Guidry Year End Letter

February 6, 2011 by Sam

Greetings Family and Friends,

WOW! What a year of change it has been for these Guidry’s (and our BowmanJ)…

EMILY – Emily Rose Bowman came to live with us in June 2009. Her mom was having a hard time and needed us to care for Emily. She came into our world at such a hard time (Sam lost his job, Allana miscarried baby #9, we lost our house and had to move in with Allana’s mom, which meant we lost our church family and had to start completely all over again… all within 6wks of Emily moving in with us, wow that is a lot to go through all at once as a 14 year old girl!). Though it was a whirlwind of change for all of us, Emily quickly became a blessing to us, and we found that her smile lit up our lives and she brought much needed laughter to our family!

JOB LOSS & MOVE– Sam’s restaurant closed in July 2009 and he has since then been unemployed. August 2009 we move in with Allana’s mom and brother in Adrian, MI.

COMPELLED CHURCH – We started attending Compelled Church in September 2009.  It quickly became home for all of us, (except Chayla, it took her quite a while to let anyone be her friend, feeling it would betray her Canton friends). We all have found so many ministries to be a part of.  The first thing we did was join the Greeting Team in October 2009; it was a GREAT way for us, as new members, to meet people at the church. Sam has taught twice for Wednesday night small groups (and has been asked again for the small groups starting up this winter). Monday nights he is a youth leader at EVERFREE, and he is the leader of WITHOUT WALLS (our youth outreach team). Sam attends a Men’s Bible Study on Thursday mornings. Allana joined the worship team in May. In June she led a dance class during VBS (Vacation Bible School) for 300 kids.  Allana became the director of SHINE (Kid’s Choir) in November. She also became the Women’s Local Outreach Team Leader in early December and she attends a Women’s Bible Study on Monday mornings. Emily and Robert are both very involved with EVERFREE on Monday nights, the youth small groups on Wednesday nights, and the WITHOUT WALLS team. Emily is on the youth worship team and Robert is on the youth media team. Emily helps out once a month in the preschool class on Saturday nights and Robert helps out twice a month in the kid’s chapel on Saturday nights.  Samantha and Chayla are doing JBQ (JR Bible Quiz) this year. Both girls are a part of SHINE.

THE LEWIS HOUSE – TLH is an urban community outreach ministry in Toledo, OH. It’s about taking the troubled 14 year old boy across the street out fishing. It’s about helping a single mom with her kids. It’s about helping the widow down the street with her yard work. It’s about doing community dinners on Thursday nights, BBQ’s in the summer, a community garden, Sidewalk Sunday School, Christmas parties, and starting the only Toledo 4H group… anything to get to know neighbors and befriend them. We heard about The Lewis House and checked it out in October 2009. In June, as a family, we lived at TLH for a month long local mission trip. We quickly found that their vision was the same one that God was laying on our hearts. All 6 of us fell in love with the neighborhood and the heart of TLH. And look forward to being even more involved in the coming year!

JOHN AND JULIE’S WEDDING – April 10th, a beautiful  day in Minnesota, we were able to attend the wedding of John (Sam’s oldest) and his lovely bride, Julie. It was wonderful to officially welcome Julie into the Guidry family J  Robert was JR Groomsmen, Samantha was JR Bridesmaid and Chayla was the Flower Girl. It was such a special event!

35 DAY ROAD TRIP – We drove from Michigan to Minnesota to visit Sam’s sister, Beth & her family and John & Julie. Some highlights were lots of tubing/boating trips, going to the Zoo, seeing the Mall of America, a Guidry family outreach at “The Healing House” (a rehab for mothers and their children), not to mention the many games of badminton and Ping-Pong.  From Minnesota we drove to South Dakota to see the Badlands, Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. From South Dakota we drove through Wyoming and onto Colorado to visit Sam’s sister, Lisa & her family. Some highlights were of course the BEAUTIFUL scenery of the Rocky Mountains, the Wiersma and the Guidry guys climbed a 14er, visiting two of Allana’s online friends (Diana and Rachel), going to Focus on the Family, seeing The Garden of the Gods, and going to Eldorado State Park. From Colorado we drove to Missouri to visit our friends, Bobby and Vanessa, we didn’t get much time with them, but it was nice to get hugs just the same.  Another highlight there was being able to visit friends, Derek and Rebecca and going to IHOP (International House of Prayer), wow was that totally awesome!!! From Missouri we drove to Tennessee and visited our dear friends, Jeff and Kim and their 3 boys. Highlights were a night of worship, going to the Zoo, and going to the Science Museum. From Tennessee we moved onto Indiana. We stayed with Pastor Bosworth and Debbie. The evenings often included Debbie whisking me away for the evening for just the two of us while Pastor and Sam hung with all the kiddos. Highlights were seeing Dan and Karen and their kids. From Indiana we came back to Michigan. It was such a wonderful time and we are SO very grateful for those who opened their home to us, without the Olson Family, the Wiersma Family, the Dronsella Family and the Bosworth Family, this trip would have been impossible and what memories we would have missed out on!! Thank you all!

Now a personal note from each of us…

CHAYLA – I am 7 years old. I am in 2nd grade. I like to play with Sami. My favorite color is purple. I love to color. I love to read. I asked God to help me read so that I could read His Word. Now I read really well. I can even read chapter books. I read the Bible a lot; I especially like reading the red letters in the Bible. My two favorite books are Winnie (a book series about a girl who likes horses and how she saves horses from being beaten), and FaithGirlz (a book series about girls living real life). I liked our big trip. And I especially love that I was a Flower Girl at John’s wedding. Now I have a sister-in-law named Julie, and I can’t wait to become an aunt (not that it will be anytime soon). I like that I am making new friends at church, even though I still miss my Canton friends. My best friends Jaida and Sarah threw me a surprise birthday party for all my Canton friends to attend, including my other best friend, Lindsay, because I was having a hard time fitting in at our new church.

SAMANTHA – I am 10 years old, finally a preteen. I am in 5th grade. My favorite color is Lime Green. I had a lot of fun this year spending time with family and friends. I was a JR bridesmaid for John and Julies wedding. I was really nervous and excited at the same time. It was a very long day, because we had to get up early to get our hair done and dressed for pictures before the wedding. Then we had the ceremony and then more pictures after it. The reception was fun. The food was good. I liked the big trip. We went so many places. We saw family and friends, some I haven’t seen in a really long time. I liked going to all the different places we went to and it was fun meeting my cousins’ friends. It was nice to be home and see my friends again and being back involved in my church. I had an awesome Thanksgiving, eating all kinds of yummy food.

ROBERT – I am 15. I am in the 9th grade. My favorite color is red. I love to read, write and have fun outside with my friends. My favorite food is ravioli. I enjoyed our big trip. I really liked climbing the 14er that we did. The Science Museum in Tennessee was cool. The drive was really cool being able to see so many different landscapes. The Arch Way to the West was really cool to see too. This year has been a year of growing closer to God. I love my church and our youth group. I have made some really great friends, and I fit in well there. The Lewis House is great. There is this kid there named Jake that I like to hang out with. I am one of the very few people Jake will talk to. He walks in the door and rushes to me and doesn’t leave my side. He has had a really hard life and he needs someone to care about him which he hasn’t found over the years. I am glad that he trusts me enough to be his friend. This has been the best year of my life even though my dad lost his job and things should be worse, things are better than they have ever been.

EMILY – I will be 16 in March.  I am excited to turn 16, really for no other reason other than I have waited to be 16 my whole life. I have a wide verity of friends. I love to read and write. I wrote a chapter for Fine Arts Competition. It was fun; I met a bunch of people from the youth group during our trip to Grand Rapids, MI. I liked going on the big trip, even though I was dreading it at first… being stuck in the car, being away from people I knew… but it was fun meeting so many people. My favorite part was tubing on the Mississippi River. I am excited about going to FL this summer for Great Grandma Carr’s 100th birthday (Sam’s grandma) and seeing all the new friends I met on our big trip, and meeting some that I haven’t met yet, like Uncle Paul who I hear is very funny!  Our youth group did “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Christmas Play this year. I am friends with a lot of the cast members, so I was a VIP member and helped them get ready and hung out with them off stage; I also made a new best friend during the play. I am hoping to try out next year for the Christmas Play.

ALLANA – This year has been the best year ever! Though the circumstances we have gone through could have ripped our family to shreds and made our faith die, it has made us stronger. The heartache that started this new journey was very real… Sam losing his job, losing our house, losing our church, losing our friends, losing 6 years of our lives, lives that were left in devastation. This is what had to happen to make my dreams come true. Since I was 14 years old I wanted my life to be devoted to God and His work. Though through life it seemed that everywhere I turned there seemed to be road blocks that made this seem like an impossible dream. But now, now we are serving God as a family, doing ministry together as a family, living life stronger as a family than we ever have before. Our God is greater and our God is stronger and HE is ABLE to turn ALL things for HIS good when we trust Him! As you have heard of all the wonderful fun things we have done this year, I just have to take the time to say Thank You God, with tears in my eyes and sob in my throat, I am way beyond grateful for destroying us to rebuild us for YOUR WILL!

SAM – God has basically blown all of our lives up and put them back together in the way that he wants this year.  He has really put me in my place and prepared me to serve Him on His terms.  I have been unemployed for well over a year now.  It has been a humbling experience and a big lesson in relying on God.  Through a series of events and influences in early spring, God led me back to school to finish the Bible and Theology degree that I started 28 years ago.  He recently blessed me by having Central Bible College approve all of my transfer credits (they originally rejected quite a few).   This cut the time and expense to complete my degree by 1/3.  It has been such an exciting year.  The summer trip which you have heard so much about was awesome.  God brought so many interesting people into our lives, like Velcro the pastor of Biker Church in Cheyenne Wyoming.  It was really neat to have a mini prayer service at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere. It was exciting to have the opportunity to preach again after so many years, filling in for a pastor with family business to take care of on the west coast.  I am so thankful for his grace and this second chance to fulfill his call on my life.  We look forward to 2011 with anticipation of the great things that God is going to do!

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Priority

January 29, 2011 by Sam

“What, then, is the connection between the priority of God and worship?  Worship is essentially about the priority of God.  It is predicated upon the reality of God’s being in the supreme position in relation to everything that exists in the created order.  Worship is personal, human expression of that relationship by which we honor God as supreme.  The results of such worship include a greater understanding of who this unique God is and an increased desire to make Him first in all of life.”

Bruce Leafblad

PRIORITY vs priorities.  If God is not my Priority than all of my priorities are going to be messed up.

“And he is head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy.  For God is pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things…”  Colossians 1:18-20a

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The Prodigal’s Simple Prayer

January 11, 2011 by Sam

We had a week of prayer and fasting for Compelled Church last week.  I found myself pondering this thing we call prayer.  Prayer means many things to a lot of people.  Prayer can mean a lot of different things to me.  But the prayer that I found myself praying time after time last week and I think one that is going to be an ongoing part of my prayer life, devotional life and life.  It is a simple prayer.  It is a prodigal’s prayer.

Lord don’t let me blow it…again. 

It seems a little self-deprecating to me, but it is my heartfelt prayer.  It does not relieve me in any way of daily walking out my faith, but it is the cry of a man who knows beyond a shadow of a doubt how easily holiness and righteousness can slip away into the night when his focus wavers from the one who sacrificed so much to save him.  It is the cry of the man standing before Jesus, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”  (Mark 9:24) when the fate of his son laid in the balance. It is the recognition that God is not the one that stands in the way of my spiritual growth.  My biggest roadblock is me.  It may not come in anything that I say or in any of the big things that I do.  It is the little stuff of unbelief that add up in our lives until suddenly we look around and realize that we have drifted far from where we want to be.  Perhaps it is part of the 12 step program for prodigals.  Everyday, Lord don’t let me blow it….again and Thank you for ALWAYS being their for me.  Keep me focused on Love, Love , Serve.  I lay it all at your feet, if I try to pick any of it up again do what it takes to keep my hands off. (as gently as possible 🙂

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Prodigals

January 5, 2011 by Sam

God woke me up at 4 am this morning and laid an early christian influence of mine on my heart.  Bob Harrington is “The Chaplain of Bourbon Street”.  My heart was wrenched when he left the ministry and spent 20 years running from God.  We have similar stories except that his wilderness time came at the peak of his ministry and mine came before it even got started.  That and the fact that a phone call from his friend Rex Humbard brought him back to God.  Though most of you do not know the name I hope to have many Rex Humbards as guides in my life.  I was saddened to see that Bob had lost his wife in July of this year.  He has also retired after adding many years of fruitful ministry to his legacy.  We are both reminders that God’s call to ministry is never negated by the foolishness of men, even when it is our own.  He waits patiently for his prodigals.   Thank you Lord for your patience!

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Grades

December 19, 2010 by Sam

It is an odd feeling not having any papers due, readings to complete, tests to study for.  Not as odd as the feeling of having papers due, readings to complete and tests to study for when I began this new adventure.  I had the opportunity to comfort a mid-twenties college student who was lamenting that it took him three and a half years to complete an associate degree with the fact that it is going to take me almost thirty years to complete my bachelors.  Now comes the wait for the grades.  I have two, both of which I am pleased with.  The other three are yet to be determined.  I think that many of my professors are still getting used to the online environment and I know that at least one is a full-time pastor, part-time professor.  This has made grades slow in coming. 

So I am fretting a little of not knowing.  We really hate “not knowing” don’t we.  I know that I treat God this way.  I make choices, plan events, do ministry and I want God to grade it right away.  I want others “in the know” or involved or to whom I am responsible to grade it right away.  Unfortunately then it really becomes about me instead of being about God.  Especially if I get frustrated and irritable about the whole thing.  I want to be able to put my “A” filled report card up on the refrigerator.  This is not the servant’s heart that I am striving for, but it is an all too real part of who I am.  It is a big  reason that I need to start my days with prayer and Scripture, and end my days with prayer and Scripture. It is not about the “grade” it is about trusting God, knowing that he loves me no matter what and following Jesus to the very best of my ability.  This is a course I could never pass, but when the Father looks at me He sees Jesus and that means I get an A+.  Lord help me live out that A+!

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—  he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

Romans 3:23-26 NIV

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Amazed

December 14, 2010 by Sam

The Anniversary of my marriage to Allana is on Wednesday (12-15).  The timing is perfect because this week she certainly fulfilled the song that was “Our Song”  9 years ago.  She continues to amaze me.  As I watched her this weekend kneeling before those kids and leading them in a celebration of the birth of our Savior (and ok they sang Rudolph too..), I thought back to all the awesome women of God that I have seen over the years in many different churches speaking into the lives of kids through relationship and music.  There is my lovely bride being counted among them.  The amazing pride that I felt as I looked at her Friday and Saturday night, I cannot even put words to.  The amazing joy that I feel at God’s work in her, in me and in us is priceless.  So here is to my lovely, talented, wise and passionate wife…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L27KqRVZPwA

Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
Is almost more than I can take

Baby, when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away

I’ve never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts, I can see your dreams

I don’t know how you do what you do
I’m so in love with you
It just keeps getting better

I wanna spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever

Every little thing that you do
Baby, I’m amazed by you

[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/l/lonestar-lyrics/amazed-lyrics.html ]

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As Tempted as I am…

December 2, 2010 by Sam

I will not run with the computer virus metaphor.  I am sure that is a great relief for the few that actually read what I write here.

I just finished up my paper on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for my class on Acts.  It is called “The Baptism in the Holy Spirit:  Initial Evidence, Eternal Importance”.  It has really helped me to refocus on the importance of the Holy Spirit in my life.  I find it so easy to forego that intimate daily time with God in the midst of LIFE.  Even “ministry” can find its way between me and the Holy Spirit.  Timely as always God prompted Pastor Nate to send out a framework for daily time with God.  I have attached this document at the bottom of this post.  Certainly this kind of personal time with God is one of the best ways to protect ourselves from the virus of my earlier post, along with real daily time in His Word. “Thy word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.”  Psalm 119:11.

 MORNING AFFIRMATIONS Prayer

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The Virus

December 1, 2010 by Sam

I don’t know if everyone does this during the Holiday season but I have found myself reflecting on my past.  Don’t worry the purpose of this post is not to bore you with the sordid details.  As I look at my children and the children that I have the opportunity to influence I cannot help but wondering if they will make the same foolish mistakes I have made.

That got me to thinking about one of the basic sources of much pain and suffering both for myself and for those that I love…sin.  Combine that with my recent download of antiviral software and of course the metaphor began to form.  At least in my life, sin has been like a computer virus.  I did not go seeking it out (at least in most cases).  I downloaded it in what I thought were innocuous situations.  It attached to “harmless” shows, friends, situations, and thoughts.  Too often we download this virus when we are in places or situations that we shouldn’t be in anyways.  And then we turn off our antivirus software (conscience) because it is interfering with our harmless fun.  Then once it is in place it sits and begins it work.  It opens up pathways into our lives and begins to fill up our “hard drives” with more and more of its own brand of data.  Pretty soon it has our antivirus completely shut down and we find ourselves in a place that we never thought that we would be.

Some people might say that I am too strict.  Perhaps that I limit my children’s access to “life” too much.  I have been overrun by this particular virus and I intend through prayer, teaching and yes a little protecting to make sure my kids don’t download it on my watch.  And yes I must make sure that I do not allow it a foothold in my own heart again.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.   Phillipians 4:8-9

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No Excuses

November 25, 2010 by Sam

November 2010

It has been too long since I last posted here.  School, family and ministry have kept me very busy.  However as the title states I am not here to make excuses.  I am here to tell a little about what God has been doing in my life over the last few months.  I started my Senior year of college at CBC online at the end of August.  It was going to be my Junior year 2nd semester but God is good and the Registrar at CBC took what I think are extraordinary steps to make sure that I received all the credit possible for my prior schooling.  The final result is that at the end of the Spring semester I will only have one course left to receive my BA in Bible and Theology.  This semester has been an awesome experience for me and not only with my classes.

We have had a great multiplication of ministry opportunities since our summer of ministry and travel.  God has been great at opening and closing doors of ministry, putting us where HE wants us to be.  The Lewis House newsletter describes some of those events.  We have also been blessed with many opportunities to serve at Compelled Church.  We are very blessed to have been accepted as Covenant Partners at Compelled during a very exciting time in God’s work there.  As the church prepares to open a campus in Toledo we find ourselves drawn by the Holy Spirit to the lost and hurting people of Toledo.  It is amazing how God is combining the vision and ministry opportunities at Compelled with the vision and opportunities at The Lewis House. Pray for us as we continue to pursue a move to the Lewis Ave. area.  I am going to try to attach the Lewis House newsletter to this post but here is the url if I fail:

https://fanintoflame.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/november-2010.pdf

I now have my WordPress account shortcutted on my school netbook so hopefully I will get back here a little more often.  Here are a couple of specific prayer requests:

1.  Allana is creating a Children’s Choir for Compelled Church.  The will be performing for the first time before the Youth production of Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer.  It will be presented as a dinner theater on December 10th and as an open performance December 11th.  All proceeds benefit Speed the Light.

2.  God’s provision as we look to moving into Lewis Avenue area. 

3.  God’s provision as Compelled Church looks to launch the Toledo Campus.  Specifically we are still looking for a suitable location. 

4.  God’s blessing on all those who came out for the inaugural launch team meeting, especially Pastor Kelly and Pastor Curtis!

5.  God’s continued grace and blessing on myself, Allana, Robert, Emily, Samantha and Chayla.

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Busy

September 15, 2010 by Sam

It is funny that the more that I have to write about, the less time that I have to Blog. This week has brought many milestones into my life from God. It has also been extremely busy and stressful. I guess that the two go hand in hand. I hope to post some more serious information in the next couple of weeks. God bless

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