Pat’s Blog

Lindie Gibson sends some of the most precious e-mail. If you are not on her e-mail list, I encourage you to contact her, tell her Pat & Claudia sent you, and ask to be included. You can contact her at: LindieAnn@aol.com

She sent the following in one of her e-mail:

Some people say that Jesus Christ is just a crutch for Christians….

You bet your life He’s my crutch. But when you’re crippled, what’s wrong with a crutch? Besides, don’t let anyone fool you. Everyone’s got a crutch. Everyone’s got something they lean on. Some people depend on alcohol to be their crutch. Others lean on drugs. Some people make sex or money their crutch. While still others look to their friends, family or career for support. 

You see, everyone has some kind of crutch that they depend on. The only difference being, when I turn to my Crutch and cry out for help, my Crutch answers and helps me. Does your crutch do that for you? My Crutch strengthens me in all my afflictions. My Crutch leads me and guides me, He laughs with me in the good times and cries with me in the bad. And I know my Crutch loves me because not only did He tell me so, He proved it….

“Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down His life for His friends…..” 
(John 15:13) 

I just re-read my last blog, and to my dismay I was reminded that I haven’t put any pictures up for you to see. I’m so sorry. Claudia and I have been so exhausted. After taking Kaleb and Patrick to the airport yesterday, Claudia and I were going to take a short nap at home. Well, that short nap turned in to a couple hours. Then we were up for a couple hours, then asleep, again. I finally got up about noon today. Claudia is about to take another nap. We just can’t catch up on our sleep. I need to get up and get some more things moved to the new offices. Also, the lawn needs mowing later on this afternoon, after it cools down a bit.

Claudia and I received some news last night that broke our hearts, yet reconfirmed our work that Jesus has called us to. You have heard us speak of John and Gerry Woolgar many times On the Air. They live in England, and have been a source of much encouragement and comfort over the many months we have known them. Many of you are praying for Gerry, as she starts her battle with cancer, and the rigors of chemo.

A couple days ago, while attending a Men’s Bible Study group, John had a fatal heart attack. 

John and Gerry just recently retired, and were settling in to the senior years of their lives. John was having fun learning to play in the dirt… well, trying his hand at gardening, having, this week, planted melons, and having a grand time doing it. 

Claudia and I were stunned when we heard the news of Gerry’s cancer. We were no less stunned when we heard of John’s death. I said “stunned”, NOT “shaken”. We are followers of Jesus. We will NOT be shaken, nor moved from our trust in Him. 

“God is our Refuge and Strength, a very Present Help in trouble. Therefore, we will NOT fear. Though the earth may shake. Though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea. Though its waters roar and foam, and the mountains quake at its surging.” Psalm 46:1-3

It is time for reflection, as the sorrow of the loss of a trusted friend is fresh in our hearts and minds, we sing along with the songs of PBN about the goodness of God, and Thank Him for our opportunities to touch and encourage the weak each and every day, while we still have breath. Life is short. Opportunities abound.

Claudia and I want to thank you for the opportunity to touch and encourage YOUR heart. 

FINALLY!!! We aren’t done, yet, but we have enough completed where we can be LIVE On the Air Monday. Mike and I worked until about 11:30 tonight. We were both exhausted. There are endless connections to establish. Then, when the connections are made, we are leveling the meters and tones. All the equipment has to be balanced, or it will sound very bad. Some of you heard us on the air, breaking in the normal programming.

I have to thank Mike for all he is doing. I honestly was very concerned he wouldn’t have the time to do the engineering. Thank you, for all of you who were praying. He hasn’t been able to give a lot of time each day, but he has been able to give a couple hours each day, three or four times a week. 

I was able to connect a temporary web cam in the studio. You can’t see very much right now, but at least you are able to see something. What you can’t see to the right are the tables with the lineup of computers, monitors, turntable and reel to reel deck. Claudia’s table will be to the left of the Sound Board, along with her microphone, computer and monitor. One good point is that you will see much more of Claudia’s face… still the back of my head, but Claudia’s face. 

Patrick and Kaleb leave tomorrow. Claudia and I have had a WONDERFUL time with them here. It was soooo unselfish of Ericka to allow them to come visit us. That is just the way our daughter in law is. She is such a thoughtful person. She knew how much it would mean to Claudia and me. They are really putting on the pressure for us to move back to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, to be close to them and Kaleb, but we just don’t feel God leading us there right now. It is a tough decision, as three of our four grandbabies live back in Texas. But, we feel North Carolina is where God wants us right now.

I have had little sleep this week. Claudia hasn’t had much, either. I’m falling asleep writing this, so I better stop, and write more later. I want to add some pictures here, as well. 

Thank you so very much for your love, prayers, notes and support.

When do we get to rest? zzzzzzzzzzzz  Wake up, Pat and Claudia!!! 

We seem to have to grab little cat naps now and then. The work continues, and great progress is being made. Mike was able to come by last night, and he spent about 3 hours working on our On Air Studio. He was in back of the equipment and I was on the floor underneath the tables, stringing wire from component to component. Under this table. Around this computer. Mike is doing a GREAT job of step by step making the On Air Studio take shape. 

We got the Sound Board up and running last night along with the three computers I use for the Praise Until Dawn Song List. The mother board died on one of the computers, so we had to retrieve the hard drive from it, and put it in Sandy’s computer, and trade them out. Sorry, Sandy. You will need to fix it when you get here.  We saw the meters moving on the board as we tested the microphones and songs. Everything seems to be working correctly.

Tonight we will be getting “sound” into the studio… connecting the amp and attaching the headphone connection. Next will come the wiring for the Capture Computer, which captures all the sound from each Praise Until Dawn program, as well as connecting the backup computer. Mike needs to order us a couple parts for sound compression going into the computer. We can get it all set up, as we are waiting on the parts. It shouldn’t take long to get them in. 

I am just very anxious to get everything in and in place, so Claudia and I can settle down and do the work that needs to be done, and get back On The Air with you. We miss our friends and family around the world. I have been trying to make sure and change out Praise Until Dawn each day, so that you will hear a different “Best Of” each day. 

We actually are just a couple days away from having most of the work complete… even having Praise Broadcasting Network Television back with the LIVE portion of Praise Until Dawn. Most don’t realize just how much has to be done, in order to give you the sound you love. I DO have pictures, and I will try to get some up on the blog tonight. It’s just that “time” is at a premium right now.

I took Claudia to her doctor’s appointment in Burlington, yesterday. This is the new Orthopaedic Surgeon who will be dealing with her chronic pain. He immediately did some examination, took xrays and ordered CT Scans, Nerve Conduction tests, and a few other exams (Due to the bionic implant in her back, she can’t have an MRI. The implant would literally be torn our of her back by the magnet, should she have an MRI.) . He was careful not to criticize the previous doctor in Winston Salem, yet was aghast that she had done nothing in the way of exams to determine the cause of the pain, in order to treat it correctly. Claudia and I have been given some hope that something can be found, and this can be brought to a conclusion. I have watched Claudia hurt lately, as she hasn’t hurt in several years.

Thank you for your continued prayer on her behalf. There are miles and miles to go, but there is progress being made.

Thank you for not forgetting us and PBN, as we are trying to make this all better for you. Claudia is trying to get to some of the e-mail tonight. Thank you for your patience in waiting for replies. We really do read each and every one, but with the move, we are being a bit slower in getting answers to you.

Ok… I’ve gotta get going and get to Greensboro for some parts I need. Mike will be at the studios around 6 pm. I didn’t get home until about midnight last night. But, knowing what it will be like when we are finished, makes all the time and work worth it.

Claudia and I send our love to each and every one of you. We will be back On The Air LIVE with you, soon.

Claudia and I LOVE our new offices / Studios. They are simple, nothing glitzy or fancy. Simple rooms. Simple inexpensive carpet. Simple fluorescent lights. But… it is ours (well, we are renting it), and there is so much peace in there, as we walk around the rooms and hall, and thank God, and bless the area.

I have to say a BIG THANK YOU to Mike. I was concerned that he wouldn’t have the time to give us, to get us back On The Air in a timely manner, but he came last Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and a little time on Thursday to get PBN Radio and Television On The Air. We had determined that, that was most important. We needed to get the music back On The Air, then we would work on getting the LIVE studio put together, and On The Air.

Mike is scheduled to come Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, to work on the Live On Air Studio. This is the studio Claudia and I broadcast from (I know, Linda. I’m not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but I’m too tired to even care ).

I have been so so so proud of Mike, taking the time out of his very busy schedule, to help us. Claudia and I have been absolutely exhausted. We found out we are not 17 anymore. Remember when we were all 17.We could get 4 hours sleep at night, wake up, and be ready to go go go! Not anymore!!! The last couple weeks have been sleepless and busy, but we have made GREAT progress. I’m sure you have heard the sound On The Air. We really weren’t off the air very long.

Most of the BIG stuff is in. I have taken a LOT of pictures of the destruction and move, and I will put them up on the blog here, for you to see. NOW, comes the pesky “little” stuff… the stuff that seems it will NEVER end. I have to keep telling myself to just take it one load at a time. It will finally get all done.

I brought some of the files and more of the wires and connections, yesterday. More files will come today. I HAVE to sit down and pay some of the bills, today, to avoid them being late. The biggest decisions are, “Where in the world do I put everything?” I am the world’s worst about throwing things away. I have kept many things, thinking I will be able to save some money, and use them someday, instead of purchasing new items. So, there they sit month after month, year after year. I just don’t have the storage room here, as I had in the old offices. So, I will HAVE to make some “throw away” decisions.

Patrick, our son, is out here visiting. He brought his boy (and our grandson), Kaleb. We are having a wonderful time with them. Ericka couldn’t come this time, as she had no more time off from her work. Claudia and I will be forever grateful to her for allowing Patrick and Kaleb to come for a week. She knows how much “family” means to us. Claudia and I love Ericka so much, and miss her. We were hoping we were going to get a “surprise” when we picked up Patrick and Kaleb from the airport, but alas, Ericka wasn’t there.

I better get going, and get to the office. I need to get some things done in anticipation of Mike coming tomorrow to start on the On Air Studio.

Thank you for your prayers for Claudia. We go tomorrow to her new Orthopaedic Surgeon, regarding her Piriformis Chronic pain. We are hoping he will have some new treatment for her, to allieve her of much of her pain. We go to Burlington, which is about 45 minutes away from us. We are used to staying up late into the night, and the appointment is at 10am. YAWN!!! Oh, well, another night of 4 hours sleep.

Thank you for your notes to us. We are not answering them as we would like, but please know we are reading them, as we grab a minute here and a minute there. Your prayers and encouragement are helping sustain us. Thank you for your continued support during this difficult time.

Here I sit at our new office, waiting on the phone company to send their tech out in order to install our phones. Thank goodness I have my laptop. I thought I would take advantage of the quiet and jot a note.

I had about 4 hours sleep last night. I was up at the old office until a little after 1am, tearing down the On Air Studio. Oh, “tearing down” is just a broadcast term describing taking apart all the equipment. It is a nightmare in gigantic proportions. I had to wade through the incredible amounts of wires which connected everything together. I thought when I came to this studio from Texas, all the wires would be perfectly aligned without any of the “spaghetti” effect. Honestly, I can’t remember what was worse… the spaghetti we waded through at the office in Texas, or the one here. It is a wonder I didn’t dream of pulling wires last night.

Having said that, most of the On Air Studio is apart, now. If you look on our webcam you will see what looks to be a fairly empty looking studio, comparatively speaking. I have the computers lined up on the table just to the left, out of sight, with the LCD monitors along side them. The wires and other equipment are in two boxes on the floor. I don’t even want to think about putting it all back together here in the new studio. But, honestly, once we start it is an exciting task, seeing it take shape.

Mike was not there to help last night. He was on his way back from Tennessee, doing some shopping for his TV program. He is so busy during the week, but he has promised to give me some time this week and help me get everything up and going. I am usually pretty good about connecting electronic equipment, but this is far beyond me. This is professional equipment, and thus we are dealing with specialized connections, soldering, XLRs and levelers. This is where an engineer usually “makes his/her money”.

The movers come tomorrow - 10am. I guess I will have another night of little sleep. Now that we have our new office, I really need to turn my nights into days. It is so difficult, though. Once I start working on something for PBN when I get home, I don’t want to quit. There is ALWAYS something to do (not complaining. It is just a fact. I love the work.).

Claudia and I have talked, and we both feel a renewed energy with this new office. We feel it is a gift from God. We can’t even describe the peaceful feeling we get as we walk around the rooms, and think of how God has led us here. I will admit, we have come here with a bit of “fear and trembling”. This is not something we would have done unless there was a little “push”. Our budget is so tight, I just don’t see how we are going to make it each month… but, we always have, and we always will.

Some have asked about our previous plans to build on our property out back, and put the offices and studios of PBN there. That is still in our plans, but that is a rather large undertaking, quite a bit beyond our budget at this time. Yep, you are right. At the right time, it will probably take a little “pushing” again, to get us going on that project.

We have always found that where God leads, He provides. We don’t need to waste our time wondering where time, money, effort, strength… will come from. We just do to the best of our ability, the task that is before us. It is exciting to see how He provides each and every time.

So, as I sit here… still waiting for the phone tech, I’m reminded of the goodness of our Father, and how I can’t wait to flip the switch and begin broadcasting from here.

Please continue keeping us in your prayers. In moving, there are always little glitches and problems. We have taken our broadcast off site, in an effort to take down the servers and move them. PBN seems to be broadcasting ok, but Worship Radio seems to be having a problem. I will need to locate the problem and correct it so that our dialup listeners can still get our signal while we are making the move.

Ahhhh… the joys of moving a Radio and Television Network.

Thank you, again, for your prayers. Hopefully, here within the next hour, the tech will be here, and I will be on to other things.