" In the Spotlight "

Joan Margaret (Martin) Cathey






Born on June 17, 1938 in McKinney, Texas to John and Alta Morris. She moved to Howe, Texas when she was 5 years old and that is where she went to school and grew up. She has 6 siblings 2 brothers and 4 sisters. She is the "baby" girl of the family but has a younger brother. She graduated High School after 13 years (she failed the first grade and began her working days). She worked at the cotton mill in Sherman, Texas where she met the man of her life.. Randy Martin. She just knew there was something different about him, he had the Holy Ghost and she wasn't raised in church. On her first date they went to a youth service and she was in amazement as the young people worshipped. She was not use to that.

She was married almost 23 years. The Lord blessed their home with 2 daughters.. Margaret Gail and Rebecca Kay. The Lord took her husband on to glory in 1982. Sis. Joan says that God has been good to her after his passing. He has supplied all of her needs and she knows he will not fail her now. During the later part of Randy's sickness the Lord gave them Rodney. He is a miracle which is another story. The Lord knew they couldn't handle 2 deaths so He took Randy and left her Rodney which is a blessing. In so many ways he is like his grandpa. Her youngest daughter Rebecca, has a daughter named Tiffany and a son named Joshua... they now live in Mississippi.

She moved to the Dallas area and just like the Lord she was put in contact with the Kegley family. In fact she moved right next door to them and the "kids" came over almost every evening. She received the Holy Ghost after they moved to Irving, she had been baptized already in Sherman. They raised their 2 girls in the UPC church in Irving. She later moved to Grand Prairie in 2001. She had looked at another church but just knew in her heart Grand Prairie was the place she would finally be.

" Childhood Memory "

Sis. Joan has lots of childhood memories... and would like to share one with us. It was winter time and the little creek, that ran by the farm was frozen over. They were skating and somehow she cut her leg... Her sister Venita set her on the bridge and put her headscarf around her leg and she had to sit there until they were done skating. They knew if she went to the house mama would make all of them come home. She had a loving home with parents who knew how to pray and as a family they did.

A little message from Sis. Joan:

" I love all of the people here and guess you are "stuck" with me until either I move back to Howe or the Lord takes me home. Thanks for letting me be a part of the church family and if I can ever do anything for anyone of you just let me know! "



God Bless all of you ladies..
Jessica M. Vazquez

Chile Relleno's

Good Day to all... this recipe I tried this past Saturday and let me tell you it was what I called a "labor of love"! It is or can be time consuming, especially if you're trying it for the 1st time.
Everything needed is at your discretion...so plan accordingly :)

You'll need:


Poblano Peppers (I'd recommend small ones-not big ones)
Ground Beef or Turkey
Grated Cheese
Eggs (6 or more) (do this part after peppers are ready to be dipped)

Pepper preparation

1st-you take your peppers and toast on griddle or comal, you can press down on peppers as they get toasted..most of all try not to crack the peppers. try to toast as much as possible, I mean they can look black like their burn't. (Easier to peel)

2nd-Once peppers are toasted, wrap peppers in a towel put in a plastic bag so that peppers can steam.

3rd-once peppers have steamed take them one at a time and "peel" the skin off, the more toasted the easier to peel.

4th-cut pepper about half way starting from stem and clean out all seeds. Watch out for the vein in the pepper you pull it and it might tear the pepper. (This part was messy and had my Mom frustrated)


Once your done with the pepper and all it's preparation, take whatever your choice of stuffing is and stuff into pepper. Don't overstuff, you want it to close.


You then take some flour and gently rub it on the outside of the pepper, now you're ready for the egg batter!



Egg batter

First your going to only use egg "whites" and mix them with mixer to get "fluffy"
you want the batter to be stiff. (You'll know its good to go when you can turn your bowl over and it doesn't fall out!)
Once your done with your egg whites, "fold" the yellow into the whites.



Make sure your OIL is hot!!!!

(You can take a drop of batter and drop it in oil, IF it floats and stays on top, your oil is ready)




NOW your ready to fry the Peppers.

This is why I called it a "labor of love", alot of work! My husband loves Chili Relleno's and said they were good for our (my Mom and I)first time!

Enjoy and God bless!

Greetings To All In Christ On This Beautiful Day

Sorry that I am posting this late, but I really have had a busy day today...
I want to start off by thanking my Lord and Savior cause he has really been good to me. Have you ever heard of the saying, "When it rains , it pours."
Well first of all I know that many of you all know that my husband has been without a job for about six months. We are living off his unemployment checks barely making ends meet. Keep in mind we have our mortgage, utilities, car payment and etc. to pay. Well lately we have had a lot of blessings coming in to help us, all because we have trusted in our on time God. We have faithfully paid our tithes and given the last of what we have for offering. Not saying this to brag but to let all know that it is very important to pay our tithes and to give an offering. God will always provide if you just trust in him.

Another thing that I am thankful for is that Pastor Duvall baptized my Dad today. Some of you know that my Dad is a preacher. He has been preaching for more than 25 years. His church is nondenominational. He was baptized in the name of the father, son and the holy ghost. I had found this out about 3 or 4 years ago. I told my Dad that he had to be baptized in the name of Jesus. Keep in mind that I had given him scriptures to back up everything that I had told him. He flat out told me that he didn't want to talk about it because he didn't want to confuse me. I told him that he could not confuse me because I know what the bible says about Jesus name baptism. We left it at that. Well for the past few months my Dad has been going through some hard times. My Dad has had many people besides me tell him that he needs to be baptized in Jesus name. Out of the blue he calls Pastor Duvall. They had a conversation on Jesus name baptism. Pastor Duvall gave him scriptures just as I did. WALAH! He was baptized in Jesus name today August 25, 2009 at 10 o'clock in the morning. After this miracle was done he was praising and worshiping our wonderful Savior. As he was leaving the church he told Pastor Duvall that he might bring his whole church to baptize them all in Jesus name. This is what praying, fasting and reading your bible does. Now you know why I said, "When it rains, it pours."

A Clean Slate

Hello, All,

I'm a little late in posting today because it is a day of new beginnings and I have been swamped. We started off the morning with Convocation in my school district. This is a time when we all get together and reflect on the successes of last school year and roll out our goals and themes for a new year. As I sat in the convocation, my mind starting thinking of new beginnings.

One of the things I loved most about teaching in a college was that every 15 weeks my life began fresh. I got a new group of students, possibly new classes, etc. I like fresh starts. I looked around convocation this morning and saw teachers and principals who were very stressed out and tired at the end of last school but ready to go again with a fresh vision.

In our family, we take time every few months to self-reflect and have "fresh starts". Truly, I think the ability to self reflect is so important. I have watched people through the years who never take time to sit down and analyze their life and walk with God. They keep making the same mistakes over and over. This is not how God intended for us to live. The Word of God says, "Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23). He meant for us to have fresh starts but we have to have a desire to start again. How often do you reflect on your spiritual life, family life, ministry life and determine what needs to be adjusted?

Last fall we found our family was in a whirlwind. After about two months of each one of us constantly on the go, we sat down and determined we needed a new plan. We determined that we would eat dinner together every night no matter what, we determined that each child would have alone time with us. Fresh starts make us better.

As you enter into this school year, look at your family and make some fresh starts. Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Live God's way...His mercies are new every morning so that we can start over! Keep the successes of yesterday but turn the failures of yesterday into a new beginning.

Love to all!
Sis. D.