The bet is over...

Jo dreaming about her new boots... Jo picking out her new boots... Dad forking out the cash for the new boots... Jo is the proud new owner of some beautiful black boots from Hobbs of London. (finally - some new shoes!) 

Week 1 in London, Part 2

Somehow this picture didn't make it on the first blog, so here's a bit more...this is the family standing in front of the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, where we started our C. S. Lewis tour today....the Randolph Hotel is one of the places Lewis frequented..(and also a favorite haunt of Inspector Morse, as we learned a few days ago). The Lewis tour was superb - we felt like we all learned a lot, and gained more understanding of the kind of person "Jack" Lewis was...the tour included his early homes, the site of his marriage to Joy, his schools and colleges, Holy Trinity Church at Headington Quarry, his gravesite (shared with his brother Warnie), and his home, The Kilns...a glorious day! Now, a very Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. We love you and treasure you! 

Week 1 in London Part 1

We have spent one glorious week in London - and let me take just a moment to mention some of the wonderful memories we are sharing-- **another opportunity to see "Les Mis", our favorite play of all-times, and we are still ready to see it yet again, given the opportunity **Jerry and Carla riding on the bumper cars at Leicester Square--childhood revisited... **walking through the Sherlock Holmes Museum (and yes, Bev & Richard, there IS a Sherlock--we know because we visited with Dr. Watson and got all caught up on their lives... **worshipped twice at All-Soul's (where Dr. John Stott was preacher for many years) **saw Oxford through the eyes of Inspector Morse, one of our favorite British mysteries, visiting his pubs and many of the sites of filming **Carla & Jerry stumbled on the World Premier of "Its a Boy/Girl Thing" and there was Elton John! **shopping at Harrods, Selfridge's and Marks & Spencer (Jo's boots have NOT been purchased yet)  

The Christmas Adventure begins!

The first day of our adventure - presently in the DFW Airport preparing to board. Our two resident photographers (Jo and Carla) are already busy snapping photos, which means Mary gets a vacation from always snapping photos - and it also means Mary gets to BE in the pictures. (After our honeymoon, as my parents looked at the pictures of the occasion, my Mom turned to us and said "Mary, were you there?" Obviously I had taken every single photo!) Our thanks to our friend, Brenda Cooke, who graciously picked us up at Love Field and transported us to DFW--what an act of love and caring! We were so excited to meet up with Carla, who was already at DFW, that we didn't even stop for lunch with Brenda. However, we hope we will make amends on our return trip. Today - Midland and Dallas - and tomorrow London! Merry Christmas to each of you - and we hope you find a moment during this special season to check our blog and see what is happening on this Great Adventure. Love, Mary 

December 8th - a new addition to our family

Greetings - may we introduce you to our new home on wheels? This was not a part of our plans for these few weeks back in Midland, but it happened--there it sat, parked in an RV park in Las Cruces NM, which we just happened to be browsing through in anticipation of going to Las Cruces camping after the first of the year, and bearing a "for sale" sign in its window. Now it is truly ours, and after the first of the year, we will put "Sweet Mille" (our first RV) on the market. We have had such a good time traveling in her, and we know she will bring joy to her next owners as well. Meanwhile, we look forward to getting better acquainted with our new rig. Right now we are totally preoccupied with preparations to leave for London next Tuesday. We will rendevous with our kids in Dallas and fly out in the late afternoon. We are all so excited about being in London for three weeks - seeing the Christmas sights and lights, hearing all the wonderful Christmas music in St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey as well as Royal Albert Hall, and just enjoying our time with one another in this most unusual Christmas for us. In the meantime, we pray all God's blessings on each and every one of you, as we celebrate together the birth of our Lord and Savior. It really doesn't matter where we live, or where we spend Christmas, or what language we speak - God loved each one of us SO much that He sent us Jesus! Hallelujah!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our day was so blessed - and we hope yours was too. Here is our COMPLETE family on the porch of Jo & Scott's house (in front of their spectacular new handmade door!) We thought it would be the four of us--and just before supper, Scott went out on an errand ("be back in a minute")--and came back with Carla, who had flown in from Kansas City as a total surprise! While it was wonderful to have her with us for Thanksgiving, the real motivation is that Jo wanted her sister here for the opening of her photography showing tomorrow evening. Along with our friend from Enid, Pat Mundy, we are about to go to the Justins to hang Jo's photographs. Have a blessed week-end! Love and grateful thanks to each of you! Mary & Jerry  

You are all invited! The showing will be up through January, if you should be in San Antonio. Best of all is that we get to be there for the opening! We are proud of her work - and you can see more on: CJoShoot@gmail.com CJoShoot.com Think of us on Saturday evening! Love, Mary and Jerry

It is wonderful to be home! As we left Missouri, in cold and rain, and headed into Oklahoma, the sky cleared, the temperature warmed up, the sun came out eventually, and the skyline was limitless--what a good sight! One night was spent at Quartz Mt. Park in southwest Oklahoma, near Hobart--it was a perfectly glorious evening, pleasant enough to have a campfire for cooking supper and sitting out..and a very brazen deer who obviously thought she owned the place nibbling on the grass in the next campsite! Our comings and goings didn't bother her in the least. We are SO glad we stayed for the opening of the Christmas season at Silver Dollar City. There were 4 million lights twinkling everywhere you looked..an absolute fairyland. We saw a superb musical production of Dicken's Christmas Carol. Above you see Phyllis Garrett (Monett MO), Sally Campbell (Marshall MO) and Mary with a SDC treat--more 'smores! There were charcoal fires going in fire pits so you could roast your own marshmallows--what a great idea!

Anything better than S'Mores??

Take a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, a bunch of milk chocolate Hershey bars, a roaring campfire, some long roasting sticks, a beautiful setting amidst changing trees, and some of your favorite people – and what do you have? A perfect day! Last Saturday evening, we had with us Garrett & Shannon Worley from Chesterfield MO (some of our “grandchildren”) and our dear friend Pat Mundy from Enid OK – and all of the ingredients listed above for an ideal time for making s’mores…and they were yummy, as evidenced by the photos of Jerry and Shannon!

Little bit of heaven--Table Rock Lake in the fall!

Each day it seems we turn to one another and say "Isn't this just the greatest?" We are the ONLY camper on our side of the campground (that would be the boat dock side as opposed to the swimming beach side--when we started camping here there was ONLY the boat dock site...the other area opened up years later and we have never been able to try it out--we just gravitate right back to the same old place!) Its been cool at nights...sometimes downright cold...some lovely days..and delightful rainy days as well. Last weekend it was a joy to share the days with Mike & Karen Price and kids Meredith and Spencer. These friends are much more than that - they are a vital part of our entire family.

It all started when Mike came to Missouri Valley College as a freshman in the early 70's and showed up on our doorstep to introduce himself. From then on, he was part of our family--lived with us off and on during his college days, took care of our daughters on many an occasion, and the relationship has continued on for many years. Jerry and Carla were both a part of their wedding in Dallas...while they lived in Oklahoma City, they became a part of my parents' life...and 18 years ago this past week, Jerry was with them at the hospital in OC when Meredith was born. And Spencer is a true OU fan, which endears him to me! Their travels have put them in the homes of both of our daughters over the past few years...God is so good to put folks like that into our lives, isn't He?

Today we travel to Pella IA with Carla to honor another of our close friends - Hutch Bearce, who was killed last summer in Michigan near their summer home. Bearces were a part of our lives when we became back-door neighbors in Marshall MO. This photo of Hutch and Carla was taken a year ago at Apple Butter Days in Marshall - a tradition that we all began about 35 years ago. Hutch was very gifted - and his contributions to higher education are enormous--let alone his contributions to our life! Hutch & Gretchen left an ad for a used pop-up camper taped to our front door one day - which we bought and enjoyed for over ten years. Along with the Garretts, we traveled together to the British Isles-- hiking Hadrian's Wall, staying in B&Bs, poking Hutch & Jerry to stay awake during Evensong at Wesminster Abbey on our arrival evening--many many precious memories! Hutch's last visit with one of our family was last year, when he and Gretchen visited in Jo & Scott's home in San Antonio while they were attending the Dean's Conference there. We look forward to sharing these two days with his family and lots of friends who will gather to laugh and cry together, and give thanks to God for the gift of Hutch's life. Please remember Gretchen, David and Kate in your prayers.

We return to Cape Fair on Monday--the trees (which may not be as vibrant as they could be due to the drought) are still glorious to us, whose fall usually consists of mesquites that don't turn! We will enjoy a drive into northern Arkansas on Tuesday, to spend a day with Wichita friends (Harriet & Fred vanBebber). Pat arrives from Enid on Wednesday to camp with us, and we will do Silver Dollar City all day Thursday. The Worleys from St. Louis will join us on Friday - Jerry is looking forward to taking the children fishing and sharing Cape Fair with them -- provided the weather cooperates. Right now the old weather man is calling for rain next weekend (as well as this weekend here), but we can always hope he is wrong.

I hope you are enjoying the fall as much as we are!

Love, Mary & Jerry

Weekend in TEXAS!

Friday, Oct. 6th Jerry and I are standing on the beach at Horseshoe Bay on Lake LBJ, where tomorrow Jerry will be officiating at the wedding of a young lady who grew up in our church in Midland (Jessica Marshall). Jessica is being married to her boyfriend of eight years, Nang, on this site--a beautiful setting and a wonderful weather day. Occasions like this surely have to be one of the greatest blessings of ministry--to share in the lives of folks so intimately that on the occasion of their wedding, they ask you to be a part. We are so grateful to be here! Nang and Jessica included Jo and Scott with us at the rehearsal dinner at her parent's new home on the lake last night--an evening with a full moon reflecting off the lake, and the joy of sharing the meal with the Marshalls to catch up on their life. Jo and Scott have joined us at the lakehouse of our friends, Glenn & Louan Rogers, on Lake LBJ - we have had a couple of days of visiting, walking, eating - and sitting on the back porch looking at the spectacular view. In fact, yesterday morning began with breakfast on the porch and the coffee and conversation went on so long that it became lunch time! We will have breakfast together at the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls (an institution around here) and then part company. We are heading back to Monett MO, where we left our RV in the Garrett's driveway (Mike and Phyllis Garrett's claim to fame is now their grandsons, Eli and Silas, whom you met in prior blogs.) On Tuesday we will head towards Cape Fair on Table Rock Lake for an extended stay - we have no cell service there, and certainly no internet access, so there is no telling when we can write another blog! PS - Sunday - a glorious wedding..what a radiant bride in her wedding dress with barefeet, being brought from her parent's lake house to the beach in their boat driven by her Dad! All the wedding party had leis brought from Hawaii, and that even included ME! I felt so special! The pastor (who did not go barefooted as all the rest of the wedding party) wore a long lei of green leaves. Blessings and hugs to all of you.

St. Louis Zoo

Grandma Mary and children in front of elephants Is there anything more fun than a zoo, and especially a zoo with youngsters? During our week in St. Louis, we spent lots of special times with Garrett and Shannon Worley. A week ago the day was spent at the St. Louis Zoo—what a treasure the city of St. Louis has in this zoo! Our highlight was to meet Melia (meaning “strong and beautiful”), the seven-week old baby elephant. Can you see her back there by her mama? She did not allow her mom to get more than a foot or two away and Melia was right back beside her, usually underneath her. They were just a delight to watch. The elephant on the left of the picture is now pregnant, so the St. Louis Zoo will be blessed with another baby elephant come next February. The Zoo folks tell us the lines to see the baby when she went on display were just enormous, but fortunately for us, the crowd was very light when we visited. Tim and Jerry and penguins When you have Carla Hilton, life-time collector of penguin memorabilia, for a daughter, we would dare not miss the penguins! They were darling and great fun to watch. Jerry and our dear friend, Tim Garrett, tried to look like penguins to blend in with the crowd, but I don’t think they were very successful, do you? Our time in St. Louis was so special—our thanks to Janelle and Tim for sharing their lives with us—and their children! For newcomers to our blog, Janelle and daughter Jo were roommates in Chicago for several years, so we just adopted her into our family as well. If she looks familiar to Midland friends, Janelle came for Jerry’s retirement weekend at FPC. Janelle, Shannon and elephants We are now on a farm outside of Rolla MO and enjoying every minute of it. The scenery is spectacular…nights are cold and crisp…days are sunny and bright…great porches to sit on and watch fall come upon the Ozarks…time to practice our musical instruments…a road to walk down and back each day (literally only ONE road – this farm is at the end of the county road so there is only one way to go!)…time to reflect on all our blessings – and you are all part of that!

Weekend in St. Louis

Happy 12th Anniversary to Jo and Scott! Shannon and I are sitting at Forest Park participating in a picnic prior to the Balloon-Glow last Friday evening…and our picnic supper brings back memories of twelve years ago this weekend, when we celebrated the rehearsal for Jo and Scott’s wedding by enjoying Popeye’s chicken and biscuits in a park…Popeye’s is still just as good as it was twelve years ago, and their marriage is even better than ever. I haven’t told you all that their home is going to be on the Mahnke Park Homes Tour in mid-October…you’ll hear more about that later! Balloon-Glow prior to the balloon race on Saturday afternoon was spectacular! Jerry had to indulge the children (Shannon and Garrett Worley) in their own hot-air balloons, while we walked around the Park after our picnic and watched a multitude of balloons being inflated with hot air and put into the sky for our delight. As it got darker, all the balloons would be made to glow on a set signal (horn), by the fire heating the air, as you see in the picture below. The energizer bunny (called the Hot Hare Balloon!) was the biggest of them all – and what a colorful display it was an unforgettable experience. Look who we got to meet! Please meet Elijah Garrett, son of Pat and Jessica Garrett, and grandson of our good friends, Mike and Phyllis Garrett of Monett MO. Eli came out to Jellystone Park (where we were camped on Saturday) to make our acquaintance, bringing with him his father Pat and his aunt and uncle, Tim and Heather Garrett. Jerry had officiated at the wedding of Pat and Jess two years ago, the fall after our retirement (and also the marriages of both of Pat’s brothers in earlier years.) What a joy to meet this delightful one year old…Jo would be so proud of him, for he uses sign language very well! And he never met a stranger! This has been a glorious rainy day in St. Louis…Babler State Park is well–soaked, but we are safe and dry in Sweet Mille (our RV). Unfortunately, the cook-out and s’mores with Garrett and Shannon had to be postponed until tomorrow. We will be going into town tomorrow to join Garrett for lunch at his school. Tuesday we plan to see the new baby elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, so we’ll be going back to Forest Park.

Southern Gospel Picnic

Use your imagination - and picture this: The Homestead Pickers, a music group at Silver Dollar City, are gathered on the front porch of the old homestead with all their variety of musical instruments readily at hand...and tucked back in the corner, there stands Jerry with his fiddle under his chin, backing up the group as they play through their show. Can you see it? Isn't that great! We spent the last three days attending the Southern Gospel Picnic at Silver Dollar City - and first-time event for SDC and judging from the crowds and enthusiasm, it will be a continuing event! But best of all was when we learned that the Homestead Pickers would have a jam session at the close of each day and anyone could come and join them. The last thing Jerry's fiddle teacher in Wichita told him was to find some folks to jam with, just jump in and DO IT. And he did...and he had such a great time. We heard marvelous gospel groups and were even entertained by Dr. Dennis Swanburg with his enthusiastic gospel message (he was MUCH more entertaining than when he did his introductions to the Mayberry RFD video series!) Every evening we had two more hours of entertainment in the Echo hollow Theatre at SDC--if you like gospel music, I suggest you check it out next year. Now we are enjoying a couple of relaxing days at the campground before leaving for St. Louis. This evening we will go to Branson for dinner at the Hard Luck Diner--where all the wait staff are good singers and one of them is always entertaining at the mike. We ate there last spring with Carla and are eager to go back. It was unbelievable on Friday to think that all those folks were at SDC and we didn't see anyone we knew - but on Saturday we were blessed to run into our dear friend Gayle Edwards from Crane (you might remember I mentioned last February that her husband Bill had died from cancer--he and Jerry were friends from grade school on). And yesterday we met Mike and Phyllis Garrett from Monett AND Phyllis's sister Linda and husband Mitch Garrett from Louisville who were passing through the area on a camping vacation. Linda has been a special friend for many years as well - she and Carla share the same birthday and even celebrated their birthdays together once when Carla was about 4 and Linda was ????...oh well...Linda spent part of her career as a Christian Educator in the hills and hollers of Phelps,KY and invited Jerry down to do a preaching mission at their two little mission churches--certainly one of the highlights of Jerry's ministry. So it was a glorious day to all be together at Silver Dollar City. So until next time - say a good word for Jesus!

Labor Day with No Labor

While the rest of the country seemed to be getting a small touch of fall with lower temperatures, San Antonio continued to enjoy its hot and humid weather! Both Midland and Kansas City had temperatures fifteen degrees lower than SA! However, SA finally got some much-needed rain on Monday night. All the decorative fountains are turned off, which is indeed a sad situation, so we hope they receive some rainfall soon. We did a lot of nothing while we were at Jo and Scott's-- our focus was for Jo to give her mother some Adobe Photoshop training, which she did admirably..now I just need lots of time to play and practice with the program. Go as quickly as possible to the movie theatre to see "The Illusionist"--Scott, Jerry and I saw this on Labor Day while Jo put in 3 hours of work at Sorenson. It is a GREAT movie, and we all highly recommend it to you. In fact, it is one of those I would enjoy seeing again--and I don't find many of those. The treat of our Labor Day was dinner at The Tower of the Americas...Scott and Jo had been there earlier for Jo to take photos, and Scott wanted to treat us to an evening there. The restaurant (run by Landrys) rotates--the view of the greater San Antonio area is magnificent, especially as the city lights up for the night. And besides that, the food was marvelous. If you enjoy photography, please check out Jo's website links on this blog. She is amazing her parents with her artist's eye. With the collaboration of another photographer at San Antonio Community College, she put together a San Antonio collage of 90 photos that is great. The first one was auctioned at a fund-raiser last week, and another one will be auctioned at Nutcracker Sweets in December, which benefits the agency Scott works for. The above picture was taken inside the Gruene Dance Hall when we surprised Scott in August. The Gospel Brunch, on the second Sunday of each month, is a real delight. And speaking of Gospel, which we do enjoy a lot, we are on our way to the Gospel Fest at Silver Dollar City--so we must get on the road. We are presently camped overnight just south of Dallas--and we are hoping that mid-morning traffic through Dallas will be more palatable than the 5 p.m. traffic--but I am betting traffic is heavy all the time around here. We hope you all are enjoying this month as we feel fall approaching. We do miss our new Wichita friends - Missouri is pretty close if anyone wants to come and catch up with us! Love, Mary

Vacation time and back home!

Vacation time was absolutely fabulous! Fishing...friends...food...flowers...fun. We drove to Colorado with our good friends from Wichita, Bev & Richard Spann (if you remember last summer's blogs, we also went to South Fork together then). Their big Dodge van made the trip most enjoyable - though I have to admit to having some serious doubts about it when we drove up to the American Basin outside of Lake City on what should have been a road only for 4-wheel drives! But the American Basin was well worth it--wild flowers that were just out of this world, or a little bit of heaven right here in Colorado. The fishing was excellent - Jerry and Richard didn't miss a day while we were in Colorado, including stopping to fish on the road home at Silver Plume! They fished the Rio Grande, Beaver Creek at South Fork, the Taylor & Gunnison rivers, and many more--anyplace they could find to drop a line, actually! We were able to see many olds friends--Barry & Nancy Beal from Midland were just the best hosts ever! While the men put in hard days of fishing, we gals had the joy of doing a lot of reading on their gorgeous porch, watching the cloud formations over the mountains, shopping and eating in quaint Creede. Jerry and I had the good fortune of having a visit with one of my high school classmates who was camped in an RV park in South Fork--Jim and I hadn't seen each other in 50 years, so that was a delight. On our way to Gunnison we spent time with a new friend from Eastminster Church in Wichita, Joan Olander, who summers in Lake City, and drove up to the American Basin--put that on your "must-do" list! We moved on to the Gunnison area, occupied a cabin on the banks of Spring Creek and were able to spend time with Abbe Mahone from Oklahoma City, and her son David who got out there in time to do some fishing with Jerry and Richard. Worship at Tin Cup is always a highlight and this year was no exception. Best of all was crossing paths with folks who were serving as camp hosts at one of the national park campgrounds, and whose parents were members of our church in Enid OK. We spent an evening with Eastminster friends, Fred & Sue Berry, in their lovely home in Mt. Crested Butte...what a spectacular view--another little glimpse of heaven! They graciously included our friend Abbe, who it turns out had toured their home several years ago when it was on the Homes Tour. The Gunnison area also gave us the opportunity to spend time with Kirk & Nancy Fry from Enid (now from Hotchkiss)...many years ago, when we lived in Enid, they first introduced us to this area of Colorado by offering us a cabin for our fall vacations--and we've been hooked ever since! We completed our holiday with a few days at the Spann's time-share condo at Beaver Creek--which included two or three trips up the ski lift--one time we saw a bear below us, and another time a beautiful buck with a very large rack. Wow! On our way back to Midland with the RV, we were able to surprise our son-in-law at the Sunday Gospel Brunch at the Gruene Dance Hall in Gruene TX and celebrate his birthday, along with our friends, the Greens, from Midland; and special friends of Jo & Scott's, Naomi & Conner from Austin (who are moving to Colorado Springs, even as I write this blog--we shall miss their presence in Texas but thank goodness for cell phones and email.) Its been good to be back home--even unpacking boxes and settling in was joyous! Our year in Wichita was marvelous, but there's no place like home! By way of an apology for the long stretch between blogs, we have only just been able to get high-speed internet at the house! With the oil industry being what it is, you can imagine how things are booming in Midland...And its proved to be very difficult to get any kind of services installed, turned on, etc. We have become so dependent on high-speed internet that this has really been a time to try men's souls! And now - just when we are back on-line, we are preparing to leave! Tomorrow we head out to spend the Labor Day weekend with Jo and Scott in San Antonio. From there we turn the RV towards Missouri--we have lots of plans, which include the Gospel Fest at Silver Dollar City, Babler State Park outside of St. Louis; quiet R&R time on a farm outside of Rolla; and October camped on Table Rock Lake in southwest Missouri, taking in the Fall Festival at Silver Dollar City. We will be able to keep up with emails, so if you are going to be in any of those areas, please let us know. I've missed communicating with you via the blog these last six weeks - here's hoping I can do better while we are on the road. Love, Mary & Jerry

Retirement--again!

Today was our last Sunday at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita KS...it was a glorious day. Jerry preached from Philippians 4, on rejoicing - we were recognized at the close of each of the services, the congregations sang joyously on Jerry's favorite hymn "Because He Lives", we have a basket full of cards to read at our leisure, and we got lots of hugs. I received a beautiful large cross woven from Kansas wheat, which is truly a marvelous memento. Jerry was given an IPOD ("an 8-track for the 21st century")loaded with all his sermons from this past year, choral music, Elder training material, and anything else that was a reminder of our year here--what a great gift for him! If it had not been for Carla's presence on Friday, I don't believe we would have made it through the day! This was our day to have the rental furniture picked up, disconnect phone/cable/internet, get everything distributed either to the rv or the Spanns home (where we are presently staying) or loaded in the Escape for the trip to Midland, and a walk-thru by the apartment manager...and Jerry ended up having an burial first thing in the morning, followed by a memorial service, followed by a dental appointment for several fillings, followed by his last fiddle lesson (Oh, did I mention he has taken up the fiddle?) Without Carla, I could not have done it - so I will be forever grateful for all her help. We ended up the day at the Prairie Rose for a barbeque dinner followed by cowboy music entertainment with a group of friends from EPC--we enjoyed the food, laughed at all the jokes, and the music was just great--so tired though we were, and extremely hot from the hard days' work, it was a fun evening. We were so glad to be able to take Carla to it, for we have been out there before (to hear Roy Rogers Jr) and had talked about what a neat evening it was. We are about to finish up packing now--we leave in the morning for cool Colorado with Bev & Richard Spann, and you cannot begin to imagine how excited we are--the fish better beware! We are all four tired, so the prospect of cool weather, hungry fish, neat friends, and no agenda really sounds good right now. We will not realize we are really and truly retired until we get home to Midland--right now, its just a vacation to look forward to. We did not realize that in one year we would become so attached to our new church family. We have made so many very special new friends. Right now I am very grateful for our modern conveniences like email and cell phones so we can stay in touch! Our trip to Midland the first week of August will find us facing a house full of boxes which were moved by Atlas--I'm sure its absolute chaos, but like Scarlett - I'll think about that tomorrow. We'll appreciate your continued prayers for our friend Carol and her battle with breast cancer, and our upcoming travels. God bless you all!

The "Texas BBQ with a Kansas Accent" for our church family at Eastminster was a great evening, made even more special by having both Jo and Carla join us. Folks turned out in huge numbers, consumed lots of great food, and were magnificently entertained by the Home Rangers (a Wichita group that includes an Eastminster family)--their music is called "moograss" which is a blend of bluegrass and country! Just for us, they played "Waltz Across Texas With You"! There are a number of displaced Texans in our congregation and we all enjoyed it. The girls arrived on Friday night to enjoy a family dinner at Abuelo's - a favorite dining spot and one that Jo does NOT have in San Antonio, so it was her request to go there. After dinner, Jerry joined Gary Thompson, our volunteer pork cooker, at the church to tend to the pork shoulders that were in the smoker (and that was only the first batch). Gary, wife Jan, and Jerry rubbed and smoked this batch, and Gary had a volunteer team in at 6:30 a.m. to continue the process. Those folks are worth their weight in gold, let me tell you! The fruits of their labors were consumed by a most appreciative church family. On Saturday we were able to take the girls and our friend Pat Mundy (of Enid) over to the Buford's ranch in the Flint Hills near Cassoday. It was a picture perfect day. We absorbed too much sun, played in the pristine swimming pool, took a boat ride all around the lake, and watched the wild mustangs who live on the ranch, and were exceptionally close that day. (Unlike yesterday, when Jerry and I went back to the ranch to spend the day and saw very few horses near enough to photograph!) We are grateful for their cooperation, however, for our daughters and friend on the 24th. We have spent so many wonderful days at the ranch during the last year that it was very important to us to get to share that special spot with Jo and Carla. Sunday morning worship gave Jerry an opportunity to introduce his daughters to the congregation. After church we all pitched in to get the table decorations on in both the gym and the fellowship hall. The tables were decorated with cowboy boots filled with bluebonnets or sunflowers, or bud vases bearing bluebonnets. I would like to thank Susie Hitchcock-Hall of Susie's South Forty in Midland (the best pecan toffee in the world -- check out the website!) for her help in providing bluebonnets (you know you can't buy those in Kansas!) and bandana ribbon for our use in the decorations and wrapping silverware. Thank God for daughters who helped clean up! It didn't take long to get the whole church whipped back into shape and all the decorations put away. The kitchen crew was incredible--all volunteers--and we think everyone had a marvelous time. It was a great way to wrap up our year with this church family. We are really in countdown time now. Moving boxes are filling the garage and now taking over the dining room. Vacation is just around the corner--and speaking of that, one of our favorite places to fish is the Taylor River outside of Gunnison. An older gentleman in our church is an artist, had us for dinner this past week, and gave Jerry one of his paintings of his favorite fishing spot, which just happened to be the Taylor River! Now its July - and the 16th will be Jerry's last Sunday in the pulpit, so 3 more Sundays. He is already moved out of his office as the staff gets it in order for the new pastor, Steve, to move in on the 17th...its the Changing of the Guard, and we pray for this congregation as they enter a new phase in their journey. Have a safe and sane 4th of July, and we cherish your friendship.

This has been quite a weekend! I'd like to share a few of the highlights with you via pictures. On Saturday we attended the Symphony in the Flint Hills, a concert presented by the Kansas City Symphony in an open-air setting in the heart of the scenic Flint Hills. The day was very hot and humid, it was a sell-out for 6,000 folks, the music was an original score inspired by the scenery of the Flint Hills, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Joining us for worship on Sunday were Greg and Bobbi Calmes. Back in 1964, Greg was the Youth Delegate on the Pastor Nominating Committee that called us to our first parish in Hobart OK--so we go back a long way! Greg has an aunt who is a member of our church in Wichita, so the five of us had a memorable day together. Some of you who have been with this journal since its inception may recall that we visited them in Seattle in Feb. 2005 on our way to Vancouver to see Carla receive her Certification in Christian Education. And now meet the newly called Senior Pastor and Head of Staff of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Dr. Steven Marsh. It was a great day - EPC members turned out in full force for all 3 services to meet and greet Steve, the Hiltons received a standing ovation during the congregational meeting, and we are delighted to report that Steve will be here by the end of July. Jerry's last Sunday will be July 16, followed by some fishing vacation in Colorado, and then HOME! Blessings on all of you! Carla is home safely with her group from their mission trip to New Orleans, and we are grateful for your prayers.

Please meet our new friend, Dr. David Githii, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. David was here last Sunday to preach and to hold an evening session to share more about the work of the PC in his countries, and in between we were fortunate to go to dinner with him. There were 6 of us gathering around our table at the restaurant, when two young African men and a young lady in a nearby booth got up and came over to us. One of them began talking to David in another language--and while that was taking place, the other couple told the rest of us that they were from Kenya and either KNEW David or KNEW OF David when they were in their home country! James, who spoke the same tribal language as David Githii,had been a member of his church...the young lady, Grace, knew David when he was a Headmaster of a local school. It was SO exciting! One said to us "He is a very important man in our country." All 3 young people came that evening to the session, David introduced them, and they shared a little with us about what they were doing in Wichita. God is SO good. We could just imagine what a treat it was for James to find someone to speak his own tribal language - we discovered that when you are in a foreign country you just get hungry to hear your own language (and that applies to England as well!!!) The most disappointing part of this day was to find out about our national denomination -- more bad news that I didn't need to hear. David is entering his second term as moderator (3 year terms). At the last General Assembly he had been invited to address the GA and bring greetings from his church, and at the last minute, that invitation was rescinded. This year his denomination is sending him as an observer but he has NOT been invited to address the GA, bring greetings, or even be recognized--and its all politics, folks....not much to do with our Lord Jesus Christ. I know lots of you reading this are Presbyterian, and care about our church, and this is a sad state of affairs. David thought it would be a good idea for our Uganda trip to just stop by next year and see him...and Jerry was very excited about a future possibility of working with the indigenous pastors on a short-term basis. Lots to think about, and even more to pray about! We did our two days of slave labor for Carla last week - wow - are we out of shape. However, Carla does have the most beautiful yard in the block right now! It was fun as well...Carla hired two high school grads from her youth group to come and assist, and they were fabulous help (they could climb ladders and get to gutters easier than anyone else!) I did lots of cooking and freezing of food for Carla. In addition, we took in two plays, one each evening--that might NOT have been the best idea in the world, but we did it anyway, and especially enjoyed the Dinner Theatre with our friend Anita (from Marshall MO) who traveled in Ireland with us in '04. Things at EPC are going well - the pastoral candidate is here this weekend; the congregational meeting is Sunday; and we think Jerry's last Sunday in the pulpit will be July 16th--then vacation for 2 1/2 weeks and back to Midland! I'll give you definite dates next time (I know - you've heard that before!) Love to all of you....Mary and Jerry

Have you seen the movie "RV"?

With just our limited exposure to the RV lifestyle, we laughed our way through Robin Williams' antics in "RV"...what a lot of laughs! We were out this past weekend in Sweete Mille (our RV), camping at Westminster Woods Presbyterian Camp which belongs to the Presbytery of Southern Kansas. What a great time we had - just reading, relaxing, a bit of fishing, swatting mosquitoes, swearing at gnats, and plenty of quiet. That was a far cry from the 50,000 folks who packed into Cheney Reservoir, or the 48,000 at El Dorado Lake, our two nearest campgrounds! We are grateful for WW and their camping facilities! The few days made us realize how much we had missed our RV lifestyle, and we are eager to return to it - once again, fall in the Ozarks! Carla and her friends, Rich and Lesa, were down a week ago to speak to our Senior Adult Ministry on their American Red Cross experience. They presented an incredible slide show of their work as well as the devastation, and the hope for the future of the area. Rich and Lesa join Carla this Saturday to take the Senior Highs from Pine Ridge Pres back to the same area on a mission/work camp trip, and hopefully to see signs of progress in the last six months. Please pray for their health and safety during that week. We are off to Kansas City this evening - Carla has her Dad lined up for a couple of days of "daddy-do's" projects, mostly in the yard, while Mom will be doing some cooking and freezing of some low-sodium dishes to help Carla out. We look forward to seeing two of the young men who came to Midland on their mission trip a couple of years ago as well as to "Faces of Children" in Washington DC, who are coming to lend a hand tomorrow as well. AND we get to spend an evening at the Dinner Theatre, which is a favorite of ours...so it will be a fun couple of days. Take care, and God bless each of you. For your prayers, I am happy to report that I had lunch yesterday with our AP's wife, Carol, fighting breast cancer. It was a good day - today she is back for here chemo, mid-point through that now..please continue to lift her up. Our friend Ralph had his surgery this morning and is resting, perhaps not very comfortably - so remember him, please...and Carla and her mission trip.

Graduations are momentous occasions!

Today is graduation day for many - for us, we are thinking of one special young man who is graduating from Memorial High School in Edmond OK - our friend, David Bingham. We rejoice for David and his family - brother Grant, parents Barbara and Keith - and we are sad for ourselves because we are not there to share in his special day. When Jerry was called to Eastminster Church last year, we put David's graduation date on the calendar because now we would be close enough to attend - but that turned out not to be in God's plan. I got sick a week ago today, and it has been a very rough week..but I am happy to say that I am better and stronger, just not strong enough to make the trip to Oklahoma City this weekend. Whether we are there or not is just our loss, for David will be a high school graduate! The family photo was taken on Jerry's retirement weekend, when the Bingham family came to Midland for the celebration. Keith was chairman of the Pastor Nominating Committee that called us to FPC Midland - so I hope you can imagine just how special he is to us! At our welcoming reception in early 1993, David was 5 and brother Grant was crawling around the fellowship hall! So it has been our joy and treat to watch these young men grow and mature. We are proud of both of them. But today is truly David's day--and this is one surrogate grandmother who is very sad to be at home instead of watching him walk across the platform to receive his diploma! There is great excitement in our lives, as we know that the PNC is calling for a congregational meeting to extend a call to the candidate. By the next time I write, I will probably be able to give you definite dates. We are looking forward to being at home in Midland (alley cats again, however, as our house is rented!) We just had a phone visit from very dear old friends, Dave and Carol Carter - Dave and Jerry were both pastors in Hobart OK, both on their first pastorates. They are from Wellington KS, so we are looking forward to seeing them for a good visit over the Memorial Day weekend. However - I don't want Jerry spending too much time with Dave--he on his seventh (I think) interim, and its a poor example to set for Jerry, don't you think? Summer is here - its very hot in Wichita - the apartment pool is opened - Jerry teaches his last Bible Study class on Monday morning - Carla and colleagues will be here on Tuesday to do a program for the Senior Adults at our church on their American Red Cross experience last winter - and Jerry and I will celebrate our 43 years of marriage (how can that be?) All our love and prayers to each of you! Love, Mary

Reunion time!

Remember the old camp song "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold." How true! Over the years we have been blessed with multitudes of new friends..but this is a blog about the old ones! In 1955, I graduated from Pierre High School in Pierre SD. Three of us went on to the University of South Dakota and pledged our sorority together. I moved from South Dakota in the spring of 1957, and did not return for any of our high school reunions (including the 50th, which unfortunately was held just as Jerry was beginning his ministry in Wichita, so we could not get away.) All that changed this past weekend!!! Seven of us gathered in Yankton SD for a Spring Fling weekend at Mary Ellen's townhouse--two came from Pierre; and the others gathered from St. Paul MN, Sioux Falls SD, Oklahoma City, and Wichita. It was a marvelous weekend - the conversation was non-stop, as we caught up on each other's lives over the past fifty years (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?), shared about our families, our jobs, our journeys, caught up on other classmates, and mostly played "Remember when..." and off we would go. It was interesting to me that my memory had to be jogged to bring some things back into focus. There is only one of you reading my blog who was a part of my life back then (unless my brother should happen to be reading it, which isn't likely!)..and our life has been such an exciting adventure filled with countless numbers of dear and special people in our five pastorates that sometimes I found I had to do some serious digging to pull up any recollections! (It wouldn't be my age, would it?) I know this photo is meaningless to you - but at least you could glance at it and say "why, none of you has changed one bit!" "Are you sure its been fifty years?" It was interesting to me that six of us were married to the same husbands all our lives...the 7th one has been married 25 years to her second husband...and two of the group were widowed. One was really a special reunion for me, because our families were close friends all during high school (and our parents' friendship went well beyond those days, as they used to get together when they wintered in the Scottsdale area in later years.) So - the reunion was marvelous, and I am so glad I attended. Further, the drive from Wichita to Yankton, which is straight up US 81, is a beautiful drive and a great road - the scenery was just magnificent. I look forward to Jerry and me making that trip in our RV one of these days. Also, Yankton College was a Congregational school that I seriously considered attending - and while it has gone the way of many small liberal-arts colleges and closed, the campus NEVER looked better as it is part of the SD Penal system! The grounds and buildings are immaculate! Our children are all out-and-about on adventures this week. Jo and Scott are back in their old stomping grounds of Chicago to celebrate Scott's Grandmother's 100 birthday. When Jo and Scott were married, the reception was held in Gram's huge backyard of her family home-a very special lady. Jo will also turn 41 on the same day, and they have tickets for a Cubs game on Friday, so life is good. Carla is at our beautiful conference grounds in Montreat NC attending the Annual Recreation Workshop (ARW) which has a great reputation and has been going on for many many years--I have some wonderful memories of attending ARW when I was in seminary. So - all my love to those of you who qualify as silver and/or gold friends!

Vacations are so good for the soul, aren't they? We have had a perfectly marvelous week, driving from Wichita to Rogers AR, on to the Hot Springs area and ending up in Branson to celebrate Carla's 39th birthday. It was filled with beautiful days, great conversation, boat rides, dear old friends and family (that OLD refers to long-time, certainly not their age!) and seasoned with lots of good food and fellowship. Our trip began with an overnight visit with Jerry's Aunt Timmy and his cousin Betty in Rogers AR. It had been quite some time since we had been to Rogers, though we did get to see this family in KC at Christmas time. Its always good to be able to sit down with kinfolk. The sunset on Lake Oachita was a real treat - we joined Glenn and Louan Rogers at the lake house of Jim and Norma Webb for several days. It was a time of total relaxation with all the quality conversation one could ever ask for, time to read, nap, hike and celebrate our journey through this life together. Jerry is fishing with his almost-14 year old friend, Walter, on Lake Hamilton. Walter's dad was in high school in our first youth group in Hobart OK, so we go back quite a few years. The day we spent with Kelly and Walter was Carla's birthday, and Walter's grandfather was my attending physician at that big event. Walter even took us by boat to see Buena Vista on Lake Hamilton, the resort where we spent our honeymoon in 1963, as well as our 5th wedding anniversary--so it was a memorable boat ride (and Jerry and Walter didn't disturb any fish either!) We have never spent an overnight in Branson since its entry into the entertainment world, so this was a first for us. We joined Carla at a Lodge on the Strip for the occasion. Her "aunt and uncle", Mike and Phyllis Garrett, joined us for a celebratory dinner at Big Cedar Lodge - what a fantastic spot that is! It was a great way to observe her birthday, in a gorgeous setting with great food and very special family friends. Of course, we spent the next day at Silver Dollar City, our favorite spot ever - the World Fest was going on, which we had never attended. One of the entertainers was Kerry Christensen, world-class yodeler whom we have enjoyed on numerous occasions at the Wurstfest in New Braunfels - so that was a treat to hear him again. The Chinese acrobats were absolutely amazing and heart-stopping. Irish musicians and dancers took us back in our minds to our Irish trip in 2004. Don't miss dining at the Hard Luck Diner either - another experience with all the singing waiters and waitresses. And top off the evening with a good country & western show, and what more could you ask for? Its always good to get back home - so here we are. We hope all is well with you - we rejoice with the news that Enid OK FPC has called a new pastor - and we ask for your continued prayers for our Associate Pastor's wife, Carol, as she continues with her chemotherapy. Her first experience this past week was not a very good one. I'm going to go to Kansas City tomorrow afternoon, spend the night with Carla, and attend PEO with her on Tuesday. I was invited to dimit to her chapter, so I hope to be able to attend a few meetings with her while we are still in Wichita. Take care, and God bless each of you.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! and a great big halleluljah that God loves you and me SO much that He sent His son to die for us. What a gift! And I thank Him every day for this gift, for loving me, and for giving us the gift of your friendship in this journey of life. Bless you, each and every one! We celebrated a glorious Easter, beginning with a 6a.m. sunrise service held in the chapel, led by our Worship Team. I wish each one of you could hear them - what an incredible ministry they have, and so many gifts. While the service was indoors, and we didn't really know when the sun came up, the symbolism was great--the chapel in the dark with a light on the table which contained a most meaningful arrangement of various colored flowers, the single Christ candle, and the rock--and the praise team in the back singing a song that told the story of that Easter morning..and as they progressed through the song, the lights became brighter, and the team processed up the center aisle--I loved it!!! Following a continental breakfast in the gym, the next 3 services took place in the sanctuary-the middle two with the Chancel Choir, and the last service once again with the Praise Team, but an appropriate worship for that hour of the day, rather than sunrise. Wow! I felt totally churched and so filled. Can there be anything better than getting to sing "Because He Lives" 3 times in one morning, and being allowed to join in the singing of the "Hallelujah Chorus" 2 times? AND hearing a strong word from the Lord through the preacher! I hope your Easter was a blessing to you as well. Carla came down Sunday afternoon after she finished at Pine Ridge Pres, and we had a good 24 hours together--its been so neat to be this close, and we are continuing to take advantage of this opportunity, for it will soon come to an end. VACATION begins tomorrow! We look forward to an overnight visit with Jerry's Aunt Timmy and cousin Betty in Rogers AR; on to visit our Midland friends, Jim and Norma Webb, who have a home on Lake Ouachita outside of Hot Springs. We will be joined by Glenn and Louan Rogers...and we will not lack for conversation or laughter--I am eager to once again be sitting on their deck looking at the beautiful Arkansas scenery and just totally relaxing. We leave them on Tuesday and go to another friend's home, this time on Lake Hamilton. Kelly was a high school student in our first parish, and now is a physician in Hot Springs--he and Jerry have some fishing planned, I know! On Wednesday, we drive to Branson to meet Carla for two nights, celebrate her birthday, see a show or two, visit Silver Dollar City, and head home on the 28th. This morning we were blessed by attending the Wichita City-wide Prayer Breakfast - a sold-out event, where we heard Jim Shaus (Athletic Director at Wichita State) give his testimony; heard our mayor, Carlos Mayans, give his testimony of coming to this country as a child, being separated from his siblings and placed in a variety of foster homes, and knowing Jesus as his personal Saviour; and the treat of listening to Micheal Flaherty, co-founder and president of Walden Media, who feels called to serve Christ through his vision of fusing entertainment and education in an attempt to get people of all ages to read--and just co-produced the Narnia movie (and two earlier ones, "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "Holes.") It was a dynamic way to start this glorious day. Love and hugs to all of you. We'll be back in touch after our vacation. Mary

Tornado Season in Kansas - Last weekend we spent a couple of days at the Buford's ranch in the Flint Hills - it was absolutely gorgeous..but it is tornado season. We were assured by our host that the basement is not just a tornado-shelter but tornado-proof and that was comforting..but most exciting was to watch the clouds and wind as the weather pattern rolled through, and marvel at the mysteries of nature! I am glad to say that we did not experience a tornado, and we were able to sleep peacefully by the time bedtime rolled around. But oh did the wind blow - one day the lake was whitecapping from the south, and the next day it was whitecapping in the opposite direction. But by Saturday we were able to have three hours on the lake in the boat chasing the elusive fish that were apparently just laughing at the fisherman in the boat! We are both a year older now - and enjoyed the birthday week very much, and hearing from many of you..thanks! On Sunday afternoon, I came downstairs getting ready to go to the Women's Tea at Eastminster and literally walked right by Carla sitting at the dining room table without even noticing! What a surprise! So our world was considerably brightened by her presence--it was a treat to take her to the tea and be able to introduce her to many of our new friends in the church. And then her Dad took us to Abuelos for dinner, which topped off a wonderful birthday. We are taking the afternoon off to drive to Enid and have tea with our dear friends, Jane and Garry Munger, this afternoon...then a bite of supper with friend Pat Mundy, and we will come back this evening. Its amazing we are only two hours away - living in Midland all those years gave me the mind-set that everything is 300 miles away..and I find there are places in this world where that is simply not true! Amazing! May the meaning of this Holy Week be close to your heart this week, as we walk with Jesus on these last few days of His life. What a gift! Hallelujah! Love, Mary and Jerry

Spring is here - and DST as well!

Dear Friends, Some of you were reading earlier blogs and prayed for Jo when she was taking her Level III Interpreter exam (once again!). If you don't read her own blog, which is linked to ours, I'll share her latest entry because she has achieved her goal, and we are so proud of her: FROM JO:I have (finally) attained my Level III Interpreter Certification in the state of Texas! This certification has been a long process and I have taken the test several times. I am very proud to be a Level III!! More importantly, I'm very grateful to my Interpreter friends and mentors and those Deaf people that have helped me to grow in the language. This Certification is a big deal for me! :-) and I am VERY happy! < :o) Its an absolutely glorious day in Wichita. Jerry has been attending a committee meeting for Tres Rios Presbytery. While he was out of town, my friend Nancy Rabe from Marshall MO came over. We have had a glorious 48 hours girls-time, which included some fun shopping and exploring in Wichita; a trip to Yoder KS which is an Amish and Mennonite community to view their spectacular quilt showing, shop in quaint and unusual shops and eat delicious food at the Carriage Crossing restaurant; dine out in Wichita; and talk, talk, talk! Once again its been a blessing to be in Wichita, which is close enough to Marshall for us to have seen each other at least three times already this year. This month they leave for their summer home in northern Wisconsin and we leave Wichita - but distance doesn't bother friendships like ours. Our intention was to do some serious quilting while we visited, but guess what? It NEVER happened! Its been wonderful to receive responses from so many of you on our new blog location. Thank you ever so much. This is truly much easier to handle than our AOL journal (for me as well as for you) so we will keep it up. Our winter didn't amount to much in Wichita, and that has been my only disappointment this year - and its such a small disappointment! The pear trees are all in bloom, including the little one pictured with ice on it a couple of blogs ago, and the city looks beautiful. We have lots of things left to do and see in Wichita during the next few months as well as a vacation trip to Arkansas after Easter, so these days will fly by, I know. We appreciate your continued prayers for our Pastor Nominating committee (PNC) as they work on their refined list of candidates for this pulpit. Carla is at Young Christians Weekend (YCW) at Silver Dollar City today - and what a great day to be doing that. The Ozarks must be gorgeous--I hope the redbuds and the dogwood are out for her. SDC is one of our family's favorite places (of course--its in the Ozarks!) and we've spent many wonderful days at the City including a lot of YCW. The Herschend family, who created SDC, are strong Christians (one is a Presbyterian elder), and early on brought in Young Life folks to work with their staff at the City. They have a great ministry in that area. Please plan to spend a day there, if you are ever in the area. Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead tonight..and have a blessed Lord's Day! Love, Mary and Jerry

Treasured Possession!

I know - the Bible tells us not to lay up treasures on earth - but Jerry does have a new treasure that he wants me to share with you! Two of the families in our congregation at Eastminster raise ostriches. I think I shared with you that we were treated to a dinner of ostrich steak at one of their homes - and it was yummy. These two gentlemen wanted to Jerry to have a pair of cowboy boots made from their ostriches, and you can see the results! We used to refer to Jerry as "the grandest tiger in the jungle" when he wore his exquisite needle-pointed clerical stoles. Now that he is retired (?), we will call him that when he dons his wonderful leather/beaded jacket his daughters gave him for Christmas in 2004 along with his new ostrich boots. Jerry and Carla have a bet with Jo that she cannot go an entire year without purchasing a pair of shoes. If she succeeds, they have each promised to buy her a pair of shoes in London next December. (See Jo's blog re "shoes".) So, Jo - eat your heart out when you see your Dad's new boots! If you want to receive an email from me letting you know when I have made a new entry to this website, just send me an email or a comment and let me know. If you make a comment to this posting, please do so as "other" rather than "anonymous" so I will know who you are! Thanks, and love.... Mary

An experiment this time!

A few of you have had trouble accessing our blog on aol...so I am going to try using a different site for our journals. Will you please let me know if you have received this? If you got the aol blog yesterday, you need not read on any further! Please remove the aol address from your "favorites" (for you did put it in there, didn't you?) and put this address in. Thanks for your faithfulness. Love, Mary March 20th - first day of Spring It certainly doesn't look like it, does it? We have new landscaping in front of our apartment, and our new little tree has looked like this! Right now I am waiting for the rain/sleet to turn to snow, which we have been promised by mid-afternoon, and perhaps a little touch of winter before spring actually begins. I will enjoy it - even if no one else does! Its been a busy month...we were able to spend a few days at the Buford's ranch again, with weather nice enough to do some fishing from their new pontoon boat...made a trip to Yoder, which is a Mennonite community near Hutchinson and ate at their local cafe which was absolutely delicious...I just returned home from several days in Kansas City, where I helped Carla redecorate her office for the first couple of days and then participated in a hammered dulcimer workshop--it was invigorating and challenging and I am so glad I went...lots of new things to work on. (I am definitely a slow learner!) Its spring break in Wichita - I had been told that lots of folks would be gone from the church, but I drove in from KC just in time for the 3rd service yesterday and there were parking places all over the place available to me! It was a small but enthusiastic group of worshippers. Needless to say, our community is most excited about our Wichita Shockers who have now advanced to the Sweet 16. On Thursday, when they were defeating the #2 seed, I thought I should call my husband to let him know how well the game was going, knowing that he was at the office slaving away. WRONG! He was cheering when he answered the phone! Seems they put the game on the big screen TV in the Youth Center, gathered quite a crowd of both staff and church folks, and indulged in pizzas while they cheered on the Shockers. So much for his work load! Our church family is doing a 365 Day Adventure with the Bible...you can follow along with us on our website, if you care to join us! (eastminster.org) We began the first Sunday of Lent - it's exciting to know how many folks have accepted the challenge and joined in with us. If you do check it out, please listen to the Bible reader, Max McLean, reading the daily scriptures - I am very taken with his voice and interpretation of the scriptures. He is an amazing reader. Please keep on praying for our Associate Pastor's wife, Carol Oppreicht, as she does battle with breast cancer. She is presently at Mayo's in Rochester for a second opinion, but also had developed a serious infection, so the reconstruction work that had been done at the time of the double mastectomy was undone, and she will be on IV antibiotics for about two more weeks. Hopefully they will return home later this week. We all appreciate your prayers. Jerry and I are excited that the PNC is now seriously considering three candidates for the position. Please lift them all up in prayer that God will lead them to the RIGHT person for this congregation. Its been a challenging and fulfilling nine months in this church family - and we look forward to returning home to Midland. Love and hugs, Mary