Saturday, March 2, 2019

Testimony Time with Odie

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from Mississippi. We had a super week with our dear Mississippi family at First Assembly in Ellisville! Pastor Kenny and Sis. Joan Morris and their precious congregation are so very special to us. We love y’all so much!

It was super great to move back into the BoggsMobile. I am sure that Dad will tell you all about it, but it is nice to be in our little home on wheels.

Today we will journey on to Coneahatta, Mississippi. We look forward to five great services with our friends at White Plains. You are invited to join us for revival on Sunday through Wednesday. 

Testimony Time

My mind has been wandering again (that can be dangerous at times) but this time it is causing me to be thankful. I am so grateful that I serve an awesome God. He has moved miraculously in my life many times! 

I love it when I can look back at the many monuments that have been erected throughout my life and see the mightiness of the miracles. Yesterday March 1st was the 14th anniversary of one of those times that without a doubt God performed a miracle for me. 

I will give a shortened version of this testimony to rehearse God’s greatnesses for you. Rewind to 2005. I was 19 years old and we had been traveling full time for 2 years at this point. Life was rolling along fine and revivals were wonderful, but in mid January I was suddenly struck with pain and sickness. It was horrible and it kept reoccurring for weeks. We came to believe that I probably had kidney stones. 

By the end of February we were in the Pensacola, Florida area in revival for Pastor Philip Deane. I suffered so bad all week. Finally late Friday night I was desperate for help and we went to the emergency room. It was an extremely long wait and miserable night. After an early morning MRI, I was told they had seen no kidney stones but had spotted a large mass. 

The mass was actually old blood and after a couple days of tests and procedures we were told they had also discovered “a big ugly tumor”!

The doctors started discussing cancer and treatments and all sorts of terrible possibilities. I do not know how to adequately describe the turmoil that was going on in my mind during this unexpected change of events. What in the world was going on? I felt like the breath was knocked out of me. 

My parents and my Mamaw and Papaw were my family support team. Family and friends across the nation rallied around us with prayers, encouragement and visits. Pastor Philip Deane and the Beams of Light Holiness Church were our church family through it all! 

During this time is when I began referring to Bro Phillip as “Dr. Phil” and that is a name that will forever stay.  I can never say thank you enough to these wonderful people for going way beyond the call of duty to care for us!

The course of treatment was unknown. We definitely were full of more questions than answers. Surgery was set for March 1st. The doctors and nurses prepared us that cancer could be involved. I was scared and worried sick! The prep leading up to surgery was a nightmare that I hope to never relive. 

Surgery day came and I was still plagued with fear. My Dad reassured me that God was with us even though the end results were unknown to us they were known to God. No matter what happened we could survive with God’s help. 

Praise God for giving me the right Doctor to perform my surgery! I came through fine and no cancer was found! God was with me all the way! 

I am forever grateful for the outcome God granted me 14 years ago. After a recovery period, I was able to return to “normal” life. This very tough time taught me to trust God even more than I had before. 

I do not know what the future holds but I know God will always be with me! Psalms 23 became a special passage to me. Dad encouraged me to quote it before my surgery and it carried me through. Thank God for His word! 

Thank you for reading today and I will close with the words of Psalms 23. 

Odie

1 The LORD ismy shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.