The year has come to a close. Lots of people and places have been visited, many miles have been traveled.  Many great new friends have been made.  As we look back through the year we wonder who might have been touched by one of our services?  Is it worth driving thousands of miles even if we only encourage one person?   Well yes, yes it is.  Even if just for that one person it’s always worth the visit.  No matter what ministry you are in, you may not realize who you affect and encourage with God’s word.  We may not find out right away but we will find out when we get to Heaven.

There are still so many people that we visit that don’t get visitors very much at all.  It is heart breaking and we are glad we can go and encourage them.  In seeing that, one prayer request that we would have would be to see other families go out in the same ministry to encourage seniors.  “Honor widows that are widows indeed….. I Timothy 5:3”   We don’t have enough time in one year to get around to everyone.  Having other families doing what we do could really spread God’s love and encouragement.  A good start is to branch out with churches that don’t already have a ministry through their church.  Our goal is to have local churches start and continue ministries at their local homes.

Looking back through the year we had the privilege to take part in an old fashion tent revival in Buckhannon, WV.  Every night more and more people came to attend the meetings we were singing at.  Even though a couple of the nights it looked like it could just pour at any minute, people still showed and became more in number.  Lately Dad has been doing ‘Name that Tune’ and a lady in particular from an assisted living we went to in Abilene, TX came up to me after and said she dated Dan Blocker (Hoss from Bonanza) in college.  Then we always hear from seniors about their kids just dropping them off and never coming back to see them or bring their grandkids.  Even when we go in to visit seniors that may have Alzheimer’s or dementia, when you bring up God or start singing hymns they perk up and remember.  We went to a memory care unit in Jefferson, TN that was just that way.  We went in and the seniors were just there doing a small activity with the worker almost looking like even though they were sitting there, they weren’t really there. As soon as we started singing hymns they came alive, started singing with us and had light in their eyes.  Even though minds may fail our God is unforgettable no matter what state we are in.

Over the last year since January 1, 2015 we have traveled about 38,000 miles.  We have visited 136,012 people, and held 472 services.  Since the beginning of our travel in 2001 we have traveled 1,438,477 miles.  We have visited 1,271,736 people and held 9, 157 services in 28 states.