Gospel Tour to Tennessee, Colorado, all points inbetween

Gary and I are planning a Gospel music tour this fall. We will be leaving the first week in September and returning to California the last week of Sept. We have gigs booked in Chattanooga and Helman Tennessee, Colorado Springs, Co and possibly Independance Mo. We will be adding more as time goes by.

We are contacting Senior communities (care homes) in those areas to perform during the week-Country Western music. We love entertaining for the residents who are no longer able to travel to see music concerts!

Hope to see you along the way. If your church would like a concert, let me know at 707-398-4120. www.bettyoverstreet.com

Take the time, make memories

Time is so short, as we watch our little ones grow. One day they are babies, next it seems they are leaving for college. Last summer Gary and I had a backyard BBQ for our family. Our kids, their kids and yes, even their kids kids (that means our great grands!). What a day that was....

As I sat watching the merriment, Ava, our 2 year old great granddaughter climbed up in my lap with a book that needed to be read!!

Ava's mom, Sarah, snapped this picture of us as she gazed lovingly up at me. It is priceless, and had I not taken the time to read, Sarah would have missed this kodak moment for us.

Take the time, take a walk, take a few minutes to share a special book while they are willing to give us a minute. Soon they will be so busy, it will be hard to slow them down long enough to spend time together. Treasure each moment and someday, in that long away future, they just might remember how Grandma held them and read a book to them.

Happy New Year

A New Year is just a day away, and looking wonderful for us. Son Jerry is recovering very well from his Kidney Transplant, My new book, "Reach out, each day" is almost complete, I think, and our music calendar is beginning to fill up--Yay

Reach Out is a compilation of short stories of how God has "pushed" me out of my comfort zone of a few years back by guiding me to speak to strangers I meet along the way who are in need of a kind word, a prayer, perhaps a meal to keep them from hunger. It is a fasinating journey He has been taking me on.

So as the new year arrives I encourage you to pray for God to open doors for you to help others in thier life journey.

A Thanksgiving Miracle

Jerry’s miracle of life

It was a crisp fall day as we wondered down the main street in Branson, Missouri, looking into store windows and just enjoying a family vacation.

As my sister, Nina, peered into a little coffee shop, she said, “We have to eat here before we leave town. We all glanced back and agreed to stop in for breakfast one morning.

We were enjoying time spent together, attending various music concerts: The Oak Ridge Boys, Jim Stafford and Johnnie Mathis and time had just flown. Suddenly it was Saturday Morning and we walked into the little café to finally see what good country cooking awaited us, unaware that a miracle was the main gift of the day.

As we began to read the menu we discovered the café was owned and operated by an organization, Church Army, that provided housing and jobs for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics.

The waitresses were happy, joyful ladies who were excited to share the story behind the organization.

When we finished our breakfast and started to leave I felt an urge to step over to one of the waitresses and share with her that my son spends three days each week on dialysis. I told her we had been praying for him to receive a kidney transplant so he could return to a more normal life.

She very excitedly asked for my sons name and my phone number. She said, “As soon as I am off work I am going to start praying and find your son a kidney. I thanked her kindly and promised to keep in touch.

At about ten o’clock that same night my son called and said, “Mom, I got a call from the hospital –they said be there tomorrow morning at 7:00am. We have a kidney on its way from Texas for you”.

My husband Gary, and I were scheduled to leave Branson Sunday morning to fly back home to California and I told him we had to stop by the little café and tell Denise what had happened during the night.

Denise was not surprised! She said as soon as she was off work she went directly to her group home, gathered all the ladies into a room and they all prayed for God to give Jerry a new kidney. She said their church has a Saturday night service and she asked all the people to pray for him and that there was about two hundred people that night, earnestly praying for a new kidney for Jerry.

When Jerry arrived at the hospital Sunday morning the kidney had not yet arrived, but they began preparing him for the transplant operation with blood tests, x-rays, etc. The surgery was scheduled for the next day, Monday, November 21^st at noon.

One of my kids asked me, “Mom, did Jerry tell you about what happened to him at dialysis Saturday morning?” I replied, “No, what happened?”

She said that the mother of one of the dialysis patients walked over to Jerry-pointed and touched her finger to his chest and said, “God is giving you a blessing very soon!”

God is definitely a loving, caring father. He provided a precious gift for our son, as people all over the world were praying for this miracle. We had people from all walks of life; from America to Canada, Nigeria and Kenya all praying on that wonderful night. I believe because this was so widely shared, many will recognize this as having been the hand of God, reaching out and setting the stage for this to all come together.

As I sat in the waiting room that day, waiting for word that the surgery was finished, I kept feeling there was something special about this date, November 21, 2011. When I got home and checked, my thoughts were correct.

You will notice I have added a photo of Jerry on his cycle, which he loves to ride. He will not be able to ride it for 6 months but says he can handle the withdrawls in order to have this new lease on life. He is so thankful for the gift he was given by this person in Texas. A special thank you to the family who made this possible.

This was the 10^th Anniversary of the day my mother left us to live with our Heavenly Father.

If you have loved ones in need, ask God to help—He wants us to ask so that we will know it is a gift from Him when our prayer is answered. He has many blessings He wants to give us if we will only reach out to Him.

Thanks so much

I am so excited! My new book, The Lord still speaks to Lovers, is selling! Each time one sells on http://www.lulu.com/ I receive an email telling me about the sale!!! Thank you so much for helping me make this book a success--

And if you are considering publishing a book, I must say that I am very pleased thus far with Lulu.com. It is a print on demand publisher, meaning they print each book as they receive an order. This means I do not have to carry a large inventory as I have done in the past. I keep a few in stock for folks who live near by or to sell at our Gospel music concerts along with our CDs.

Again, thanks so much for your support!

The Lord Still speaks to Lovers-New Book

I am so excited! I have finally completed my book "The Lord still speaks to Lovers", a compilation of Christian love stories after 2-3 years of procrastinating.

Each story is written or told by the couples who lived the experiences of meeting, falling in love, becoming husband and wife--with Jesus the third (or first) party to the marriage. So wonderful to read how God has brought them together and then guides them to live for Him.

Yes, of course, my own story of finding Gary is included in the book along with some poetry that I hope you will enjoy. You find it in hardcopy, as well as a downloadable version at: www.lulu.com/spotlight/betty_overstreet

Be Available to Listen to the young!

I had the opportunity today to spend an hour with a young girl who is around 13-14 while driving home from my grandaughters home. The girl lives near us and had visiting with my grandaughters family. I believe it is the first time I have been in the position to need to discuss Jesus with a young person-one on one.

As she began to talk about her life I asked her if she attends a church and she said her step-dad has begun taking her to a church. As the conversation continued I asked her if she had her own bible and she said no, where do you find a bible (sad). I told her at a Christian bookstore and she said 'A Christian bookstore? I didn't know there was such a store'. I told her I will buy her one. I discovered she thought Noah's ark was just a little story, didn't know it is a true story and wanted to know why he built it. Then she mentioned a story someone told her about Mary, Joseph and a donkey. (sadder still)

I was amazed at the questions and so thankful God gave me what I believe were the correct answers for her. I love sharing Jesus through my music and books but have never felt compatent to speak or try to teach about him through speaking. I thank God for always being beside me when I am so in need of Him!

We must all be aware that there is a whole generation of young people who are not being guided by Christians either in or out of their homes. We must take the time to talk and listen to them whenever God gives us the opportunity.



We would love to share our love for God through music at your church! Call us at 707-478-8451 or 707-688-5812 or visit our website www.bettyoverstreet.com for music sampling"