Greetings to all. We had a nice Christmas, Barb and family came Saturday morning and left Christmas night. The boys are such a joy, we really enjoyed them. Jerry spent a lot of time holding Preston. We got an ice storm Thursday night and lost power around midnight,Jerry had to go to work so we had no heat all day. We had to go buy a kerosene heater that night and got electric around 7 that night. More freezing rain and a little snow over night. Today is 35 so some of the ice on the trees and power lines have melted but the wind has picked up and will blow through Monday. I'm prepared this time if the power goes out, we have water in buckets and drinking water put up just in case. The locals say they get a lot of ice here on the hill and every winter the power goes out. The past month has been really hard, miss home so badly, we haven't been to church in a few weeks, don't want to go. Not going tomorrow, Terri and i have been sick since Christmas, Terri has had a fever, sore throat and sinus headache. Me just a sinus headache and slight sore throat. Eating garlic and lots of vit.c. Hoping to spend a week in NY sometime in January, weather permitting. Barb gave me a book called Bringing out the best in your husband By H. Norman Wright. Very very good,it has shown me that i have gotten bitter at Jerry at times for taking me away from NY and have not been very encouraging to him of late. Yes repent again.I get so into how i feel that i forget that Jerry is also feeling pretty bad, He knows we are having a hard time here with no friends and no church. People in the church have a life and it doesn't include outsiders. Instead of keep trying i have just given up. And without saying a word my husband knows it. So if i can get back to encouraging him and building him up that is what i will focus on. I don't like to be negative so i won't be writing for a while. I do hope you all are doing well. God Bless.

The love of a family is life's greatest blessing!

Good morning! Had a Very special visit from the Pratt family, oh how i just love that family! Cried when they left this morning. It was such a sweet time of fellowship, Tom, Melanie and i talked most of the morning on Wednesday and Melanie and i talked the rest of the day. My heart would just love to be part of the Maine fellowship again. I so miss being one in mind and heart with God's people. I have never had company back in NY and since being here we have had 2 groups and i have to say i have enjoyed cleaning and cooking and all the preparations that go with it. I was always a little well scared of hospitality and with Jerry not wanting company i was only able to have it a few times. So this was wonderful. Thank you Tom and Melanie for taking time from your vacation to come spend time with us, you have truly blessed us. Terri and i are all stirred up to some how get a cheap car so we can get many cleaning jobs so we can try to make it back to Maine. Their is so much opportunity here for cleaning, we wouldn't have to go off our mountain. Thanksgiving was good,i miss family on the holidays. Hoping to go to Barb's for Christmas. Well busy day ahead so have a great day! In Christ, Holley

New grandbaby. Preston Cade Borntreger.

Holiness, what is it? How do we get it? God has been impressing this on my heart the last while. I question why i am here, this state, this house,and this church. He could have put us anywhere,so here we are. I have been criticizing this church and had to repent of it, it is God's church. They call themselves the holiness church and although i don't agree with some things i do agree they strive for the same thing i do, to be on the narrow road and follow Jesus in truth. We had 5 days of revival meetings, an elderly man of oh lets say somewhere in his 80's spoke. Very very good. One night he spoke on being ready for heaven, will we pass the final inspection? Will he say well done good and faithful servant? Ever since i started going to Grace i purposed to live my life maybe out of fear, that Jesus would say to me well done my good and faithful servant. As i look around at Christians i see a deadness, i see a ho-hum carelessness about their relationship with Christ. It makes me want more, i know God has so much more for me than what i am experiencing today, and i want it! Not sure how to get it except doing away with things that do not please him and being in the word so much more. I get drawn in to the radio where most speakers have a world view, although I know the difference i'm not sure God wants me to listen to some.I just love to listen to preaching that i get it where i can. God has blessed me in that he pricks my heart when something is said contrary to his word. I do have a few web sites that i am starting to listen to instead of radio. I get a lot out of Alister Begg and Nancy Lee Demoss. I have so much time on my hands that i need to fill it and i want to fill it with Christ. After lunch yesterday i went to Carol's house where everyone from church had gathered for lunch. I went for fellowship, BORING! They sat around talking small talk, i was hoping for some spiritual conversation, none. Sure different from Maine and NY church. Oh how i miss both, you just don't know how some days my heart just aches for you all. If i don't keep my focus on Christ i fall in such a pit of depression. If you never experienced it, it is awful.The other day i was telling Jerry about what my Christian friends were saying on facebook about the election, he got mad and said that's why i don't want anything to do with religion, i thought Christians are suppose to trust this God of theirs to work even in government. He said a few other things and i tried to say then you will end up in hell and he said don't turn it back to me. As i held back tears going up stairs my thoughts went to Saul on his way to Damascus, he had no intentions of serving God but look what God did. I got on my knees beside my bed and let the tears flow in confidence that no matter how hard Jerry fights against the spirit, God can and will save him. Hallelujah! Well Terri will be coming home on the 20th. We were told of an airline where the rates are cheap. She could have flown on the 27th for $54.oo on a 2 hour flight from FL straight to Roanoke. Her flight is still cheaper than what we were finding. I need to check and see where else they fly to. Well i hope you all have a wonderful day, and please keep us in your prayers.

We have a blast watching the deer every night on our back lawn. Our cat loves to sneak up on them, too funny!!

Sunday meal was huge, i feel like i have been getting snacks up to yesterday. I'm talking spiritually. We found out you can call a number and listen to Grace Christian Fellowship in Bainbridge so Terri and i had no local church and decided we would listen. Well they had a speaker, Roy Daniels, i believe he is Kieth Daniels son and wow was he good. Grace has a web site that you can get on and listen to messages from the church and i recommend doing it as a family to listen to Roy, he spoke the 19th - 21st. We are going to listen to the rest of his preaching later today. I will listen to Sundays message again and take notes. Oh the web site is www.grace4missions.com I will now be tempted to stay home on Sundays to listen to Grace. I am having a hard time reaching out to the people here when they don't reach back, it's like they don't want friends, even Cheryl, i asked her over last week and didn't hear from her. I think they can feel us pulling back, the pastor will now be preaching Sunday nights and he thinks we should be there. They had meetings 1 1/2 hours away at another sister church over the weekend and thought we should be there all day Sunday when Terri and Jerry just got home from their trips. It's hard, the last set of meetings one speaker played on your emotions by telling sad stories, i don't like that that, it's emotion not the spirit. So i continue to pray and ask the lord what i am suppose to do here, how am i to be used, i don't know anymore what to do. I have heard things like if you have a tv your going to hell, children saying your not a christian if you wear pants. I know any time you get a special speaker he is part of the Wesleyan church. On another note, My friend who is not saved back in Bainbridge had found she has uterine and cervical cancer, i don't know how progressed it is but i think it's pretty bad.We have known each other many years, and Jerry has known her husband since teenagers. Several years ago we got together and i witnessed to her,but she still has not make the choice for Jesus. Please pray for her salvation, i let her know if she needs to talk i am here. Every day is a blessing from the Lord,are we striving upward, are we looking to him everyday to change those things in us that need changing? That don't please him. Are we teaching our children to treat others the way we want to be treated, do we put others first or do we want to be first? Our Children will be the future church. God give us as parents wisdom in training our young. May we be that person that pleases God for nothing else matters. God Bless your day! My love, Holley