Nothin’ Like Louisiana Criminals January 14, 2008

This article appeared in the Town Talk (our local newspaper) and of course I had to share it with you.  Enjoy!

Alexandria police were dispatched to Alexandria Inn, 1212 MacArthur Drive, just after midnight in reference to an armed robbery.A 49-year-old Pollock woman told police that earlier Sunday she was invited to a room by a female friend.

At around 11 p.m. Sunday, she drove to a store and returned to find another woman she only knows as “Hot Pants” in the room, who stated the victim owed her money, according to an Alexandria police report.

An argument ensued in which “Hot Pants” hit the victim in the back of the head with the room’s telephone, the report states.

The victim picked up an alarm clock and held it up to keep “Hot Pants” off her and the suspect then picked up the victim’s purse off the dresser and left, the report states.

The victim told police she did not call authorities because she did not have any money or anything of value in the purse.

The victim then sought refuge in another room with a male acquaintance and about 12:25 a.m. two men she knows as “Peanut” and “Fisher” came to the door with her purse and forced their way into the room, the report states.

“Peanut” grabbed the 51-year-old Cordova, Tenn., man’s wallet off the night stand and both suspects fled in a green car driven by “Hot Pants,” the report states.

The 51-year-old victim told police he was asleep when awakened by a male suspect who ran into the room and grabbed his wallet, the report states.

The male victim gave chase and while running across the parking lot the suspect turned around and punched him in the nose, causing his nose to bleed, the report states.

The male victim was holding a bloody rag to his nose while speaking to police, the report states, but refused medical attention.

Police also observed dried blood on the back of the female victim’s hair where she told police “Hot Pants” had struck her with the telephone, the report states, adding she also refused medical attention.

Police canvassed the area for suspects but were unable to locate them, the report states.

Worship Confessional #2 January 14, 2008

Our service was great this morning!  Lots of people, great music, great message……just great all around.  Our set list:

No One Like You

Let It Rise

More Love, More Power

How Great is Our God

I Need Thee (Chorus)

Sing to the King

Deanna Freeman sang our special music this morning.  I don’t know the name of the song she sang, but it was gorgeous!  And as always, she did a wonderful job.  I’m going to have to ask her the name of that song.  I really enjoyed it!

Here’s what went right this morning:

Everybody was really serious this morning.  Normally we’re not quite that serious, but this morning was different.  All were very focused.  Focused is good.  Normally we’re joking and carrying on with each other, but not this morning.  Everybody was all business.  ***That’s not to say that it’s not okay to joke around and all.  It was just an interesting change****

The songs were all pretty familiar to our congregation, with the exception of “No One Like You.”  We did that one for the first time just last week, so it’s still pretty new.  But everyone was a little more familiar with it today, so they let go a little more in worship with it. 

The musicians played AWESOME and the singers were WONDERFUL!  All voices blended beautifully.  One thing I was particularly excited about was that our transitions between songs went so exceptionally well this morning.

Once again, Kevin had the sound mixed really great.  Thank you, Kevin!  Speedy was fighting a cold and we were worried that he wouldn’t be able to sing.  He sang great!  Jennifer is nearing the end of her pregnancy and that comes with it’s own set of issues.  She was able to join us and sounded great too!

One big happy thing for me….I’ve already told you that I’m a terrible public speaker.  I open my mouth to speak and everything comes out jumbled.  Well today I wanted to share a piece of my heart with our congregation and for the first time, it actually came out the way I meant for it to!  Let me just tell you, that wasn’t me…that was ALL God!  We already know that I’m not capable of that. 

Now here’s what went wrong:

It was COLD in there today!  We were all cold.  The plus side to that is there were no sweaty palms and therefore no dropped drumsticks. 

Remember the popping sound?  Argh!  That was my mic cord.  It didn’t do that in the sound check this morning.  That was a little surprise for us and there was nothing we could do about it.  But we can prevent it from happening next week.  We’ll have a new cord hooked to that mic and all should be well. 

During Deanna’s song, something weird was happening with the music.  I don’t know if it was the cd or what, but I guarantee we’ll be figuring that out this week.  Thankfully, the problem went away and we were ALL blessed by that beautiful song.

Poor Rachel was fighting a cold this morning.  It looks like it could turn into a nasty one, so y’all please be sure to say a prayer for her.  And kudos to her for playing so perfectly even while fighting that cold!

And that’s about it for Worship Confessional #2.  Thank you, again, for your continued prayers for our team.  I can’t begin to tell you how much it is appreciated by all of us.