Back from Monterrey

Enchanting Saltillo with its crooked streets and lots of roses was a refreshing visit to wrap up a week of ministry. We met with women leaders in that town in the evening.
The retreat high in the mountains above Monterrey was our first adventure. We stayed in log cabins with fireplaces! The warmth from the many women welcoming us increased as we studied the Word of God together, sang worship songs together and shared many meals of beans and tortillas. We relished laughing together as we acted out charades and riding the "foofy" swing
(a cable swing ride).
Sunday we attended a new church plant in a suburb of Monterrey. The pastor and his wife were both CPA's called into the ministry of this small congregation. This new church had a mercy ministry to an orphanage called Casa Hogar which we visited on Monday. Our team had a dinner of delicious handmade tamales in the dramatic, beautiful home of Ruth and Andreas Gazara. They were both architects that had also felt called to ministry. Their hospitable family
showered us with gifts, good food and fellowship. What a joy to break bread together!

Remembering Jack Hanson

"The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23 v.1

"Praise the Lord...He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, He counts the number of stars;He calls them all by name." from Psalm 147

When we go through unbearable heartache, it is comforting to be reminded that the Creator of the Universe knows our pain and stoops to bandage our hurts.
Jack Hanson has been a friend of mine since I was a child. We grew up in the same church, went to the same catechism classes, and same youth group. Our parents were friends, our sisters were friends and he married a friend of mine.
God blessed him with a beautiful wife, Clairann and two lovely daughters, Emily and Naomi.
I enjoyed their great hospitality when I would visit Minnesota in the summer time. Henry played broomball on ice with Jack in the winter time when we lived in Minnesota during residency.

Jack had a great laugh that always started with a twinkle in his eye. He loved to show me his great finds from making the Saturday rounds of garage sales. He was a collector but also a talented artist in many mediums. But most of all he was a faithful husband and father.

We were surprised when God called him home last Friday.
It seems too soon...yet You tells us You know our frame..the number of our days and promise "Your right hand shall hold me."(Psalm 139)
Thank you, Father, for blessing us with a friend like Jack!

Samson's Surprise

Winter weather has settled on the mountain. We still have snow covering our deck from a Monday snowstorm. With temperatures below freezing all week, there has been no melting.
I took our two dogs for our daily walk on the wooded trails close to our home. Samson, our enormous, chocolate lab bounded over to his favorite pond planning on a quick dip in the cold water. Instead, his paws split apart and his bottom slid across the ice, almost like a scene from Bambi...only a much larger dark brown mass. Our nephew, Micah says Samson looks like a walrus!
It gave me a giggle to watch his surprise...an unexpected opportunity to try skating.

Granny B is 94 Today!

This is Jane Bowers' 94th Birthday! Jane has served the Lord Jesus faithfully for many,many years and we know she looks forward to joining Him and her loved ones in heaven. But at the moment she is unable to speak or sit up after a stroke in November. Yet there is a peace that comes from..."Blessed is the man that fears the Lord...(her) heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD!" That is from Psalm 112 and it is underlined in Jane's Bible. So she is still speaking to us through her deep faith that delighted in the LORD!

Relationships and Fellowship in Mexico

God has opened the door for me to travel to Monterrey and Saltillo, Mexico the third week of February. I really thought Henry and I would return to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and work in the HIV clinic again. But the doors did not open and then Sandy Hartley invited me to join 7 other women who are planning a retreat for Mexican pastors' wives. We will be in rustic cabins in the mountains and enjoy music, testimonies and fellowship. Then we plan to travel 40 miles south to another town for a women's conference. We are thankful for this opportunity and appreciate everyone's prayers!