The future looks good

This month has been full and it is only 12 days old! First of all, my Facebook site has been down for a couple of weeks while they work on some problem on their end. I really miss being able to check up on friends and family far away and feel really out of the loop! Here in Custer we have been seeing much sickness and lots of cold snowy days - and that is not a good thing. We never did get any Summer here and Winter is usurping our Autumn days. So much for global warming, as they say. We did have some fun Summer days, but it seems like they were few and passed too quickly.

This last weekend, though, was a very satisfying one. Jenni and Ashton got married in Minnesota on Saturday. It was so sad that none of us could be there, but the pictures are good and we wish her all the best! It is exciting to see your kids embarking on a new life, but this grandchildren stuff is all new to us. So, 2 down and at least 4 more to go. Just look at Zac's most recent pictures and you can see what a heartbreaker he is destined to be - too, too cute!
I should mention that Jenni has her new teeth now. We pray and trust that this will make life just a bit easier for her. Next, on Sunday we had a young missionary family in the a.m. service, a very satisfying pot luck afterwards, and then a baptism and fellowship time in the p.m. We all agreed that it was a wonderful day, except for Dad's gimpy knee (caused by the 5 miles he walked on his Saturday hunting trip). So, life is a little bad and a little good, but there is always promise and always hope for the future - especially as we entrust the next generations to God's wonderful care and provision. As my mom used to say, the g'g'kids are worth living for if only to watch how God can make our mistakes come out right! Maybe we didn't do it all right, but we leave it all in God's hands.

I was only 28, then. Where has the time gone?

Just a short while ago, this day, my only daughter officially became 39 years old. She is not too keen on noting birthdays, but her mother is! It was a very happy day for me when God blessed me with a little girl to dress in pink and I have never regretted that day. Her birth was the easiest and quickest of the three, and she was a model baby who slept long hours. Until the time that it became clear that she was allergic to her formula, and also to milk, she brought only delight to us. The pictures from those few months of allergic reactions show many tears on her cute little face. And when she was just a little over three years old it also became evident that she was born with a congenital problem that would make her life difficult for the next 12 to 15 years, at least. God became her fortress and song early in life and I have always been proud of her triumphs and her caring, loving nature. She is a real joy to me, though I don't tell her that often enough. I could wish for her today that her life was a little easier, but I entrust her to God and His loving provision. He has a plan for us all and we don't want to get in the way but you know what they say about a mother's heart....So, Lisa Jo, I'll tell the world today that I love you and thank God for you! I hope your birthday is a happy one, full of peace and hope!

God is good!

Today is a beautiful day in Custer - not too hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry. And I've been out to coffee twice this week (it doesn't take much to make me happy). I got to hear from Josetta this past week and my husband finally got a newer tire for the Explorer and all four tires are balanced and whatever else you do to make the car run smoother. The monthly bills all look to be paid in a timely manner, and Jennifer has set a wedding date for October 10 (I pray "the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise"). I also got a new phone so that now I can talk more than a few minutes before the battery runs down. Now, if only my curly perm I got last week was really curly, I think I might be totally happy, but it is pretty close to 100% today! So, I think it is a good time to testify to God's provision for me and mine. Not everyone has all they seem to need, and not everyone feels really healthy today. Still, we can thank Him for all that He has done and is doing to make us more like Him and to be a beacon for Him in this world. We still have a few really important prayer requests out for family members and friends, but we have the assurance that He hears and answers according to His perfect will if that is what we really desire, and we do! God is good, and today I reaffirm that, loud and clear!

September is a favorite month

When I was younger, September was so exciting because it meant the start of a new school year with new children to teach and fun things to do. Today, September still feels good but for different reasons. I have always loved Autumn, even if it brings different allergy problems and even if it means Winter is on the horizon. The feel of the air is still pleasant and September is when it all begins. Today is Labor Day and it should be a relaxing day with no real pressure. Before the day is out I hope to have arranged for a new phone, which is desperately needed. I will plan out my week and perhaps plan out the whole month. I will plan and then God will overrule as He sees fit. That's okay with me! Then tomorrow we will spend most of the day in Rapid at the Heart Doctors for Rol's yearly stress test and to set up a research study he plans to participate in. Stacy and I will use that time to get our hair done at the Beauty College and we will all finish up with lunch out. On Wednesday we get to have coffee out with Carl and Miriam again and on Saturday Stacy and I will have coffee with some of our friends. Add to all this the fact that Husker football has begun again and the week is shaping up to be good!

In church these days we are concentrating on Holiness and Sanctification and Solitude - three heavy and wonderful subjects. God is drawing me closer to Him and I am amazed at the love I still feel when I turn to Him. I still believe in the truths that drew me way back when I first heard the good news of salvation and meaningful life in Him. I have been seeking new purpose in my life lately, and I believe He is showing me that my new purpose is just a renewal of the original purpose I was assigned when I first began to love Him. That purpose is to give glory to God and tell others the "old, old story." Pray for me as I pray for you that "God will give you a complete understanding of what He wants to do in your lives...to make you wise with spiritual wisdom...that you will learn to know God better and better...that you will be strengthened with His glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father..." (Col. 1:9-12a)

On our way to 50!

If ever there was a day to blog, it would have to be today. When we think back to 44 years ago on this date, our first thought is that it seems so long ago. The second thought, of course, is that it seems like just yesterday. It would have been impossible to look this far into the future, and we did not try. Now that I look back, though, I think how young we were and how little we actually knew about what we were getting ourselves into. We took on that future with hope and confidence and trusting in the Lord. It is a good thing that we can only live a day at a time. Some of those future days would have scared us, and some would have been so sad that we would have wanted to not continue on with life. But here we are at 44 years and we both agree we would not want anything to be different. If we had it to do over, we would not change a thing, except to serve our Lord better and bring Him more glory than perhaps we have. Each stage of our journey so far has had its struggles, but also its triumphs and joys. The current stage is no different, except that we both agree that old age is not for sissies! There are two things that I especially want to say on this page, on this day, for all the world to see. One is that I love my husband today even more than I did 44 years ago, and in a deeper and more mature way. The second is that we want all the young people in our family to know that it really is possible and desirable to have a long and lasting marriage. The committment must be there and God must help you. Don't settle for what the world offers you and don't buy into their misunderstanding of what real marriage is. Happy anniversary, my sweetheart! May God give you many more years of good health, peace, love, joy - and may all of them be spent with me!

mentoring, reflecting, serving

This last few days I have been gaining a new appreciation for those dear, gentle, older ladies who mentored me as a teen and young adult! How hard it must have been for them to see the next generation's "new" Christianity, "new" language, etc. And I never considered their plight! God surely must have blessed them for loving me in spite of it all. I think I can take some comfort in the knowledge that I think I turned out surpisingly well - and I am now where they were, so afraid for these younger ones who call themselves Christians but act nothing like how I think they should,. and also for the yet-unsaved loved ones who seem so far away (and like impossible cases). So, do I just pray and trust and leave it to God to help them become holy? Or is it not still my place to sound the alarm and try to send nudges toward a deeper walk, a more separated life from the world? It all seems so hard to me.....I know God did the greater work in me, but I know also that their training was one of His tools. This Christian walk never ends and listening for His voice and counsel is important at every age. I don't want to disappoint the One who died for me...

Life is interesting these days

Today Stacy, Lisa, Sandra, and I went out to coffee to discuss the new year of Oasis coming up. These ladies and LauraLea will possibly constitute our staff for the 2009-2010 program year. It is usually exciting to start something new and I feel that way about this project. We all liked our meetings last year and are trying to keep the good parts and improve on the less than satifying parts from 2008-09. Looks like this year we will do more Bible study in our monthly meetings and try to do additional personal outreach on the side. I have been massively "bummed out" since our ladies meetings were changed from missions to only fellowship more than a decade ago. I really miss the missions study, prayer, and fund-raising that used to be our special job. But since that no longer seems to interest the younger ladies, we have changed our emphasis to fellowship, personal growth, and outreach . By the time I adjust to this, I will probably be in Heaven with a new kind of emphasis (constant worship and praise!) . This getting old stuff is not as nice as it is supposed to be. I am always out of step, it seems. What I wanted when I was young, I no longer want. And what I want now that I am older, is hardly ever available to me. Ah, well.....I guess we are all in the same boat. Life is a lot of difficult situations mixed in with a lot of wonderful stuff. But we often miss the significance of it until it is too late. I am glad to be able to find more time for prayer, but the prayer needs seem to be increasingly more serious. It is a good thing that the answers to our needs depend upon the one being prayed to and not on the one doing the praying! My faith never seems big enough to cover the needs, but He is certainly big enough to provide the answers. As your day wears on, be assured that I am bringing your needs to God and that He is hearing and answering. He loves you even more than I do, and that is saying a lot! Pray also for me that I will have wisdom for the jobs He has given me to do, including Oasis.