Category Archives: Blog

The Mighty Miramichi…

July 30, 2014 By in Blog, Places, Process Tags: , , Leave a comment

This past weekend saw us in two churches along the Mighty Miramichi River, in northeastern New Brunswick. In this post I’ll tell you a bit about both of those churches but first, let’s look briefly at the history of Pentecost in that particular region.

The Miramichi River Valley

map_NBFor anyone not familiar with the  Miramichi River, it flows some 250km through New Brunswick from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and is home to the one of the largest populations of Atlantic Salmon in North America. People come from around the continent, indeed around the world to fly fish salmon in the pools and rapids of the Miramichi.

As “fishermen” were coming to the Miramichi from all over… “fishers of men” were going out from the Miramichi to other parts of the province. During the 1930’s and 40’s, men like C.B. Dudley were planting churches and fanning the flames of Pentecostal revival up and down the Miramichi River.  Two such churches are the United Pentecostal Church of Gray Rapids and The Pentecostals of Miramichi.

Gray Rapids

photoOur first stop, last weekend was to the UPC of Gray Rapids (pictured right) which overlooks the Miramichi and is currently pastored by Rev. Graham Russell. We arrived Saturday night and stayed with Bro. Russell in his home.

I really enjoyed just listening to him talk about many incredible experiences he’s had during his walk with God, as Liz & the kids curled up on the couch beside. It was kind of like listening to your grandpa… and it felt good. I’m glad my kids got to hear such reminiscing about the goodness of the Lord… doesn’t happen like that very often.   The next morning we spoke during their service and are thankful for their great support.

Pentecostals of Miramichi

photoOn Sunday, after service, lunch and a short rest, we climbed in the car and headed some 35-40 minutes up the river to the Chatham side of Miramichi City. The Pentecostals of Miramichi is pastored by Rev. & Mrs. Peter Long (no relation… that they’ll admit to anyway).

We enjoyed service together, where God’s spirit did some wonderful things at the altar, followed by a nice meal.

It was special to spend time with the Longs as they were the assistant ministerial team in Saint John some years ago when we were still somewhat new to the church. We had had the chance to work together on a number of occasions for various goings-on and during that time I learned, from their example, a number of things about coming alongside the lead pastor and assisting.

Up & Coming…

This weekend, we will be headed to Prince Edward Island, another neighbouring Canadian province where we’ll get to spend the Sunday morning service with Bro. & Sis. Hood, in Charlottetown before heading to Summerside to be with the Wicketts.  By the time we’re there, though, we will have time for one more post, so come back on Saturday morning when I’ll bring you up to speed on the overall progress of our fund-raising to-date.

ps. Sophie has been pleased to read your comments concerning her post this past week… Thank you for your support & encouragement!

#MPTeamFrance 3

July 9, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

in the Homestretch…

France composite pic 3Yes… we’re still in France, and yes… we still have Nick Cannon with us (He may just make it home Tanya & Jason!).

Over the past few days we’ve covered a great deal of territory and witnessed some pretty incredible things!

After saying good bye to the Brochus in Châtellerault, and in Bordeaux, we got to spend a few short hours with Pastor & Mrs. Paul Majdling, while our young people had a service with the youth of their church. We got to meet and hear an incredible testimony by one of the young men in that church before singing, testifying and bringing a message from God’s word.

After church, we headed back to Bro. Nowacki’s church in Melun (roughly a 6+ hour drive from Bordeaux). We arrived rather late and readied ourselves for a full day Monday:

  • Prayer meeting at 8:00am (one of the local young people was filled with the Holy Ghost in that prayer meeting).
  • Breakfast all together at 9:00
  • Downtown to hand out invitations for church from about 10-11:30am
  • Back to the church & then to the Bois de Bréviande for a BBQ lunch
  • Youth service at 8:00pm (another local young person was filled with the Holy Ghost in this meeting… incredible!!)

After a busy few days, Tuesday was a “sleep-in-a-little-later” kind of morning followed by a visit to the UNESCO designated “World Heritage Site”, the medieval city of Provins where the ramparts date back to the 11th & 12th centuries.  This was the first real rain that we had all week, and did it rain!  Later that evening we attended the mid-week Bible Study at the church in Melun with Bro. Nowacki. (to the right you can see our young people mixed in with the young people from Melun).

Today… Paris!

France composite Broch-Majd

Liz & I with the Majdlings (top). Shown with the Brochus (bottom), standing in a field of ripened wheat… with Châtellerault in the background.

As you are reading this, we are SOME-where trekking through the city of Paris. The team is, of course, very excited to see this incredible city!! We got on a bus at 8:30 to take us to the local train station where we caught one of the RER trains that whisked us in to the Gare de Lyon.  From there we begin to tackle the city one attraction at a time!

Ka-BOOM…. Paris!

Since we will end our time in France in the capital, you can be assured of one thing… by the time we hit the airport tomorrow, we will be completely wrung out!! To all family members reading this… please have nice comfy beds ready to receive some very tired bodies!!  🙂

Overall it will be a “good tired” though…. our hearts are full!
Thank you LORD for all the good things you’ve done during these days!!

#MPTeamFrance 2

July 5, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , Leave a comment

5 days in…

Châtellerault's City Hall

Châtellerault’s City Hall

On Thursday, I had just left you off as we began our first day of active ministry out and about in Châtellerault.

We had devotionals at church in the morning followed by some instruction on how we would go about our prayer walk… this instruction would apply to both days – Thursday and Friday.

Rather than focusing on the negative and stirring up trouble in the Spiritual realm, we simply prayed that God’s light would spread throughout the city and the region. By necessity, when light enters a room… darkness is banished… so it is on a  spiritual level… the light of Christ pushes back any form of darkness. That was our prayer.

On Thursday, we split up into three teams and went to different areas of the city. Friday’s time of prayer walking focused on the downtown core… including in front of City Hall and (pictured below) in front of a monument dedicated to the glory of the French Revolution… a pivotal moment in French History, which provoked a great shift in attitudes toward God and the Church.

During Thursday’s service, Bro. Ryan Shephard brought the message and his wife Trisha shared a testimony.

Friday

France composite pic 2While going through the city, we stopped to take a picture of the team in front of the Henri IV bridge, built in 1564. During WWII the German army had wired it with explosives in an attempt to completely destroy it and prevent American tanks from crossing the river. A German-speaking Frenchman pleaded with and was able to convince the soldiers to disobey that order, thereby saving the bridge… which is to Châtellerault what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris – an irreplaceable and  immediately identifiable municipal landmark.

After Friday’s prayer walk, we had a BBQ at the church with members of the family of God… where the girls got to do something so typically French…. (apparently) … walk around with a bouquet of flowers and a baguette (French Bread) in hand.

*Inside joke alert*
This is something that they’d seen the previous day (which was market day)… a lady walking down the street with a fresh bouquet of flowers and a baguette under the other arm.

Following our BBQ lunch, part of our team spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the Sunday School room in preparation for the new Sunday School year which will begin in August. What a HUGE help they were!  In this way, our time here will be remembered and appreciated each Sunday morning for many weeks & months to come!

To God be the Glory!

In service last night (our final service), a first-time visitor (who’d been visibly moved upon on Thursday) had returned for the second time. Praise the Lord!  She will be moving to an adjacent village at the end of August, but has already left open the possibility of Liz & I coming to visit her upon our return in January. Pray with us for this open door!

Today… Bordeaux!

This morning, we will leave Châtellerault and proceed to the city of Bordeaux where our youth will minister to and have service with the young people of this church.

As always… thank you for following our activities in, and in preparation for, France. Let these updates inform your time of prayer with the Lord.  God bless you today!

#MPTeamFrance 1

July 3, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , 1 Comment

3 days in…

 After months of preparation our team of 13 young people are finally in France!  Twelve hail from Mission Point, in Saint John, NB and one from Capital Community Church in Fredericton, NB. All are impacting the kingdom of God! We left on Monday, June 30th on an overnight flight from Montreal to Paris. Both passengers and baggage arrived safely and at the same time! Continue reading →

Pensacola, FL

June 26, 2014 By in Blog Leave a comment

Call it a “Throwback Thursday Post”  if you will… continuing with updates on some of our time in the States back in the month of May.

Short & Sweet

Our time in Pensacola was short and sweet… we drove from Orlando and arrived just in time to get freshened up and head over to First Pentecostal Church, Pastor Brian Kinsey’s church, for their midweek Bible Study.

We were glad to meet Rev. Jeremy Stafford, Bro. Kinsey’s Youth Pastor, with whom we’d corresponded a number of times but had never met. Also we got to have supper at IHOP with Bro. & Sis. Daniel & Dana Stroebel and their 3 kids (Liz had never eaten at IHOP before, and it had been a long time for me).

Bro. Stroebel had preached the Bible Study that night and taught on “Letting Everything Go“… how that, anytime Jesus said “follow me” people straightway left something else behind. It was a very appropriate word for us as we are definitely experiencing that now.

Thank you Bro. & Sis. Stroebel for spending that time with us. We sure appreciated your hospitality!

map_PENSA

Pensecola Christian Academy

The kids had their heart set on seeing Pensacola as well, because they follow the Abeka Academy Homeschool curriculum produced by Pensacola Christian Academy. We’d decided to take a drive after church to find the school, so the kids could at least see it, but to our surprise we drove right by it on the way to church. We came back the following morning to actually see the school. We couldn’t actually get in to see the school or meet any teachers, but nonetheless, our kids were really excited to see “their school”.

Abeka Academy is a video-based program where PCA classes such as history, music, typing skills, reading, math, science etc., are pre-recorded and sent to us in DVD format. Liz then coordinates tests, projects, etc., and submits their results so that an academic record is maintained. This is how they will be schooled during our entire time in France and is advantageous for 2 reasons:

  • Language: While our kids speak French in varying degrees, it would not be strong enough to be thrust into the French school system. Their French will improve by virtue of the daily interaction with French people, but their education remains in English.
  • Continuity: Our kids have always been homeschooled and though we’ve used the Abeka curriculum for a number of years, we moved to this format during the 2013-2014 school year. We wanted to minimize the amount of change that the kids would experience this school year (in addition to the already big adjustment of moving to France).

Want to help but don’t know how?

The cost associated with this Homeschool program is roughly $800 per student, per school year and represents a very specific financial need within our overall support.

If you’d like to help us out financially but either don’t know how, would you consider making a donation to help cover the kids’ education.  You can do this by printing off our Pledge Card, filling it out and mailing it according to the instructions here.

10-days in France, 4 days away

Just a reminder that we’ll be leading a team of 13 young people to France in just 4 more days. Please keep the team in prayer as we travel and minister in three different churches. Look for details on how the trip is going, right here in the Blog section.

Open-invite to a really great church

If you live in, or are visiting the Pensacola area, you will find a great church in First Pentecostal Church. They are located at 6500 North W St., Pensacola FL., 32505 and can be reached at (850) 477-1100.

Thanks for following our adventure, Next stop… DeQuincy, LA.

Family Time… relaxing in Florida

June 21, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , , Leave a comment

The impetus of our roadtrip, in May, was a week-long family vacation in Florida. We managed, on either side of that week, to incorporate time with pastor-friends and their churches, however these days were the raison-d’être of our time away.

Down-Time

As Assistant to the Pastor of a very active church with responsibilities for the design, publication and distribution of a 12-page monthly magazine for our district and as dad to a homeschooling family where Liz does an amazing job… we tend to lead a very busy lifestyle.  I can’t even begin to say how nice it was to unplug from email, voicemail, web-technology, etc. for a couple of weeks. Oh I know that we never really escape it totally, but we can put a much greater distance between it and ourselves.

Unlike previous visits to Florida, where we’d visited various Disney parks or other such attractions, this time we made a point to not move from our home-base (it can be tough to resist the temptation “go and do”, but we’d set the expectation with our kids, from the outset, that this would be a “poolside” vacation… no parks, and that did the trick).    map_FL

Staying “Busy”

The only kind of busy that we were looking for, during our time in Florida, was… well… none!

The kids were content to spend hours at a time in the pool – chasing, dunking, splashing, stalking & wrestling with each other and the various pool-toys that were available. While they did this, Liz & I did a fair bit of reading and I included some journaling and blog-maintenance as well. We only left home-base twice.

cypressgroveThe first time we left was to go to church, Sunday morning, at Cypress Grove Fellowship, located just 20 minutes or so from our hotel and pastored by Rev. Mark Barrick. We really enjoyed service and were very warmly welcomed by church members. Thank you Cypress Grove, for making us feel so welcomed.

The second time we left home-base was, based on the recommendation of one of the folks at church, to go visit Playa-Linda (spanish for “beautiful beach), part of the Canaveral National Seashore…. THAT was beautiful!

Huge waves of salty water crashed onto the fine sand and underwater sand-bars, carrying you along and causing you to either stumble or tumble ‘neath their power.  I’m sure that before the abundance of theme parks and attractions the beaches would’ve been crowded, but they were virtually empty… two surfers, a handful of fisherman strewn along the kilometers of pristine beach coast. This was probably one of the most fun days we spent in Florida.

*thankful for family fun*
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Open Invitation to a GREAT church

If you live in, or are visiting the Orlando area, you will find a great church in Cypress Grove Fellowship. They are located at 745 Holden Ave., Orlando FL  and can be reached at (407) 857-5866 (see link to their website, below).

Thanks for following our adventure, Next stop… Pensacola.

One last note…

Today we are having our final FX Meeting (France X-travaganza) in preparation for our upcoming 10-day mission tour to France (beginning June 30th).  We will be working on music and preparing for our final fund-raiser… Paris by Night, a 3-course sit-down dinner and silent auction where the choice of Entrées will be Boeuf Bourgignon or Seafood Alfredo.

…So be watching for a few extra posts around that time as I will be sharing some of what the team will be involved in on a day-to-day basis.

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Montgomery AL, Birthplace of US Civil Rights

June 14, 2014 By in Blog, Churches, Places Tags: , , , 2 Comments

From the Elm City, New Haven Connecticut, we took two days to make our way down to Montgomery, Alabama, where we spent a few days with Pastor & Mrs Timothy Mitchell, founding pastor of New Testament Christian Center.

Birth of a Friendship

We got to know the Mitchells through a translation opportunity. Mutual friends, missionaries Eddy & Della-Mae Kennedy, let us know that Pastor Mitchell was looking for some help translating a Bible study course for new believers that he had authored, entitled The Way More Perfectly.

Liz accepted to do the translation and so, during the months that ensued, we were in contact at regular intervals and at one point, without even planning it, the Mitchells were on a cruise that stopped for the day in Saint John, allowing us to meet in person for the first time. Following that meeting, there were a couple of times, two in particular, where the Lord prompted Bro. Mitchell to call us “just to see how things were going.”  Those calls came at pivotal moments and were definitely God-moments.

The translation was completed last year, but the friendship lived on and as soon as we decided to drive to Florida, we made a point of connecting with them. map_AL

Unexpected Surprise

GoddardAt one point in our drive, we realized that the highway we were on would take us within 10 minutes of Anderson, South Carolina (we had no idea this would be so beforehand… we just followed the GPS – nicknamed Olive for our trip) where Rev. Edward Goddard pastors a wonderful church (Sanctuary of Praise). Bro. Goddard was the pastor of Mission Point (First United Pentecostal) when Liz and I first started attending and so was an important part of our walk and growth in God.

We were able to stop in for a short visit and see the miracle church that God provided for them. So glad for even a short visit and thankful for the great example of this pastor who has been part of shaping who we are today.

Montgomery

IMG_8229After surviving heavy rain as we came through Atlanta, we arrived in Montgomery. Not only did we have the chance to worship with the Mitchells, both in the morning and evening services, but they showed us around the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement and the First Capital of the Confederacy.

As you read in my earlier post, The Power of One, the Rosa Parks Museum moved me tremendously (surprisingly so). We also visited the First White House of the Confederacy and the Alabama State Capitol (pictured at right) where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederacy.

We got a chance to visit the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site where African American servicemen had to fight to win their place, both in World War II missions and in military ranks back home.

The Civil Rights Movement is intricately woven into the American national identity and narrative, but such is not so much the case in Canada. Although we are aware of it, at varying degrees, I daresay it is not as widely understood here in all of its complexity. These two days were a humbling time as we were somewhat immersed in it.

Open Invitation to a GREAT church

If you live in, or are visiting the Montgomery area, you will find a great church in the New Testament Christian Center. They are located at 10300 US 80, Montgomery, AL, 36117  and can be reached at (334) 215-7215 (see link to their website, below).

If you are in Anderson, SC or the surrounding area… visit Sanctuary of Praise, 518 Stone Drive, Anderson S.C., 29625. You can reach the church at (864) 224-6699.

Next stop

…the Sunshine State. We’ll go there on Saturday

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Related Links:

 

New Haven… Connecticut’s Elm City

June 11, 2014 By in Blog, Churches, Places Tags: , , , Leave a comment

The first stop on our road-trip, was New Haven, Connecticut… nicknamed The Elm City for the high canopy of mature trees which characterize the city, reputedly the result of America’s first public tree-planting program.

Probably most known as the home of Yale University, New Haven was on our mind and has been in our heart for another reason.

Haven of Hope

Back in 2008, Pastor Rick Perry came to Saint John to speak in our annual missions conference, as a representative of North American Missions, since he and his wife Stacey were church planters in The Elm City. Our church partnered with them and two years later, sent a team to help them refurbish a newly purchased building that would become their church’s home… Haven of Hope.

Our friendship with the Perrys has continued to grow over the years, making it impossible to drive by without stopping to say hello!

French Connection

As we arrived on their doorstep, we noticed a car in the driveway bearing North Carolina license plates. The mystery was unveiled as soon as we knocked on the door, which was opened by missionary to France, Marcus Brainos!  How cool!!  We, of course, knew the Brainos’ from our time in France and had recently had them visit with us at Mission Point in Saint John (read about that visit here).

What a treat… we got to have a nice supper together with both the Perrys and the Brainos’ followed by a truly authentic cappuccino at Libby’s Italian Pastry Shop (VERY cool & VERY authentic! Also very old-school- don’t go unless you have cash as they don’t accept debit or credit cards).

map_CTForestThe Clear Call of God

I’ve always been amazed by the way God called the Perrys to New Haven. They were heading through, on their way someplace else, when, passing in front of the Forest Cinema, God spoke to Bro. Perry about establishing a church there. He didn’t immediately say anything but a short while later, when speaking with his wife about being called someplace, she responded… “It’s New Haven, isn’t it?  It was the Forest Cinema wasn’t it?”

God had spoken to her at the same time, and they both knew it, although neither immediately expressed it to the other.

God’s voice isn’t always that clear… sometimes you have to search it out a bit, but it was that clear to me when it came to our call to France, and I’m so glad it was. There will undoubtedly be days when “the going gets tough” but on those days, the clarity of God’s call will help us to continue forward.  I have long thought, and it’s been my experience, that you can make it through just about anything if you know, without doubt, that you are in God’s perfect will. I’m thankful that such certainty is available in Jesus.

Open Invitation to a GREAT church

If you live in, or are visiting the New Haven area, you will find a great church in Haven of Hope. They are located at 884 Grand Ave., New Haven, CT 06511  and can be reached at (203) 404-0339 (see link to their website, below).

Next stop… The land of rattlesnakes and water moccasins.

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Please pray today:

Two things that I’d ask you to pray about today…

  1. By the time this post is published, I’ll be on my way to Montreal for the UPC’s Canada Conference, where I’ll have the opportunity to present our project to pastors from across the country. Pray that some of these will partner with us.
  2. While in the area, I’ll also need to look after details that will facilitate living in Europe for two years. For this I have several appointments in both Montreal and Ottawa. Pray that these appointments go well and that “bureaucratic bog-down” doesn’t happen.

.Thank you!

Related Links:

 

Roadtrip through the USA

June 7, 2014 By in Blog, Places, Process Tags: , , Leave a comment

IMG_8023May was an incredible month!

It began at the Atlantic District Conference, in Moncton, NB.  The day after its conclusion, however, we set off for a 3.5 week trek through the United States which would take us some 9,800 kilometres (over 5,000 miles).

As we prepared to cross the border, the sign said it all: “If you want to stay in Canada… turn left”, otherwise… “straight ahead for adventure.” We chose adventure!

The Where:

We had been planning this family trip to Florida for some time. In the past, we’d done a couple of parks… Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Legoland (in Winter Haven on the old Cypress Gardens location), but this time there would be no parks: relaxation and economical were to be the names of the game – no fighting the crowds and no bankrupting the wallet. The spot where we stayed had a number of activities for the kids / family and that would suffice. In fact, the only time we left the property was (a) to go to church on Sunday and (b) to visit the Canaveral National Seashore one day.

In total, the trip would take us to New Haven Connecticut, Montgomery Alabama, Orlando Florida, Dallas Texas and St. Louis Missouri… with a couple of wonderful (if unplanned) stops along the way.

The How:

In the days when my wife worked in the airline industry, we would’ve flown but since that was no long the case, 4 wheels replaced 2 wings and the idea of a grand road-trip was born.  Since we’d not be limited by rental car pick-up or drop-off locations, MapDrawwe decided to combine pleasure with more pleasure and connect with friends along the way. The posts over the next couple of weeks will detail some of the highlights of that trip.

What I can do for now is give you an overview of the trip using the map below (created using Map Draw, from iTunes’ App Store).

map

The Who:

Liz & I and our kids got to know each other in a whole new way over the past few weeks!  Sure we’re family… but this was the first time ever that we’d spent three and a half weeks living from car to hotel room to suitcase. It was DEF-initely a new experience.

I’ve got to say, though, that everyone survived very well. Liz had prepared school material for the kids and they spent a great deal of our driving time doing school work: the older two with their ABeka DVD curriculum and Timo with diligent help from mom. Not only did it keep them from getting bored (and getting on each other’s nerves) but it also kept them on track to finish their school year within the same time frame as their friends.

Drive Down Memory Lane

I can’t say that I was conscious of this at the time, but perhaps part of the impetus of this grand adventure had something to do with such an adventure in my own childhood.

I was just a little younger than my daughter when my mom, my dad, my brother and I made a similar road trip, except that we drove across Canada and returned through the norther USA, tenting when there were no family members or friends to stay with.  It was on that trip that I rode horseback for the first time, climbed Banff’s Sulfur Mountain, saw Victoria and Mt. Rushmore… reading 99-cent comic books in the back seat and trying to ensure my brother stayed on “his side of the line” (that separated us in the back seat).

I daresay that we have just completed building a significant memory lane for our own kids… You’ll hear more about it in coming posts.

The Whole Truth

May 31, 2014 By in Blog Leave a comment

Can you believe that we are at the end of May?  Today’s post will be a fairly short one as I’m working on May’s month-in-review post as well as another video post that I’ll post in the next week or two.  For now though, here is some…

…Crazy-Hair Wisdom

Today I found a rather incredible quote by someone who is probably better known for his contribution to science than to philosophy…

“The right to search for the truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be the truth.”
Albert Einstein

picstitchA Right and a Duty

I had never heard this quote before, had you?

I like the balance that it presents… a right is offset with a duty. We are often all about discovering and exercising our rights but can sometimes be a bit lean when it comes to discovering or engaging in our duties.

I think that many more people than would actually admit it are searching for truth. Perhaps they can’t define it. Perhaps they unaware of it… but consciously or unconsciously many are looking for something sure to stand on. Something that will not change with the seasons, with popular culture or with personal relationships. People are looking for stability.

Help with the Right

I am thankful for John 16:13

…when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…

I am thankful for the Holy Ghost that has come and does guide us in all truth.

The Duty

Einstein said that once you found truth, you have the duty to not conceal part of it but rather to make it entirely explicit, for the benefit of others who are searching, just like you were.  You can save them time and effort, by sharing what you have found.

Fellow Christian,

  • are you sharing everything that you have found to be true about Jesus?
  • are you sharing what the Bible states about abundant life?
  • are you sharing what the Bible states about living a separated life from the world of popular culture?
  • Mike Long… are you doing these things?

We have exercised the right to search for truth.
Are we exercising our duty to not withhold it?

Thank you for stopping by!

God bless you today!