The Neely Team

This past weekend, we were again honored and blessed to be able to sing with our dear friends the Kendall family at a few Memorial Services. Along the way, we were encouraged by family devotions, humor and joy around the piano, dinner table, and corn-toss boards, as well as the wonderful and uplifting conversation in the van to and from Columbia. Of course, there was much more to our time there, but for some things, pictures communicate so much better than the alphabet.

This weekend will definitely be among the many “highlighted” weekends in our imaginary “record books”…

Highlighted for the

Terrific,

Inspiring, and

Motivating

Encouragement

That was given and received.

Praise be to God!

Much anticipation had been built. It was time for the conference to begin. Then all of a sudden, it was over. It all happened so fast! But we came away having seen the work of the Lord and encouraged to press on. We were challenged by the Word, motivated by testimonies of young people striving to serve Christ, and encouraged and uplifted by the fellowship and prayer times with other families.

The North Carolina FEW was the first of four planned conferences this year. We look forward with great excitement to the next FEW and the continued work of the Lord! May Jesus Christ be praised!

If you are interested in receiving information on upcoming FEW Conferences, leave us a comment and we’ll add you to the contact list.

The FEW Conference “season” for 2012 is beginning!

Please be in prayer for our family, as well as for the Wilkes and Staddon families, as we prepare for the 2012 conferences. Pray that God would grant us wisdom, direction, and unity; that the He would go before us and work out every little detail in His perfect way; that we would trust in His sovereignty; that families would be encouraged,strengthened, and drawn closer to the Lord; and most importantly, that Jesus Christ alone would receive the glory and honor due His Name!

“But thou, O man of God…follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith…” 1 Timothy 6:11-12

If you would like to receive more information about the FEW Conference ministry or about upcoming conferences and locations, please contact us.

In preparation for this glorious Christmas season, we were blessed with the opportunity to help two dear couples from our church with their Christmas decorations!

The first one took place at the Edward’s home – and we had the added blessing of having two of the Wilkes guys to join in the merriment. They were in town to learn blacksmithing from Mr. Edwards and, of course, added a joyful spark to the party! Pictures are often far better than words, so enjoy!

The next tree trimming adventure was at the Chapman’s house (known as Grandpa and Grandma to us). It was a fun-filled evening including delicious soup for dinner, harmonica music, and great fellowship!

Oh the joys of serving others within the body of Christ! These evenings with such dear friends were certainly highlights in our Christmas season.

If there is one need that all families have in this day and age, it is encouragement. All around us we see attacks on the family. Questions run through our minds: “Is there anyone headed the same direction?” “How do we pass the baton to the next generation?” “Is the battle really worth it?” “What should our response be?” “How do we equip our sons and daughters to fight?”

The purpose of the Family Encouragement Weekends is to encourage and exhort, and to bring families together in an atmosphere of fellowship. We had the joy of serving along-side the Wilkes and Staddon families last month and hosting the 4th Annual VA FEW Conference. What a blessing we received as we fellowshipped with other like-minded people, sought the Lord through prayer, and were exhorted to pass the baton to coming generations!!

We praise the Lord for repeated evidence of His blessing and power during the entire conference! To Him be the praise and glory!

A few weeks ago we were able to spend several days in Northern VA with our dear, dear friends, the Wilkes Team. One thing we have always appreciated about them is their heart for ministry, whether that be to each other, their neighbors, their community, their church family, or us! We were with them for the 4th of July, and once again they concocted an idea to reach out and minister to those around: through a Family Encouragement Float at the Culpeper Parade!

Keep in mind that none of us had ever done this before. Thus, as it got down “to the wire” and we had only an hour and a half left before it was time to be lining up at the parade, we saw a very obvious manifestation of the Lord’s blessing and what team work can do when the team is of one heart and mind! Lunch had yet to be finished, signs to be made, people to be dressed, candy to be attached to flyers of encouragement, a plan for how the float would actually look to be arranged (kinda important ), and much more, but all got done in record time as each individual pitched in with their unique giftings and abilities and worked with the joy of the Lord flowing from them! Our goal was to have the float communicate a message of hope and encouragement to families, since they are the indispensible building block of society! As goes the family, so goes the nation…

There is nothing like working together as families to encourage other families! Praise the Lord for holding off the rain for the parade and allowing us the opportunity to reach out to the people of Culpeper! God is good! 

Thank you, Wilkes Team, Uncle Nathan and Aunt Summer, and Grandpa and Grandma Wilkes for including us in your family and letting us be a part of this wonderful occasion!