The Neely Team

Oftentimes we reach low points in life’s journey – the crossroads of major decisions or the valleys of trial which effect so much of our lives. It has been said that “you are either in the middle of a trial, you’ve just come out of a trial, or there’s a trial just around the corner.” But in between the seasons of tribulation and testing, our kind and gracious heavenly Father is faithful to provide the mountaintops – the uplifting and encouraging peaks which comfort the spirit and refresh the soul.  Such was the week that we recently enjoyed with the Wilkes Team: a mountaintop which allowed us a fresh glimpse of the path beyond, and filled us with renewed vision and fervor to press onward again. From watching and learning about their chickens, to eating fabulous meals, to participating in the Independence Day parade, to having family devotions, to helping weed the garden and paint the barn, every moment was filled with laughter, good conversation, and fellowship. What a joy it is to spend time with likeminded believers! Thank you, Wilkes Team, for your hospitality once again, and for your constant encouragement in our family! We consider ourselves some of the wealthiest people alive to call you our friends! May the Lord return a thousand fold the blessings we have received at your hands!

The poultry yard was quite entertaining!

Music, of course, played a part in the week.

There was lots of fun around the various projects…

…and fireworks on Fourth of July were a “blast!”

We can’t forget the mealtimes – delightful for more than one reason!

And some of our favorite times were helping them with their ongoing projects around the barn!

We got some miscellaneous fun shots, too.

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!

Well,  once again blogging has been put to the side by more important priorities. But lest you think that we have forgotten all of you faithful readers, let me assure you that you are not forgotten. Blogging just doesn’t get as high of a priority as studying, visiting family members, practicing music, traveling around the country, hosting guests, gardening, working, or any of those other wonderful opportunities that the Lord brings across our path.

One of those such opportunities was just a couple weeks ago, when we found ourselves once again on a road trip traveling to see grandparents. It was such a great trip! The hand of the Lord was evident, even when the day before we were supposed to leave, the reverse went on our van. 

We thoroughly enjoyed working together on various projects while we were there. Dad and Mom worked outside in the heat on a project: fixing the barn doors, which were dragging the ground when you swung them open and  falling off their hinges. Most of the rest of us were busy inside doing domestic-type work. We also enjoyed looking at the beautiful day lilies that Uncle Fudge (our step-grandfather) has on the border of the property. There are soooo many different types and colors and variegations…. and did you know that every part of a day lily is edible?

We were also blessed to be able to minister in two churches that Sunday, one in Chattahoochee, FL, and the other in Bainbridge, GA. It was good to be able to spend time with extended family, grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and friends.

Praise the Lord for each opportunity He gives us to serve others, whether it is by dusting a bookshelf or singing a song!  May God grant us the wisdom to know which opportunities to take, and then the joy and the grace to follow through with the Lord’s guidance!!

Teaching stringed instruments has been a field of interest for many years, particularly teaching violin. For two of us, this dream became reality about a year and a half ago. Those two (Kathryn and I) have really enjoyed this area of ministry, have had bunches of fun, learned a ton, and asked lots of questions. Our wonderful violin teacher, Mr. Pinner, has told us over and over and over again that if we ever have any questions about teaching or any related topics, he is more than willing to help.

A few weeks ago I went to Mr. Pinner with quite a few teaching-related questions. What should I do in this situation? How would you handle this? How do you teach this? What should I do different? How can I help my student understand this concept better?

If you’ve ever taught an instrument, I’m sure you can relate. I’m so thankful that we have a teacher whose goal is to teach his students to teach, and who is ready, willing, and beyond capable of answering questions.

So with current teaching opportunities and the possibility of more, Mr. Pinner graciously offered to put together a String Pedagogy Workshop. He covered many topics including how to set up a string studio, how to mark and edit music, how to teach vibrato, dynamics, and bow control, string repair and maintenance, studio taxes, and much more!!!

Four of us Neelys participated, and we all came away motivated and excited about what the Lord has in store for us in this field of music. It was a fabulous time— worth every minute of it!!!

Thank you, Mr. Pinner, for letting the Lord use you in this way. You are an inspiration to many, and we look forward to learning more under your tutelage as the Lord allows!

Also, special thanks to the Wiginton family for hosting us for the weekend! What a blessing it was to us!

By the time you’ve finished reading this post, you should be well-informed as to what we’ve been doing…. At least for a few days…. until we go off and do something else. Sometimes you just never know what we’ll do next…. in fact, sometimes we don’t even know what we’ll do next. Who knows, we may decide to take a trip to the moon!! (Well, that is a little “far out” – literally, and there aren’t any plans right now to do something that drastic…. but then again, you just never know… )

The Monday following Christmas, the Staddon family came for an all-too-short visit. It is hard to accurately put into words everything that happened. There’s an old saying that goes something like, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” so we’ll just show you the pictures.

Next on the schedule was a trip to Bainbridge, GA to visit Grandmama (Dad’s mom)  and “Uncle Fudge.” Long-time friends of the family, “Uncle” Bill and “Aunt” Peggy Chapman, who we hadn’t seen in three years, were also there.

We had been asked to sing in two churches down there, one pastored by one of Dad’s science teachers, and our aunt, uncle and cousin go to the other. Both services went really well, and we praise the Lord for the opportunities to minister!

We also did some hunting while we were down there, but unfortunately did not have the opportunity to pull the trigger, except on a couple of armadillos. Oh well…. maybe next year….

We are disappointed to not have any pictures of that eight-point buck, or even a nice doe, which we were really hoping to see…. but we do have some pictures of the times that we weren’t in the woods. It was truly a wonderful time to visit with friends and family for a few days!!!

We were home for a couple days, and then friends from Atlanta, the Barnes family, came for two days. And it was a great visit! We even got to go sledding… with snow and real sleds.

Whew! Now I think you have been pretty much updated… oh and two weeks ago all of us had dentist appointments, we got a foot of snow, and Mom and Dad went away for the weekend and left us kids home with a friend. This week we’ve had more doctor’s appointments, and day trip to Greenville, and more company… life moves on. We look forward to what the Lord will bring across our path in the days to come… and hopefully we won’t fall too far behind in our blogging!

Well, it has been a while since we’ve posted anything. The Lord has opened several doors of opportunity for our family, and with any opportunity comes responsibility. It has been a busy winter season, but it is definitely well worth it!!

Enough introduction…. here’s a brief summary of recent happenings….

We were blessed to be asked to present a Christmas program at a local church in early December. It truly was a blessing to fellowship with other believers!

The Hynes family came for a brief visit at the beginning of December. We had a delightful visit with them, which included snowball “fights” and photography talk, and many games of Checkers.

Next on the agenda was a much anticipated trip to Louisville, Kentucky to minister in music at Landmark Independent Baptist Church. It was a fabulous trip, leaving us uplifted and encouraged. Matter of fact, we had such a wonderful time, that we neglected the camera, and ended up with a select few pictures. Oh well… the memories are still sweet! Here are some of the pictures we did get…

We got home from Louisville on December 20, and quickly began doing last minute Christmas preparations. We also went to a Christmas program at a friend’s church, which was very well done, and a huge blessing! On Christmas Eve,  we sang at our local nursing home, then went caroling through our neighborhood. Christmas day was quiet, but very restful, allowing us to focus on the Reason of Christmas and to enjoy time together as a family.

Part 2 coming soon!

On the day after Thanksgiving, we had the chance to go on a family hunting trip in Georgia on some of our relatives’ land. When we got there, we sat in our 12-person, brown hunting-blind in the middle of the hay field. Daddy had a gun, and the rest of us watched for deer.  During the afternoon, we killed two deer and a pig!! When Daddy shot the gun, he was out of the van,  and for the second deer and the pig he propped his gun on one of the hay bales in the field. With the deer, he didn’t take any extra ammo, though, so he ran out! He signaled to Mommy and she went softly scooting toward him with more. The rest of us were still sitting in the van watching the whole thing, and we thought that she looked like a pioneer woman from years ago, helping her husband kill food for the family.  The deer ran away when he shot it, and it was almost dark, so we had to track it with flashlights. We had so much fun! Daddy, Mommy, and the little ones gutted it, while Amanda, Jessica, Kathryn, Victoria,and I walked in the dark back to where the pig was. We took a strap and tied it to the feet. Amanda, Kathryn, and Victoria had fun dragging it while Jessi took pictures and I guided them with the light.  When we got it there, we wrapped it in a plastic raincoat and put it in the back of the van. We had to put the two deer on top of the van!

I am glad Daddy had this wonderful idea! We enjoyed the trip getting there, and LOVED hunting together. (Gutting the deer and having a science experiment was fun too! ) I can’t wait to get to do it again!