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

Gordon and Gail MacDonald

New Churches, New Hope

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.

The 13th month of 2024, Part 2

The 13th month of 2024, Part 2

A day after getting the Garcias off to return to CA, we drove north for HIM’s Engagement Matters Weekend, Dec. 7-8, and as is our pattern, we packed in as much as we could during those days in our beloved Northeast.

Wherever you are, be all there

Wherever you are, be all there

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.” —Jim Elliot

These wise words from Jim Elliot have taken on an even deeper meaning over these past two months as we’ve transitioned from a 32-year history of living in the Boston area to our new address in Fairfax, VA. Since making the move on August 20, we’ve actually spent less than 4 weeks in Fairfax and those days have been largely dedicated to unpacking and settling in. We don’t yet have a good answer to “how do you like living in Fairfax?” . . . but we are “living to the hilt, believing we’re absolutely in the will of God.

HIM Marriage Conference 2023: Cold outside but warm inside (mostly)

HIM Marriage Conference 2023: Cold outside but warm inside (mostly)

As the “tropospheric polar vortex” descended on New England February 3-–5, 2023, resulting in single digit below 0 temps on the mercury and up to -30 with the wind chill, just under 400 determined souls invaded the Newport Island Harbor Resort (formerly Guerney’s Resort) on Goat Island in Newport, Rhode Island, for the HIM annual marriage conference.

Besides some relatively minor inconveniences (which I’ll talk about later), the weekend was an off-the-charts success and we have nothing but praise to Jesus for being so very present in every aspect of the conference.