TJ Sipes

Horton Hears a Who! I am so proud of my Son Terry!

TJ Sipes Sr — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:42:53 +0000

Hello One and All,

I wanted to send a note to catch you up on us a bit. Noah and I went to a Christian Family Counselor on Friday because he was having a very tough week. We found our counselor to be very helpful and Noah was able to get over a huge hurdle that he had come up to. He is looking forward to going back May 6th.

Goldie is doing well and keeping busy working at McAlister’s and in the office some. Please pray for Brian as he has a full load of work, a video to edit and his last class has exams this week.

Jacob is doing well at school and could not be more proud of his school work improvement.

I must say, the proudest I think I have ever been of Terry John since he placed his Faith in Jesus Christ was on Saturday Night. He did a fantastic job as Horton in the Seussical of Horton Hears a Who! So many folks came up to me to tell me how proud they were of him. He just could not have done a better job as Horton. It was one of the best musicals I have ever had the joy of watching. Way to go Son! Your mother would have been so proud of you and your accomplishment. I love you very much.

Please pray for me as I fly in 8 hours to Chicago and will be up at HQ for 5 days. I am a bit anxious about being away from the Kids for that long but I believe it will be okay since we have one of my old Clubbers coming to stay with them. Michelle was one of very few that our children were entrusted to care for by Ferrol and I am looking just as forward to having her take care of my kids as they are about having her here. Please pray for each of them specifically.

If you need me I will have my cell phone or you can call the office and Goldie should be able to help some. In the mean time, please keep me in prayer as I haven’t flown since the death of my precious one. Additionally, Please pray for the Medical Examiners office to complete their studies so that they can tell us what My Love’s Cause of Death was ultimately. It has been 71 days since Ferrol died and 66 days since they sent the reports off to the labs.

Thank you all so much for loving us the way each of you have. If I can be of any help to you in any way, please let me know. God bless.,

TJ Sipes

Another Hard Day!

TJ Sipes Sr — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:40:53 +0000

Hello to One and All,
I hope this writing finds each of you doing well today. I want to thank those who received the message from me late on Sunday Evening to pray for Noah because he had such a hard time coping with the loss of his mother. He went to his friends house after church yesterday morning and had a great night going on. He watched the fourth episode of Star Wars and then came to bed at 10:00 p.m. After a few moments he began to sniffle. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he was missing his mom real bad. It did not take long and he was Hyperventilating uncontrollably. Terry came into my room and held him while I went to get Jacob from his bedroom. I asked Noah if he was okay and he simply could not catch his breath.

Once we were together we prayed for him. After I sent the text message, many many folks responded to our texts that they too had prayed for Noah and he settled down about 11:30 pm and finally fell asleep. I am so glad that the Lord is meeting our needs in such individualized patterns. It seems as though when one of us is really feeling sad or missing Ferrol a lot, one of the others will come to our rescue to help us in our time of Grief.

Yesterday, Noah came home from school and was having a bit of a sad time. He kind of moped around for a couple of hours and it seemed as though nothing would get him out of the pit he was in. After the older boys left the house he came into the kitchen and I could tell he was still upset, so we sent to watch some TV and found that he was wanting to cry but tried hard not to. It was then that I became overwhelmed and with grief myself and when he saw my tears his began to roll down his cheeks.

He then sat in my lap and we prayed and held each other until our tears dried and we began to watch “Just for Laughs”. We started to snicker a little and then a lot. Around 7:45 p.m. he asked me if he could make some waffles? I said sure and we got up and began to make the best Homemade Waffles we had ever had. Thank you Lord for Distractions in Life like waffles.

Goldie is doing well, she is working about 30 hours a week at McAllister’s and trying to help me with some of my office duties too. Please keep she and Brian in your prayers and their engagement. The wedding is on hold at least for now. Please pray that God will give me wisdom as I try to advise the two of them the way that Ferrol and I both would have. Things are different now, and we are trying to adjust to our New Normal.

Terry is excited about Thursday, Friday and Saturday. His School play will be performed 4 times and I cannot wait to see it. Jacob is hanging in there and his grades are remarkably improving. I believe he wants to do better for his mothers sake and legacy it seems. She tried very hard to help them with their grades and studied with them often.

I, well I will be headed to First Evangelical Church in Memphis, TN today. I cannot yet say that it is easy, because I do not believe that “Easy” is the best word from the thesaurus, but I will say it is getting different. I really appreciate your prayers for me and my family. I love each of you and look forward to hearing from you soon. Please know that if I can be of any assistance at all I am always here for your family and church.

Monday I will be flying to Chicago for 4 nights and 5 days. Please keep my kids in prayer during this time, our former babysitter Michelle will be taking off from work for the week to stay with them. There were very few that my wife felt comfortable enough to leave all of my children with and Michelle was at the top of that list for certain. She sure knows how to make these guys “POP TALL” so to speak. LOL. She and Noah will be helping to get Ferrols Scrap booking room organized for me while I am gone and I cannot wait to see it when I get back.

Well, this is the latest on the Sipes family. The Psalmist David said it best in

Psalm 61:1-5. Hear my cry, O God; attend my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 4 I will abide in thy tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of they wings. Selah. 5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows; thou hast given me the heritage of those who fear thy name.

God bless you each and everyone. We love you in Christ.
TJ and the Gang

Ferrol journal – April 2nd

TJ Sipes Sr — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:15:20 +0000

I hope this day is Spirit Filled for each of you. I am doing much better today it would seem. God has been so faithful to me helping me to face my grief with great confidence that He is in control. While I know in my heart and believe with all of my soul that this is part of God’s plan, I must admit that it is difficult, but honestly speaking, we are finding a new normal.

I asked Noah yesterday how he was doing in his walk through this trial and his answer was ” I am getting used to what things are normal now”. I have found him to be looking at anything with the Texas Longhorns everywhere. It seems that his mother bought him a long sleeve t-shirt last year after coming back from Ft. Worth where she went to the Stockyards with her friends Lisa and Deanna and he is now a huge fan of anything Orange and White. We bought two more t-shirts and last night got a Ball Cap for him. Please continue to pray for healing for our family.

I wanted to say thank you to those of you that have signed the Virtual Guestbook. Ferrol touched so many lives and it is nice to hear from each of them. God bless you and have a great day.

Love in Christ

TJ Sipes

Ferrol journal – March 31st

TJ Sipes Sr — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:13:38 +0000

Many folks have wondered where the link is to sign our Virtual Memorial Book that has been set up for us. I am attaching the link for those that would like to sign it. http://www.legacy.com/StarBeacon/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=102756995 Thank you all again for all of your wonderful help and prayers for our family. We had a great day at our home church. The Holy Spirit was so in our service through the youth performing twice and the choir singing. My wife’s best friend Lisa sang and her husband DeWayne played a song that my wife loved dearly and I became so overwhelmed at one point I could barely breathe, but I made it through to the end. Then Chuck sang “I can only Imagine” and that just about through me for a loop. God knows exactly what my needs are and I must have needed to be here tonight. Overall, I had a really nice evening. PTL!

Lisa and I have struggled with coming back to the church at different intervals because of our common bond, Ferrol. I think that today was a day that she needed to to help her to get to the next step in her grieving process. All of us went out to Mi Pueblo afterward to eat and had a fun time of Fellowship. Noah and Austin told the waiters that his dad’s birthday was tomorrow and mine is Friday the 4th of April so they came to our table with Sopapilla’s and whipped cream on a plate. Of course the sopapilla was to eat and the whipped cream was for our Face, Hair, Ears, Nose, Neck etc… you get the picture. LOL! We were great troopers for our sons.

We love you all and hope that you have a Lord Filled day tomorrow. God bless you.

Love in Christ

TJ Sipes Sr.

Awana Missionary

Ferrol journal – March 29th

TJ Sipes Sr — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:12:21 +0000

Wow! Noah’s had a great time at the Youth Weekend in Chattanooga, TN. I am so thankful to Woodland Baptist Church in Jackson, TN. They formed a small Trek team of AwanaGames players that had not ever practiced with Noah and in fact, Noah did not even know the games that Trek played and quite honestly, he did very well considering that fact. Their team won the first round of their playoffs and finished in second place out of 6 teams. they only lost by 8 points 36-28. WOW! I am excited for Evangelical Community Church that won first place overall in Trek 24-7 and second in Journey 24-7 but I must say, I am very excited for Noah too. He was so proud as i watched him play, I must tell you, many times in our children’s past, I have been to their competitions as their missionary trying my best to glance at them occasionally as they played. I am very sad that I did not get to watch more of the events, but now, I have an Event Coordinator that is helping me and I am able to just be a Dad in the Stands, and I am loving every moment of it. I am one great Cheerleader that is for sure.

I got home and found a letter from the School Superintendents office of our county, and was so thrilled to see that Jacob received a letter of recognition for his “Improved Work Habits”. Ferrol would have been so proud if her Little Man and we all are proud of him too. Please pray that he will be able to continue to improve his work habits.

I cannot wait for Terry John’s Play. He told us last week that his voice carried like it was supposed to for the first time in a while and it sounded great. I simply cannot tell you how proud it makes me feel when they do well. His play is April 11th. We thought it was going to be on my 45th birthday, but it was moved to April 11th. Oh well, I will still celebrate it with him. We are going to order his Tuxedo for Prom this week. He wants a White Tux with long coat and spats! Wow! I would never have worn that in my day. We wore decent colors like Cream with Brown Trim and Powder Blue Tuxedo’s. LOL!

Anyway, I had a bit of an unsettling moment last night as I went to work as the Head Judge at the Bible Quiz. I just began to feel overwhelmed with meeting so many wonderful people that knew the beauty and wonder of My Love. I walked outside and began to pray, God please comfort me as only you can and take this anxiety from me. Not ever ceasing to be amazed by God; He did just that very thing. I went back in and all things went well and we had a great BQ. It was challenging, (Please forgive me if your were offended by my decisions as Head Judge, I truly believe that each decision that I made was a Lord Lead Decision)

Today I was given the opportunity to share the Gospel. I placed my hand on my heart for the pledges to the flags and I thought folks would be able to visibly see my hand move because my chest was pounding so hard and fast. No Kidding! But God was so gracious to walk with me as i go through this valley and I truly have nothing to fear and everything to look forward too. I cannot wait to be with My Bride again, I know that she is with the Lord working hard for her family, and I so want to be with her again soon, but for now, God’s plan is to allow me to help my children, and help them I will. God bless you and have a blessed day.

TJ Sipes Sr.

Phil 3:14. Are you pressing for the Mark of the prize of the High Calling? If not? Why Not?. Phil 4:19 tells me that He will truly provide for all of my needs and I believe that with all of my heart soul and might. God bless you again.

Ferrol journal – March 28th

TJ Sipes Sr — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:11:41 +0000

I do hope that this email finds that you are each doing well today. I am preparing to leave to get Noah from school today so that we can travel to Chattanooga, TN to allow him to participate on another churches Trek 24-7 team. I will be judging for Bible Quiz tonight and sharing the Gospel tomorrow with about 200 teens and many spectators at the AwanaGames competition.

Please be in prayer for me as this will be the first time I have shared the gospel with a large group since Ferrol’s death. I know that the Lord will be with me and I want Him to speak clearly through me to each one listening. I pray that someone will come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Our family, well we are coping well I guess. I am receiving emails from Griefshare.com each day and those seem to help me when I read them. The kids are all dealing with their loss in such different ways. Please pray specifically that the Lord provides the very hugs they need to comfort them. Each day when they would come home from school, our lovely Ferrol would make them each one come to her for a big hug. It was neat watching them grow as they each gained strength. When Terry John was young, he would try to hug his mother so tightly that he would raise her off the ground, or at least he thought so as she would raise herself to her tippy toes. Then one day he was truly strong enough to lift her, and when he did she looked at me as if to say, ”Wow! My little boy is getting strong and growing up”. Well, I must say that process took place with the other two boys as well, and yes, she would look at me with the same surprised look each time.

Each of them had such a unique relationship with their mother. I know that they miss their one on one time with her so badly. We are getting some time in watching sports with each other and that seems to be helping us a little. Goldie is back in her apartment fulltime mostly, although Noah does miss her when she’s gone, so she comes home sometimes to be with him.

Strangely enough, I never realized how much Ferrol’s cologne and sprays were prevalent in our home and it was not until this morning that I began to miss the smell of my wife’s perfume. It was about 2 years ago that I was going through the Chicago Airport when a little old lady in front of me had the very perfume that my mother wore for years. It was at that moment that God brought back that sweet smell to me as a reminder of my mother. Wow! God is good.

Well, I must go for now. Please continue to pray for our grieving to proceed as God brings us through this trial. I will write to you soon. God bless each of you.

TJ Sipes Sr.

Romans 12:12

Ferrol journal – March 23rd

TJ Sipes Sr — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:10:51 +0000

Please forgive me for not emailing sooner, we have been quite busy with trying to get to a sense of normalcy here at home. After we returned from Florida visiting my sisters we were simply exhausted and it took a day or two to get things back in order. We want to say thank you to everyone that has helped in any way at all concerning our loss. We simply could not have made it through this period of time in our life without the Lord and our friends and family.

As I lay here this morning I am reminded of the beauty of my wife. I long to gaze into her deep brown eyes just once more. I look at her pictures often throughout each day to notice each freckle I miss so dearly. Her smile was contagious and her laughter was pure medicine to our hearts. to those that knew Ferrol, they know how much she loved practical joking and oh how I miss them.

It has been 50 days today. While it seems so long ago, at the same time I still cannot believe she is gone. This week has been extremely difficult for me personally as I have struggled each day with loneliness. My children are in many different directions and I find myself alone and not enjoying a moment of it. I know that the Scriptures are there for my benefit and I do know that David, Job and many others have suffered with loss in their lives just like the loss I am experiencing in mine, but it is still very difficult.

Last night I spent time preparing our children’s Easter Baskets. One thing my wife loved was a holiday of any kind. She knew that we celebrated Easter every year because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for our sins and how he arose on the third day according to the Scriptures 1 Cor. 15:3&4, but she also had a love for celebrating with baskets and hiding of eggs. She would fill up plastic eggs with candies and monies of all varieties. It was fun watching her make each child, no matter the age, walk outside and hunt for eggs. She was hilarious, but I think Terry John was the funniest to watch.

I placed an Easter Lilly at Ferrol’s Grave this morning and I must tell you, after I got back into the car I wept uncontrollably with questions of why Ferrol? Why now? Why my children must suffer and endure this pain? I know that God can handle my why’s. I do not understand why God felt that 21 years was enough time to be with Ferrol, I must say, I cannot imagine how Noah and my other children feel with only 11, 15, 18 and 20 years with their Mom. The kids are doing okay, but I know that Goldie needs to see a counselor of some sort to release some of her frustrations because I do not think that she is dealing with her loss yet and I believe that she needs to get help with this soon.

Terry is struggling but keeping himself busy so that he does not have to think about it I believe. He and I have had some issues in recent weeks but I believe that he and I both want to work through these issues so that we can be the best Father / Son we can be. He is asking me if he can take a year off after graduation and I am not entirely certain that I want him to do that but he wants to work for a while and then go to school. Please pray for direction in his life.

Jacob is seeking work as well this summer at a Baseball Complex. Carly’s dad works for one in New Albany so I think he will be spending time there this summer. and Noah is doing very well at times. He is so strong. He is helping through this grieving process with his hugs and love. I do not know what I would do without my kids. They mean so much to me now more than ever. Please pray that Satan will be bound and that the kids will not be mean to each other and that they would be forgiving of one another and love one another as Ephesians tells them too.

We love you all very much and wish to thank you for allowing me to be open and honest with you. I need your continued prayer support to get through this very difficult time in my life. Thank you so very much for your love for my family. Please have a blessed Easter as you seek, remember the Tomb was Empty. He is Alive.

God bless.

TJ and the Gang

Ferrol journal – March 19th

TJ Sipes Sr — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:09:58 +0000

I do hope that this writing finds that you are all doing well. Today, we are all coping well. With Easter soon coming we are reminded of our Savior and His Death, Burial and Resurrection. I pray that you are sharing this wonderful news with all that come into your path for these are appointments made for you by God. You have the best news that could ever be shared with another and it is simply too important that you take the time to share the Gospel with everyone because without this news and their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal Savior they will be separated from God forever.

Please continue to lift our family as we cope with the loss of our beloved Ferrol.

God bless TJ

Ferrol journal – March 6th

TJ Sipes Sr — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:08:27 +0000

Well, how do I start this writing. My heart is a bit heavy tonight since I arrived home from my home church. My Love’s best friend Lisa had some pictures that her other friend Deanna took of them on many of their trips out of town. I was able to see them for the first time tonight and I wish that you could see how much fun My Love was having in most of them. Oh, I wish I could describe to each of you how much fun was had in our home because of Ferrol Sipes. I cannot begin to tell you how empty we feel without her and that beautiful read hair and her bright smile. What a practical joker she was. Well, all of that to say, I had never seen those snapshots of her and it simply made me long to be with her so much. Wow!

So, what have we been up to lately? I am so glad that you asked! We went to a counselor on Monday evening for about 1.5 hours and found him to be helpful in many ways, but I think that the kids are just not going to talk about it for right now. I mean, Goldie and Jacob do not like to talk about it because they do not like to openly share their feelings. Not Good! Sorry for the editorials, but I think it would be better for them to get it off their hearts and minds.

Terry on the other hand, talks to his friends a lot and that seems to help him through much of his pain, though i know that he is hurting badly because his mother will not see him in the “Sussical” or watch him graduate, or carry his Senior Picture in her wallet. She was such a proud mother of her children. They truly were her pride and joy, she loved to do so many little things for each of them, and I am trying my best to remember what each of those little things were and do some of them for her.

Noah, needs order in order to grieve. He is a List kind of a Guy. He is working on his therapy with his counselor Mrs.. Dawn Cooper at the Middle School. She has given him a list or a circle full of 7 different stages of grief and i think that Noah needs that kind of structure for him to deal with this. he talks of his wonderful mother often with me, and seems to not cry as often as he did, however, I know that he is hurting as he is missing her so very much. Please pray that I will say the very thing that he needs to hear in order for him have a good day.

I, well I am coping with it all by God’s mercy and grace. Two of my children got into a disagreement on Monday, and then yesterday one child from Mondays disagreement got into a disagreement with a different child, and then two of them got into yet another disagreement today, so by and large, I think that a sense of normalcy is returning to our home. Stop laughing, I mean it. I cannot believe that they get so upset over such trivial matters and allow it to go so far with each other. Dotted lines and solid lines are touched and crossed way to often. I keep reminding them of Philippians 2:1-10 and then when they calm themselves down they realize how foolish they were. Please lift us in that area of your prayers.

We are preparing to go to Orlando, Florida on Friday evening, since Terry John has play practice until 5:00 pm. We will arrive around 10:00 am in Orlando and sleep a bit then off to Johnny Rockets with my sister for dinner Sat. Evening. We will visit Shamoo on Sunday with many of my sisters and nieces and nephews. I told my sister Mary if the boys did not straighten up I was going to see if the Sea World folks could help Clean Shamoo from the bottom up! LOL! I think that they could stay under water for a few minutes don’t you? I am only kidding. Shush! Please ignore the Fish Oil that they have had spread on their crackers for the trip on the way down there, they will never know why Flipper is becoming so fond of them!

Again, thank you so much for all of your help and prayers. We simply could not make it without all of the help we have been given. We are still waiting for Ferrol’s Death Certificates to come through. We were told that it would take 8-13 weeks for her Histology and Toxicology reports to come from Nashville, TN and that means it would be at least 3-8 more weeks. Please pray for them to complete this process quickly. I have been on the phone and answering emails in the past 10 days and that is beginning to feel okay. I know that I will have to travel out of town when I get back from Florida, so please pray for my travels, because I spent many conversations with Ferrol as I drove to help me to pass the time on the road. It will be different now and so be on the lookout for me to make many calls to some of you.

You all mean so much to me and my family. If ever we can be of any assistance to you or your church or personally in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me. May God bless each of you that read this note from our heart to yours. Just a moment, for some reason I just recalled our 19th Wedding Anniversary trip to Savannah. I shall never forget Ferrol allowing me to stay and watch how the taffy and fudge were made from start to finish while she waited for over an hour to get seats to eat at Paula Deen’s Restaurant in the heat. By the time I got to her she was just melting. We swapped for the next three hours and that was just to get a seat at the 6:00 pm feeding. But you know, I would do all again for her if it were possible, with one exception, I would let her stay and watch the candy making. But that was how she was she knew that it would make my day to watch how that was done and she willingly sacrificed that time in the heat. I cannot tell you how much she means to me, but I hope that you can grasp a glimpse of how much I loved her and how much she loved me!

God bless

TJ and Gang

Ferrol journal – Feb. 27th

TJ Sipes Sr — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:32:47 +0000

Hello to One and All,

I am so sorry that I have not written in so many days. We really have been trying to get our lives to a place of normalcy. The hard part is understanding how this can ever be “Normal”. I know that our Savior has a plan for each of us and is walking hand and hand with each of us in a very special way, I honestly cannot imagine how my life would have been affected if I did not have the promises from God that He would never leave me nor forsake me. My heart goes out to those that have loved ones that do not know our Savior for they simply have not the hope that i hold onto so dearly and that hope is in Jesus Christ. That because I have placed my faith and trust in Him as did My Love Ferrol, I will one day be reunited with her in Heaven. Thank you God for your promise from 1 Thes 4:13-17.

Well, please allow me to catch up on what God has been doing in our lives. I have been answering some of the many and I mean 100′s of cards that folks have sent to our family. We cannot thank you enough for the encouraging words that have been expressed thought the many cards we have received. On Thursday last week, we received some cards from one of our churches that had their clubbers send notes of encouragement to us. The very first card was a Golden Nugget from God. The little girls card read this way ” Hello Noah, I am sorry to hear about your mom, I know what you are going through kind of, my dad died and i got over it, but I still miss him. I am ten years old and will be praying for you”. WOW! What a heart! When I cannot seem to find the words to say to my precious Angel Noah, God sends the very words that brought a comfort to him that I could not. Noah looked at me and said: Her dad died? I said yes and he just kind of glanced up at me as if to say, she really knows what I am going through. It was a moment I shall never forget. Thank you God for speaking to Noah through this little girl.

I may not have told you about a Pastor named Bobby Joiner from Winter Jam but please let me tell you he is an amazing man of God. If you remember my email about going to the Winter Jam with Goldie and speaking to Eddie Carswell from New Song Fame. Eddie was busy at the concert but wanted to pray with me about our families recent sufferings. I left the concert to come home when Mercy Me had begun to sing their last song ” I Love you Lord”. Late that night I got an email from Pastor Bobby wondering why I had left the concert early because at the end of the night Eddie had told him that He had to find me so that they could pray for me and in fact called my name out to come up on stage for them to pray with me. Wow! What a guy! How does someone like me warrant the prayers from a group of men like them I asked myself as I read the email. Today I was reminded that the Kindred Spirit is what drew us together and this was just the beginning of a new found friendship between Pastor Bobby and myself.

Well, we emailed back and forth and he found the emails that I had been sending out everyone to be quite helpful to himself and then asked me to consider coming to the Southaven WinterJam as his special guest and to please bring Noah along that he had to meet us. Of course we were chomping at the bit to join him. So off we were to Southaven on Sunday and after a bit of a Security Guard Scare ( aka Barney Fife) in the back by the busses where we were to meet Pastor Bobby and frustrations by Goldie as she looked for his phone number in my emails, pastor Bobby answered his phone and came to Noah and myself and got us to enter through the back gate after all. When we went inside and found our seats backstage right next to the huge Sound board we were so excited. We met “Mandissa” and introduced ourselves to her. She was so sweet and nice and a powerful performer. God knew what he was doing when he set her vocal cords up for sure.

Next we walked up on stage to watch the guys from BMX. I must say I almost offered to get one of them bikes and show them how I used to, you know, in the old day with my Banana Seat Bike and Chopper front tire, but I thought Nah! Better leave it for the kids of today. We came off of the stage and met with Eddie Carswell from New Song. This was neat because he was the conduit to all of this happening. He simply listened the prayer request of a hurting husband, just a passing 15 second discussion yet the Holy Spirit pricked his heart and told him he had to locate us. WOW! PTL! for folks that are sensitive to the Holy Spirits prompting.

I know this is long and I promise I will not tell every little detail, but if you know me, the flowers along the path are just as important as the forest all around us. So we gave them all some of our Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies we had baked from the Doughboys Recipe and then at the end of the night after Mercy Me began to walk off the stage, Tony Nolan the Evangelist, who I might add did an outstanding job of sharing the Gospel. So many folks stood up when they were prompted after the message, if you have placed your faith and trust in God in order to go to Heaven, tonight boldly stand up and share this news with others. PTL! I saw folks crying in the stands because for the first time in their lives, their hearts were clean. Their sin had been wiped away with the blood of Jesus Christ. He died for them and now the scales had been scraped from their eyes and for the first time they were able to focus in clearly as to who Jesus Christ really is. How awesome a ministry Winter Jam is.

Now, on to wrapping this up. Tony and his lovely wife took Noah and to stand outside the dressing room of Mercy Me and there they came from the back of the stage. All of them stopped in the hallway, obviously tired from the trip and the song set they had just poured their heart and soul into and now, well now they are taking the time to stop and talk to Noah and Me? How i felt was just indescribable. I honestly fell like a Giddy Little School Girl that couldn’t speak at first. ( I know men that does not sound very Manned Up but you would have thought the same admit it! Besides, I grew up with four sisters and they marked me to be like that! Thank you Sonya, Mary, Derenda, and Marsha!) I finally got my breath as they asked me what had happened to my Ferrol. Then after a few minutes of explaining what had happened the Lead Singer Bart looks at Noah and asked him if he had ever played Guitar Hero, and Noah said yes, then before we know it, into the dressing room we went and my son is playing Guitar hero with the Band Members form Mercy Me. Man! I look around and I could not believe my eyes. Bart and i mainly spoke about the last night of My Loves life and how God had been so gracious to allow us to have such a wonderful time with each other.

After his phone rang three times he went and spoke to his wife and I spoke with another member of the band. I got to tell you folks, do you remember when Ferrol invited the President of the United States to come to our conference in 2001 and then we were hit by 9-11. We received the phone call and letter from the Whitehouse explaining that he was sorry that he would not be able to attend because of the current crisis? Well 2 years later we got to shake hands with president Bush at this same civic center that I was in tonight, but for me, it doesn’t even compare to the thrill of watching some real Christian Men meet the needs of the heart of another Christian man and his son the way that Mercy Me did. What they personally did for me and my family I will never be able to thank them enough for, I can only offer to pray for them as often as I can remember to, that they would be safe as they travel, that they would put God First and their family second and all other things behind those two. I pray that God will continue to give them wisdom to write songs that bless the hearts of the listener and that through their songs many would place their faith in Christ either for salvation or for Grace to carry them through the difficult time they are facing.

I cannot tell you hard it is to even breathe at times because I miss Ferrol so much. She was my everything and I promise that I tried to love her as much as I could as hard as I could all of the time. I was not without my faults for certain, but I cannot think of a single time when I wished my wife had been a better mother to my children. Ferrol and I had a unique relationship, I miss her laugh, I miss her mischievous tricks, I miss her hugs and I miss the beautiful red hair I fell in love with in 1986 as I listened to the the song “My Lady in Red”. Oh, the pain seems so unbearable as I think of her, but what a blessing that out of all of the women in the world, God looked out to the one from a little town called “Fate” in Northern Texas and said ” This ones for you sir, you shall do great things for me if you trust Me”. Oh, how we trusted when we stepped out on faith to become missionaries. We struggled at times yes, but we trusted that God would take care of our needs and he always did and always will. Phil 4:19 promises us that.

I know that this has been far to long a writing, please know that each word in mind was as important as the next in order for me to best explain how God is meeting our needs. Continue to lift us in prayer, for we were to go to a counselor on Monday however he became ill so we will be going Thursday at 5:00 p.m. Goldie has been given permission to hire on as our office assistant in lieu of Ferrol’s home going and as of late last night she took a notepad out and began to prioritize what she wanted to clean up in the office and files that need to be filed and by the end of the night had a list of about a dozen item’s to begin working on. She is so excited to take this role on, so please pray that she will accomplish God’s will in her life through this job. And pray for me that I don’t go banana’s when she starts to discard my stuff! LOL. We love each of you within my writing. Bobby Joiner! You are a true man of God and please keep the www.jesuscafe.org letters coming. thank you all so much for loving us through the loss of our Precious Ferrol. May God richly bless and keep you all safe in His arms

PS Many of you have sent cards and letters and I am trying answer all of them but I also have some being answered by My wife’s best friend Lisa and other ladies from the church. I cannot tell you how much your words of encouragement and the funds that have been sent mean to our family, many unexpected needs have a risen and your gifts have definitely met each of these needs. We are overwhelmed each day by God’s people loving us the way they do. Oh, do not let me forget the Small Freezer that was brought to our garage and the kind ladies of our church that filled it with Casseroles and pizzas and individual desserts and individual servings of food for our family. I do not want to leave a single person out, you know who you are and more importantly, Our Savior knows who you are.

^{Mathew 25:37}Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? ³⁸ when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? ³⁹ when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? ⁴⁰ and the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

We shall forever be grateful to Friendship Baptist Church for all of their help as our Home Church. Thank you each and everyone.

The Sipes Family

TJ, Goldie, Terry John, Jacob and Noah.