I was surfing around tonight and I found this amazing video. This video shows what an EF-5 can do (winds around 200mph). My prayers continue for these folks as they rebuild since late May. I pray the victims never lose their faith, if anything, may it grow stronger! He is always with you! Call out to Him, He WILL answer!
Ken
We just posted our latest faith story the other day. It is more testimony to God’s plan and how He does take care of us. All of these stories have touched us in so many ways, and they have also brought amazing people into our lives. We are about to post our 49th story this week. Where has the time gone? I’ll tell you. Serving Him. Back to my orginal statement; we have grown close with several people since starting the mininstry by doing these stories. Most folks feel they already know us from TV, but we never think of that, but we do understand. The common ground work we have with all the people we have interviewed for faith-stories is the Lord. Once you have that relationship out of the gate, getting close to people is very easy it seems at times. I guess what I’m trying to say is, it just amazes me how God has brought these people into our lives, it is His plan, and we get to glorify Him!
We went down to Spring Valley, MN to finish shooting part two of the latest faith-story and attend church while doing so. God brought us there to that church, not only to shoot a story, but to get closer to members of the congregation. We have become fond of some of the folks there, and I really dig the Pastor and his messages. We have become good friends with several members of the church and I call them in time of need or just a time to share. You know who you are. After church and shooting footage we went to another friend’s house for lunch from that church. We felt so welcome and just at “home”. I have to thank “farmer Gary” and his family for really opening up his house and his heart in sharing testimony, as we did too. Our kids had a blast through all of it!! Pictures below speak volumes, as the kids did not on the way home.
In closing, we are truly blessed with our jobs. We get to touch many lives across the tri-state area, because He is always touching ours! Thanks for your time…
Peace….
Ken
Okay, nothing too deep or drawn out tonight. I have to share a story with you that is way, too cute.
Connor was in the tub last night and I was at the bathroom sink cleaning my rings. Ken handed me his wedding ring and asked if I’d clean his, too. While I was brushing the grime away, Connor had an innocent question. Here’s how our conversation went;
Connor: “What are you doing, Mommy?”
Me: “Cleaning Daddy’s wedding ring.”
Connor: “Do I have a wedding ring?”
Me: “No, but someday when you find a very special girl Mommy will give you her wedding ring that was my
Grandma’s and you can give it to her.”
Connor: “Can I give it to Nanny? She’s my very special girl.”
Me: “Awwwwwwwwwe! Yes, Nanny is your very special girl.”
Isn’t that the sweetest little conversation?
We absolutely love the grandparents in our lives. I am blessed to have my paternal grandmother still with us. We are also blessed to have Nanny and Pappa (my parents) as well as Mimi and Papa Q (Ken’s parents) in our lives. Not everyone is able to say they have incredible parents who make for extraordinary grandparents…but we do and I thank our Heavenly Father for them daily. Connor prays for each of them, nightly.
Blessings to you and your family~
Betsy
We ask a lot of questions in our lives. ‘Why’ seems to be the biggest. Why God? Why me? Why is this happening? Why, why, why? But recently I was asked ‘how’ in respect to my faith and my job/career choice. A lot of people want to know, ‘How do you know when God is calling you to leave one thing and go onto another?’
I don’t have a clear and concise answer to that. Just like I don’t have a lot of clear and concise answers to a lot of faith-related questions. All I can tell you is what I’ve learned through my own personal experiences. First, and foremost, I am no more “holy” than anyone. I don’t do many things right and I certainly don’t claim to have God figured out. I ask Him a lot of questions daily and I think that’s okay.
‘How’ does someone know when to follow God’s will and exactly what His will is? Pray. Yes, it’s that simple. And yes, it’s that complicated. God knows your heart. Whether you’re new to letting Him into your life or you’ve known Him your entire life, each day is new and each day we need Him, His forgiveness and His love. Here is the most simplistic answer I can give; ask! That’s right. No matter where you are in your “walk”. Whether you’ve been walking alone or find yourself on your own path or watever, He knows it all and is ready to walk with you or carry you. He knows your circumstances. Ask Him, ‘How, Lord?’ ‘How do I find you? How do I let you in? How do I know it’s you when I’m praying?’ Ask Him…He will answer BUT you have to be open to hear His answer. He’s not some far away God who wants you to be confused about His answers. He speaks directly to your heart. He speaks directly to you. Sometimes He’s even audible, you just have to be open to hear Him speak to you.
‘How?’ Tell Him you want to hear Him. Wait for an answer. Don’t tell yourself your not worthy. That answer comes from this world and we know who rules this world. DO NOT make the mistake of looking inward at your own human capabilities, look upward and ask for His grace to sustain you.
One more thing. If you’re still not sure on the ‘how’…get on your knees. That’s right. Humble yourself wherever you’re at, get on your knees and talk to our Heavenly Father. That’s ‘how’. He loves you!!! Did you hear me? HE LOVES YOU! That, I promise!
This all came about after a conversation I had with a woman who we’re doing a faith story on. I cannot get into details right now as it is still a “story in progress” but she raised a lot of heart-wrenching questions as she is in the midst of grief that I hope and pray you’ll never experience. I don’t know why or how or any other answers to many sincere and heartfelt questions (I have a lot of my own, by the way). But through all of it, I do know that God loves you and He loves me. Find your way to Him…He’s been waiting for you!
Blessings~
Betsy
May all the glory be given to God!
What an incredible day. We took our video camera out to some site locations of CareFest. It’s a “one day mission trip” to our own community where hundreds of volunteers have come together to fix, clean, paint and whatever needed to be done at 60 various locations throughout the city of Rochester.
Ken took some great video, I interviewed some GREAT people, those who are being helped and those who are helping. God is using each of our individual talents to get the work done and to put it out on the internet for you to see. May you be inspired and to God, may He be given all the glory!
Be blessed,
Betsy
Be sure to listen to KFSI as we will be doing interviews with folks taking part in CareFest today . For more on the event click here. We will have video posted here later today. A big thanks to all who have helped out!
Ken
We have all seen the tragedy that happened last year with the collapse of the 35W bridge in Minneapolis. The bridge in Winona, MN connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin was shut down disrupting everyone’s lives last week after inspections. We, too have had to change our habits taking our kids to grandma and grandpa Singers house near Bluff Siding, WI. We have gone over that bridge countless times over the years. Connor calls it Nanny’s bridge because he knows he is almost there to see her. Thousands of cars have driven over this bridge daily, now, no more until further notice. Looking at these new pictures just released, it proves why it was closed, and how a higher power has kept people safe until finally MnDOT crews and others gave a much needed inspection. I remember a few times wondering my own safety, as well as our families, going over the bridge after the 35W disaster. I’ve been driving past the bridge as of late while going around Winona drumming up business support for KFSI, seeing cars and trucks going over it and questioning its sturdiness before the closing even happened, also thinking, this could come down. Well, now we know it has issues. GOD has protected us in our travels! Take a look at those picture…it is quite eye opening. So in closing, count your blessings as you deal with the inconvenience! We have…
Ken
Thunderstorms going over the same areas continually (called “training”) Saturday afternoon into evening caused big flooding problems across the tri-state area. Some spots got 6-10″ of rain. Our prayers go out to all those affected by what has been transpiring because of the heavy rain. As if last August wasn’t enough, we now go through another round. From Houston County, MN (you are round two) Fillmore County, MN (round two) to Charles City & Decorah, IA to Mason City, IA (historic flooding). Here is a graphic from the National Weather Service showing how much rain has fallen over the past two days.
In those dark red areas you are seing rain totals between 5-8″, but in the small purple spots you get closer to 10″. Anyway you slice it, many prayers again for all of these folks are needed, as well as farmers across the area, as I saw many fields under water today on my drive to La Crosse, WI by I-90.
Ken
I have to share with you a testimony to God’s answer to prayers. Our friend Nate Augeson ( the guy we did a two part series on for faith-stories.com ) operates a Christian t-shirt and apparel stand at the local mall. He and I have been praying for one another for many things. Lately, he has been praying for our ministry and I have been praying for his. Nate has been finding himself struggling as of late with sales at the mall. Sales are down, so he has been finding other ways to make ends meet to keep the store going to serve God. Working in ministry, as most people know, comes with financial difficulties at times. We continue to remind one another that God will provide and we should continue to focus on serving Him and He will take care of us. It is easy to lose that focus, especially when you are in the midst of doubt over your actions. Here’s where the story wraps up with His arms around us.
The struggles have been hitting hard for both of us, even more this week starting Monday. I spoke with Nate and we continued our ecouragement and prayers, saying God put us here for a reason with what we are doing. We need to stay the course! The next day a man walked up to Nate’s kioske and gave him a check for $200. Nate asked why. He said, “because God said I should.” Nate double checked with the man’s intentions, and said a Huge thank you and gave thanks to God. A moment later the guy says, “I also want to help you pay for your rent here for the rest of the year.” That’s $800 a month! That guy had no idea how much it actually is but wanted to do it anyway. Need I say more?
For myself, this week has been a banner week for getting sponsors. Without getting into deep details, God answered our prayers by using businesses to open up their hearts to donate. Our needs at KFSI have increased because of the leap of faith Faith Sound Inc. has taken by hiring the both of us. We too, took our leap to try and make a difference in the ministry and in our community by doing God’s work. The everyday costs of runnng the station has obviously gone up. The cost per day has risen to $1000.
Any who, this is again more proof of God’s answer to prayers. We get so hung up on our timing but it is all about His timing and His unconditional love for us. He will always be their to provide, it’s just in our everyday life of being human we lose site of this. I hope this story will also encourage you to never give up on Him and just keep praying for whatever situation you may be in. He is there, just ask for His help and guidance.
Peace…
Ken
P.S. Incase you missed Nate’s story, here’s part two from faith-stories.com as seen on YouTube.
After some good feedback, I wanted to follow up on a stormy period that may continue to evolve. We talked about this briefly today on the radio about severe weather possible in the next few days. I mentioned on the radio a ways back that maybe we could see more active weather mid to late May and into June because the overall pattern it seemed was a month or so behind schedule. We are kinda seeing this transition happen across the region as of late. We’ll see what pans out down the road. Here is the latest outlook from the National Weather Service.
“The unsettled, stormy weather pattern continues for the Upper Mississippi River Valley, with the threat for severe weather, including heavy rain, returning for Wednesday night through Friday. The mix of a frontal boundary, upper level energy, and moist Gulf air streaming northward, will produce periods of showers and thunderstorms starting Wednesday night. With the front wavering across the region on Thursday and Friday, storm chances will continue both days.
Currently, Thursday holds the most threat for severe thunderstorms capable of producing large hail and damaging winds. However, any of the storms from Wednesday night through Friday could produce heavy rain, with 2 to 4 inches possible across the local area. With many locations across the region still nearly saturated from recent rainfalls, additional heavy rains would result in rises on streams and rivers, with the potential for some to reach flood stage. Also, flash flooding would be a distinct possibility with any prolonged, heavy rain. “
We also have a tornado threat on Thursday. We will keep you posted….
Ken
The Internet is an amazing resource that millions of people go to for a vast variety of reasons. A vision to use this resource to glorify God came about a number of years ago by Faith Sound Incorporated President, Paul Logan. His vision to put together faith-based, video stories to unite the body of Christ started to gain focus in the summer of 2007. With only a vision to go on and a lot of prayers he took a leap of faith and hired a local television broadcaster to start this new Internet ministry. In July of 2007 Faith-Stories.com was born. But this labor of love did not come about without some expected growing pains. The site would need to be built, equipment would be needed to record the stories and edit them to post them on-line.
God was at the very onset of this ministry and gently guided it to where it is today. Ken and Betsy Quattrin set up the stories, record them, write and edit them. Retired IBM computer expert, Dan Winter guided Ken through the HTML set-up and implementation of the website and within a few short months the site was launched and stories have been coming in abundance. With the use of the radio station to get the word out, God continues to bless this ministry and in turn blesses those who view these stories. One day at a time, we are being used to unite the Body of Christ.
Thank you to the many individuals and businesses that help financially support the radio ministry and our Internet ministry!
Blessings
Betsy
