Fifty-seven and Counting

    We celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary on Monday while we marveled how fast the years had flown and remembered some highlights of the wedding. We were young, strong and naïvely confident of a rosy life together. Today we are old and don't have enough strength to do some of the things we once did without much effort. I am increasingly more stooped due to a combination of scoliosis, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.  I asked Leroy if he would still have married me if he had been able to see how I look today. He turned the question around and asked if I would have married him if I had seen how he is today at eighty years old. We decided we probably wouldn't have believed what we saw.

   We have had a good life although it was not all rosy and my confidence was shot full of holes. I was not as wise or mature as I thought I was at nineteen. There were times I didn't know how to handle the problems in life and made a lot of mistakes. Two things were in our favor. We had a strong faith in God and commitment to each other. 

   The older we get, the more we realize either one without the other would be in trouble. He depends on me to keep the books and the calendar. I depend on him for maintenance of the property and car. We were raised in families with similar values and agree on most things. Sometimes when I didn't agree with him and he went ahead anyway, I found he was right. Our children say they never heard us argue. I'm sure they heard us disagree but never heard a loud blow out argument.

   Leroy worked until he was 77 and retired three years ago. All physical ailments aside, these are the best years of our lives. We enjoy the luxury of being together all day every (or most) day. We do volunteer work at several places as we please. It took a long time and hard work to get to this place. 

  Leroy got a gift certificate for Cracker Barrel for his 80th birthday last December. We saved it to celebrate out anniversary. We have learned that restaurant meals are too large for us and one entre is enough for both of us. We ordered a steak and shrimp dinner with two sides and an additional side of a loaded baked potato. The waiter brought us an extra plate to divide it and it was plenty. I asked him to take a picture of us because it was our anniversary. He obliged and when we finished eating brought us a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and ice cream "on the house." It was against Leroy's diabetic rules but what could we do when he set it under our noses? We thanked him and ate it!

Sneak Preview

   Last summer I was asked to write something for the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism on January 21, 2025. The book committee said they wanted something small and easy to read. I wasn't sure I could do it but after some thought and prayer decided to try. It turned out to be not as hard as I thought it would be. I told the story of the birth of Anabaptism by telling the stories of the five most prominent leaders in chronological order. It shows how the lives of Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and Michael Sattler were intertwined in Switzerland and Germany. 

     Menno Simons was converted ten years later in the Netherlands after the four in Switzerland had died. The Mennonite church bears his name for he was the leader who united the scattered brethren and guided them safely through the turbulent early years of Anabaptism. His cautious, thoughtful understanding of Biblical principles led to the development of a reputable church that adhered to the founding principles laid down by the Swiss founders.

    My manuscript bounced back and forth between editors and proofreaders while an artist drew pencil drawings and another painted the cover. Finally, in June, one year after the initial request, the book was finished and sent to the printer. It is summary of the historical events suitable for ages fourteen and above. It is scheduled to be released in October and will be available through the 2025 anniversary year.  

This is the front cover

4th of July

 The older we get, the better we like it at home. We don't want to be fighting holiday traffic to get somewhere or jostling elbows in a crowd on a hot day. We like it just fine in our cool, quiet house. And so we spent this 4th of July at home and had an indoor picnic for two. This morning I thought I should have invited one of our children to join us but I did not have enough corn or hamburger buns for more people. So we had a "picnic" by ourselves. Leroy grilled burgers and I made potato salad and corn on the cob. The best eating season of the year is here!

Join Franklin Graham in this prayer for America

Lord,
We are thankful for the abundant blessings You have bestowed on America. Our forefathers looked to You as Protector, Provider, and the Promise of hope. But we have wandered far from that firm foundation. May we repent for turning our backs on Your faithfulness.
We pray that this great nation will be restored by Your forgiveness.
From bondage, You grant freedom.
Through Your own sacrifice, You offer salvation.
From the state of despair, You offer peace.
From the bounties of Heaven, You have blessed – not because of our goodness – but by Your grace.
You have given us freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth as Your holy Word instructs. May our lives honor You in word and deed. May our nation acknowledge that all good things come from the Father above.
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that our nation should set apart a day for national prayer to confess our sins and transgressions in sorrow, “yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon… announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”
“We have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us! It behooves us then… to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
Help us to pray earnestly for our president and leaders who govern, that they will humble themselves and seek Your guidance so that everything we do will shine the light of Your glory in a darkened world.
May our prayers as a people and a nation be heard and blessed for such a time as this. We make this plea in faith, believing in the mighty name of Jesus our Lord.
Amen