Father's Day 2025

    Father's Day this year was very special. First of all, we were glad Leroy survived his open heart surgery and is healing rapidly. Second, with a daughter living out of state it is nigh impossible for all our children to be with their dad on Father's Day. As far as I can recall that has not happened since 1991 when she got married. But this year our annual family cabin weekend happened to fall on Father's Day.

    The cabin we had been going to for many years was sold so this year we tried a different cabin. It was a rainy weekend so the children couldn't be outside much but everyone seemed to be enjoying the weekend.

   On Saturday morning we discovered that without preplanning most of the younger grandchildren were wearing yellow. One of the two girls in pink and the smallest boy with a yellow shirt are great-grandchildren. The 1-year old held by his sister are grandchildren. 

   We filled two tables at meal time.

   There were crafts for the small fry,

   games for the older ones,

   a puzzle for the adults

  and relaxation for young and old.

  Everyone attended the church of their choice Sunday morning and regrouped at the cabin for lunch. With Father's Day in mind, our daughter provided some of Leroy's favorite foods---shrimp and a cherry cheese pie. We froze the historic moment of father and children all together on Father's Day. (Two deceased children will always be missing.)

 Before anyone left we preserved another moment of all of us with the 1967 Chevelle we drove for many years. They lined up by age behind the car. The oldest was 15 when the youngest was born. We had that car crammed full with six children for one year until the oldest could drive. That would not be possible today but car seats were not required in 1983 when the youngest was born. 

   The weekend passed by much too fast but the memories will keep us smiling.

Gold or Yellow?

    Yesterday I was sitting in a waiting room while my husband got an x-ray. Sitting beside me was a black lady who was doing the same thing. She was on her phone a minute or two and then turned and apologized for not saying hello immediately. She said in the country she came from you always say hello to people you meet.

    She spoke English with an accent so I asked what country she came from. She said they were from Kenya and had been in the US a long time but now were going back to do "charity work." From then on, the rest of the things she said were about how they want to tell everyone about Jesus and what He has done for them. She knew her Bible well and quoted Scriptures freely, saying people are too materialistic and that is not what life is about. I agreed with everything she said. She put me to shame. When have I ever had a conversation with a stranger that was all about Jesus and spreading the Good News?

    The early Anabaptists in Switzerland were passionate about evangelism and spread their faith everywhere they went. They were not fazed by the high cost. If a man was ordained he could expect to be executed in about six months. As persecution drove them to more tolerate areas of Germany and France, they accepted the terms of not proselytizing and kept to themselves. When our ancestors came to America, they continued the isolation from society and became known as "the quiet in the land."

     Sad to say, too many of us are still quiet. We don't see meeting a stranger as an opportunity to share our faith. And I  am as guilty as anyone. I never asked the lady what her name is but her enthusiasm for sharing her faith will stick with me. Silence is not always golden, sometimes it's plain yellow.

The Prayer of Faith

    Since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, human life has been a terminal condition. We know that no one lives forever but it is easy to ignore the fact, especially when we are young. As the years roll along and we age, we think about it once in awhile that our time on earth is rushing by. But life continues as usual and we go along without dwelling on the possibility that we are living our last days. Of course, there could be an accident or something that brings life to an abrupt halt but there are no dark clouds looming on the horizon. We had some things in order in case something happened but saw no dangers of life ending any time soon.

    That's how we were living until Easter this year. When Leroy admitted he was having some chest pains, he saw his cardiologist who ordered a cauterization. He had three stents put in three years ago and we thought he probably needs more stents. The cauterization showed stents would not help and he needed open heart bypass surgery. With the condition of his clogged arteries, he was in danger of having a heart attack at any time. Suddenly we were staring the possibility of death without a moment's notice. What would I do if I was left alone?

    Leroy was scheduled for surgery on May 21. We prepared with an anointing service on May 18. It was a solemn service as all the ministry laid hands on him and prayed for healing and peace of mind. I had peace of mind as well and felt confident he would survive.

   Surgery had to be postponed two days due to a tangle with the insurance. We left for the hospital at 6 a.m. on Friday, May 23. Our son and another son's wife sat with me in the waiting room until the surgery was completed. Leroy was taken directly from the OR to the ICU where he was for two days. He doesn't remember much of those days.

    He spent four more days in a private room and came home on May 28. Then we tackled the hard part of doing therapy to get him going again. He cooperated and responded well. Our children took turns being with us,. The first two days someone was here around the clock. Then we were alone at night and soon I was able to help him and take him on walks myself. 

   Twelve days after surgery, he was back to making his own breakfast and able to walk one-third of a mile. His rapid recovery exceeded our expectations. He has not regained his full strength but the visiting nurse who comes to the house said she was amazed how well he is doing in such a short time. The physical therapist came, did an evaluation, said you don't need me, and discharged him. In a few more weeks he should be back to normal.

    Leroy had a good doctor and nurses. He did his therapy faithfully. But the credit for his rapid healing goes to God and is an answer to prayer. To God be the glory!

   "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick." James 5:14-15a

A Life Well Lived

  My sister is retiring from forty years of teaching English at Terre Hill Mennonite High School. A life well lived and fulfilling career. The school honored her years of service with a retirement party on March 30. 

  The yearbook committee dedicated the 2025 yearbook to Dr. Burkholder. They also videoed this interview with her as her final year of teaching comes to a close. To  see the video, copy and paste the link to  your browser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jkvVfKLQHI

It Came to Pass

 

   Fifty-six years ago we bought a 1.3 acre plot of ground from my uncle and built a house. We moved into it in the fall of 1968. The following spring we planted grass around the house and started a garden behind the lawn. Our family grew and the garden wasn't large enough to grow all the food I needed to can and freeze to feed them. 

   I don't remember which year it was when we doubled the size of the garden. It then stretched the entire length of our land and was the width of the space between the trees on the picture below. It was about four-tenth of an acre. Our neighbor plowed and disced it for us every spring with his tractor.

Looking from top to bottom (above) and bottom to top (below)

    A garden that size was a lot of work, but it takes a lot of food to grow five boys and a girl. They all helped with the work of growing and preserving the food. We had a strawberry patch and planted all sorts of vegetables. At the peak of our gardening, it was taking six cups of corn for one meal. The garden was not big enough to grow enough corn, so the corn for freezing came from Grandpa's farm. 

    After some of our children married we cut the garden in half and planted grass in the top half. As the size of the family decreased, so did the garden. We cut the width in half sometime later.  I don't have pictures of every decrease until 2009 when we cut it in half again.

   Leroy worked up  the ground with a tiller behind the garden tractor and we planted grass in the top half.

   The garden now was mostly for fresh eating. We planted peas, lettuce, onions, and cabbage in April. Then in May we planted potatoes, corn, green beans, and tomatoes. I also planted a row of Cana tubers along the right edge.

   We cut the width of the garden in half again when we were empty nesters. After a disastrous garden season in 2024, we decided the time had come to give up gardening. There are so many produce farmers in the area we can easily get fresh produce without the work of gardening. Leroy said, "It will mow easier than it will hoe."

    Yesterday our youngest son came and planted grass in the small remanent of what had once been a huge garden. The garden had been doubled once and reduced four times. The fifth time it was reduced to zero. It came to be and passed into history. But oh the memories we made in that garden!

  

The Same God

   Yesterday I read the story of Gideon in Judges 6. God called him to deliver Israel from the oppression of the Midianites. He hesitated and asked God for a sign. First he asked that a fleece he laid out would be wet with dew in the morning and the grass dry. When that happened, he still hesitated and asked for the opposite---that the fleece would be dry and the grass wet. As I read the story I was reminded of something that happened ten years ago.

   Stephen Burkholder was serving with a mission in Nepal. On April 25, 2015, there was a 7.8 earthquake with the center about 53 miles northwest of the capital city of Kathmandu. Aftershocks continued for several days. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese were homeless with entire villages flattened. Tents were suddenly the hottest item on the market and sold out quickly. Stephen found a place in India to get tarps and was involved in their distribution. 

   One day he was sitting beside a little country road with a pile of tarps waiting for a truck. One of the men helping with the work called and said there was a hailstorm where he was and it was heading Stephen’s way. He could see it coming and there was absolutely no place to go for protection. He prayed, “Lord, I’m here on your business and I’d really rather not get wet and pounded by hail.” He sat there watching the storm coming and eventually it was lightning and hailing all around him. He didn't have a fleece, but the spot where he was sitting stayed dry.

    Our God is still the same God! He still does the same miracles if we ask.

As Goes the Home

    In the 1960s the ladies in our congregation attended the Associated Sewing Circle meetings held semi-annually. Women from the Lancaster Conference churches in the surrounding counties met in Lancaster County for these meetings. We would hear what was being done in the sewing circles and what the needs were in home and foreign missions. Inspirational talks and reports from various missions were given. I remember looking forward to these meetings because my pen pal from Adams County was usually there. I don't remember when the organization dissolved but I do know attendance declined until it wasn't worth having the meetings anymore.

    After I was married, I attended the Homebuilders meetings, also under the Lancaster Conference. The purpose of  Homebuilders was to encourage women in their careers as wives and mothers. I attended these inspirational meetings until we left Lancaster Conference for a more conservative group. 

    During the time I did volunteer work at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, I was given the job of making a chart of all the organizations for women from 1975 to 1999. There were groups for Literature, Nursing,  Jr. Girls Activities, and others. The Jr. Girls Activities was consistent all the way through but other groups changed over the years. Some died out and new ones were started.

   It was interesting to see the year Homebuilders was dropped it was replaced with Business and Professional Women. It was soon followed by Credentialed Women and then Women in Leadership. The reason the Associated Sewing Circle and Homebuilders were dropped is rather obvious. Women went to work and were not homemakers or sewing anymore. They were too busy building careers to attend meetings for things that did not have priority in their lives.

     The world considers women working as normal and being a homemaker is an unfulfilled life. I beg to differ! Being a homemaker is the most fulfilling career a woman can have. God designed women to be nurturers and men to be leaders and protectors of women. Many of the problems in marriages today are caused by women who have stepped out of their place in God's order. Women who try to work full time and raise a family find the load is too heavy and they are spread too thin. A woman's place is in the home. A mother who puts her child in day care misses so much of their formative years that pass so quickly.

      I am thankful my daughter and all my daughters-in-law chose to be stay at home mothers. This does not mean they cannot do anything except cook and clean. There are many things women can do at home to earn a little money or help others, but the children need to know that Mom will be there to send them off to school and there when they come home. They will eat a home cooked meal and eat at the table as a family. They will read the Bible and pray together. Building a good home is a lot of work and cannot be done as a side job. 

     Look at the church today. Has replacing Homebuilders with Business and Professional Women improved our families, churches, or the world in which live?  "As goes the home, so goes the church, and so goes the nation."