Virginia Friesen
New Churches, New Hope

Home from Kona on Wednesday, March 4 (off a red-eye), we had a full day counseling on the 5th and then hopped a flight to Boston early on the 6th to speak for the Seven Mile Road Church marriage conference in Melrose, MA.

We were both honored and thrilled to be speaking for the first time for this church, which is home to a number of people we’ve known for many years. Katie O’Hara Ryou (and her husband Marvin) were the instigators of this event and we were so delighted to partner with them. We’ve known Katie since youth group days with our daughters at Grace Chapel, and just in recent years have reconnected with her. She and Marvin attended a conference we spoke for last year in Melrose and that planted the seed for their church hosting us.

New Churches, New Hope
Virginia Friesen
Plan Fail: The Christmas Reunion That Wasn't

We were home the WHOLE month of December and it was good.

We continued walking five miles a day, praying for snow, and preparing for our family Christmas reunion: the first one in New England since 2015 and the first all being together for Christmas since 2019.

We had very high expectations.

Ministry events in December included Engagement Matters, the Patriots women’s study, and LOTS of counseling, but that left plenty of time for decorating the house inside and out, getting together with friends, wrapping and sending packages, sewing Christmas jammies, making gingerbread houses, and preparing for our long-awaited reunion which was to commence the 22nd of December.

Plan Fail: The Christmas Reunion That Wasn't
Virginia Friesen
Around the Country in 22 Days

Since my last post on Dec. 27, we’ve only been home eight days.

Maybe that contributes to me forgetting that when I last wrote, my reflections ended with Engagement Matters (EM), which was held Dec. 4–5, and not after Christmas, which the blog post date would indicate.
Whatever the reasons, before I write about our most recent last three weeks—which literally took us to the four corners of our great nation—we must finish December. Strangely, that seems SO long ago already. But what fun to sift back through my December photo library and have many sweet memories surface.

Around the Country in 22 Days
Virginia Friesen
A Bit of Heaven on Earth

It happened.

The “decades birthday-family reunion” celebration, postponed for a full year, is now in the books, but even more deeply, in our hearts.

It was uncertain until an hour before the six flying from Oakland were to depart due to two lost Covid tests, but mercifully, new tests were done at 6 am, the results of which were registered less than 60 minutes prior to boarding.

The trip was on.

A Bit of Heaven on Earth
Virginia Friesen
More Than a Cookbook

It was a sweltering summer day in Louisiana. My 8-year-old self stood in the kitchen of my paternal grandparents’ home in Shreveport, watching with fascination as Grandma Collins stirred the hot pot of boiling figs, on their way to becoming preserves. With sweat running down her brow, just beneath the thin brown elastic that kept her hair net in place over her thinning curly hair, she turned to me and said, “You know, Virginia, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” With that piece of wisdom pronounced, she simultaneously clicked her cheek and winked her eye at her wide-eyed granddaughter, leaving an unforgettable impression.

More Than a Cookbook

Africa

Twelve Months Later . . .

Twelve Months Later . . .

Writing in my 5-year journal this morning during my quiet time, I was stunned to read the entry from exactly one year ago, which sits just north of today’s entry: "Lisa and I left for Tanzania to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro today after church." My entry the day before was “T-1: still 60% excited and 40% terrified.”

All the feels were generated as I read what I had written. Everything from “How could that have been a year ago?” to “That 40% never dissipated!” to “I still can’t believe we got to do that!” to “I still sort of want to try it again with better altitude preparation.”

Life-Changing Moments, from St. Louis to Uganda

Life-Changing Moments, from St. Louis to Uganda

Once home from my mom’s in San Diego on Wednesday, June 26, we had 36 hours before flying to St Louis to perform Meegan Williams and Ezra Talbert’s wedding.  Unfortunately, this brief two-day trip was marked by “if it could go wrong, it did” in terms of air travel, and what should’ve been a easy 5-hour trip (Boston–Newark–St Louis) turned out to be a nightmare of delayed flights, a closed airport due to an emergency landing, canceled flights, and eventually, long after we had missed the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, we caught a flight into Chicago and ended up driving to St Louis at midnight, arriving at 4 am Sunday to make SURE we would be at the 11 am wedding.

In and Out of Africa

In and Out of Africa

As we make our way back to Africa today, I’m at least slightly amused by the reality of our last week: on Sunday, April 30, we returned to Boston from South Africa; on Wednesday, May 3rd, we flew to California for a conference; on Sunday, May 7th, we flew back to Boston; and on Monday, May 8th, we left Boston for Uganda. Now . . . some would rightfully ask, “Who made a schedule like that?”