January 27, 2023 (12 Years)

Here it is three years since my last post. Not that by any means have I NOT remembered Ken Davis in the last three years. I have remembered and missed him every day of the last 12 years. It is still hard to write about him without crying. I still love him so very much. Due to changes in the website and my lack of technical savvy, I haven't been able to figure out how to get back in to write on the blog. Today I asked the Lord to help me figure this out and voile, here we are! That is how it is with me and my best friend, Jesus. I cannot tell you how many times He has come to my rescue to help me figure something out, or given me wisdom about decisions that was not of my own knowledge, or to just find something I have lost, both big things and small. He has been my Helper, my Counselor, my Friend, my Savior, MY Jesus! There is an old song we used to sing when I was a teen that says, "Without Him I could do nothing. Without Him I'd surely fail. Without Him I would be drifting, Like a ship without a sail." Those are my sentiments tonight. I can do nothing, nor do I want to do anything, without Jesus in my life. I would not have made it these past 12 years without the help of my sweet Jesus! Twelve years ago today we said goodbye to our wonderful husband, father, PaPa, son, brother, brother-in-law, nephew, uncle, pastor and friend, Ken Davis. How we have all missed him! In the last three years, my and Ken's family has continued to grow. Bethany got married to a wonderful young man, William Woods, and they gave us a beautiful grandaughter, Nova Mae Woods. That makes 9 grandchildren! How Ken would have (and does from heaven I'm sure) loved every single one of them, as I surely do! 17 members of the Ken Davis family! Who would have ever imagined? I'm sure as he looks down on us, he is very proud and excited to meet us all one day as we believe in and put our trust in the One who gave His life that we might have eternal life - the One Ken lived for and laid our family foundation upon - JESUS! Thank you for that beautiful legacy, my love. We love you. We miss you. See you one day soon!

A New Year, A New Decade

So 2020 has arrived. 2019 is gone. The 2010s are gone. I have mixed feelings. Those 10s to 19s were some of the hardest years of my life, yet some wonderful things happened as well. In 2010 we had a wonderful family Christmas together: the last one we had with Ken. Rebekah and Peter and Genesis and Azariah had moved to Mooseheart, IL, near Chicago, and we were very sad and missing them terribly. Yet, they got to come home for Christmas. We were thrilled and very happy. Stephen proposed to his girlfriend, Amanda, on Christmas Eve, and we were happy and thrilled about that. Then we were told Rebekah was expecting a baby in the coming year, and we were over the moon happy! So many emotions. So many ups and downs. Yet God was with us through all of them! 2011 came, and we found out the baby Rebekah was expecting was going to be two babies! Peter and Rebekah were going to have twins! Ken and I and all the family were so excited! But actually making it through the pregnancy was not as exciting. We worried and prayed our way through it. My birthday was coming up on January 25, and I was excitedly looking forward to a romantic date with my husband. A few days before, on January 21, he called me from work during his lunch hour to discuss the plans. In the middle of that conversation, Ken had a heart attack, and none of us ever had another conversation with him. I quickly and frantically called the switchboard to have someone check on him. When they got to him he was unresponsive and not breathing. I was told they were working on him and had called a Code Blue. I went into a state of panic trying to get to him at the hospital. They got him breathing again and hooked him up to life support to keep him breathing. I was so scared, yet God was giving me His help and strength to get through the next 6 days of ups and downs and fears that Ken was not going to make it. My birthday has not been nor ever will be the same again. What is usually a HAPPY Birthday, is now just a reminder of those horrible days and of the special love Ken and I had, but will never have again on this earth. I try to put on a happy face and pretend to be happy for my kids and especially the grandkids, but inside my heart is still breaking. I will never have that romantic birthday dinner with the man I love so dearly. The day after my birthday, the family and I made the decision to take Ken off of life support. We were sure that is what he would want. The next morning, January 27, we all gathered around his bed in ICU, and sang and worshipped God as the nurses unplugged the equipment and the angels ushered him into heaven. There are no words to describe the hurt and pain and brokenness of losing the love of your life. We were all so devastated. Yet, at the same time there was a peace in knowing He was right where he always wanted to be: with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The next few days are a blur as we contacted friends and family and made funeral arrangements. So many, many people were so kind and offered help and brought food and made financial gifts and said many wonderful things. I will never forget the kindness and generosity of so many people. That makes my heart smile when I think about it. The evening before the service a terrible blizzard hit our city and hampered many of the plans. The roads were icy and many of our friends and family couldn't get out to get there. Some of the pall bearers couldn't make it, as well as family that were going to sing. Substitutes had to be found and other arrangements made. It seemed like it was going to be just a mess. But God was faithful, and even though there were not many people who could attend and the graveside service had to be cut short because of the cold, it turned out to be very simple, the way he would have wanted it, I believe. So many ups and downs along the way. Stephen and Mandy decided to have their wedding in April. I was able to get my mind off my grief somewhat as I helped them plan their ceremony and reception and rehearsal dinner, which turned out to be a rehearsal dessert bar. There were several behind the scenes things that didn't quite go as planned and caused some anxious moments, but the wedding turned out very nice. I was very happy to have a new daughter-in-love. Happiness in the midst of grief. Hard to explain these up and down emotions we have. About 6 weeks after they got married, they announced they were going to have a baby. Happy Surprise! In June, Bethany graduated from high school. After Ken went to heaven, she struggled with her own emotions and was having a difficult time concentrating on school, but God helped her through it, and she did it! I was happy and very proud of her, while still in a state of deep grief. Again, so sad, but happy at the same time. It came time for the twins to be born in July, so I flew to Chicago to help Rebekah with her two toddlers and the new babies. What an exciting time that was! Two beautiful, healthy baby boys - Zion Nehemiah Damaray and Zaran Nathaniel Tsay Jordan. Two more grandbabies. I was thrilled and feeling so blessed with two brand new lives born in the middle of our loss. God is so good. And yet, there was still the sadness of their PaPa not being able to be there, too. How, but for God, is a person supposed to handle these up and down emotions? I came back home after a few weeks, but wished I had stayed longer. Rebekah was having a major flareup of her MS (with which she had been diagnosed 3 years earlier) after the babies were born. I fretted and worried and prayed, knowing I had to let God do the work as only He could. It was shortly after that that the Jordans decided to come back to El Paso where family could help Peter and Rebekah and their four little ones. She was very sick for quite a while. I moved out of their house where Ken and I had been living. God helped me find a lovely new home, which I loved and was happy about. But packing and moving all our things was an overwhelming job. I had to try to get rid of as much as I could, but I could not bring myself to just give away or throw away many of the things that belonged to Ken. It was like throwing away his life. It was more than I could handle emotionally. But, again God was with us and helped Bethany and I move into that new house. Next thing you know the holidays were upon us - the first without our beloved husband, father and PaPa. So hard to be merry while missing him so much. But we enjoyed being together with 3 new additions to the family. 2011 was the most eventful, yet longest year of my life, as you can tell from how long it took to tell about it. So much happiness, yet so much sadness and pain. In January 2012, Samantha Harmony Davis was born. Another granddaughter to love. And I did and do. I was so happy for our new addition. Also in January it was discovered that Zion had a condition known as Craniosynostosis, where the membranes, the soft spots in his skull, had prematurely fused together, not allowing room for proper brain growth. Rebekah spent countless hours researching and found a top doctor in this field of surgery. They went to San Antonio to meet with him and have the surgery done. It was such a scary time for us all. Zion did well through the surgery and through the next 18 months of wearing a helmet to protect and help shape his head properly. God brought him through! Zion did so well that in September the Jordan family took a vacation to the Happiest Place on Earth-Disneyland! It was a very happy first couple of days, until Rebekah started feeling bad. She was having another bad MS flareup and ended up in the hospital in California. Their Disneyland vacation was cut short, and they returned home to help Rebekah get healthy again. It took quite awhile for that to happen, but she was able to find a doctor who has been treating her without the usual drugs with the many bad side effects. She is now doing well and hasn't had any more severe flareups. Such a down time, but turned into some fantastic up times! That year the dachshund that Ken had gotten us for Christmas in 1998 got very sick. The vet wasn't sure Noel would make it through the night and advised us to have her put to sleep. I decided to take her home that evening and just love on her as long as I could. She did make it through the night, but I could tell she was suffering. I took her back to the vet to have her put down the next morning. It was so hard to let her go. Little Chrissy Noel had been a part of our family for so many years. She was a part of Ken's life and a part of my life, our life together. It was like having to let go of that life together all over again. The pain on top of the pain was debilitating, but again, God was there through the happiness and such pain. 2013 found us trying to settle into a new normal. A new normal for me felt very abnormal. Living in a new house without my husband. Getting used to making decisions and living life without him. But it taught me how to depend upon my best friend, Jesus. He helped me with those decisions and living life as a single woman. I don't believe I would have survived without Him. During that year it was decided that it was time for Bethany and her pitbull that she had rescued off the street as a puppy, to get their own place to live. We found a nice little duplex that she could afford, and I helped her gather up the things she would need to be on her own. She was excited, and I was happy FOR HER, but she was my baby! My last one at home, and we had been together during the very difficult time of losing her dad. Such an emotional time for me. I always thought Ken and I would enjoy our empty nest years and grow old together. Now it would be just me, alone. Of course, I knew I was never alone with God, but in reality it is not the same as having your husband with you. I love God, and He was with me. He was with me when no one else could be. He helped me every day. But I extremely missed my husband. But I was enjoying my 5 grandchildren every chance I got. They became my joy in the midst of my sadness. For Mother's Day in 2014, Bethany got me a 4 week old chiweenie puppy. He was so adorable. Her friend, who owned the mama that was sick and unable to take care of them, asked me if I could keep his two brothers until they were old enough and she could find people to buy them. They were so cute, I just couldn't say no. So I had 3 4-week-old puppies to feed and take care of and attempt to begin potty training. They had just started to attempt solid food, so still needed some mama's milk from a bottle. I loved taking care of them, and it gave me something fun to occupy my mind. After several weeks, she finally found owners for the other two puppies. It was sad to give them up, but I still had my Mr. Frodo to make me happy. The sadness and the happiness. In 2015 Stephen invited me to become a part of his family and move in with them. They lived in a small duplex. So we packed up all my belongings (I still had many of Ken's belongings I couldn't bear to part with) and rented two large storage units to put it in. You collect a lot of stuff over 34 years of marriage, and it was still hard for me to even sort through it. I and Mr. Frodo and our big hound, Copper, moved in with Stephen, Mandy, Samantha, and their german shepherd puppy, Sinera. It didn't take long to realize how crowded we were. We decided to start looking for a house we could buy together. After much searching and looking we found a house we all liked in our price range. Several weeks later we owned a two story, two bathroom, 3 bedroom home with a backyard. The day we picked up the keys was a day of celebrating. Next came moving day. Much of my things were still in storage. We got Stephen and Mandy's things packed and moved. Then we started deciding what we could combine and get rid of. It was still too painful for me to go through the things I had in storage. Grief would overtake me when I even thought about it. So for my emotional health, we just left most of it in storage. One night in January of 2016, our dog Copper got up in the middle of the night and was trying to go forward into my bed. I heard him and got up to check on him. He seemed disoriented and in a few minutes layed down on the floor and couldn't get back up. I knew something was terribly wrong, so I just layed down beside him and held him and petted him and told him I loved him. After a few minutes I felt him quit breathing. My big Navajo buddy was gone. Such sadness came over me. Copper had been Ken's running partner. Ken loved him more than any dog we had ever had. I was hurting again, but it made me feel better to think of the two of them running the streets of gold together. So sad, but happy at the same time. About March Mandy discovered she was pregnant. Yay, another grandbaby for me coming in December! And they were thrilled to be having a baby brother or sister for Sammy. The day of their first doctor appointment when they would get their first glimpse of the baby in a sonogram, they came home, Stephen had Sammy sit down across from where I was sitting and began to explain what was on the sonogram. I heard him say, "There's a baby, and there's another baby." What? I immediately stopped what I was doing. "Are you serious?" I said. I really thought he was teasing me because he knew I was listening. But, no, he was serious and showed me where the two tiny babies were. Another set of twin grandbabies? I couldn't believe it! How on earth did this happen? How could one grandma be so blessed? In my loss, God was giving back in multiples. I was ecstatic! In August, I called my stepdad to check on him. My mother had passed away a few years earlier, but he had been like a father to me, so I tried to stay in touch with him. One of his kids from Idaho answered the phone and told me that Chuck had become very ill and passed out on the floor one night. He layed there for 3 days before a friend couldn't get ahold of him and sent police to check on him. They took him to the hospital where it was discovered that the cancer he had for about a year was taking his life. He insisted on going home, and his children had come to take care of him with hospice aid. My brother and I and some of our kids all made a trip to Arizona to see him. It was sad to see him in the condition he was in, but so good to see him. Seeing us helped lift his spirits, but would be the last time we were together. A few days later he did join my mother in God's garden, as he described it. I was so sad. I had been with him after my mother's stroke and subsequent death, and he had come to be with me after Ken's heart attack and subsequent death. I loved that man and would miss him terribly! Later that year, our joy over the new twins coming turned to great concern when one of the babies wasn't growing as fast as the other. They weren't sure if the little one would survive. How can such joy turn to such worry and fear? It's those emotional ups and downs. The doctors waited as long as they could to give them time to develop as much as possible, but delivered two tiny baby girls on October 7. The next three months were full of ups and downs as the girls were taken care of in NICU. Finally, a couple weeks before Christmas, Zuri Cadence came home and Ember Serenade followed on Christmas Eve. We were all so happy they were home. Mandy began to develop post partum depression and the medication and feeding schedule along with monitors constantly going off overwhelmed her. She became paralyzed with fear and depression and needed a lot of help to take care of her family. I believe God had me right there to help her and Stephen and Sammy and the babies make it through that very difficult albeit happy time. So many ups and downs. In the fall of 2017 Mandy and Stephen found out they were expecting another baby. This would make grandbaby number 8 for me, so I began calling the baby Ocho. When I moved into the house with Stephen and Mandy there was only 1 child. The three bedroom house, though small, worked for us. But now with three more kids, it was getting way too small. We began talking about options. When all was said and done, we decided the best option was for me to move to a small apartment to make more room in the house. So we began looking at apartments when we had the chance, not really in a big hurry. It made me a little sad to think of moving out of the house I had helped buy and paid for a few additions. It made me sad to think of not seeing Sammy and the twins every day. But then it was exciting to think of me and Frodo moving to a new place with maybe a playground and a pool for the grandkids to come play. I also knew I had to start cleaning out my storage buildings. I knew it was going to be hard and painful, but I needed the money I was paying on two storage units to pay rent on an apartment. So, I asked the Lord for help and painfully began working on it. There are still certain things that I have not been able to go through, but God answered that prayer, and I was able to empty my two large units down to one small one by donating a lot to the Salvation Army and thus helping other people. That makes me feel good. Sadness into happiness. In July of 2018, I found an apartment I liked and moved out of the house. A week later Caylee Minuet was born. Another girl. That makes 4 girls for Stephen. They didn't want to know ahead of time whether it was a boy or girl, so when she was born and the doctor told them it was a girl, Stephen laughed and the doctors and nurses joined in. He loves his little girls. And God likes to see us laugh, even through the ups and downs. On Christmas of that year, I was with Stephen and his family at Mandy's mom's house. Caylee was sleeping a lot, but when she was awake she cried all the time. All of us noticed her head seemed larger than usual and talked Mandy into taking her to the doctor. The pediatrician sent her to the hospital where it was decided she had hydrocephalus and needed to be air lifted to San Antonio for surgery right away. Stephen went with her on the plane and Mandy and her sister drove there. The surgery was done and a shunt inserted to drain the fluid. It seems she was born with a part of her brain in the cerebellum underdeveloped. God has His hand on her. Even though she will be slower at her motor skills, she is happy and healthy. The down and the up one more time. Early in November, Peter and Rebekah, who had been in ministry since right after they were married, were asked to be the Pastors of Paseo Church, where they had been on staff for a few years. After much prayer, they accepted the position. I was so happy for them and of course, very proud. I know Ken would have been (and I think IS) extremely proud himself! On November 25, that year, our dear friend and father of our son-in-law, Peter, died suddenly in his sleep. We have been closely tied to the Jordan family for many years, and losing Harweda meant losing a member of our own family. Of course he was our daughter's father-in-law and my grandkids Pappers. He is greatly missed. And so this year ended on a sad note, after the happiness of earlier in the month. The last year of this decade, 2019, has been good to the Ken Davis family. Everyone has been healthy for the most part. On the weekend of Ken's birthday in August, we all met at PaPa's Mt at the family cabin in Cloudcroft for a little family reunion. All our kids and grandkids, 14 of us, as well as Ken's 93 year old mother, his sister, Karla, niece, Shawntay, and her daughter, who calls herself Pow, got to be there. It was a great weekend. We were able to dedicate a small memorial in honor of Ken's Dad, the original PaPa of PaPa's Mt, and Ken, the second PaPa. It reads: "Those who love don't go away. They walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near. Still loved, still missed and very dear." We all have many memories of family times at the cabin. Many happy memories, but those memories sometimes make us sad that we can't continue making memories with the dads and PaPas who have gone on before us. But it makes us happy to think of the memories still to be made. Presently, Karla's husband, Dickie, is the PaPa of the Mountain. And now there are quite a few dads in the Davis family who will some day be PaPas making memories at PaPa's Mt. The end of 2019 has brought some happy surprises to look forward to in 2020. Who knows what all this next year, this next decade, holds for the Davis family? We certainly don't, but we know the One who does. He promised to always be with us. He IS God WITH us. He always helps us through whatever life brings: the ups AND the downs. You will notice a theme in this writing. There are many ups and many downs in life. Many times they are even tied together. That is how life is. It would be wonderful if life was all lived on the mountain top. But it comes with many valleys as well. God set life into motion. He set the sun to rise and to fall, the up and the down. He set the water cycle into motion, water vapor goes up and rain falls down. Life happens to us all, the good and the bad, the up and the down. Matthew 5:45 tells us," He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." It is called life. Thank God for life. Thank God for His many blessings during the ups. Thank God for His many lessons during the downs. The thing we can know for sure, is that through the happy ups and sad downs, God is for us, He loves us, and is always with us.

Eight Years Ago

We have come to another January, the month of the year I hate most. I might do pretty well through most of the rest of the year, but January gets me every time. There is just too much sadness associated with this month, starting today, on the 21st. 8 years ago was the last time I woke up in bed beside my husband. 8 years ago was the last time I got up to make his coffee and toast and a sandwich for lunch. 8 years ago was the last time I told him to have a good day. 8 years ago was the last time I saw him walk out the door. 8 years ago was the last time I got a phone call at lunchtime from him, just seeing how I was doing. 8 years ago was the very last time we had a conversation together. 8 years ago was when I heard, "they've called a code blue." 8 years ago was when I had to keep myself together as best I could to get myself to the hospital going through a crowded school zone knowing my husband may have just died. 8 years ago I had to see my husband hooked up to machines and wires and hoses and being practically frozen, with crying nurses around him working to save his life, but giving me a moment to speak to him, to assure him I was there, to encourage him to fight and come back to us. 8 years ago I couldn't stand the thought of leaving him so spent the night at the hospital as nurses came in keeping him very cold, which he always hated by the way, and offered me very little hope. January 21, 8 years ago, was a nightmare. A nightmare that even 8 years later I can't seem to wake up out of. 8 years ago doesn't seem real, yet I live in its reality every day. 8 years ago I had a husband that I loved with all my heart. 8 years later, I still have a husband, who is just in a better place, that I still love with all my heart! 8 years later I miss him with everything I have in me. 8 years later, "I love you, Ken Davis!"

41st Anniversary

Today was the 41st anniversary of the day Ken and I were married. I can hardly believe it has actually been 41 years ago. Actually, even though we are still married, still bound together by love and in spirit, my clock stopped on January 27, 2011. The past seven years just don't seem real. I am thankful for the memories, but they still make me cry. I have been struggling for several weeks now. It is so hard to live in a world surrounded by people, even family and friends, and still feel so alone. I know the Lord is always with me, but I know He understands loneliness in a world of people. I wouldn't have made it this far if the Lord had not been with me, even in my loneliness. I love Him so much! The day we got married in 1977 was quite a hectic day, and we didn't know until the last minute if everything was going to work out as planned or not. My dad and Pastor and I had taken a truck load of my things and some furniture from Arizona, where I lived and where our wedding would be, to Texas, where Ken lived and had rented a house for us to live in, a few days before our wedding. The next day Pastor and Daddy went back to Arizona, and I stayed in Seminole at Ken's parent's house so we could organize some things at our house and drive back to Kearny together. The next day after that, which was Thursday, we left Seminole heading for Kearny. The usual 11 hour drive took us about 14, I think, because we hadn't seen each other since Christmas and were so happy to be together and so excited to know we wouldn't have to be apart any more, that we just took our sweet time sight-seeing and talking and enjoying the trip. Then when we did get there we stayed up talking way into the night. So we started out already tired the next day with many things to do for the wedding on Saturday. The first thing we had to do was get our marriage license. So, we went to the County Courthouse to get it, and the Courthouse was closed! It was the day before our wedding, and the courthouse was closed! I don't remember why, but I do remember the panic. I started calling to see if the courthouse in another town in our county was open. Thankfully, it was. But we needed to pick up tuxedos and some flower vases and things for the wedding. Somehow we managed to drive the 45 minutes to the Courthouse, get our marriage license, drive 45 minutes back and get the other things done. Whew! That was close. Ken's mom and dad and grandparents and sister and her husband were driving in (the 11 hour drive) that evening. Karla and Dickie were supposed to be a bridesmaid and groomsman in the wedding. Karla, however, was pregnant and had been very sick and just gotten out of the hospital, so they weren't sure they would be able to come. But they all came anyway, just didn't tell the doctor. Ha! Then, Ken's best friend, and best man, Randy, wasn't sure he would be able to make it. He would have to quit his job working on an oil rig in Texas in order to be there. But that is exactly what he did. What a great friend! My brother, who was at basic training for the Marine Corps Reserves at Camp Pendleton, CA, wasn't sure he was going to be able to be there either. And he was another groomsman! We had specifically set the wedding for the weekend of President's Day so he would have an extra day to get home and back. Somehow, his basic training ended up being over, and he was home. Thank You, Jesus! Randy was flying in to Tucson very late that night, so Ken and my brother drove the 90 minutes there and back to pick him up. I knew I better get some rest in order to get everything done for the wedding. Back to the tuxedos, no one had tried them on since most everyone was from out of town. But, praise the Lord, they all fit just fine! Then, I had originally planned to have our wedding rehearsal on Friday night, but with Randy not sure he could come, and Karla and Dickie not sure if they could come, and my pianist and soloist living out of town and not able to come until Saturday, it just would not work out. But we had to have a rehearsal so everyone would know what to do! The only solution was to have the rehearsal on Saturday morning, the day of the wedding. We had to do away with the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride on their wedding day. It just could not be helped, and we knew God was in this marriage. No matter what Satan kept throwing at us, God was in control! So, we had rehearsal at 10 am, rehearsal lunch at a delicious Mexican food restaurant in a little town about a half an hour away at noon, then home to get ready and drive the 10 miles to the church to finish getting ready, then wedding at 4:30, followed by the reception. What a day! But what a wonderful day! What a beautiful wedding! You could feel the presence of the Lord as He blessed the beginning of our union. With all of the problems we had encountered, it was such a relief and such happiness to finally be together. And we knew it would be forever. With Jesus, we will be together forever! This was the day we started our adventure together. Many of what Ken called an adventure were like our wedding. Many things about to go wrong, but seeing God work out every one. Serving God is an adventure! A faith adventure - hoping and wanting and believing for the best without being able to see how, but knowing it will happen when God is in control! Even when things don't go the way we have planned, seeing what God will do is an adventure! I have to remind myself of that when I am feeling sad and lonely. My God is still in control, and life is still an adventure. I can't see what is ahead, but my God has me in His Hands. Thank you for the adventure of our lifetime, Ken Davis! Can't wait for the adventure of forever! I love you!

February 2 -That Final Farewell

February 2, 2011, the coldest day I ever remember physically, the coldest day I ever remember emotionally. A blizzard had hit El Paso the night before with snow and ice and below freezing temperatures. The blizzard in my heart had hit the week before when we had to make the decision to take Ken off of life support, and he went to his glorious Home with Jesus in Heaven. The thawing of the ground took much less time than the thawing of my heart. Seven years later and I still miss him so very much. Today I remember him for the wonderful person he was. I remember how much he adored his family. I remember how much he loved his friends. I remember how much he cared about and loved every person he ministered to. I remember his compassion and burden for the lost. I remember his ability to let people know how much he cared no matter their place in life. I remember his beautiful deep voice and how he loved to sing for his Lord. I remember how he enjoyed playing the guitar. I remember how he could preach the most wonderful and anointed sermons. I remember his love for being in the mountains. I remember how he loved to tell his famous "dad jokes." I remember the stories he loved to tell from his growing up years. I remember how kind he was to everyone he met. I remember how so many people loved him. I remember how much he knew the Bible and knew the answer to so many questions and where to find it in God's Word. I remember his ability to bring a calmness in the midst of chaos. I remember how he could pray and bombard heaven. I remember his gentle and quiet spirit. I remember how humble he was. I remember what a great teacher he was. I remember how he loved lighthouses and the song, "Jesus is the Lighthouse." I remember him playing his guitar and singing, "He's Alive." I remember he also loved to play and sing, and loved when I joined him in singing, "The Little Boy from the Carpenter's Shop." I remember how he loved to play ping pong. I remember how he loved Nutter Butter cookies and Dr.Pepper. I remember how he could drink a whole pot of coffee in the mornings. I remember how deeply he loved his God and always made Him number one in his life. I remember his great love for his kids and his constant prayers for them. I remember how he loved going on an adventure, whether a new route we had never taken, a new place we would visit on vacation, or a new city with new ministry opportunities. I remember so many, many more things. But today I mostly remember the last time he looked at me right before he went to meet his Savior, and will never forget the look of love in his eyes that said, "Farewell, I love you." I remember several days later on that bitterly cold day, looking at your shell of a body, and saying, "Farewell, I love you." I will ALWAYS remember how much I love you!

Thanksgiving 2017 - Life as it should be

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone; another year almost gone. Time just keeps on going; life as it should be. However, my life just doesn't seem to be as it should be. Yes, I am so very thankful for my children and grandchildren. They all live within a few miles of where I live. What a blessing that so many parents don't have! And I am so very thankful for my son and daughter-in-love who had it in their hearts to take me in to be an integral part of their family. And yet, there is always something missing. Life should be that I am living my golden years with my husband, who I always thought I would grow old with. Life should be that we are enjoying new relationships with our grown children, who have grown up to be wonderful adults. Life should be that we are enjoying our precious grandchildren together. After all, they are not just my grandchildren, but ours. Life should be that we get to enjoy the holidays together with the family that began the day we married and has grown to what it is today. Life should be that Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful together for all God's many blessings over the past 41 years. It should be a day Ken and I celebrate together the day he asked me to marry him. It should be a day of giving thanks to God and a romantic day remembering how He brought us together. I remember every Thanksgiving how Ken spontaneously asked me to marry him, even though he was planning to do it on Christmas. We just couldn't wait another whole month. We were too in love. Life should be that he is here to say those words I long to hear again, "I love you." But for now, I have to adjust to this life without him. I have to live as best I can as the Lord would want me to, and as Ken would want me to: counting my blessings and being thankful for each one. I have to say as Paul said, "for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." I have to keep living this life for my Lord until God calls me home, and then life will finally be as it should be.

Happy Birthday, August 18, 1952, - Happy Heavenly Birthday, August 18, 2017

Kenneth Eugene Davis was born in Seminole, Texas, at 11:15 pm on August 18, 1952, weighing 7 lbs, 7 oz. Happy Birthday, Ken! After a few days, his parents, Omar Eugene and Doris Davis left the hospital with their new son. Kenneth Eugene Davis was now home. Five years later, he become the big brother to little sister, Karla. He graduated from Seminole High School in 1970 and enrolled at Southwestern Assemblies of God Bible College the next Fall. He met and fell in love with Linda Jean Gibbs in June of 1976, and they were married February 19, 1977. A few months later while attending a revival service at their church, Ken and Linda together felt God calling them to serve Him with their whole hearts and lives, and they answered the call to prepare to be ministers of His Gospel. In April of 1978, Ken finished his first step to becoming a minister with the Assemblies of God when he received his Christian Workers Permit. Ken was asked to be Associate Pastor at First Assembly of God in Seminole, Texas, their home church, where they served as Youth Pastors, Children's Pastors, Bus Ministry Pastors, as well as assisting the Pastor, and Linda was Pastor's personal secretary. During that time, in April of 1980, Ken finished his second step of ministry and received his License to Preach. A few weeks later, on April 19, their first daughter, Rebekah Jean, was born. They faithfully served at First Assembly until October 1982, when they accepted the pastorate at Imperial Assembly of God in Imperial, Texas. A year later they were expecting a baby to be born in July. But Linda suffered a miscarriage in January of 1983. Several years after this devastating loss, God revealed to both Ken and Linda that the baby was a boy, and they named him Joshua Eric. In April of 1984, Ken was Ordained as a Minister with the Assemblies of God. In August of that same year, they were again expecting a baby, and Stephen Kenneth was born on May 25, 1985. God began speaking to the couple's hearts about a new area of ministry, and a few months later, they resigned as Pastors. In December of that year, they accepted the pastorate at Stecker Assembly of God in Stecker, Oklahoma. It was quite an honor and a privilege for Ken to pastor this church, as his great-great grandfather had pastored it as a circuit-riding preacher many years before. Three years later,in September of 1988, God again spoke to Ken and Linda's hearts that it was time for a new area of ministry, and they resigned their pastorate. It was quite exciting when Ken's great-uncle, Rev. Louie Earl, who pastored a church in Louisiana, called and asked Ken to come serve as his Associate Pastor for a year while he transitioned into retirement. They happily agreed, and moved to Plain Dealing, Louisiana, to help Rev. Earl at Plain Dealing Assembly of God. This was a very special year for them getting to work with Uncle Louie, a man that Ken greatly admired and looked up to. He and Aunt Eileen become very special to them and their little family. Uncle Louie did indeed retire the next year, and it was time to move on to their next place of ministry. In September of 1989 Ken and Linda accepted the pastorate at First Assembly of God in Harlingen, Texas. It was a great blessing to pastor this church. The church provided a lovely home to live in, and the people were very loving and caring. Rebekah and Stephen were able to attend a wonderful Christian school, and they were only about 30 minutes from South Padre Island. It was an exciting time in their ministry. In 1992, God surprised and blessed the family in another way when Bethany Lynnette was born on October 21. The family went through a difficult time when Ken's father died in December of 1993. The kids missed their papa, and Ken, as well as Linda, had to deal with a time of grief. It was during that grieving that the church began to enter a time of turmoil. After much prayer and seeking God, Ken and Linda felt God giving them the choice to stay, and He would help them battle the devil who was bringing that turmoil, or to move on to another place of ministry where He would bless them there. They felt that they were in a vulnerable and weak place in their lives, needing to be loved and built up, so God released them from their place of ministry. They resigned as pastors of the church and began seeking God for where He wanted them to be. God led them to El Paso, Texas. After talking to Pastor Eddie Lee at Harvest Christian Center, he invited them to join his staff. There was only one catch - the church already had an associate pastor who was working part-time, and had no more money to take on another staff member. After much prayer, however, they felt that El Paso was where God was calling them, and He would provide the finances. So Ken started looking for a job. It was August of 1994 and time for school to start. Rebekah was entering her first year of high school. They felt it was important to be settled somewhere when school started so she wouldn't have to change schools later. Ken prayed and asked the Lord to provide him a job in time to get Rebekah registered. On the day before she was supposed to register, he got a job offer. They knew they were where they were supposed to be! This was the beginning of many financial and provisional miracles God provided for them during this time. Ken worked at his job and worked with Pastor Lee to help the church grow until eventually they were able to pay him as a full-time Associate Pastor. In 1998 Rebekah finished and graduated from high school. She enrolled in the School of Ministry at Harvest Christian Center where her dad was one of the teachers. She earned college credit during that time and went on to graduate from Southwestern Assemblies of God University, her dad's alma mater (now a university). In 2001, she married her high school sweetheart and fellow School of Ministry student,Peter Jordan, and the Davises gained another wonderful son. Ken ministered in a lot of different areas as an Associate Pastor. One of the things he and Linda did was lead a missions group every summer to Whitehorse, New Mexico, to minister to the Navajo people. They found that every year was like starting over leading the people to Christ because they did not have consistent help and encouragement to keep living for the Lord. They began to pray that God would send someone to live and work with the people. For many years this went on. God began dealing with Ken and Linda to be the ones to go live with and work with the Navajo people. After a year or so of praying, they felt for certain that God was calling them to go. They shared this with Pastor Lee and with the New Mexico District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, who appointed them New Mexico District Missionaries. So in April of 2005, after 11 years serving as an Associate Pastor at Harvest Christian Center, Ken and Linda and Bethany moved to Gallup, New Mexico, to become Missionary Pastors at West Mesa Assembly of God, a Native-American church. By this time Stephen had graduated from high school. He soon felt God wanted him to go to Gallup, also, and he devoted a year of his life to help with the ministry there. Rebekah and Peter had their first child on March 8, 2007, Genesis Naylanah, and Ken and Linda became grandparents. Working with the Native Americans was a very exciting, but very difficult ministry. There is a lot of spiritual oppression among the people, which requires diligent and energy-zapping spiritual warfare. After 3 years of this seemingly non-stop battle, some health issues that Ken had been dealing with for several years began to worsen, and he felt like his ministry was being hindered. After seeking God in prayer, he felt God releasing him from this ministry. Linda also felt God releasing her from the call He had placed on their lives a few years earlier when she felt like God told her that she had faithfully ministered to other people's children for many years. It was now time to minister to her own children. The Davis family then returned to El Paso, where Bethany began her first year of high school. Rebekah and Peter had their second child, Azariah Kemayu, on June 29, 2008. Ken and Linda now had a granddaughter and a grandson, whom they adored. God opened the door for Ken to become the Chaplain at Del Sol Medical Center. The staff and patients came to love and adore him as he faithfully ministered to their needs, so much so that several years later the hospital dedicated their chapel to his memory, naming it The Ken Davis Memorial Chapel. On January 21, 2011, during his lunch break, Ken called Linda to chat a little before going back to work, something he did quite often. During that conversation about celebrating Linda's birthday, which was coming up in a few days, Ken's end of the line suddenly became silent. Linda tried without success to get a response from him. She then called the hospital switchboard and asked them to send someone to his office to check on him. When a security guard reached him, he found him slumped over his desk with no heartbeat and not breathing. He immediately called a Code Blue and began CPR. A team of medical personnel arrived within a few minutes. They revived his heart and got him on life support to keep him breathing. Ken had suffered a major heart attack. The doctors and nurses worked with him for several days in ICU, but were unable to revive him. On January 25th, Linda's birthday, the family sat down with the neurologist who told them that he had administered all the tests and done all he could, but Ken had been without oxygen for too long and suffered severe brain damage. The family then made the heartbreaking decision to remove him from life support and trust God for the outcome. The morning of January 27, 2011, with Linda and their children, his mother and sister, his pastors, and a few very close friends gathered around his bed worshipping in song the God Ken had taught them all how to love with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, God once again called Ken. He called him one last time to be with Him in Heaven. And Ken answered that call as he looked with eyes of love that spoke farewell to his beloved wife, Linda. Kenneth Eugene Davis was now Home. I have given you just a little synopsis of the "-", meaning "to" in the above title and printed on tombstones listing a person's life from when they were born "to" when they died. It represents a persons life on this earth. There is so much more in between the beginning and the end that is not listed here. Ken packed a lot into his "-" and used it to love God, love his family and love others. That love touched countless lives for the Kingdom. Think about how much is in your "-". How are you using your life to impact others for the Kingdom? I am reminded of the Scripture in James 4:14, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." Our life is so short in the light of eternity. It is just a mist, here and then gone. It is just a "-" between the beginning and the end. Lord, help us to be like Ken Davis and make a difference for You in the moments we have to live our life on this earth! From 2011 to August 18, 2017, a lot has happened in the Davis family. In 2011, we gained a new daughter when Stephen married his sweetheart, Amanda, in April. Bethany graduated from high school in June. On July 22, Rebekah and Peter had twin boys, Zion Nehemiah Dameraye and Zaran Nathanael Tsay. In 2012, Stephen and Mandy had a baby girl on January 18, and named her Samantha Harmony. In April of last year (2016), we found out Mandy was expecting twins also. A few weeks later we were told they were girls. Due to growth restriction issues and concerns for their lives, the babies had to be delivered prematurely. On October 7 Ember Serenade entered the world weighing a little over one pound and Zuri Cadence came in weighing a little over 2 pounds. Such tiny, little babies, but God's miraculous hand was on them helping them grow and develop. After nearly 3 months in NICU, Zuri came home the middle of December and Ember on Christmas Eve. It has been a bittersweet six years without our loving husband, father and papa. Bittersweet because these are all joyful, sweet occasions, yet bitter with the sting of not having that husband, father and papa here to share in these occasions, of not having him here when we need his spiritual wisdom and his faith-filled prayers or his Biblical advice, or his loving embrace. But we have all persevered, because that is what he taught us to do: to hang on to God with everything we have and not let go. Thank you, Sweetheart, Dad, PaPa,for teaching us with your words as well as your life what serving God should look like and instilling in us the faith to always trust Him. Today, on August 18, 2017, we say, Happy Heavenly Birthday, Ken! We love you!!