Dear Friends,

Tickets are selling quickly for our upcoming Christmas Banquet with the Lesters. We would love to have you join us in Pittsfield at the beautiful Crossroads Center on Saturday Nov. 29! To order your tickets, call our office today @ 217-587-2671. **Groups of 8 can reserve a table** The tables are reserved on a 1st come 1st served basis.

 Also, there are only 8 days left to register for our Eastern Carribbean cruise coming up at the end of January. If you are thinking about going.....time is running out so don't delay!

When noon rolled around on Saturday we loaded the bus and headed northwest to Dallas City, IL and Grace Bible Church. Our family has been going to this church for many years. Larry Menschel is the pastor and he and the congregation have always been so kind to our family over the years. A great crowd turned out for the evening to enjoy Southern Gospel music and we so appreciate each and every one. The Lord has blessed Grace Bible Church with a beautiful new building, that sort of serves as a "family life center",where we all enjoyed a time of fellowship after the service.

Sunday morning was a bit of a change for us since we did not have anything booked. So, since we had the morning off, we stopped by East Side Bible Church in Morton, where we sang back on Oct. 26, to join them for their morning worship. What a blessing it was to just sit back and be fed from the message brought by Pastor Steve Weber. This church holds a special place in our hearts and they made us feel so welcome. I must admit, we surprised alot of people when they pulled in that morning and seen our bus sitting the parking lot! ha. Several people thought we had broke down! After the morning service, we headed to Cracker Barrell with Pastor Steve, his wife Marsha, and Jerry & Claudia Wilson.  I hope we didn't disturb the restaurant with our frequent outbursts of laughter. There is no way to be around Pastor Weber and not end up rolling on the floor. This guy is so much fun!We appreciate Jerry and Claudia so much and thank both couples for a great lunch and for loving us.

Before long, it was time to hit the road. Stewardson, IL and the United Methodist Church was our stop for Sunday evening. The first time The Chosen Ones sang at the Methodist Church in Stewardson was back in the '70s! They have since had us many, many times. Every year when we pull up to the door, Fern Thompson is there to greet us with a smile and make sure we have everything we need. We extend a special thank you to Fern for all her hard work and to the church for once again having our family. We will see you next year!

We want to encourage each and every one of you to pray fervently for our country and the new administration that will be taking office. While we, personally, are disappointed with the outcome of the election, we must realize the Lord is just as much in control today as He has been all along. Let us as Christians, go forward, continuing to stand for our beliefs, and lift our country and our government in prayer. The world needs to see HIS light shining through us each and every day. We love you all and we pray that you have a wonderful weekend!

On the Journey,
The Chosen Ones