Here are the welcome messages from August 1998.

	August 4, 1998
	August 17, 1998
	August 31, 1998

August 4, 1998
Praise God! What a glorious blessing! Vacation Bible Study was wonderful! We had a total of 65 students and three, that we know of, got saved during the two weeks. It was a long and hard two weeks, but the changed lives of all those students makes it all worth it! There isn't one student who doesn't know that Jesus is the Rock. They all know God loves them. They all felt God's love through the volunteers that helped. 65 lives were impacted in such a way that we will maybe never know the extent of the final harvest! I thank God that He allowed me to be a part of it! He is soooooooo good!
Now I need to refocus my mind. I was gone from home every day for some long hours. I have to jump in and get my house in order. Plus I need to concentrate on getting ready for vacation. We haven't been able to take a family vacation in five years. It used to be routine as we did it every year. Now I have to remember everything I need to do! Oh no!!!! I have to think! Ohhhh, my head!
I may not be able to update this again for a few weeks. Once I get back on track I will be back to the weekly schedule again. Please be patient with me!
Link to the 8/4/98 Bible study.

August 17, 1998
I'm back from vacation! I am relaxed and recharged! It was great! We went to the Colorado River. It was hot and humid, I got a sunburn, there were wind/rain/dust storms almost every night, our boat was malfunctioning, the water was LOW, we ran out of gas on the way home, and I had a GREAT time! I didn't allow anything to bother me. I spent a lot of time reading my Bible and praying. I kept thanking God for allowing me to go on this vacation. I kept thanking Him for being with me. It's amazing how God's love can make everything else totally insignificant! I prayed that He would provide me with opportunities to tell other people about Him. Opportunities sprang up at the most surprising times. I had to be on my toes so as not to miss the doors opening!
Now that vacation is over, I once again need to refocus my mind. I had let a lot of things slide around the house during Vacation Bible School. I've got to dive in and get caught up. (Come to think of it, have I ever been "caught up?" I believe that would be a resounding, "NO!" Ha Ha Ha) I believe I am going to be much more "on fire" for the Lord now that I've gotten some very good lessons on faith lately. (You will read about one example in this week's Bible study below.) God has work for me to do and I need to find out just what He wants me to do. He's such a good boss! I couldn't ask for a better one!
Link to the 8/17/98 Bible study.

August 31, 1998
I apologize for not updating this Bible study last week. I was not able to minister to you in the spiritual condition I was in. It is a good thing I got recharged and refreshed on my vacation. It enabled me to get slam dunked without totally losing my sanity. As you will see in this week's Bible study I went through some more "dying to self." Just when was thinking everything was fine- -WHAM! I had been praying for a while now that God reveal things in my life that needed to be changed. WARNING: Do not pray something like that UNLESS YOU MEAN IT!!!! This particular thing that needs to be changed sure hurts a lot. I am in the process of having to re-evaluate a lot of the ways I do things. In the process of changing the thing that God revealed to me I am uncovering a lot of other things that are linked to it. Sometimes I just feel like going to bed and sleeping so I don't have to face any more. However, I am taking comfort in the fact that God will never give me more than I can bear. He also has promised that He will help me and always be with me. The Holy Spirit in me will guide me and comfort me. Praise the Lord!
Always keep in mind that the more you grow in the Lord, the more effective you get in the Kingdom of God, and the more you minister to others then Satan has a bigger interest in your life. That scum will try to take you down. He will try to disable your effectiveness as a disciple of Christ. The good news is that Jesus has already defeated Satan. You have the right and the power to rebuke Satan in Jesus' name! Satan has no business messing with you and you need to let him know! He is hoping that you don't know.
We are going through a major heat wave this week. This year's weather sure has been goofy. I guess this is all still related to "El Nino." I couldn't wait for summer to finally get here and dry things out and now. . .hurry up winter and cool things off!
Link to the 8/31/98 Bible study.