS hard! But we trusted the Lord and we knew that the Lord had ordained this, so we knew that it would all be good and work out in the end. We knew that His plans for us were for our good and NOT evil. So we had peace and we trusted Him to lead us and to provide for us.

When we realized that we HAD to go, we started selling everything that we owned in the store and at our home. 

For two reasons; one so we'd have the money to get back to the Midwest on. The other reason was because we couldn't afford to move most of our things back here anyway. So it served a dual purpose. We only kept the things that REALLY mattered to us and we gave and sold the rest. We were literally starting over and it was ok. We hated to tell everyone that we loved in Oregon that we had to go but we knew that God was calling us back "home". We knew that we were only there for a season to begin with and it was simply a matter of time before we left. And it was time. As I said, not exactly the way that we'd imagined it but it was ok. Our Church took up an offering for us and gave us a few hundred dollars.

Then we secured a U-haul trailer and hooked it up to our pickup truck. Our friend Skip came and built a plywood enclosure, (put a tarp over it and around the bed of our truck) which ended up REALLY helping to fit everything that we had kept. In fact, we could not have fit one more thing in either the truck OR the trailer. It was perfect! We had some tearful goodbyes but the Lord was moving us on. Everyone was wonderful and they all helped us and we truly appreciate each and every one of them. We still call most of them, regularly. 

Needless to say, we were kinda scared. Yet we were trusting God to take care of us, just like we did when we went out there! We had JUST enough money to get us back here.

Here is the truck and the trailer (with everything that we owned inside), out in the middle of nowhere on the
road and we were changing drivers on our way back to Kansas:

Ernie's brother and his wife were very kind to us. They let us take over their son's bedroom and the 3 of us moved in. They lived in a 2 bedroom mobile home, in Kansas. THEN Sharlene's oldest son, Jimmie ended up needing a place to live after all and then HE ended up there, as well!  So you can imagine how crowded it was there. Then one of the purposes that the Lord had for us coming back, showed itself pretty quickly. Ernie's brother had always had an "anger" problem. Ernie knew from past experience that it had demonic roots but his brother had always denied it and even "joked" about it.  He always scared Sharlene and she pretty much just stayed away from him.

Then the Lord orchestrated something pretty intense, pretty quickly.....Ok, let me backtrack here a little. The DAY that we were packing up the store in Oregon to leave, a Pastor friend of ours "just happened" to show up. He didn't know that the Lord had us close our business or anything. He simply came to visit. He informed us that his SISTER and her husband had a Church in the SAME town that we were going to! As soon as we found out about THAT Church and where it was located at, Ernie realized that he used to be a MEMBER of THAT Church many years ago! So that was major confirmation to US, that we were on the right track. Was that a coincidence?  No way! In the Lord, there ARE no coincidences, only Providence! He told us the new name of the Church and said that he'd give them a call and tell them that we would be coming to visit.

So we did visit that first Sunday that we were there and as soon as we met him, he offered to help us in any way that he could. Then, is when the Lord started moving in this thing with Ernie's brother and his life. Everyone THOUGHT that his brother was saved. They went to Church and lived a somewhat normal life to outsiders. No one but Ernie knew for a fact that he WAS demon possessed, because he had SEEN them manifest in him before. His brother still functioned in society but he had a REAL anger thing going on.



We can tell you that God did something REALLY major here!  At that Church (that our Pastor friend from Oregon told us about), the Pastor preached one Sunday on demon possession and he said that as Christian's, it is ALL of our responsibility to cast them out, if we are confronted with them, etc. And there were some things that happened that showed his wife that he was indeed, demon possessed. So it finally came up and then HE wanted them gone. He said that if he DID really have them (which he did), that he wanted them to leave.
  
So we called another Pastor friend of ours that "just happens" to live in that same town, who has a Ministry doing this very thing. He and his wife have done many deliverances over the years and have helped to change countless lives because of it. We called them and they came right over. We witnessed our first deliverance!  Talk about intense....It took from 9pm until 1am but he got delivered from several demons and it was as real as it gets, let me tell you!

But once it was over, there was a complete change in Ernie's brother. He threw away ALL of his secular music. They went through their movies and got rid of all the bad ones. Even his face and voice changed. He used to growl and snarl and swear and throw things and was just completely out of control. Then once it was over with, he didn't do those things any longer. So if that was the ONLY reason that God had us to come back, it was worth it, to see their lives come together. He accepted the Lord with Ernie, immediately after the deliverance. It was an awesome experience for all of us that were there.

Here is the Pastor and his wife(that delivered Ernie's brother):


So after that happened, things changed around there. Praise God!  It was STILL very crowded but we did not have the demonic aspects going on around there anymore. Whew! Ernie kept putting out resumes (over a HUNDRED+ of them), to no avail. The Lord would NOT open any doors for a permanent job in that town. Ernie was working for a friend (a retired Doctor that he'd done computer work for and known since he was a kid) at his 2.5 acre estate, doing "handyman" stuff (so we'd have enough money to survive on) and if you knew Ernie, you'd KNOW that his field is Computers (hardware, software, programming, etc) and it has been, for over 26 years. And he is very good at what he does. So it wasn't an ideal situation by any means. We were all living on top of each other and no real job for Ernie. Nowhere for us to go. We were getting pretty desperate to have our own life back again.

Jimmie had found a job at a plastic factory and he got an apartment down there. But it was crazy, with all of us living there. We went from having a HUGE place, to a tiny bedroom. Jimmie slept on the couch there. Or the floor or wherever he could find to crash at, until we all moved out. So after almost 4 months of that, Ernie told Sharlene to call where she is from. A city a few hours north of where we were living at. He said to call the HUD office there. THAT is how desperate we were to have our life back! So she called the HUD office in that major city there and they said there was a two YEAR waiting list to get on HUD there. So that got scratched, immediately. Then she felt led to call the HUD office, in a small town that she'd lived in before and thought that she'd take a shot and see how long THEIR list was.

She called and the lady answered and said, "it's funny that you called today and it is really strange but we have NOBODY on our list right now and if you hurry and get up here and fill out the papers, I can get you into a place by the 1st!" Coincidence?  We think NOT! So we DID hurry and get up there and signed up. Then the Lord blessed us with a HOUSE. A cute little house that we found to rent that would take HUD. A far cry better than the tiny little room that we HAD been living in! Then with some help from our Church in Oregon, some other friends in Oregon, one of Ernie's other brothers and with some gas money from the brother that we were staying with, we got enough money up for the move. And we moved into our little home from Heaven!

Here it is:


While we were here, we signed up for Temporary Assistance and food stamps and we were on HUD. HOW humiliating is that? Pretty humiliating. Especially for a man who had NEVER taken any assistance before! THEN the Lord gave us the BEST caseworker on the planet. She was wonderful!  She saw the potential in Ernie and she put him in a program to get some schooling. So that he could get his Certificates, in his field. He had plenty of experience, just no "papers" and he needed them in the competitive (post 9/11) Technology era that we were in at the time....

And she also designated Sharlene to be our daughter's "primary caregiver" and allowed her to work from home and did not force her to get a job and leave our daughter in daycare, which we do not believe in for our family.

During all of this ordeal, Ernie got a job in his field in a town not very far from there. That in itself was a miracle because not many people around there find jobs THAT close to there. It was only paying a part time wage but he worked there full time, until the guy finally DID pay him a full time wage but it was still not what he normally makes, doing what he does in his field.

I will backtrack again....Sharlene's friend Kathy had a radio program (prayer show) in the city where we had originally tried to move to. She had a Pastor on there before and she said that the Lord had laid it on her heart, that we were to visit his Church and that God had something for us there, IF we did. The Church is not far from where we lived so we knew that we were supposed to go. The Saturday before that first Sunday came and the engine went out of our truck! We were completely in trouble! We had NO money and how was Ernie supposed to get to work, if he had no vehicle?

Here is a picture OF that truck with Sharlene's youngest son:


We had emailed that Pastor (that Kathy had on her radio show) and he was going to call us but hadn't had a chance to yet. So we missed Church that first Sunday. Then on that Monday, Ernie decided to call around to some of the Churches in the area to see if they knew of any resources for any mechanical help, for people who needed it. ALL of the Churches told him, "we don't DO that" and were rude. He wasn't asking them for ANYTHING and it really upset him. That is just wrong. These HUGE Churches and they just did NOT care, at all. So he took a shot and called the Pastor that Kathy had told us about. He came right over to our house! He took us out to eat, with him and his wife.  

While we were sitting there eating, he said, "We have an extra car that you guys can borrow, until you get your truck fixed!"
"No matter how long it takes...." So he took Ernie to their house to pick up the car and it was a BMW!!!! I was like, "You have GOT to be kidding" but he wasn't. Sure enough it WAS indeed a BMW and we borrowed it for a few months. Then they loaned us enough money to buy a different car (that died soon after but it was a nice gesture). The truck had too many miles on it, to warrant fixing it. Then my uncle GAVE us a car, too!

Here is the car that my Uncle gave us and our truck sitting behind it, with the engine out of it:


God blessed us big time, ever since we got there. THEN, my friend Kathy gave us a brand new, beautiful table and chair set. It is a much nicer set than the one that we had sold, back in Oregon.

Here IT is:

We got them one day and the next day, we called the local thrift store and we had a voucher for a free couch. They didn't have one in, the first time that we tried to get one. But the day after we got the table and chairs, we called and they had one available.  We got there and the one they had was SO nasty that you can't imagine how bad it was. It was (filthy) white, with these HUGE pink and blue flowers on it and it smelled like CAT PEE. But I was determined to be thankful for it. It WAS something to sit on. I decided that I'd get a blanket and put it on, AFTER I Febreezed it, thoroughly. Not five minutes after I got my attitude adjusted, there was a call on the phone from the local furniture company here. Sharlene had known them for years and he asked if this was Ernie's number and if it was ok if they brought a delivery that they had to bring, to our home. Ernie said ok and we tried to figure out what it could be. We had mentioned a dishwasher to the landlady and we thought that maybe THAT is what it was.
They pulled up and Ernie said, "Oh honey, you aren't going to BELIEVE this" and it was a COUCH! A brand new BEAUTIFUL couch!!!
 

Here IT is:


I called the thrift store and asked them if they'd take the old one back and they did. The furniture guys even took it back there for us! We asked who bought the couch and he said that they just had a name and address to deliver it to and they didn't know and wouldn't tell us if they did know! So as far as WE are concerned GOD gave us our couch!

Then Ernie got his Certifications not long after that happened!  He'd still been putting in resume, after resume. We were getting kind of discouraged, as NO other, better paying jobs were coming up. The job he had gotten there, was not paying enough for us to live on, for any long term basis. Not without some public assistance. Sharlene was getting ready to be prosecuted by her ex for child support that he wasn't even supposed to get from her but she was obligated by Law to pay. They did not have enough money to pay it and her ex kept calling the Prosecutor's office until they finally decided to prosecute her, to shut him up. But GOD intervened THERE, too!  Ernie got a GOOD job. Better than we ever hoped for. God stopped the enemy from trying to put Sharlene into jail and now things are wonderful!

There is a story HERE too.  Ok, the truck had been a thorn in Sharlene's side ever since she and Ernie got married. It was the only vehicle they could afford because of the high payment on it. The banker was a friend of Ernie's from Oklahoma and he kept refinancing us on it. Until the engine went out and we finally told him to just come and get it. It had over 250,000 miles on it and we just did not have the money to keep it and keep making payments on it.

So the night they came to get it, Ernie was upset. He loved that truck. He had bought it brand new and it was hard for him to let it go. It represented many things to him but the Lord knew it was time for him to just let it go and move on. So the man came to get it and Ernie was gracious about it.  We moved it for him and we ALL sat there and watched them take it away. We had some of our other children there and we all watched it go.

During that time, Sharlene noticed an email from someone offering Ernie a job and he wanted Ernie to call him on his cell phone. But he was distraught over the loss of the truck and he felt bad about it being repossessed and it was not a good time for him. Then as he watched it being towed away, the Lord spoke to Ernie's heart and He told him that IF he let the truck go? That He would give it back to him, "three fold"....

So after he grieved for a few minutes, he called the man from the email. And that man basically hired him over the phone for a job that was better than ANY job Ernie had EVER had in his LIFE. And they love him there and it's a GREAT job! Better than he expected to get! And he got it because of the certifications that he got, during all of this mess...We have a better life than we've EVER had and it's ALL God and we give Him ALL the praise and glory for what He's done. We will add updates as things happen. To those of you who have been getting regular email updates, you know more than what was put here. But we're trying to keep it somewhat concise. God bless all of you.  We have been going to Church there ever since.  We have learned SO much since we've been there!  

Sharlene had REALLY been into the "hyper faith movement" in the past and so she had spurned anything remotely like that, in her life after she read The 'Seduction of Christianity' back in the late 80's.  She had basically given up on "faith" in her life! Not realizing how serious it was, God brought our Pastor into our life and now we are learning what TRUE faith is all about.  
That you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, just because some other's have went off the deep end with their doctrine.
There IS true faith. God wants us to have faith in HIM. In fact the Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God!  
So we are learning balance in this area and we've learned something new every single Sunday and Weds. that we've been there. 

Without exception. God has truly blessed us with some wonderful teaching and a very loving and giving Church. And one more thing that we want to mention. Through this entire thing, we never quit tithing. No matter how little money we had, we still tithed the penny off a dime and let me tell you, GOD has blessed us for that. And we still give offerings, as well. God has and continues to bless us for it, too. When you think that you can't afford TO tithe, we say that you can't afford NOT to tithe! Remember the widow's mite....And that you can NOT out give God! We should "live to give"....One important lesson that we have learned, as far as the faith doctrine goes, is that you THANK the Lord for the things that you need in your life BEFORE you get them. You know that He WILL provide for your needs. He says to ask things WITH THANKSGIVING and then He will give you what you need. And we can tell you, we have SEEN that principle work in our own lives, many times. Daily sometimes!
If you have a promise in the Bible to stand on about something, then you CAN stand on that promise and thank the Lord, in advance for it.

So don't forget that. God has given us many precious promises in His Word and they are ALL yes and amen....We hope that you have seen here, how God has been working in our lives and the lives of those around us. He IS alive and He IS waiting for you to move into the kind of relationship with Him that He desires from you. There is WAY more to God than JUST Church on Sunday mornings! Check Him out and see that He IS good and He wants good things for you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update time!
Well it's January of 2004. We have lived in THIS house for a year+ now. We have been homeless, on public assistance and really in pretty dire straits, since we'd left Oregon. BUT, God didn't leave us or forsake us....Not in ANY way!
Some people would've probably thought that they'd been abandoned by God, in our circumstance. But we never looked at it that way. We KNEW that God was in control. We KNOW that "all things work together for good"......

We have seen SO much that He's done, through all of this. Ernie has gotten his Certifications in his field now! Which could've NEVER happened, unless we had gotten some help, for him to get them. We have never had the money for him to get them, before now.  He has gotten a GOOD job. Much better than anything that he's ever had before. And it was directly related to him having the Certifications that he got, during our 'financial fiasco'. We have a new car. God opened THAT door, too.

Here it is:


We are going to move into a bigger/nicer house, closer to his work, very soon.
AND we plan to BUY a home of our own, in the near future, as God opens the door for that, as well.

Things are really looking up for us. God is SO good and He cares about us and He cares about YOU, too.
Just put your trust in HIM and you can't go wrong!
God bless you and yours....

Update Time again!
It is March 25th of 2004....Well we are moving into our new home, on the 3rd of April!  The Lord opened the perfect door for us.  Our new home is the perfect size, the perfect price and in the perfect location, so Ernie can have a short commute to work.

 We are totally blessed and we can see God's Hand in ALL of this. Jimmie is moving into HIS place on the 1st and that is a blessing, too. He got on permanently at his job (with a raise, etc) and has benefits and he is doing really well with his life, too.
We just thank and praise God for everything that He's done!

Here is the house that we moved into.  God has blessed us and is SO good!

Well today is June 17th of 2004.
Things are WONDERFUL in our lives right now. We've been here around 2.5 months now and we LOVE our home. God has been moving in mighty and miraculous ways in our life. We have been blessed more than we ever thought possible! Ernie's job just keeps getting better and better and life is just sweeter and sweeter each day, with Jesus at the helm of our lives. Just thought I'd tell you all that we are doing GREAT and God is SUCH a good Father to us. We SURE don't deserve the Grace and Mercy and Blessings that He bestows on us, daily. None of us do. Let NONE of us take ANY of them for granted!
Amen?

Update time again. It is 11-23-04
It is almost Thanksgiving. And we will have Jimmie (and his fiancé, Donna and her little boy) and Nicole here for our dinner. Stephanie and Trent are still in Oregon. Caleb will be with his grandparents this year. Krystal will have Thanksgiving with her mom. Rebecca will celebrate with her mom and her "dad" this year, too. Stephanie has had 2 more babies, since we last reported about them. She had another boy and now they just got their girl, a few months ago. Jimmie is having a baby boy next month. Rebecca is having a baby in December too. This makes 6 grandchildren that we will have, once they both have their babies, next month! Krystal got married to Kenneth and we have SURE had ALOT of change in our lives and family over the last couple of years. We are really glad that God is in control of our lives and NOT us. We are looking forward to the holidays this year. Ernie's job is still really wonderful. Things are going great here, with us. We still love our home and life is good. We found a really good AOG Church here in our town and we LOVE it. VERY anointed services and we are truly blessed.  

God is good ALL the time.
Amen?

Update Time!
It is March 14th of 2005 and we have seen God do SO much for and around us that I honestly don't know where to start. I doubt I will share it ALL. But I'll try to convey some of the highlights of what has been going on with us, since our last update. Jimmie and Donna had their boy and they named him Evan. He is very cute and we are happy for them. Becca and Paul had their baby and he ended up being a boy and they named him Tommy. He is adorable and we are very happy for them. Then Becca found out that she's pregnant AGAIN and is due in November. They are obviously upset but surprises happen and we will all deal with this little surprise, accordingly.

Stephanie is supposed to come here to visit and she is bringing her two sons with her, from Oregon. She is planning to stay at least two weeks with us and her dad. God has continued to bless us. We have all of our needs met. We have been able to pay down on some of the debt that we incurred, when God had us close our business in Oregon. Things are getting better financially for us and are getting better each day as God blesses us, so that we can help others. As time goes on, more and more dross is raised and He continually scrapes it off, in our lives. We love Him more and more each day. And it DOES keep getting sweeter and sweeter as the days go by. Deeper and more supernatural, as each day passes. God keeps revealing Himself to us in more ways than we ever thought possible. We are truly blessed. I hope that this tells you what has been going on with us since the last update. Everything in the natural has pretty much remained the same. But God IS moving in a mighty way and we will continue to watch and wait on Him. And bloom where we are planted. God bless and we will update again, later.

Another Update
This is a LONG one and it's on another page that we have, in the 'Upper Room' Site. I am writing this in August of 2005. If you have been to our main site and read our testimony, you know that we have been walking with God in a unique and encompassing way for many years. And we have been waiting to be given our "marching orders" for what has seemed to be a LONG time now. We have been totally open to anything that God wants from us. Waiting anxiously, even. Lately we have been drawn to the Ozarks of Missouri. We had always liked the Ozarks but had not realized that now it would appear to be where God has wanted us to end up at, all along.

There have been many things that have caused us to come to this conclusion. The first time that we went down there, we were totally led by God to go there for a sabbatical of sorts. When we got back, we told a few choice people that we were feeling led to move down there. One friend in particular told us that there have been several "prophetic words" that have been given over that particular area, over the last 10+ years. And we had never heard anything about it before. We just knew that WE were being led there. Those friends had lived there, back then. But the timing wasn't right for them, then. One of the words was that "the eagles are going to land" there! And "Eagles" have always been a "key word" to us and we always watch for key phrases, when we are discussing these type of things with people, for confirmation. The Lord has used this method with us, for our entire walk with Him.
 
And Eagles are usually considered "prophetic" in our circle of people that God has placed around us. And then another set of our friends told us that THEY are being led there, as well! Which was some more confirmation that SOMETHING is going to be going on there and that God is gathering up His people to that area. Then the next time that we were able to go, was only 2 weeks later and Ernie's boss told him that he would PAY for us to STAY down there for the weekend! And his boss has NEVER paid for ANYONE at the company, to spend the weekend anywhere, EVER. So we KNEW that it was God. And we were right!
THIS time when we went, we saw His Hand clearly. Many things happened and one of them was that I met a woman (while I was waiting for Ernie to finish up some work that he had to do there) and she and her family had just moved to that area from Chicago! The Lord told them to move and they did. They did not have a job or a home there when they first came. They just packed up and followed God there.

We talked and she confirmed many of the same things (key phrases again) that the Lord has already been showing us. She told me that at her Church there, had been a prophetic word that God is indeed gathering His people up there, for the last days and plans to do a mighty work there. She also told me that NOW we know someone down there and how we are family. If we are born again, then we ARE in the family of God and ARE siblings in Christ. No matter WHAT our denominational background. She and I exchanged numbers and it seemed that I had known her for years, even though we had just met, at McDonald's, while our young children played together! So when Ernie found out about my "providential meeting" with that precious sister in the Lord, he got pretty excited about it. Yet another confirmation that we are on the right track. There was a record heat wave going on at the time, too. In the natural it was miserable there, the entire time that we were there. The next day we went to another town there in that area. We just felt led and we went. The town is almost dead and they are desperate to try to revitalize their town. And we just stopped and got out of our car, walked down to the lake and met the owners of a marina there. And they said some key phrases, as well. She said, "if you go down there on the lake, (however many yards) there is a place where there are a THOUSAND eagles that live there. They land and they live there".....And there were a few other things that they said that just confirmed, yet again, that we are on the right track. Then we left there and we drove up the hill and there sat a beautiful home for rent. Sitting on an acre of land. More than affordable for us. So we are now waiting on the Lord to see if that home is for us or what we are to do. We are "waiting on the Lord" and renewing our strength.
Amen?

We have left our Church because of some "policies" that they implemented with the children and we are going to a different one, temporarily, until the Lord opens another door for us. Jimmie found that that Evan probably ISN'T his child and he's living with us now. He got a REALLY good job. That is what is going on with us!
More updates later! God bless...

Update time again!
Well, it's December of '05 and all is well.  Ernie's job HERE is still great but he is putting out ALOT of resumes by faith, where we want to move to and we're waiting for God to move us on to our destiny, with Him.  We KNOW that the Ozarks are the area that He has for us. We are VERY excited and are waiting expectantly for God to move. Becca had a little girl.  Evan is probably NOT Jimmie's baby, we've found out now and they are not together anymore. So that makes us on grandbaby number 6.  Stephanie is pregnant and is due in April. So that one will be number 7.  So the word of the moment is "wait".  "They that wait upon the Lord".....And that is exactly what we're doing.  God bless.

Well another update is in order for sure!
It is August of 2006.  I just realized how long it had been since I last updated this page. So much has happened that I honestly don't know where to start. Those of you who get our email updates know all of this. But here is the gist of what has happened. We have just been plugging along. Ernie works everyday at his job and he works at home, as well. Sharlene works from home everyday doing web pages (and dealing with clients, etc), housework and home schooling Nicole. And we are just enjoying God and trying to live our lives to honor the Lord, everyday. And life is good. God is SO good to us!

Stephanie had her baby and it was a boy.  His name is Lochlund and he's sure a cutie....

In either January or February we finished up a website for a friend of ours. He is a singer/songwriter named Ben Bolling. He used to do a Christian Country style of worship at a Church that Sharlene attended for many years in Cowgill, Mo.  His parents are the Pastors there.  Ben is a neat guy and Sharlene (and her children that attended there at the time) has always loved his music and the anointing that he has on him. Ernie went a few times, too.  Oh let me backtrack here.  Sharlene had taken Stephanie up there to Church when she came to visit in '05 and then Sharlene found out that Ben had moved to Kansas and no longer did the worship at the Church.  And someone there told her that Ben had actually released a CD, which didn't surprise anyone. He is VERY good. Then Sharlene received a copy of Ben's CD. And when Ernie HEARD Ben's CD he wanted to see if Ben had a website. Because he NEEDED one. He IS very good and we wanted to see what was going on with him and his music now. 

He did not have one so we found their phone number online and we called them and when Misty (his wife) answered the phone, Sharlene told her that we wanted to do a free website for them. She was flabbergasted.  She told Sharlene that it was a direct answer to prayer for them! Because he'd won a singing contest in Nashville and they told him that he needed a website. And they simply did not have the money to get one or know of anyone that would DO one for them. 

Needless to say, all parties were VERY excited at THIS point! So that started the ball rolling on something pretty significant in our lives right now....Ernie LOVES southern Gospel music. If it's Southern Gospel or Christian Country, he's in! LOVES it! We have DISH Satellite and there "just happened" to be a program on (Sky Angel) called "Texas Country Gospel". Sharlene knew that he'd really enjoy it. So she set the DVR to record it. And while it was ON, she called him upstairs so that HE could watch it. That very act was the beginning of something VERY significant for us. God has used THAT one starting act, to literally change our lives!

We looked online to see if THEY had a website or not. They had a REALLY cheesy one with NO domain name and nobody could find it. We really had to DIG to find it and we felt a "draw" there to help them out. We really enjoyed Mary Fay and her group's (1AChord) music. And then it hit us that they have to get talent FOR the show, so we thought of Ben and HIM being on their show. So we emailed her and she wrote us back and said to have them send her a CD and that she'd consider having him on the show sometime. So they DID and they sent her the DVD of the contest that he was in and WON. And Mary liked him and said that he could be on the show sometime. When they taped next time....

So the next time that we watched the show, there was a commercial on there where Mary Fay Jackson (the host of the show) and Mike Culpepper were selling a compilation CD that they'd put together. And Mary was talking about calling and writing them to GET the CD. And Mike piped up, "or you can just go to my website"....That was it!  Ernie said, "I'm going to call her, she should have her own website to send them to!"

Sharlene told him that he couldn't just CALL HER. She's on TV...He said, "watch me". And he did! And he got her! So we offered to help them with her website, for free. She was VERY skeptical and she thought that we were weirdo's (or stalkers, etc, they've had problems with that in the past) at first. Then after we'd talked a few times after that, she trusted us enough to let us in to help them. So since then? We've met her and her parents.  Our daughter Nicole has actually sang on STAGE with her in Ft Worth Texas at the Will Rodgers Coliseum for the Cowboys for Christ Easter service and it was recorded and we have the DVD of it!  And we designed Mary Fay Jackson's, 1AChord's and Texas Country Gospel's websites. And we also HOST all three of the Sites, as well.

And we got paid to redesign Mike Culpepper's (we host his Site, too), since even though he was sending them TO his website, he didn't have a STORE on there. So they STILL couldn't buy the music THERE, either! Now they can. And this has opened a few doors for us. We've met a few of Mary's Friends and we designed and host Omar Stiefer's Site (he is called the Garth Brooks of Christian Country Music).  We also redesigned Ted Pressley's Cowboys for Christ web site. It is their official site.  It is an International Organization, helping people in the Livestock Industry to find Jesus. Neat folks. We love Mary Fay and even went to a concert of hers yesterday, in Branson.  We had a blast. 

The Lord has really blessed Ernie with some serious talent. It IS the Lord.  Because we've done websites for years but the quality has REALLY improved. And he hasn't done anything in the natural to improve his talent. It IS God.  And we give Him all of the glory for ALL of this! Well put more updates here later, as they occur. We are still trying to move to the Ozarks and are waiting on God for the move.

Here are the links to some of the websites that we mentioned above:

Texas Country Gospel

Cowboys For Christ

Omar Stiefer's
 
Ben Bolling's

Mary Fay's

Mike Culpepper

Here is a site with some pictures of our first trip down to Texas when we met Mary Fay and Mike for the first time....

Link

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UPDATE March of 2006
Wow, again SO much has happened and I'll share the Readers Digest version of it.  We've been to Branson a few times and it just further cements that we KNOW we are going to move there once God opens the doors for us to go.  We feel that God wants us to really focus on our website design/hosting business there.  We're excited about it!!  And we want to be involved with helping to keep a small town in Missouri from literally dying. Lord willing!

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And it's NOW August of '07 and I had to change most of what I had on that last update...Well too much has gone on for me to go into it right now.  Suffice it to say that we are STILL waiting.  And we will continue to wait until God moves us.

God bless!

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Well it's almost Christmas of 2007 and SO much has gone on.  I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd updated here, considering how much has occurred.

The wait is over.  We are BUYING a house in a beautiful town close to Branson.  Ernie got an AWESOME job there and we're moving in a few days!  Kind of a bad time TO move but a GREAT Christmas gift to us.  He took a pay cut at the job but we will more than make up for it in the website business that we will get there.  Caleb has moved in with us.  He left his dad's house (he's legally an adult now, can you believe that???) and he is going to work and help out at the new house.  Jimmie is leaving HIS job in Wichita and HE is moving in with us to help out, too.  The house is HUGE and they will each have their own bedrooms, with their own private entrance to the house.

Ernie has been doing a new video effect to add to our commercial websites now and we are going to build a mini studio in our new home to shoot video of our clients for their websites. 
It's VERY cool so stay tuned, it's fixing to get exciting around here!

Oh and we are now the official web designers/masters of the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc!

http://www.hallmuseum.com

Check it out!

So needless to say, we are SO excited and SO blessed.  God is good and that is all I'll say for now.  I'll update again later.

Keep your chin up and keep looking up.  Your redemption draweth nigh.  Amen?  His return IS eminent and we need to be looking up and hoping for His return.  Keep your lamps full of oil.  The Bridegroom cometh!

We'll update again later!

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Well it's LATER.  LOL

Ok, today is August 22, 2008

SO much has gone on that I'm not quite sure WHERE to start....

We are all moved into our new house of course.  We found out that it has FIVE acres, instead of just the 4 that we thought we had.  Jimmie got a good job at a plastic factory in Springfield.  He LOVES it and is making more money than he's EVER made at a job before.  He's 25 now.

Caleb works at the same place that Ernie does.  He's 18 now.  He doesn't like HIS job nearly as much as Ernie does but it pays the bills and he's looking for something else.

Nicole is still home schooling.  We have considered putting her into school a few times.  She HAD been very lonely.  BUT *drum roll PLEASE* Stephanie and her entire family were able to buy the house two doors up from us, so she has ALOT of kids to play with now.  So she isn't nearly as lonely as she WAS.  So that is good.  They moved here from Minnesota and Trent got a good job and Steph has a job now and they LOVE their new home.  And we feel SO blessed to have them all so close now.  It's a total blessing!

We landed a HUGE website deal with Katie Lynn (www.katielynn.net) and we are in the process of redesigning HER website, as I write this.  She sings with Mickey Gilley at Gilley's theater in Branson AND she's the
co-host of the Gene Williams TV show in Branson, too.  So we are meeting some really GOOD business connections as well as MANY new friends.  We LOVE our neighbors and life is GOOD folks!  GOD is good!

Here are a couple of pictures of our new home:

Here is a rainbow from our back deck in April of '08