Berean Day

I dragged myself out of bed at 5:00 am to grab a couple cups of hot strong coffee before heading outside to work. The wind was blowing against the house making moaning sounds, that almost sounded like Mark when he needs someone to massage his poor aching tendons. When I started toward the barn I noticed the barn lights were on and thought I must have left them on all night. It was so pitch black outside the glow of the barn lights were most welcoming. The other welcoming thing was Emily was all ready hard at work cleaning the stalls. It is wonderful to have her back from Gulf Shores. When I arrived back at the house to make Mark breakfast he was amazed how quickly the chores were done until I told him Emily did them.
This morning it was just plain nasty out for our walk, the wind was howling, the sky spitting at us and the temperatures dropping into the 30s. After the first round I quit to eat some breakfast before getting ready to work. Diane drove her van in, we were very thankful to have Rhoda and Emily come with us. We knew we were going to be overwhelmed today and we were right. Thankfully we had a lot of volunteers arrive to help lighten the load. It really is true that many hands make light work.

Below Kathy is busy writing a prisoner while Dave is reading the letters. Rhoda is working on the studies, Shirley and Eva Jean are opening the mail while Diane is working on one computer and Emily is working on the other entering the studies.

 We decided to train Emily on the program so when Diane and I are at Gulf Shores work won't come to a screeching halt.

 Shelby drove down with 2 of Lisa's boys. We are always glad for the strong arms and backs. Those boxes weigh 32 pounds each unless they are over filled and then they weigh about 50 pounds.

 Below Shelby, Wes and Terren are busy putting stamps and labels on the Bibles. Diane kept the copier going today and we almost got our boxes filled.

 In the picture below taken in the conference room, Diane is explaining to Jan the next job while Joyce is working on filling the next 4 lessons.

Below Rhoda is loading the studies to be mailed into Diane's van which is filled with 30 boxes of Bibles to take to the post office.

 Emily has the box of lessons that went to choir tonight and then will go to church tomorrow in hopes people will take them for grading.

We ran out of stamps again, we had over 300 requests come in and only 250 stamps. Ellen promised more stamps on Thursday so the rest of the Bibles will be sent out then.
David Obergfel opened the most entertaining letter of the day. This is what was on the letter exactly as written: Dear Berean Prison Ministry, I greet you in Jesus Name & I ask you to please send me the following items on the other side of this page by E-COMM.COM because I'm indigent & have nothing at this time Thanks & God Bless
1 Baby Powder 1 aloe vera cream 1 hot sauce 1 mountain dew soda 1 honey bun 40 envelopes 10 spicy vegetable soup 1 cinnamon cereal 1 powdered milk 1 bang chips 1 barbq chips 1 cheese puffs, 1 jalapeno chips 1 hot chocolate 1 ladys speed deodorant 1 primero se candy 1 pecan pie large 2 plantation coffee 10 garlic pickles 5 spams 2 chocolate chip cookies butterfinger cookies 5 duplex cookies 50 mint sticks 50 lemon sport drinks 50 orange sport drink 1 popcorn 1 graham crackers 10 hot peanut 1 sqeeze cheese 1 turkey swiss combo 1 sprite soda 1 snicker w/ almond 1 fireballs 2 hot fries 1 peach pie 1 chocolate cupcake 1 oatmeal cookie 2 more hot sauces 2 more chocolate cupcakes 4 cheese curls. 
Someone want to take care of all that for this prisoner? They didn't even ask for a Bible but after reading the list maybe we need to fill the stomach before feeding the soul.
We got a couple of nice letters, one prisoner wrote:  Dear Instructor, Thank you once again for you lesson.
I only brought one more home but it is too long to post and the day is already far spent.
Tonight we held our Choir Christmas party after a short practice. The food and fellowship was great. We sure have a wonderful group of people that come to choir. And guess what, THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE. It helps if you can sing but don't let that stop you from coming, they still let me come.