I Don't Have A Prayer Without You

A Brief Interruption From Davy

We had a last minute change of plans Friday. We ate lunch, went to the airport and turned in the rental car only to find that our flight was delayed by nearly two hours. There were severe storms in Dallas where we were making our connection so there was no way to get there before the only flight left for Mississippi.

The airline tried to connect us a dozen different ways but there was no way to do it. The airline had already reserved seats for us on Saturday's flights and that turned out to be our only viable option.

Since the flights were rescheduled before we left Fresno the airlines were not responsible for putting us up for the night. However I must give kudos to American Airlines for going the extra mile and making an exception for us. They put us in a very nice Best Western across the street and we had a very nice afternoon and evening.

Now we are supposed to catch our flight shortly after noon today and if all goes well we should be back at the BoggsMobile in Mississippi late tonight. We were planning to begin revival in Elba, Alabama Sunday morning. We are not going to make it by then but Pastor Jon Isaacs was very understanding. We will get there as soon as we can.

Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

Davy

Odie's Saturday Post

Hey Friends,

We had an excellent week in California. I love being with all our friends. California is one of the hardest places to leave. I always look forward to our next visit. I am sure we will be back again soon if God allows it.

Let's talk about songs. We are always looking for new songs that minister to us and will minister to others. It is so difficult to find songs that are right. Every once in a while we run across perfection and we sing it forever. The song I Don't Have a Prayer Without You is one of those songs for us. It is one of our most requested songs. 

We have recorded it twice. In 2006 on Simple Truth (project now unavailable)

In 2010 we recorded it on Having Church Live In California (project can be ordered online)

My Uncle Jay and Aunt Theresa bought this Jeff and Sheri Easter project for my 14th birthday in 1999. 

Not only is it one of my favorite Jeff and Sheri projects, but track number 4 changed my life. The moment I heard I Don't Have a Prayer Without You, I knew it was a song I had to sing. It is hard for me to believe we have sang the song for 16 years. That is now over half my life.

At 14 I did not fully understand life, like I thought I did. Now at 30 I have experienced a lot more of life. It has been quite an adventure. Whatever lies ahead I truly know God is our only hope and I do not have a chance without Him.

In 16 years the message of the song is still true. Not only have the words encouraged me but many others have drawn encouragement from the the powerful message of this song. 

I will close this post with the lyrics. I hope you have a great weekend. Remember our strength comes from the Lord.

Odie 

I Don't Have a Prayer Without You

Bruce Haynes, 1999 Haynesongs, Willow Branch/BMI

Verse 1

Sometimes I feel like there's no way out

And my heart begins to doubt Your amazing grace

But I know that Your Word is true

You somehow have always seen me through

Through my darkest days

Chorus

I don't have prayer without You

I don't have a chance without You

Lord I need You here tonight

Won't you please hold me tight

Make my heart true

Cause I don't have a prayer without You

Verse 2

Sometimes life feels like a ball and chain

And I become a slave to old memories

But I know that You've forgiven me

You gave your life at Calvary

Just to set me free

Chorus

Bridge

Lord You're everything I need

So take what's left of me

Make me what I ought to be

So You can use me

Lord don't You see

Tag

I don't have a prayer without You

No I don't have a prayer without You

Buying School Supplies for GoodNews Christian School in Nigeria

GoodNews Christian School in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Bro. Shobanke called Wednesday from Nigeria and it was so good to hear his voice. I miss my brothers and sisters in Nigeria and I look forward to returning to visit them again at my first opportunity.

Bro. Shobanke told me that Pastor Sam Snow will be going to Nigeria in December to dedicate a church he helped to build. I was thrilled to find out he is going. I know he loves to go, I know he is a great encouragement to them AND I really need to send some school supplies to GoodNews Christian School.

I contacted Bro. Snow and he is willing to take an extra piece of luggage with him so I have two courses of action. 1. We can purchase the school supplies and a cheapo suitcase and then ship all of that to Bro. Snow. 2. Or we can send Bro. Snow money for the supplies and suitcase along with a list of the school supplies we would like for him to purchase. With either option we will pay cost for Bro. Snow to take the extra piece of luggage on the airline.

Option number one is more fun for us because we get to shop and pick out all the stuff for the children but option number two is more cost effective since we would not have to pay for shipping from us to Texas in addition to everything else. We will figure all of that out in the next week or so.

We took a suitcase of school supplies in 2013, we sent another with Bro. David Eldridge in 2014 and we are so thankful it looks like we may get to send this one now. This a real tangible blessing to the school and the children. We told more about that HERE last year.

Both times we have done this we have heard from folks after the fact, that they would like to be involved in it. Now is your chance. It will probably cost $300-$500 for the high quality supplies, cheap suitcase and extra luggage fees depending on which airline Bro. Snow flies. 

We are going to do this either way but if you would like to help, please let us know. We would love for you to be included. We will also be sending an offering to the school and to Pastor Shobanke and for various other projects. If we receive more than required to send the supplies we will apply it directly and completely to the other needs in Nigeria.

You can Donate from here on the blog or you can mail it to the address below. Either way please let us know you are helping toward school supplies in Nigeria and every dollar will go toward them as I mentioned above.

If you could see the smiles on their faces you would be as hooked on these kids as I am.

They are receiving a Christian based education that would be absolutely impossible if it were not for the big sacrifice of a few faithful folks. I sure want to add my little part.

Thanks and may God bless you, friends.

Davy

Boggs Family Ministies

P.O. Box 28

Waynesville, OH 45068

30 Years and Out!

Odie was born on Monday October 14, 1985. I told that story in a post a couple of weeks ago. Exactly two weeks after she was born I started a new job at General Motors on the north side of Dayton on Monday October 28, 1985. That means yesterday, October 28, 2015, marked 30 years since that day.

IF I had stayed at General Motors, IF I had survived the layoffs, IF I had some how survived the plant closing several years ago, I would have been eligible to retire with 30 years of service yesterday. 30 years and out!

When I was 18 years old retirement seemed like one of the most important things in the world. A job was important but a job with retirement was even more so. Getting a job at General Motors at 18 was like hitting the lottery. If I wanted to do so I could retire at 48 years old.

That was my goal. That was my dream. Work for 30 years, retire at 48 and then do whatever I wanted to do the rest of my life. With retirement income coming in every month we could travel, preach, pastor or anything else that presented itself. At 18 years old, 30 years seemed like an eternity but it was something to work toward and hope for.

Real life intervened of course and I am not having a retirement party this week or any time soon. Retirement is not on the horizon at 48, 58 or even 68 and Kelly Jo and I have been at peace with that for many years. 

In fact we can not imagine missing out on well over 19 years of full time ministry. Think of all the friends we would not have, the places we would not have traveled, the churches we would not have visited and all of the many blessings we would not have enjoyed.

Even with a few dead end jobs, some very poor times and even a few missteps and wrong turns, it has been a great ride for 30 years. God has been good. God has been trustworthy. God has been faithful. 30 years have come and gone and admittedly things look quite a bit different than we imagined them way back then. But we are very thankful to be right where God has placed us.

30 years and out? Nope, 30 years and still happily pressing on!

Davy

Revival In Pictures - Atwater, California

Three short nights went way to fast with our brothers and sisters in Atwater, California. We love being with Pastor Jared Burris and all of our dear friends at Amazing Grace Tabernacle. We enjoyed every moment of fellowship, every morsel of food and every move of God's Spirit. We look forward to returning as soon as possible.

We are planning to leave here in a few hours but we do not fly back to Mississippi until Friday. When we planned this quick trip we hoped to go to the coast or to the mountains and recharge two nights and a day. But we are thinking of going south to L.A. to explore possibilities for City Reach. I supposed I need to make up my mind soon.

Since this is a Revival In Pictures post, it is really all about the pictures. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for reading.

Davy

Davy and Pastor Jared Burris

Same Place One Year Ago

We are having a great little revival at Amazing Grace in Atwater, California. We love being here with Pastor Jared Burris and all of his fine folks. They are super great people and wonderful long time friends.

Odie reminded me that we were here for revival and the new church dedication exactly one year ago. The dedication service was on October 25th and the week long revival closed on the 26th. HERE and HERE are pictures from the revival and you can see pictures from the dedication service HERE and HERE.

In some ways it is hard to believe that it has been a year since the dedication service. That was a wonderful day and it will always be a highlight in our lives. I was so sick that day but the Spirit of God was so amazing and He felt so close that day. It was a very memorable day and week.

Looking through those pictures I saw some that Kelly Jo took in Kings Canyon National Park. Regan Morris visited us that week and Kelly Jo and Odie took her to see a few of the big Sequoias on the way to the airport. They went early in the morning and captured the light perfectly.

This is one of the pictures below and HERE are a few more posted that week.

One of the reasons we write this blog on an almost daily basis is so we can record details of trips, revivals, meals, bus repairs and friends in a searchable format. It is amazing how many times we need to know something and we search the blog because we know we wrote about it. Looking at the pictures is an extra bonus. 

That is how this post started. I searched to see if Odie was correct in her timing and she was! The posts and pictures from one year ago took us right back to that special time. I am thankful for exciting times that create wonderful memories and for a great place to keep record of them. I hope you enjoy the memories as they happen and find their way here.

Thanks for reading.

Davy