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He Made It!

Valerie Basham

September 13, 2007

Terry arrived at our door safely at 12 noon today!! He was supposed to get home around 10, but he missed his flight in Pittsburgh and had to catch a later one. He is exhausted, but had a great time. He was able to visit with Bro. Graham a lot, as well as other preachers, and that was a big encouragement! I only wish I could have gone too! I was here holding down the fort. And I did a good job…well, the fort is still standing anyway! ha!

While I was on the phone to Terry last night, Bro. Graham asked to say hello to me, and he told me that the Lord really used Terry’s message to speak to hearts. That’s what it’s all about! It’ s an honor to be used by God to do the smallest of tasks for Him, but especially to preach His Word. We are so blessed.

I am so thankful that the Lord saw Terry safely home! Maybe life can get back to normal. Wait a minute, what is normal?

Almost There!

Valerie Basham

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September 12, 2007

My husband comes home tomorrow!!! I have had two of the busiest days and nights of my life this week. Today will be no different, I am sure. It is such a blessing to have someone who can keep an eye on my children so I can shower at my leisure! This week I have had to do everything on the run! God has truly been my helper this week, and I thank Him for it! He has given me strength when I had none left, he has given me rest when I was about to collapse, and He has given me wisdom to handle each situation as it arose. Today, He has given me hope! Only one more day!!

Please pray for Terry has he travels home tomorrow. He will be leaving Pittsburgh at 6 am, but it’s a two + hour drive to the airport, so he’ll be leaving WV at 2AM in order to get to the airport and return the rental car. I am so glad that he and Bro. Graham are driving together. They can talk to each other and keep the driver awake! It’s also been a hard week because I’ve hardly even talked to Terry. In West Virginia, the mountains inhibit cell phone usage greatly! He has had to go to a mountain top and stand in just the right spot to call me. I think I’ve talked to him 30 minutes total the last two days!

I had a nice surprise yesterday. Terry had a red rose delivered to me in honor of our engagement ten years ago. It was extra special because I am so tired. It brightened my day so much! The card read: “Thanks for saying Yes! Love, Terry” What a blessing! Truly, the Lord brought us together, and let me say, God knows what’s best! He gave me a wonderful man whom I do not deserve! I’m so glad we’ll be together soon, Lord willing. I’m ALMOST THERE!!

Thanks for Asking!

Valerie Basham

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September 11, 2007

I’m so glad you asked me to marry you ten years ago today! You’ve made me the happiest woman alive! See you soon!

Terry and me on his 26th birthday, in Florida!

Terry and Lauren on his 29th birthday, along with his most prized possession – his new Bunn Coffeemaker!!

Terry and Leslie right after her birth – May of 2005

Terry, my wonderful husband and Pastor!

June 28, 2007

I love you! Have a great week!

A Day to Remember

Valerie Basham

1 comment

September 11, 2007

September 11, 2001 is a sacred day in America. It should be. I remember very well exactly where I was and what I was doing when I received word that we were under attack in America. Until then, I never would have thought that America was vulnerable. I didn’t know that such a tragedy as 9/11 was even possible here. That day changed me forever, as it did all of us.

September 11 has been a special day to me long before 2001, though. Since I was 9 years old, September 11 has been my pastor’s birthday. We have celebrated that day for 20 years! Dr. Ken Graham became my pastor in January of 1988. Seems like yesterday! He has been my counselor, pastor and friend for 20 years. It was under his ministry that I was saved. It was he who put up with my weird teen years. It was through him that I met my husband! He married me and Terry in Jan. 1998. He gave Terry his first paid ministry job. He has been behind the pulpit of Victory Baptist Church giving direction and correction for almost 20 years. He was there during some dark days in my family – when my dad lost his job years ago, he was there. When my nephew was born with bacterial meningitis and nearly died, he was there. When my “partner”, my Dad, went to Heaven three years ago, he was there. It was Bro. Graham who cried with us over the casket and said “I wish I could take this pain away from you.” I knew he meant it. My parents never had “roast preacher” at home, instead they sent him notes of encouragement every week! My mom still continues this. When any conversation drifted to something negative about the church people or staff, my Mother always replied with: “I guess we should really pray for them.” Or, ” Yes, that’s true, but did you notice (something positive about them).” One night right before I went to bed, I was telling her some things about a church staff member that really bothered me. When I turned off my alarm clock the next morning there was a note beside the clock from my Mom that read “If we prayed for people as much as we complain about them, we would see them change.” OUCH! Talk about conviction. I knew she was right. Mom and Dad always lifted him up with prayer and positive talk. (Had to alliterate that…if you know Bro. Graham you know he’s the king of alliteration!) They back him publicly and privately.(There I go again!) They follow him. They love him. So do I. I have since moved away from my hometown. I have a wonderful pastor now – my husband! But I’ll always love my “home pastor” as I call him! I’m sorry I don’t have a photo to put here, but I want to wish Dr. Ken Graham a happy birthday! If you have a loving pastor, thank God for him, and encourage him any way you can. Nothing is too small. The ministry is difficult – as life is! We need to lift each other up. Your preacher, however, is carrying the burdens of so many. He needs extra encouragement!

September 11 is also a special day for me in another way. It was Sept.11, 1997, that my husband asked me to marry him! Ten years ago today, I became engaged! We had known each other for years, and never liked each other. But I guess maturity changes things! Terry is in West Virginia preaching at a fellowship meeting, in fact, he’s with Bro.Graham, so I don’t get to see him. I just want to say that I am so glad he asked me that question…and that I had the sense to say yes!

Need a good laugh?

Valerie Basham

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September 11, 2007

I was having trouble with the youtube videos that I embedded onto my blog, so I just removed them. However, be not dismayed, I have put the link to them here:

Enjoy this hilarious, but oh so true, rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISuvTiTYJA

Whatever you do, don’t mess with this old lady! You will love this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAwoZMc7JnA

Godly Sorrow

Valerie Basham

2 comments

September 10, 2007

This morning in my devotions I read an interesting verse that I wanted to share. It’s from II Corinthians 7. Paul is telling the church at Corinth that his first letter to them made them sorry, but it led them to repentance and for that he was glad. They had changed their minds, and lives, because of the letter he had written to them concerning the sins that they were committing. II Cor. 7:10 says “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” That is so true. How many times I have been under conviction during a sermon, or in my devotional reading for the day, and been so sad! Sad that I had let myself enjoy a particular sin, or neglect my walk with the Lord, or any number of things I do wrong daily! I feel almost depressed as I go to Him and ask forgiveness. I am ashamed and embarrassed. Yet, He forgives me (I John 1:9) and forgets (Ps. 103:12)! I can get up from that spot of repentance and start anew! As the verse says, salvation cannot be repented of – once you get saved you’re saved, once you sincerely ask God to forgive you, He forgives you! You can’t change it! However, the sorrow of the world leaves you hopeless. Alcohol can’t ease the pain forever, drugs can’t, friends can’t – they only mask your problems for a while. You may find temporary relief, but it’s only temporary. Jesus saves forever! When trials come, He is with me forever!
I am so thankful for “godly sorrow”. I am so glad that my sorrow does me some good – it leads me to go to God and get right. And boy, I have to get right all the time!

A busy, but blessed, week!

Valerie Basham

1 comment

September 8, 2007

TADA! It only took a week…and six days.

Before

Ever just had “one of those days”? I have had one of those days all this week! For starters, I have been trying to get Laci on a good schedule for going to bed at night and napping in the day. My goal was to have my devotional time at the same time each morning. And get both girls asleep for naps and teach Mitchell during that time. Well, it just didn’t work. I would get my prayer time in, but not my Bible time, or vice- versa. Neither girl would nap at the same time, Laci hardly napped at all! It was very discouraging. I was getting about 4 hours sleep a night all week because Laci just wouldn’t or couldn’t stay asleep. We checked the usual : fever? No.Runny nose? No. Teething? Well, that’s a possibility until they’re 2!! Appetite normal? You bet! She was just fussy, pulling at her ear and not sleeping! Laci’s problems caused Leslie to “fall awake” so now I had two up at 3 AM. Terry would take Leslie to our bed with him and I would have Laci. Finally, on Thursday, with red, burning eyes, I asked Terry(who was equally exhausted) if he thought I should take her in to see Dr. Sky (for more info on him read earlier post on “He’s everything he says He is….”). Maybe she had an ear infection??Well, he was booked until Fiday. So I took her the 30 min. drive to see the dr. at 9 on Fri. morning – leaving Terry with the other three – fully convinced that she was just “going through a phase, and I would just have to tough it out”. After all, I had been there, done that! Dr. Sky was, as usual, very kind and said I did the right thing to come in and have her checked. We joked about how I could save a lot of gas if I could just by an otoscope (to check the ears) and have him show me what an infected ear looks like! ha ha! Well, sure enough he said her left ear was infected! She had a cold about 3 weeks ago, and has seemed fine until this week. I guess she wasn’t really over it! Anyway, I got home, went dropped off Laci’s Rx and headed home to check on Lauren’s progress with school and eat lunch, then I went Wal-Mart in Marble Falls, picked up Laci’s Rx, came home, cleaned the kitchen, listened to Lauren read, give her an arithmetic test and a science quiz, then teach Mitch. Then it was supper time, and laundry and on and on and …well you get the idea. In all this chaos I just want to say that the Lord was so good to me in several ways:

1. I am so thankful that I listened to my husband and took Laci in to see the dr. If I hadn’t, I would only have many more nights of no sleep ahead of me, because the drs. office is closed Sat. and Sun.

2. If I had to take her on Monday, I would have had to take all of the children with me, because Terry flies out of Austin Mon. at 6 to go to West Virginia to preach at preacher’s fellowship conference. He won’t be back till Thursday! What a blessing.

3. Terry surprised me by asking his parents to watch ALL FOUR kids at our house so we could go out to eat at the Bluebonnet Cafe’!! It was so nice to be alone for 2 hours! After all the lost sleep I had had this past week, my patience and nerves were wearing very thin! What a blessing to relax and not have a child asking for something every time I blink. Thank you, Honey!

4. The BATHROOM IS DONE!! We took showers in the new bathroom last night! Yea! All that needs to be done now is the floor in there, but that will have to wait until he gets back from his trip.Here are some photos of the new, well, improved bathroom! (See above)

Today has been really busy too. Writing this now is my first break all day! Terry started his Bible Institute today (he teaches one course per semester to any church members, or non members for that matter, who are interested. It’s free. This semester is “Studying the Bible and building a Bible lesson” Next semester will be a shortened course on Baptist History. For more info about our church, click here.) Then, he had to put new breaks on the car, he gave one of our church kids a haircut, mowed our lawn and now he’s making visits. I have been cleaning, doing laundry and ironing for his trip, and of course, taking care of the kiddos. I still have to get my super church stuff ready and prep for school this week, and I HOPE I’ll get to bed before midnight tonight!

I am so thankful the Lord has seen me through this week. I am constantly amazed at how the Lord puts up with me. I gripe, I complain – oh, not out loud, but he hears my thoughts – and yet He has mercies that are new every morning. (Lam.3:22,23) He blesses me when I don’t deserve it – I never deserve it! Even when I’m good, I don’t deserve His love. Isn’t He good to us?

Focus on the Negative!?

Valerie Basham

2 comments

September 7, 2007

If you are in the ministry in any capacity – full time, part time, whatever, then you have had your share of downs. You have a plan for a new and exciting program and everyone gets sick, or no one cares. That’s a bummer! We have been in several churches, and sometimes we just don’t see the results we were hoping for. I believe whether your church runs 10 or 10,000 there are discouraging times of many shapes and sizes. In my short ministry experience of 10 years, we have moved several times. We never left under bad circumstances, but we were always hoping things would be even better at the next location. This I know: there are problems everywhere! I often think of this as the “grass is greener syndrome”. I get that way any time things get rough! I think “so and so has a church of ___ (whatever number). Or “So and so has this better or that bigger than we do” It LOOKS really good from 100 or more miles away! But if we zoom in, we see the problems that person is facing, and then the weeds start to show!

It is in these times and only these times, that I focus on the negative! I think about the drawbacks to the climate of that “other place” maybe it’s freezing 9 mos. of the year, maybe it’s 115 degrees in the summer and humid (we have low humidity and a mild winter climate! yea!). Or whatever is different. I think about the possible problems that that church might be facing that we are not – needing to build a building (that’s good, but hard!) – having large debt, and on I go thinking of all the negatives that I can! It makes my problems seem smaller, and my blessings so much bigger and better! After a good look at the negaitves, I have successfully cured myeself of the “grass is greener syndrome”. Maybe you could try it!

I have a feeling we all go through this, whether in full time ministry or not!

I thank the Lord for helping bloom where I’m planted – whether I’m in a desert or a rain forest!

Photos You Might Like…

Valerie Basham

1 comment

September 6, 2007

Three little stair steps: (t-b) Lauren, Mitchell and Leslie

Lauren wearing a dress that her cousin Ashley in Florida gave her.

Lauren and Mitch showing their H.E.Buddy Reading certificates and T-shirts awarded by our local grocery store, HEB, during their summer reading club.

He’s everything He says He is….and more

Valerie Basham

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September 5, 2007

So many times I catch myself asking “Lord, can you really take care of me in this situation?” After all, some situations seem really impossible! I’d like to say that yes, He can provide what you need in any situation, and then provide more than you need! When coming to Northside Baptist Church in October of 2005, we were not sure if the Church could pay us enough to live on. We knew however, that this was where God wanted us to be, and that somehow He would provide. With a little fear and trepidation on my part, we moved here and decided to trust God. Well, as the title of a book by our friend, Evangelist Tim Green and his family says: He’s Everything He Claims to be and More! He has provided in so many ways! The church pays us enough to live on, and even more! When I found out I was expecting our fourth child, and only native Texan, in March of ’06, He provided a wonderful Doctor to deliver the baby. After meeting with 3 other doctors, and asking the Lord to direct us, we finally found Dr. Sky (short for Skylar). He is the son of a Church of Christ preacher from Tennessee and a godly man himself. He has 5 kids of his own and often takes missionary trips where he can offer people free medical care. We found him by calling the hospital in the town He practices in. They didn’t know we were a Pastor’s family, yet they recommended him for his kindness and Christian qualities. Later, after meeting him and loving him and his staff, he told us that he gives preachers and their families free office visits!!! He isn’t an OB/GYN, he’s a family Doctor who maintains a license to deliver babies. The great thing about that is that our whole family goes to him, and he is like part of our family. When Laci was born there were a few minor complications, yet I knew that God would help me, well, us through them. I knew He had led me to the place that I was in, and that knowledge offers a wonderful peace, even in turmoil. He provided a wonderful doctor, and even more!Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Can He provide in a small, close knit town where you are a total stranger? Yes, He can. Do I still question Him sometimes? Yes!! I wish I never did, but remembering past miracles encourages me to keep trusting Him. He is so patient, longsuffering and forgiving with me! I am so glad I know Him! He truly is all He claims to be…and more!

He saved me…and keeps me saved.
He loves me when I’m good…and when I’m bad.
He forgives me…and then forgets.
He lets me pray directly to Him…and then talks back to me through His living Word.
He gave me His Son, Jesus….and the Holy Spirit.
He served Me…and lets me serve Him.
He’ll never leave me….or forsake me.