Missing Philly

Wow, can't believe it is almost Christmas. Today celebrates one year at our house. I can't believe it has been a year since we left Philly. Julianna still misses all her friends and talks about how the school would have done this or it is time for this at Philly. We miss the church and we pray that people are faithful and spreading the soul saving message of Jesus. Our thoughts are always with them. I wish I could see all the children that used to be in my Bible class. I really miss Megan Ingram. I think about her almost every day. 

Julianna is doing great in school. All As and she has been doing several special activities with the gifted group. Cameron loves school. His speech has greatly improved and teachers are so impressed with him. He has done some fabulous artwork in school. We plan on getting it framed. The children are both so good at school and teachers just brag and brag every time I visit.

Jim has been extremely tired. He falls asleep every time he sits down. He has been doing a lot of visiting and evangelist work with the other preachers at the Ironaton church of Christ where we attend. He tries hard to help and encourage others. He wears himself out to the point where it is hard for him to spend time with his own family.

I have been doing pretty well. I am having a lot of flare-ups here lately. I am probably just over doing it. My semester ended Tuesday. I was blessed to have 3 great classes. The students were so kind and several gave me gifts for Christmas. I was shocked. No other class has ever done that before. I will truly miss them. Classes don't begin again until Jan 9th. I plan on knitting, sewing, cleaning, coaching basketball, etc.

The children get out of school on Julianna's birthday the 21st. She will be 10. Wow...my baby girl 10. I am her basketball coach and we have lots of fun with that. This is her first year to play. It is co-ed. She is learning to get in there with the boys and be tough.

Got to run and eat lunch. Not feeling well today.

Sorry it has taken so long to write.

Love....Jennifer  

It's Soccer Season

We've been busy...busy with soccer season. I have been the assistant Coach for Julianna's team "Coach M." I have enjoyed every minute of it. But we are very tired. Cameron finished up his soccer season 5 and 1. He helped his team win the last game by scoring all 3 points. They won 3 to 2. He defended the goal and kicked out what would have been 4 goals for the other team. He was so awesome. Parents in the crowd were commenting on how he was running so fast and how he had real talent. It made us so proud.

Julianna has one more game next week. This week they won both games 2 to 0. She looks like she is asleep the first half, then the second half she is on fire. As she is running, if she accidentally kicks anyone or they fall down beside her, she helps them up and apologizes. I've tried telling her that it is just part of the game. As long as she is not doing it on purpose, she needs to keep going and playing. But she has always been that way.

Jim has been busy teaching at the nursing home, visiting and knocking doors this week. Cliff and Jim went out delivering DVDs (Search the Truth and The Truth About...etc). It has been a great work that Jim and Chris Clevenger do every week. They also do a podcast Journey with Jesus. This week is the blooper reel. It will certainly make you laugh. I am so very proud of Jim. Despite how extremely tired he is, despite how short of breath and the limitations that his body puts on him...he continues to press on.

I am half way through the semester at CACC. It has been a great semester. I have wonderful students. I have a couple of students that talk about the Bible and their "church." We have discussed several verses and I am trying to plant as many seeds as I can. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to volunteer at the elementary school as a math tutor. I love those kids. They are so cute and eager to learn. They just eat up any attention you give to them.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Why do they call today present? ...Because it is a gift, so enjoy it!

Love ya'll....Jennifer Murrell

A Full Summer

Wow, the summer is flying by. We have been so blessed to be a part of so many things.  We attended half of the AP week at ICYC. We took part in many bible classes that proved the existence of God and how animal and plant life work together. Some of the information was very deep and challenging. It was good to have been there.

Julianna then took part in Science Camp at Munford Elementary School. She was able to make a parachute, kite and learn about things that fly. We ended the week by going canoeing at Camp Cosby near Talladega, AL.

Then we had an AWESOME VBS at Talladega church of Christ. For many years now, the Ironaton and Talladega congregations have been working together to have a successful VBS. The theme was “Believe It or Not, It is in the Bible.” We learned about Elijah, David, Gideon, Balaam, and Ezekiel. It was so great. For part of the week, my nephews were able to come.

We have been to Oxford Lake and the park, Bowling and we have even had the pleasure of having the teens over for a marshmallow roast. It was a great time of fellowship, singing and playing games.

We also had the opportunity to go to the Diana singing in Diana, TN. I believe this was their 42 nd year. Hundreds of Christians the world over, come out twice a year and sing praises to God all night. It will make the hair on your neck stand up. It is a piece of heaven on earth. (The song you hear playing was sung at Diana...listen carefully and you will hear the train passing in the back ground)

We also were able to spend half a week at ICYC during Billy Hayes’ week. It was good to see some of our friends and to meet some new Christians. What a shot in the arm! Thank God for ICYC!

We have been able to go to several congregations to visit or because Jim has been invited to speak…to mention a few…Talladega, Lineville, Piedmont, Hobb Street, Bethel, Waco, Glencoe, Eastaboga, Logan Martin, and Elmore. WOW! how God has blessed him with so many oppertunities. Jim is still speaking at the nursing homes, assisted living homes and the community center. He has been extremely busy putting sermons up on his new site www.preachersvault.com. He has also been editing and making DVDs and CDs of the sermons at the Ironaton church of Christ. He does all this work on a volunteer basis. He only receives reimbursement for the CDs and DVDs that he buys. I am so proud of him for his sacrifice and his desire to expand the borders of the Kingdom.

I know you all are wondering…how is he feeling? He doesn’t feel good at all. The heat is extremely hard on him. He is not able to walk up inclines at all without feeling like he is going to pass out. He is tired all the time. He could literally sleep all the time. He can’t bend over or he will black out. He has been dizzy. He has been able to lose some of the fluid that has been building up. He went to the doctor yesterday and his blood is too thick. They are monitoring it every two weeks. He gets his ICD checked in 3 weeks. He still looks good. You can hardly tell anything is wrong with him. He hides it because he wants to keep on keeping on. He doesn’t want sympathy he wants to work as much as he can for the Lord.

Julianna has been busying making bookmarks and bracelets to sell. She is personally raising money to help Jim with his medical expenses. She is such a help to me.

Cameron has been collecting every kind of bug from camp or the woods. We have several jars on the book shelves with some living bugs and some that have already gone on. He prays for them and sometimes he prays that they will come back to life.

We have been blessed with a wonderful garden. Snake and Cille Powers our neighbors have been showing us the ropes on how to garden. We have tomatoes, okra, jalapeño peppers, squash, watermelons, and corn. Several people from church have been giving us bell peppers, cucumbers and zucchini.

My job has been going good. I only have 3 more weeks in the semester left. I know that I will really miss this group of students. Teaching on Mondays and Wednesdays at CACC, has opened many doors. One of my students is going to try to come to church with me this Sunday. Lord willing, he will have an open heart and hear some great preaching. We have been working with our neighbors to come to church. They have several children and they have allowed them to come with us. We pray that soon the parents will come.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We will always covet them. We pray that each day we will seek to do to most we can to help ourselves personally grow in faith and in wisdom, to help the church grow, to encourage others to do right and to help our community...the world over know about the church.

Back To Work At Ironaton

Jim is doing good. For the past several months Jim has been very busy. He has been speaking at the nursing home, assisted living home, senior center, doing personal Bible studies (assisted in 8 baptisms in the month of April), spoke at a Teacher's meeting for Glencoe church of Christ, spoke at Waco church of Christ (Georgia), Rome church of Christ (Georgia), spoke on the lectureship for Ironaton where we attend, speaking at Talladega church of Christ tomorrow...he has been very busy. He had a rough week last week. He seems to be doing about normal now. He has his good days and his bad ones.  He has been in cardiac rehab but honestly the past four weeks has been so busy visiting and working on audio/video sermons (editing and putting them on the website…you can see them on www.iftruthbetold.org or www.ironatonchurchofchrist.com ) that he has not gone.  The physical therapist called to check on him and I told her what he was doing. She was amazed and said we need more people like that. Julianna has settled into school. She was student of the month for April. She is making all As usual. She is in gifted and has been inviting our neighbors to church. She is a great worker for the Lord. She is trying to start several little businesses..Doggie Day Care and making bracelets. She loves making power points on her computer. She has made several on people in history but also made one on how to become a Christian. She is taking guitars lessons. She is learning several little tunes. She is a quick learner. Cameron is growing. He is so tall. He goes to school for speech twice a week. He is almost as tall as his teacher. He has three jars that he carries around with caterpillars (all of which are in "coons"). He tries to collect bugs of all kinds and bring them in. He asks everyday for a baby turtle, baby chicken and baby fish. He loves being in the country. We registered him for kindergarten. Wow, can’t believe it is time for him to go to school. I have been able to volunteer at the school and help out. It is great being there and meeting new people. I pray that I will lead them to Christ through the way that I live. We are always lights.  I have gotten a part time job teaching accounting and business courses at Central Alabama Community College just 10 minutes from the house. I have been working in the yard. It is a great way to relieve stress and enjoy God’s beautiful creation. I write my own bible class material and draw visual aides. It is very challenging and fun.  I have been teaching 3rd and 4th grade on Sunday mornings. The lessons and visual aids will hopefully find a home in Australia where we have friends that are missionaries. We attend a very faithful congregation of God's people at the Ironaton church of Christ. The eldership is outstanding. They lead the congregation with foresight and discipline. The congregation has had 20+ new members added and 16 +/- baptisms since the first of the year. We love it here and feel very blessed. Life is simple but the church keeps us busy as usual and we love it and would not have it any other way.  We do miss Philadelphia but we know that God has given us a wonderful opportunity through this trying time with Jim's health to be in a place where God's Word is respected and people are eager to serve. We pray that all is well with each one of you. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

1Corinthians 15:58

  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Our New Home

We have been extremely busy with the move…I am sorry that I am just now updating everyone. The move went well. We had a couple of people helped us in Philadelphia load the moving van and clean the house(kind of disheartening but thanks to those who healped). We had a few help us unpack. It seemed like the flu hit the community of Munford pretty hard around the time of our move. Some were unable to help us due to that. We had a week to get ready for Christmas. It was a great one. The children had a wonderful time and it snowed on Christmas day. The first time it snowed on Christmas day in over 100 years. It made it real special. We have had many concerts…Julianna got a Paperjamz guitar and Cameron got a drum set.

We have had numerous brethren over in our home. Many have had us in their home. Many have shared meals with and visited with us. Not a week has gone by that we have not spent time with a brother or sister in Christ in our home. It is such a blessing.

Julianna started school on January the 5^th. It went well. She was so nervous. Her stomach was upset. The next day, I had to go to the school because she felt sick…it was nerves. Since then she has had her days but overall she is doing great. She is so far ahead of everyone that the teacher is using her to help in the classroom. In one month she has racked up over 50 AR points. Cameron is not going to school every day. They do not have a preschool but he is taking speech twice a week. They reevaluated him and said that he is so smart. They think he is going to do great in school. He has come a long way since his evaluation in 2009.

Jim has preached several times. He has spoke at the nursing home and assisted living home in Talladega, AL. He has been visiting with Cliff Goodwin. He will speak tomorrow at the Senior Community Center in Munford, AL. Jim will be speaking on a lectureship at the Ironaton church of Christ on February 6^th, Lord willing. This weekend he will be speaking at a congregation in Georgia. He is trying to do as much as he can.  We have placed membership with the Ironaton church of Christ. This is where Cliff Goodwin and Chris Clevenger work with the congregation. They have a very active congregation that practices church discipline and has real Bible classes. Brad Collins, one of the elders, teaches the best Bible class we have ever heard on Sunday morning. The enthusiasm and love for God and His Word is truly seen throughout the congregation and the work they do.

Many of you already know that Jim suffered another mini stroke on January 20^th. He was admitted to RMC in Anniston, AL. He urged the doctors to let him got Friday evening so he could make it to the area wide singing in Munford. He had been looking forward to this for some time. He did make it but felt terrible. He has been sleeping and sleeping.

We went to UAB yesterday the 24^th to see the Advanced Heart Failure group and to see his ICD doctor. The appointment was very sad. The mini strokes that he has experienced were thought to be a product of him going into Atrial fibrillation. His ICD could be set to correct this. Instead, we learned that according to his ICD history, it is not Atrial fibrillation. The doctors then talked to us about what was happening. His atrial baffle is so weak and his heart overall is doing so poorly that his heart is actually throwing clots. The blood is getting pooled up in his heart because of the scar tissue, the weak muscle and the hardening tissue that the heart is throwing clots that are going to his brain. This is very scary news. There is no procedure that can correct this except for heart transplant. He was put on more blood thinning medicine because what he is on is not good enough. The medicine has major side effects and he has to get blood work every couple of days now. The doctors are in a rush to get him on the transplant list since he received the Federal risk pool insurance (Obama care) on January 1^st. We met the transplant coordinator and he will be going through a battery of tests very soon. If he has a major stroke he will not be eligible for a heart transplant. We are asking God for more time.  We beseech each and every one of you to lift him up in prayer to the Almighty Physician that He will have time to receive a new heart if that is His will. We ask everyone to make sure he is on your prayer list at church, home, and work. Please pray for him. We are running against the clock. He has felt so poorly and I beg you to help me to petition God to keep my husband. He has more work to do and a great desire to continue to work for the church.

We will go back to UAB on January 31^st. We will see a neurologist, Advanced Heart Failure group, transplant coordinators, and have tests and blood work done. We are so glad to be close to family and so many of our brethren. It has helped already.

We still receive numerous cards, phone calls, emails and financial gifts. We are so thankful for all of these. Since he has received insurance, we still have medical expenses that are overwhelming. Balances on bills and of course we have co-payments, and deductibles to meet are all ways in which financial gifts are being used. We do have an account set aside just for the heart transplant. Many of you have ear marked gifts to go to that specific account. We are so humbled by the number of brethren throughout the world that have encouraged us and given of their means.

We pray that God will give us more time to be together to work in His church. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR US! We love each one of you. To God be the Glory.

Our contact information:

Jim, Jennifer, Julianna and James Cameron Murrell

2890 McElderry Road

Munford, AL  36268

Home 256-315-9567

Jim cell 256-521-6500

Jenn cell 256-521-6501

themurrellshome@bellsouth.net

Please do not call Jim between the hours of 12pm and 4pm. This is when he is napping. He rests all the time but this is his set aside time after lunch to rest. Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you.