More than a few of my favorite things have been a part of this past month and in fact, in some ways, it feels like I’ve been standing under Niagara Falls with all the blessings and expressions of love which have come my way.
Starting back on Oct. 17, for the seventh year in a row, we were honored to partner with Dr. Harold and Dalia Arnold, who founded and direct the Eusebeia Live Marriage Experience. Eusebeia LIVE is one of my favorite things. Held in Annapolis, MD, 137 couples gathered to be encouraged and challenged in their marriages. We love this movement. Harold and Dalia share our deep passion for healthy marriages and this conference is helping to accomplish just that.
This year’s theme was “Follow,” and we spoke at one of the three plenary sessions on “Marital Math: Dead + Dead = Alive.” We love speaking to an interactive audience and this group does not disappoint. We also gave a workshop on marital sexuality and were blessed to receive many appreciative comments about our openness and honesty regarding this “taboo” topic.
The conference was filled out with two other powerful plenary sessions, a number of other workshops, a very well-attended dance, and an evening date night. Good food, good fellowship, and beautiful weather all contributed to making it a delightful conference, which feels more and more like a family reunion every year. So blessed to be a part of it!
Dr. Harold and Dalia Arnold are the founders and directors of Eusebeia LIVE and we are so grateful for both our friendship and our partnership in ministry. Our hearts are in sync.
Worship was powerfully led by Gerard and Tonya Breland and Lori Chrysostom.
Dalia and her mother-in-law, Dottie Arnold, are two of my favorites, and both invest hugely in Eusebeia.
Eusebeia and Home Improvement Ministries have something going! About ten Eusebeian couples will head north to our marriage conference in late January, and four HIM couples have found their way to Eusebeia LIVE.
In the three days we were home prior to flying back to California, we did a day of counseling, had a few appointments, spent some time with the grandchildren (definitely one one my favorite things), and packed our bags for a Thursday flight. We landed in Sacramento for a brief overnight at the Shaulls’ “B & B.” Much to our delight, their son Scottie and his family were also visiting, and we loved meeting their baby, Graham, and catching up with their quickly growing Penny. What fun! I also managed to squeeze in an early (0-dark-thirty early) morning walk with my dear friend Christina and as usual, we talked non-stop while racking up the miles. It’s always a good time with “Nina."
All of the people we connected with on this trip are on our list of favorite people.
After having breakfast with all the Shaulls and our friend James West, we drove to Santa Rosa, where we spent time with our dear 100.5-year-old Rosemary. Crazy to think that 100 years stand between Graham Shaull and Rosemary! It was such a joy to spend time with this “salt of the earth” treasure. How blessed we are to have her in our lives.
We were so blessed by our time with dear Rosemary. We were quite impressed to find out that she walks, with her walker, around her block every day. Pretty impressive!
We spent a lovely Friday evening with our dear friends, Carter and Tracey Welch, dining and fellowshipping together. God changed their lives through an HIM event almost twenty years ago and we’ve been so inspired by their growth in Christlikeness ever since.
Carter and Tracey Welch, New Englanders transplanted to Santa Rosa years ago, are always fun to catch up with.
Saturday early, Paul spoke for the Men’s Breakfast at Windsor Christian Church, while Joy Hitchcock and I took an almost-five-mile hike. A perfect start to the day! Paul and I then drove to Alliance Redwood Conference Center, where we touched base with a few from the team we’re partnering with to put on their second annual family camp next summer, June16–20, before flying through the air on their extensive zip line course! It boasts being the longest zip line course in northern CA, with their longest zip lasting 42 seconds. We loved it!! We’d highly recommend it to all of you adventurers out there. And yes, it’s been added to my “favorite things” list.
We don’t look any worse for the wear after doing the 2-hour zip line course!
Back to our hosts, Randy and Joy Hitchcock, who once again extended hospitality to us on their beautiful vineyard. After a great Mexican dinner out, we were all mesmerized by a glorious sunset that played out for about 20 minutes. It was breathtaking.
I'm guessing you already know that sunsets and sunrises are two of my very favorite things.
Randy and Joy are wonderful friends and delightful hosts.
In a way that we’ll believe God orchestrated in His kindness to us, Sunday was the grand re-opening of New City Church Oakland at a new location and new time. After three years of meeting at 4 pm in the now-too-small shared-events space in Jack London Square, their prayers and searching resulting in landing them at the Regeneration Church, whose diminishing congregation needed to rent out space in order to stay afloat. After celebrating their 3rd anniversary on Oct 20 and bringing closure to their first church home, they moved during the week and re-opened at “Re-gen” at 11 am, October 27.
And because Paul was preaching alone at Windsor Christian Church, and only 1.5 hours stood between us and NCC’s service, I surprised them by showing up for their first service in their new home.
What a gift to be able to celebrate with them God’s goodness and faithfulness in opening this next season for their church. The air was electric with excitement and enthusiasm as their team of about 50 volunteers moved in quickly, after Re-gen’s service ended at 10:15, to set up for their first service. They did the transition seamlessly and when the doors opened at 10:45, members and visitors alike were greeted with warm welcomes, balloons, great worship music, and a profound sermon by our son-in-law Gabe.
I loved being there. We love what God is doing through NCC and are so excited to see what this new season will bring. NCC and the Garcias are on the “my favorite things” list.
Gabe greets people as they arrive for NCC Oakland’s first service at Regeneration Church on Lake Merritt.
The worship team, led by Saiya Taimani, was inspiring.
Kari and Gabe’s gifts are on full display during the worship service.
Gabe’s mom, Debbie, and Kari’s mom flanked the younger Garcia women: three generations celebrating God’s faithfulness together.
I returned to Windsor in time for the 3 pm seminar for parents of teens, and though the turnout was small, those who attended seemed glad they did. Not much later, we had the joy of speaking to their youth group on God’s design for relationships (one of our favorite things), and we were pleased to have a very interactive evening with these youth who seemed very committed to honoring the Lord with their lives.
And then a mad dash to SFO to catch a red-eye flight home so Paul could have his second cataract surgery Monday at 2 pm.
Paul stands with lead pastor of Windsor Christian Church, Lance Wallace, after the parenting seminar. Lance has a heart of gold that is fully surrendered to honoring Christ as he leads the church, and we love working with him.
Paul and I did teach the youth together, but I snuck away briefly to grab this photo.
Sunset over the Hitchcock’s vineyard. It was spell-binding.
Well, as they say, the best laid plans . . . Our 11:20 pm flight from San Francisco to Dulles Airport Sunday night was first delayed, and then canceled at 2 am, and rescheduled for 6 am Monday, which would get us home too late for Paul’s surgery (not on the list of favorite things). We felt terrible calling in a surgery cancellation at 4 am from CA to VA, but were greatly relieved to discover when Paul called the following day to reschedule, that all the surgeries had been canceled on Monday due to their laser machine going down—so he didn’t miss it after all! Additionally, they had to add a day to their schedule to accommodate the re-bookings of the cancelled surgeries, and the make-up day was the next Tuesday, Nov. 5. (Definitely, one of my favorite things is seeing how God works things out!)
I was overjoyed to give up part of my birthday in order for Paul to be able to see!
But before we get to Nov. 5, we spent Oct. 30 with my sister Laura and her husband, David, going to Lancaster, PA (one of my very favorite places), to see “Daniel” at the Sight and Sound Theater. As we’ve grown to expect, their production was phenomenal and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Friesens and the Leaches take on Lancaster and fun was had by all.
Halloween was the following day and we so enjoyed being with “Red” and a very large T-Rex.
We had fun trick-or-treating with “Red” and “T-Rex.”
The next morning, I was busily finishing preparing for our breakfast guests when in walked our three daughters, who were executing a very successful surprise in honor of my 70th birthday (Nov 5). I was 100% surprised, having suspected nothing at all. Their arrival makes it to the top of the list of my favorite things.
And that was the beginning of a most magical weekend of pure delight. After eating the breakfast we had prepared, we had a party in the nail salon run by our dear friend Moonie as we got pedicures together. From there we drove to Williamsburg, where the girls had booked a condo, and the party continued. For 48 hours, I lived in the pure bliss of hanging out with our three precious daughters, celebrating our shared deep friendship and love for one another and the Lord. We ate great meals, took invigorating walks, wore matching jammies (courtesy of our dear friend Helen), played “Farkle,” went to see “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (go see it!!), and squeezed a little sleep in between the fun. It was perfect.
Surprise!! At great personal sacrifice, each of the girls made this week happen to celebrate my 70th. It was everything I could’ve wanted!
Thoughtful gifts were given . . .
Matching jammies, made by our dear friend Helen, were such a fun and cozy surprise.
Hiking through beautiful fall bedecked trails . . .
Going to see “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”—so very meaningful since we’ve been reading the book which inspired the movie for 40 years now as part of our Christmas tradition. We start reading 7 days before Christmas, since there are 7 chapters, and read the final one on Christmas Eve. We’ve given hundreds of copies of the book as gifts over the years and were thrilled that the movie upholds the integrity of the book and is beautifully done. Don’t miss it!!
We left Williamsburg in time for the grand finale: lunch for 4 at the famous Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. But I walked in on another grand surprise. My three east coast siblings and their spouses, along with Paul, shouted “Surprise” as I walked through the door, and for the second time in three days, I was 100% surprised.
An animated and delightful time over lunch ensued, with special memory moments interjected, and I was once again overwhelmed by love.
The girls’ flights out of Richmond back to California ended the fun, but the timing of that was perfect, too. A weekend for the ages!! And definitely one of my favorite weekends ever.
The sibling surprise party at the Jefferson Hotel put a bit exclamation point on the very magical weekend.
The girls outdid themselves by giving me the best 70th birthday celebration ever (with a little help from their dad).
November 5th rolled around and was full from the start. We were at the polls at 6 am to cast our ballots in our new town. Little known fact: in 1972, the election was also on November 5th and it was the first election for which 18-year-olds could vote. I turned 18 that year on Election Day and cast my first presidential ballot—and I’ve voted in all 13 presidential elections since. We see it as both a right, a privilege, and a duty. And living in a country which is free is truly one of my favorite things.
Bright and early, we were at the polls at 6 am on Election Day.
Derek and Julie hosted us on the day of my birthday, and because I’d rather have any meal prepared by Derek than any restaurant, he graciously fulfilled my desire. His dinner of (my favorite) white sea bass, asparagus, and roasted potatoes was out-of-this world delicious and greatly enjoyed by all.
After dinner, my third and final total surprise came in the form of an overflowing basket of cards sent by many of you. The written word is one of my favorite things. I’m working my way slowly through them, savoring each one, and being overwhelmed by kind words and thoughtful memories. I was also shown a video composite of a number of sweet tributes, honoring my life and its impact. I have been touched to the depths of my soul and am truly sincere when I say, “Pray that I become all that you think I am.”
We managed to snap a quick photo after Laura and David had already left and the table had been cleared. It was a great night.
Our conference this past weekend was held locally, at Immanuel Bible Church, and since we didn’t have to get on a plane to get there, we were home when our dear friends Carl and Cathy Blatchley asked if they could pop in for a visit on their way to their grandson’s wedding. We were so happy to be home to feed them lunch and catch up with them.
Carl and Cathy Blatchley are both friends and HIM Board members and we loved having them pop in for a surprise visit.
Immanuel Bible Church has a 60-year history on faithfully preaching the Gospel and upholding the integrity of Biblical authority, so we were very pleased to do another marriage conference for them (having done one three years ago). Organized and directed by Tom Joyce, the table was set for a great event and it was just that. There were many highlights during the conference, but one of the best was having one of our neighbors attend! Since it was the first marriage conference they’ve attended, they have been effusive in their praise that it was “the best ever!” :) We are praying for much fruit from the weekend. Proclaiming the good news of God’s design for marriage and family is one of our very favorite things, so this was pure joy.
A good number of couples came out for the conference.
We especially loved having our dear friend and pedicurist Moonie attend the conference!
Our neighbors, Katherine and Brand, surprised us when they showed up.
Tom and Deshua Joyce did a wonderful job making this conference happen. More “salt of the earth” folks.
The weekend wrapped up with us standing on the sidelines watching Nathan play in the football championship, and then moving quickly on to celebrating Rachel’s 9th birthday on Veteran’s Day. She is a purely delightful child in every way and it was so much fun to be close enough to celebrate her in person. Not surprisingly, being with our grandchildren is high on the list of favorite things.
Good morning and happy birthday, sweet Rachel!
The happy girl makes a pronouncement.
As you can see, it’s been quite a month! There really aren’t words to convey the breadth and depth of gratitude that fills my heart from all of the expressions of love and kindness that have come my way this month especially. The faithfulness and goodness of the Lord has been shown in spades—and He is at the top of the list of my eternal favorite things.
