The Neely Team

This past weekend, we experienced the incredible blessing of being able to help the Wilkes and Staddon families put on the 4th FEW (Family Encouragement Weekend) conference! The Lord’s blessing was evident yet again in abundant and stunning ways – to Him be the glory! The theme was Maturity in Christ. Mr. Wilkes, Mr. Staddon, Mr. Hynes, Mr. Thrash, and Dad did incredible jobs presenting what the Lord had laid on their hearts about this. Many young people were also able to give testimonies, giving additional practical application. “Day by Day” was chosen as the conference theme song, because it accurately portrays how we mature: we do not wake up one morning and find that we have “arrived,” but it is a slow, steady process that requires much pain, patience, perseverance, and dependence on the grace and strength of Christ! I appreciate a passing comment Mr. Wilkes made in his message that “kicked off” the conference: “Do not quit. Never give up. Believe in the fact that what the Lord has started in your life, He will perform. Keep seeking the Lord; He wants you to mature even more than you want to!” These simple statements have been an immense blessing to me, as I ponder the fact that it is “God which worketh in [me] both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) He will complete what He has begun!

During the course of the weekend, the 200+ attendees were able to participate in potluck meals, prayer and sharing time, singing, a children’s energy-burning discipleship game time, and one of the best aspects: glorious fellowship centered around the common bond we have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Wilkesteam graciously opened their home once again to us, which allowed for excellent planning/discussing among the conference leaders and their helpers. The night before the conference began, I shared a challenge with several of the young people that the Lord had laid on my heart: to meet at least one member of every family. Now, that sounds pretty simple, but I desired to not just meet them, but to learn about them, share, and leave them encouraged from having talked with me. This was a challenge, but by God’s grace, many of us almost succeeded!! In the process of reaching out, I’m sure all of us that accepted the project would agree that we came away with even more encouragement than we were able to give!

Thank you, Staddons and Wilkes, for blessing the Neely Team in so many ways throughout the weekend!! We are always encouraged by your love for the Lord, your joy in service, your eternal perspective on life, and your hearts for ministry! What an immense blessing to work with you to bring a God-given vision to pass! We thank our God upon every remembrance of you ALL!

So…… as we look back on the weekend full of cherished memories, we look forward to the work of maturity that our Father will continue within each one of us!

Soli Deo Gloria!!

On our way home from the fantastic NY trip, we were blessed to be able to stay with our dear friends, the Wilkes Team, during their final few days in Fairfax, VA! Several years ago, the Lord provided a 90-acre piece of property in Culpepper, VA, and gave them the vision of a huge ministry center barn out there. They have faithfully and very patiently waited for the Lord’s perfect timing, and now it is coming to pass! “The Barn”  is well under way, but not complete, so when their house in Fairfax sold, they realized they would have to find another dwelling for a few months! The Lord provided a beautiful “transition” house only five minutes from the building site. When we arrived, the Fairfax house was almost completely empty… but definitely not desolate!! (How could it be when filled with 23 joyful, energetic people??!) After being expertly divided up into six teams (thanks to the organizational skills of Jenny and Mr. Wilkes!), we spent a morning helping them with some deep cleaning, and then we all went out to Culpepper to see the barn and other house (the “Farm House” ). What a special time to see their vision being followed through!! We praise the Lord for all He has done!

Being with the Wilkes Team again was an indescribable blessing! A few highlights were: the edifying dinner-time topics of conversation, cleaning house, hearing the “8-hands-on-two-pianos” music (Joshua, Daniel, Amanda, and Jessica), eating dinner by the pool, and the morning times around the Word!

Thank you, Wilkes Team, for another wonderful visit… we love you all and are greatly looking forward to witnessing the Lord use you mightily as continually press on with the calling He has given!!

We made another journey north to visit family and to do some projects around Nana’s farm. It was a fabulous trip – lots of work was accomplished and numerous memories were made. The teamwork was incredible to watch, and the enthusiasm brought forth was inspiring! It was wonderful to observe as the whole family came together to work, determined to make the projects fun. We took over three hundred pictures – just enough to post on the blog!

Well… we won’t put all of them up…

just a few.

View Full Album

View Full Album

Last week we had the privilege of attending the wedding of Heather Gray and Eugene Sommers. We met the Gray family two years ago at a conference in VA, and have greatly enjoyed getting to know their family better since then. When Heather and Eugene got engaged, they asked us to do the music for their wedding. What an honor and a blessing!! We had fun preparing for it, and the wedding itself went wonderfully. It was indeed a lovely portrayal of unity, purity, and love designed by the Giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1). As we watched these two share their first kiss at the altar, we were reminded that God’s way of purity is richly rewarding! He promises to bless those who put Him first and are willing to wait for His perfect  timing. We witnessed two become joined as one – a picture of Christ and His bride, the Church. Will we, His bride, be presented  “without spot or wrinkle” at His imminent and glorious appearing? 

We look forward to seeing how the Lord will use this couple to bring Him glory as they honor Him with their lives. 

Last weekend, we were blessed with the privilege of hosting a Family Encouragement Weekend Conference (FEW Conference) here in our area. A FEW  Conference is a time for imperfect families to  come together to be encouraged and inspired in their walk with the Lord and their relationships each other. In August of 2008, and then again in 2009, we were able to attend the first two conferences in  northern VA, and ever  since the first one, we had been praying about having one here in North Carolina. Finally, the right time came, we picked the date, and planning and preparations  began in late January.

As the date of the conference drew closer, it was simply remarkable to watch as the Lord lined up the details. First, when we  picked the date (March 27-28), He allowed the Wilkes and  Staddon families – our dear friends who helped us host it – to both have that weekend available! Then He miraculously provided the perfect facilities for it.  Throughout the entire process, we saw numerous  “little” miracles  as the Lord led and blessed the project: everything from guiding us to  the right theme song, to orchestrating exactly who He wanted us to invite, to providing the heart preparation that we

needed, to stretching the amount of tape that we used to roll the silverware! As we watched His plans unfold, we were amazed and excited to see how He brought the families together and worked in everyone’s hearts.

“God’s will, done  God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

The weekend finally arrived, and after much  enthusiastic preparation, everything was in order and the conference began. During the course of the weekend, we heard sessions on Why Encouragement is Vital, Marriage  Harmony, A Form of Godliness, Blessing Your Children, and Developing Character in Your Children. There  were also many testimonies from many young  people about how the Lord has been working in their lives, and in between times, we had encouraging fellowship with the attending families, group prayer  times, music, outside activities, and a few scrumptious meals. [Click here to listen to the messages and testimonies from the weekend.]

One of the most encouraging parts of the  conference  was simply hearing the hearts of the attending families and seeing  how God is working within them. Though we live in a society that is destitute of  the knowledge and fear of God, our  Heavenly Father is  still in control and continues to work amongst His people. “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not  shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear…” (Isaiah 59:1) How inspiring it was to  realize again that we are not alone in this battle; there are many who are still fighting and living faithfully for  the Lord. Because we all need to be reminded of this, we must be constantly encouraging each other in  the Lord our God (1 Samuel 30:6), being confident that “he which hath begun a good work in [us] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6).

May we all continue in the things that we have learned, knowing that it will be worth it all when we see Jesus!!

*For more reviews and some great photos, visit the Hynes’, Wilkes’ (Part 1 & Part 2), and  Staddons’ blogs!

Several years ago, on October 31, Daddy and Mommy surprised all of us kids with a special evening, where we bobbed for apples, ate  donuts off of strings (with no hands ) hanging from the ceiling, had a candy hunt, played “Pin the Tail on the Donkey,” and a few other fun things. Little did they know that they had thus began the yearly tradition of Family Fun Night! Slowly F.F.N. expanded until we had a few friends over, then several families, and then this year and last year, over sixty people! What a wonderful way to make hilarious,  special memories!!

This year our preparations began the week before, when we were trying to decide where to have most of the games, the food tables, etc. Last year, we had done  most of it in our garage, but as it was cramped  then, and we had invited over forty more people this year, we decided we wanted to be prepared for as many as the Lord would bring our way. At Mommy’s suggestion, we decided to try to get the unfinished upstairs of our detached  garage, which we call the “Carriage House,” ready and use that for the games. Just to fill you in on a few details, we have this awful habit of, when we don’t know where to put something, we say “Oh, just put it in the upstairs of the Carriage House!” Maybe this gives you an idea of the unnecessary junk that was piled up there. Finally, a few days before F.F.N., the whole Team arrived up there and  put it in order. (Sadly, we didn’t get any “before” pictures, so you’ll have to be content with the “after” pictures. ) We had a lot of fun, and finally got it all in “ship  shape.”

Next began the process of doing all of the planning.  After deciding on the games, we started planning what supplies we needed and in what way we would organize the evening. There was a lot of  “changing of plans,” but we finally got everything straightened out.

Before we knew it, it was 5:30 on Friday,  October 30, and everyone was arriving. What followed is very difficult to describe in the exact   details and excitement in which it occurred – maybe the pictures will help! The games included Pin the Leaf on the Pumpkin, a relay race, donuts hanging from the ceiling, “Leaf, Leaf, Pumpkin” (the same as “Duck, Duck, Goose” ) a candy hunt  in the dark, tractor rides, a time for munching on delicious snacks, and then, as the evening drew to a close, a bonfire, jumping on the  trampoline and playing on the swing set. As we all celebrated the joy of family life, there was a lot of laughter and talking that followed each activity. The evening ended close to midnight, but the memories of the evening will last for a long time!!

Thank you, Dad and Mom, for taking the time to  start such an exciting, family-centered tradition in our home!

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

We had just arrived at Grandmama’s house. Everything had been unloaded, and  people were getting ready for bed. We had spent the whole morning gathering, packing, and loading. Pillows, violins, music, suitcases… everything was in and we were ready to go… maybe.

It was almost midnight, and we were all tired from traveling the eight hours to get there. That’s when someone came out of the bathroom and looked at me. Something was said like, “Did you forget to pack something?” I looked at her, confused. What could I have missed in the packing process? She answered my question when she said, “Maybe the toothbrushes?!”

Well, despite forgetting everyone’s toothbrushes, we had a great trip. We had been planning this for quite a while and had spent many hours gathered around the piano, practicing. We were in Bainbridge, GA from Friday, October 23 through Monday, October 26.

On Saturday, we just “hung out” at the house. Dad and Mom worked on setting up the new tree stand. The younger ones played outside quite a bit, and Amanda and Kathryn were able to do some hunting. We got to see Allison, our cousin, while we were down there, too. She came over to the house and spent most of Saturday with us. Uncle Blaine and Aunt Melinda came for dinner that night. We also had the privilege of meeting Maria, a friend of theirs.

Sunday was the big day. We had spent many hours preparing. Our prayer was that God would get glory from what we did. We went to Grace Community  Baptist Church for the morning service, which went very well. We sang several songs and Herman quoted Psalm 101 during a thirty minute time span. Sunday night found us at First Baptist Church. We had the whole service to sing. We did a mixture of songs, including songs with the whole family, violin solos, piano solos and duets, and Kathryn even quoted the whole book of Titus!

After the service, there was a time of fellowship. Some of our extended family were there, too. We enjoyed talking to many people that had been impacted by either Grandmama or Grandpapa, who were both school teachers for several years. Who knows how many lives they influenced for the Lord. Several people came and told us how they enjoyed having them as teachers or what they had learned through them. It reminded us of how blessed we are to have such a godly heritage and  grandparents who stood for what was right and made choices that have affected many generations.

We left on Monday and drove all eight hours back home. We also stopped in the Atlanta, GA area to do some shopping. We didn’t get home ‘til 11:00 that night.

It was a wonderful trip. And (in case you were wondering), we didn’t have to go all weekend without brushing our teeth.