LAST POST????

Well originally i had started this blog because my daughter was engaged and this was going to be about the wedding and i was hoping that after the wedding i would be able to blog about any grand babies He would see fit to give us but I have been informed that the wedding is no longer on. I ask that you please pray for her and the other partys involved. i know the hurt of losing the one you THINK you love and how it feels as though you can never get over it but by the Grace of God and His mercy i know in time things will be restored and the pain will slowly fade away. God has a way of showing Himself in our lives and when we don't listen He really knocks us down---its not to hurt us but to help us and with that said I can truly say i have called out to Him more this week than ever and as wicked and unfaithful i am to Him---He was and is still there!!!! Thank you Jesus! i don't always understand why He does things but i can say His mercy is sufficient for me and with time He will show me why He did what He did or He might choose not to ever tell me so i can draw closer to Him and if that is the case i ask that you please pray for us all!!! We are very wicked people and the devil knows our weaknesses and uses everything he can to destroy someone or even a family but OUR FATHER will never leave us! so once again i ask that you please pray for healing and for God's will to be done! and thank God for friends who at a moments notice are willing to tell you the truth no matter how much it can hurt---and to Big John, Diana and John John i love you---

OK so maybe this will not be only posts of a wedding! I just want to ask that you please pray for the bus ministry! Big John gets so excited to see the kids! and i love to see him happy! we had a total of 19 on the van today!!! we only have a 16 passenger van but managed to get 19 in there!!! visiting these kids pays off! we had a total of 8 people show up for visitation on Saturday and God really blessed our efforts! we had 7 new riders! after church i took 4 of the kids off the church van and put them in our van to get them home! God is good and had really blessed so please pray for these kids and our helpers!

YES, THEY ARE STILL GETTING MARRIED!!!

Well it's been a long time since I have posted but i thought now would be a good time to update you all on the wedding....it's still on (they just don't have a date set) just continue to pray for Todd as he looks for a house to buy! They have both got involved in the bus ministry and i think they enjoy it---well i can say Diana is enjoying it because she has done it in the past and has enjoyed doing this before!!! Today we had a good day! We had 12 kids today, 7 were new riders! Total riding in the van including helpers and kids was 17!!! God has blessed our efforts! Just pray for the church members---there is so much i want to say about that but i won't so i ask that you pray for hearts to get right! well i guess this is all for now! and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for me! BOY DO I NEED IT!!!

IT WAS A GREAT HONOR!

WELL TODAY AFTER BEING SAVED FOR FOUR YEARS I FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED THE RIGHT WAY! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW I WAS BAPTIZED BACK IN 2005 AND I KNOW BAPTISM DOES NOT GET YOU SAVED BUT ITS STEPS IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE THAT WE HAVE TO FOLLOW, WELL FOR YEARS I HAVE ALWAYS WONDERED IF IT WAS DONE RIGHT BECAUSE WE HAD BEEN WITH OUT A PREACHER WHEN I GOT SAVED AND WELL WE NEEDED TO GET BAPTIZED AND THAT WEEKEND WE HAD A MAN WHO WAS LOOKING TO PASTOR OUR CHURCH AND WE ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD DO IT AND HE SAID YES SO JOHN ASKED THE MEN OF THE CHURCH IF IT WAS OK AND THEY HAD AGREED ON IT BUT IT WAS NEVER BROUGHT BEFORE THE CHURCH---SO THE PAST TWO WEEKS I HAD BEEN DEALING WITH THAT AND THE LAST WEDNESDAY OF THE REVIVAL BROTHER SAMMY MENTIONED THAT IF IT IS NOT DONE SCRIPTURALLY RIGHT YOUR CONSCIENCE WILL NEVER BE AT EASE!!! THAT IS WHEN IT HIT ME! WELL I TALKED WITH MRS. HOWARD AND SHE DID NOT KNOW SO I TALKED TO OUR PASTOR AND HE SAID IF IT WAS NOT BROUGHT BEFORE THE CHURCH THEN IT WAS NOT SCRIPTURAL! AND THAT IS WHEN I TOLD HIM OK WELL THEN I NEED TO BE BAPTIZED AND HE ASKED ME WHO I WANTED TO BAPTISE ME AND AT THAT MOMENT I TOLD HIM I DON'T CARE IT JUST NEEDS TO BE DONE RIGHT! SO FRIDAY NIGHT CAME AND BROTHER SAMMY WAS DONE AND BROTHER HOWARD HAD ME GO BEFORE THE CHURCH AND HE EXPLAINED TO THEM WHAT I WAS NEEDING TO DO. WELL I ASKED HIM IF JOHN COULD BAPTISE ME ON SUNDAY AND WELL SUNDAY MORNING AFTER CHURCH I HAD THE HONOR OF HAVING MY HUSBAND BAPTISE ME!!! IT WAS AWESOME! I LOVE MY HUSBAND AND THANK GOD FOR HIM! HE HAS HELPED ME ALOT AND HAS BEEN THERE FOR ME IN ALOT OF WAYS! SO AS I TYPE THIS I HAVE PEACE! AND NOW I NEED TO GIVE MYSELF TO HIM AND FOLLOW IN HIS PERFECT WILL FOR OUR LIFE! SO PLEASE PRAY FOR ME! I NEED IT! AND THANK YOU JOHN FOR BAPTISING ME! I LOVE YOU!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! THANK YOU JESUS!

WELL TODAY I TURN 4!!! FOUR YEARS AGO I THOUGHT I WAS ON MY WAY TO HEAVEN BUT I WAS SO WRONG!!! WE HAD GONE TO A REVIVAL IN ODEM TEXAS WITH OUR BABY'S MOMMA---LOL OUR BEST FRIENDS! and Brother Sammy was preaching in Matthew 7---But when he got to verse 23



Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.



it hit me like a rock! i knew i was lost but my pride got in the way and i thought there was no way i could be lost because i was married to a preacher, i lived right and dressed right, i taught Sunday school and helped in the bus ministry...you know all the "good stuff" but then my baby's momma went to the altar and got saved! it was then i knew i was lost but my pride got in the way. what were people going to say! well needless to say i did not get saved that night but on the way home i cried and cried and i told John how i felt and he started telling me i was fine... i was ok and i did everything right... and that would calm me down a little but then i would start up again and cry and he told me after a few times of telling me i was fine that he couldn't do that anymore well i cried some more and he told me the HOLY SPIRIT TOLD ME TO SHUT UP I CAN"T HELP YOU! and he stayed quite the whole ride home (an hour and a half of silence and me knowing i was lost and could not admit it because what were people going to think!) man was i scared but NO i didn't get saved!

well we got home and i cried some more and fell asleep. when i woke up i felt so dirty and i thought I'll get in the shower and i will be fine! well that didn't work! then we went to the church to go clean and work on the bus and i wanted to be near john because i figured if the rapture happened he'd take me with him! how crazy is that! well anyways i would talk to DeeDee and she would tell me you got to know and i would tell her i don't and she would keep at it---well i cried some more and then i went to look for John again and i could not find him! man i got so scared and i thought God took him. well after about 5 minutes of looking i found him underneath the bus and i told him please help me! and he says i can't and he told me i don't know what to do! I'm going to call pastor Howard in Louisiana...well he calls him and he puts me with Mrs' Howard and she says to me an i quote i will never forget...

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" i tell her i don't know if I'm saved or not and she tells me well sure you do. you have to know and after going back and forth with that she tells me if you don't know i can't help you! here's the preacher! well he gets on the phone and tells me--- Melinda whats wrong and i tell him i don't know if I'm saved and he tells me well sure you do and he tells me YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO! and at that point i knew! i started crying and asking God to forgive me AND A LITTLE AFTER 230 P.M. BEHIND THE OLD VICTORY BAPTIST CHURCH IN HARLINGEN TEXAS I GOT SAVED!!!! THE PEACE I FELT ON THAT DAY! I GOT SAVED THANK YOU JESUS!!!



so with that i want to say thank you to Brother Sammy and John for being sensitive to the Holy spirit! and to DeeDee for helping me out! and counseling with me! so for those of you who read this please be sure and don't worry about what other people will think if they are right with God they will rejoice with you! IT HAPPENED TO ME FOUR YEARS AGO!!! THANK YOU JESUS FOR BEING LONG SUFFERING AND FOR YOUR MERCY AND GRACE!!!

DIANA AND TODD!

Well as many of you all know my daughter and her fiancee have decided to postpone the date of the wedding until after she finishes school. i thank God for our friends who helped her see what we had been trying to tell her. (THANK YOU DEEDEE AND MANDY---WE LOVE YOU ALL!) It helps to hear it from other people. she was counseled over the weekend and Sunday morning service she went to the altar and came to me and told me she loved me but she had to wait to get married until after she finished college!!! i felt so much peace when she told me and i knew God had worked in her heart! she then went to her seat and leaned over and told her fiancee and he replied "I know." God is so good!!! they were both in agreement and we all just knew it was the right thing to do! THANK YOU JESUS!!! i wish there was a way you can feel the peace i have and how grateful i am to God and our friends for helping her out. prayer works! well i might post now and then about the details of the wedding because we will still be buying things for the big day--we're just not sure when it will be but it will definitely be after she finishes school...i will keep you posted! thank you once again Deedee and Mandy! i really appreciate all that you have done and for sharing yourselves and your family with mine!!! we love you! and Mandy I'm sorry i drew blood---OK not really you deserved it!

Diana Nicole Yanez!

Diana and Meagan HER MAID OF HONOR.

Diana and her Daddy! the day Todd proposed!

Well as many of you all know today is my only daughter's 18th birthday! i am very proud of her and can say God has blessed us with a great daughter! she has always been very caring and helpful to me and i thank God He gave her to me! sometimes i don't understand why i couldn't have any more kids but i do thank God for all He has done for me and especially for my kids! so today i would like to wish my baby girl a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE A REAL BLESSING TO US AND WE THANK God FOR YOU!