"Good morning Lord, this is your day. I am your child. Show me your way!”
This song ran through my head and heart on this early September morning as I feasted on this incredibly beautiful sunrise while doing my Quiet Time in our great room. The six weeks that have passed since I last wrote have been full of such color, as summer has gently faded into a most extraordinary fall, and minutes of sunlight have been chipped off each day.
What a glorious time of year in New England!! How thankful we are it’s “falling."
Multiple times I’ve started this blog, only to be interrupted by walks to take, people to care for, appointments to keep, trips to make, and a mysterious grinch who “stole” our entire in-box on Columbus Monday as we hiked Mt Monadnock. All of these worthwhile distractions (save the grinch) will be held at bay as we fly from Boston to Sacramento today, so I’m seizing the moment.
The lazy days of summer stretched well into September and we took full advantage. Multiple trips were made to Good Harbor Beach to body surf (only Paul, sans wetsuit btw) and walk while our “solar batteries” were being recharged. There aren’t many activities that top walking on the beach for us, so we considered this pure gift.
Good Harbor Beach has so many different looks with its large tidal differential and its rocky framework. It’s a perfect walking beach, especially at low tide.
One outing to Good Harbor Beach was upgraded by having Lisa with us who flew out to speak at a conference. She’s also a beach lover.
Lisa and I were privileged to be on a four-person panel answering questions about relationships at the Berea Women’s Conference on Sept. 14. Her wisdom was clearly expressed as she handled questions asked by the “younger set” and I couldn’t have been more thankful that I was sharing the stage with her. We spent all day Saturday at Berea, but spent Friday at the beach, Sunday at church, and then downtown Boston before sending her back to California. Short but very sweet time.
Lisa and I had a wonderful day at the Berea Women’s Conference in New Hampshire and especially enjoyed connecting with a number of dear friends.
The Patriots’ studies also began that week (the 11th and 12th) and we’re thankful for a very robust group of couples on Thursday nights and wives and girlfriends on Wednesday mornings.
Next up was the 4th annual Oasis Christian Church Marriage Conference, held the weekend of Sept 20-22. Skip and Avonne Jarvis, who are passionately committed to encouraging and strengthening marriages, head up this event each year and tend to every detail with great care. Again this year the weekend started with a “dance party reception” which admittedly is not Paul’s idea of a good time, but good sport that he is, he “cut the carpet” with the best of them. “The things you do for ministry” was his reflection. :) It was a good time and we heard music we haven’t heard for a few decades, giving us the opportunity to “sing along” for the first time in a long time.
Part of the attendees at the “dance party reception” which kicked off the Oasis Christian Church’s annual marriage conference.
The conference continued the next morning with a 9 am–2 pm seminar, interspersed with worship and lunch. Our hearts for this congregation have grown every year and we appreciate so much the leadership of senior pastor John (and Samantha) Rose who have faithfully served here for many years. It was a joy to teach at both Sunday services to round out the weekend.
Worship at the Oasis Christian Church’s marriage conference.
In between the end of the conference Saturday and teaching on Sunday, we packed in a marriage counseling intensive with a couple who flew in for the occasion, and then spent the evening in Boston viewing “An Evening With Champions (EWC).” For 49 years, this benefit skating show has generated more than 2.8 million dollars for cancer research through the Jimmy Fund. Our first time going was in 1992, when our daughter Kari—inspired by New England’s own Nancy Kerrigan and by Paul Wylie who dominated in the 1992 Albertville Olympics—began her skating career. When we found out that Paul was not only one of the world’s best figure skaters, but also had a true heart for the Lord, he quickly became our family favorite, and the rest is history. He and his then fiancé Kate attended Engagement Matters in 1999, and as he has been the host of EWC for around 2 decades, we’ve attended the annual show whenever possible, which in recent years has been impossible. So…when Paul and Kate invited us to the show that Saturday night, we eagerly said yes and were so glad we did. A great show, yes, but even greater to get a few minutes with Paul and Kate.
Paul Wylie hosting the “Evening With Champions."
We were thrilled to have a few minutes with them after the show.
After teaching on Sunday, we spent a beautiful (though too warm) fall afternoon with Skip and Avonne and three of their four children (Patrick, Kara, and Isaac—Kendra is off at Liberty University finishing her undergrad). A two-hour lunch of pizza and LOTS of talking was followed by apple picking in their favorite orchard. It was the perfect way to end the weekend! We love the Jarvises.
Apple picking is one of the great delights of the New England fall and we had a blast doing it with the Jarvis family.
The very next day, our dear friends Dr. Edith and Collins arrived from Mbale, Uganda, for an almost two-week stay with us. Both work at the CURE Hospital in Mbale and through the years they have become “chosen family.” It would be hard to find more delightful houseguests and we were very sorry to see them leave when they did.
Dr. Edith and Collins both work for CURE Hospital in Mbale, in the hydrocephalus research department.
Derek and Julie arrived as we left for the weekend to fly to California to celebrate the marriage of Scottie Shaull and his bride, Claire Johnson. And what a celebration it was!! With fully surrendered hearts for Jesus and a commitment to honoring Him as they honor one another, their marriage was a joyous affirmation of all that is good. It was also a reunion of many dear friends and we loved the party that followed the ceremony.
So many great moments at Scottie and Claire Shaull’s wedding on September 27; Ray Johnston did a great job co-officiating. Catching up with the Johnstons, the Shaulls, and the Gaddinis (among many) added frosting to the donuts.
After a quick overnight with our dear friends the Bachmans, Paul flew home and I flew south to San Diego to join my siblings and Mom in celebrating our eldest sister’s 70th birthday.
Bill and Christi Bachman, with sons Andrew and Nathan . . . more “chosen family.”
The 70th birthday gala stirred many childhood memories as 6 of the 7 sibs gathered (the 7th had work conflicts which prevented her from coming) for 3 days in a rented beach home in La Jolla. We ate some of our family-favorite meals (all made in house), we sang many of our favorite songs, we played some of our favorite games, we reminisced over some of our favorite memories, and we enjoyed being together. Lucy was surprised and honored as the Birthday Queen and Mom enjoyed being in the mix of all of us being together.
Matching jammies was one of the resurrected memories woven into the weekend celebration of Lucy’s 70th birthday.
With the beach just half a block away, we took advantage and logged quite a few miles walking the shore. We even got Mama out in her wheelchair, walking the sidewalk lining the beach. Lovely time!!
Back home early Tuesday morning to a full house! Nathan and Rachel introduced us to their new dog, Rex, and we spent the day taking Dr. Edith and Collins to an apple orchard. Though we didn’t get to pick—due to the unbending nature of the owner who wouldn’t budge on the 4 pm deadline for getting a u-pick bag, as we stood in the store at 4:05 pm :(—we had a great time in the hay maze and feeding the animals. Dr. Edith and Collins are still wondering about an American business owner who would make such a non-Ugandan decision to refuse business!
Rachel and Nathan are very happy with their new family member, Rex.
Rachel loved feeding the goats at the apple farm.
Waiting in the store with hopeful expectation of picking apples. But sadly, no such luck.
By week’s end, the Johnsons had returned to Grand Rapids (on Wednesday), Paul had taken off driving our Hyundai to California for daughter Lisa (he made the trip in 3 days), we had said good-bye to our dear Dr. Edith and Collins, and my dear friend Helen had come to town.
Helen was so happy to arrive before they left so she could enjoy meeting them.
At the train station, Edith and Collins begin their long journey back to Uganda. Notice that Collins quickly embraced our passion for the Patriots. :)
Paul’s drive to California was thankfully uneventful and fast. He did stop in Denver at the end of his second long day of driving and surprised the Chalay family as they came out of the Saturday afternoon Mission Hills Church service. They might still be in shock to have seen him that night! They had a wonderful time catching up over dinner and Paul headed out early the next morning, ending up at Lisa’s house that night.
Speaking of the Chalays, we are so encouraged by their growth in Christ and by how the Body of Christ is coming around them. Now just 3-months-old in Christ, they are regularly doing devotions (using New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp), are regularly attending church, and are having a weekly Bible study led by our dear friends, Dave and Kathleen Sherman (one of the couples we connected them with during our visit in mid-August) who live just minutes away from them! We exchange texts almost daily, sharing highlights from the devotional or asking for prayers. We couldn’t be more thankful for how God is working in their family.
Besides counseling and the Patriots studies, we spoke at Grace Chapel's Mom to Mom on Thursday, October 10th. It’s always an honor to partner with this important ministry, but I’ll admit, we were aware that we’re getting older. Not by how we felt, but because one of the moms attending was Allie Franks Sweet, who wasn’t even born yet when we came on staff at Grace Chapel in 1994. Whaaat?? Time marches on.
Kim Lawrence Kittridge and Allie Franks Sweet were two of the moms at MTM, both of whom we’ve known since they were very young (for Allie, even before she was born!)
Next up . . . we were the featured speakers for Carlisle Congregational Church’s (CCC) all-church retreat, which was held at Berea on Newfound Lake in New Hampshire the weekend of Oct 11-13. What a great weekend!! It’s a “yesteryear” church in ways related to style and format, but very much alive in community and content. Led by Pastor Steve Weibley and his wife Deborah, the sense of family was very strong as this intergenerational gathering worshiped together, were taught together, and played together. We’re such huge proponents of intergenerational ministry, as reflected in how we “do” family camp, and it was so refreshing to hang out with this crew with whom we’re in sync.
Their worship was also inspiring. Great hymns of the church were primarily sung, in four-part harmony, a capella. All the generations singing together with the extremely musically talented Steve Weibley leading. There were times it felt like a foretaste of heaven. A bonus for sure was having two of our H.I.M. Board couples at the retreat. Richard and Kit Hendricks are members of CCC, and Guy and Barbara Steele have enjoyed joining this congregation for this weekend for a number of years now.
The sun rises over Newfound Lake.
All of the meetings were intergenerational and we were so impressed with those under 12, who sat attentively through each session.
Father and son on the worship team
Under a full moon, eating s’mores, with two couples we love dearly: Guy and Barbara Steele and Richard and Kit Hendricks.
The Weibleys have served this church for decades now and are passionate about ministering at this solid church.
Another highlight of the weekend was having a sweet visit with Nate and Heidi Parks, who head up the Berea ministry. We love them!
Against the backdrop of changing foliage, most of the attendees of the weekend gathered on the iconic deck to memorialized the weekend.
Because we just can’t get enough fall, we spent Monday (Columbus Day) hiking Mt. Monadnock and feasted on seeing fall at its peak. Though we’ve done this hike a number of times in the past, it’s been over ten years since we last hiked it, and we were shocked that it had gotten taller and steeper since our last hike! But press on we did and we were rewarded with extraordinary views from the top. There is really nothing like a New England fall!
It was on this day that our entire email in-box disappeared, literally, and after hours at the Apple Store, a call from a double genius, and trouble-shooting by our own H.I.M. genius, no answers or solutions were found. Fortunately everything was backed up on our time machine and MY genius Paul was the one who finally cracked the code. We’re still recovering from the several days we were without an operable in-box.
Trees along our hike up Mt. Monadnock . . .
Cemeteries in our area are another place to find gorgeous trees.
View from the top . . . which doesn’t do justice to what our eyes took in.
Full days of counseling and Patriots studies before driving to our next conference held in Columbia, Maryland. It was our second annual “Eusebeia” conference, led by Dr Harold and Dalia Arnold. We met the Arnolds at Tuscarora Conference Center several years back, when we were speaking and they were attending the conference. We immediately connected on shared-heart passion for God-honoring marriages and families. We were most impressed that Harold and Dalia had brought their whole marriage ministry team to the conference as a way of training and encouraging their own marriages as they serve others. Harold also shared with us his vision for providing a "marriage experience” which would be different from a typical marriage conference, and it would be called “Eusebeia” and would launch in Sept. 2017. Though expectations in terms of attendance fell far short of his vision, the experience did not, so they pressed on. We were privileged to be invited to be plenary session speakers last year and this year and we are in love with this ministry. Solid teaching, sincere worship, genuine fellowship, and great interaction. So grateful to be part of this movement.
Dr. Harold Arnold opened the conference with a compelling message, challenging us to consider whether we view Jesus as the "Absolute Christ" or the "Acceptable Christ."
The Eusebeia Marriage Experience was full of life and celebration of God’s good design for marriage.
I’m finishing this blog as we red-eye home from Chico, a short 30 hours after leaving Boston for this conference. On our way to Chico Friday afternoon, we had coffee with three generations of the Stenzel crew who are long time, cherished family friends—a great start to our short trip. On to Chico, where it was a delight to partner with Grace Community Church, led by Bryan and Missy Meyers (lead pastor). They hosted a Great Date Night Friday which was well-attended and well-received. These “shot in the arm” events can be used very powerfully by God to give hope to struggling marriages and to encourage thriving couples. Saturday morning we returned to speak for a parenting seminar and were happy to have a very interactive group of parents out. Media and issues related to sexuality seem to top the list of parental concerns these days and there are many complexities which eliminate pat answers or “one size fits all” responses. Thankfully we have our confidence in God’s Word to shed wisdom and insight on how to navigate these important issues.
The Stenzels are faithful people of God and dear, dear friends; Dave and Diana Watts took care of the book table at the Chico Date Night and surprised us with new t-shirts bearing the H.I.M. logo; Bryan Meyers kicks off Date Night, and the couples across all stages of marriage took advantage of this well-done event.
Buzz and Nicole Landon, who hosted us, opened their home for a spur-of-the-moment mini-family camp reunion Saturday afternoon, and what a joy it was to reconnect with people we’ve shared so much with through the years. It was a great time of fellowship, of catching up, of sharing memories, and of praying for the future of family camp. We left with full hearts of gratitude and love.
Buzz and Nicole Landon and their kids hosted us while in Chico.
The mini-family camp reunion was thoroughly enjoyed by all who were able to come.
These have been full weeks which have afforded many great ministry moments as well as periods of renewal. We’ve been grateful for all of the local events we’ve been part of, affirming our commitment to serve this area. We’ve delighted that staying local has allowed us to enjoy fall in all its glory, so we could join the chorus saying, “Praise the Lord! It’s "falling!"
