In 2007-2008 we had moved to Ohio to a ministry south of Zanesville, OH in Zion. We loved the people and the ministry and I especially enjoyed the little back porch where I had my swing (a gift from my parents). The porch was in the shade almost the whole day and I spent many hours crocheting and reading. I also started my “Chats With the Pastor’s Wife” on this site.

We often corresponded with Lily and she was very faithful to write, send birthday wishes and prayers for us and our ministry.

One afternoon the phone rang in the parsonage and it was Lily. She was excited and asking us if we thought we would be interested in a job that was available at the little retirement Village where she lived and where we had called on her many times.

The job consisted of an opening for a “sitter” at the village there in Michigan and she described it as “being responsible for setting up and managing the emergency phone system. which included our housing in exchange for our services”. This necessitated our having a key to access the apartments of the residents in times of emergency.

We were happy where we were in Ohio and loved the folk there and had no thoughts of leaving there and so we thanked Lily and told her that we would pray about it and that we would get back with her soon.

Ken and I talked it over and prayed about it and had pretty much decided to turn it down. and dismissed it from our minds and a short time. Then we began to think that we should consult with our children. We really did not wish to retire from the ministry but we also realized that it was quite a hardship for the children to come so far to visit us and they were concerned about our advancing years and some health issues that Ken was having at the time.

We the children an email asking for their advice and in no time we received emails back from them all saying that they felt it would be a nice thing for us and it would be a somewhat central location for them to come to visit us and visa versa. Prior to our moving to Ohio they had all let it be know that if we every needed a place to stay we were welcome in their homes.

We contacted Lily and she put us in touch with the management. After a few interviews on the phone, our back ground checks, an agreement that we would be available pretty much around the clock, and that we would want to be able to be free to attend church twice on Sundays and prayer meeting on Wednesday nights we set up an appointment to be interviewed. We were hired and arrangements were made for us to move in July 2008.

We began sorting our belongings, threw away or gave away many of our treasured items since we would be moving to a one bedroom apartment in the village. When we arrived we had to rent a storage place because to still had too much “stuff”. Over a period of a month we were able to persuade some of the children to take some things off our hands and fit a few things into the apartment.

The day after we moved in we were scheduled to go with the providers of the “alert phone system” and show us how to program them. I stayed in the apartment while Ken ran when with the service man and each time the program one of forty phones the phone would ring in the apartment which I would answer to confirm that it was working. In the intervening times about every 10-20 minutes I was trying to get settled and unpacked.

Of course we were all happy because her apartment was right across the street from ours.

Many times while we lived there we were able to go over and visit and have a time of prayer and devotion with Lily… I often would pray with or sing to her.

While we worked there we also had opportunity to volunteer our services distributing the monthly and quarterly commodities (which got to be quite a job in itself), I loved doing it as far as the paperwork and interaction and friendship with the other volunteers but it was way to hard on me physically.

Also, when the alert phones rang in our apartment we would respond and determine whether an ambulance was needed. We were not required to help them physically but at times it would be something that we could do for them (such as their phone needed maintenance or their was a strange sound in the apartment) and often serious emergency needs which required our calling 911 and open the apartment for them to enter. We helped with holiday meals for the residents and I also worked for a time in the office answering the phone.

Being there for 22 months we met a lot of dear folk and established some lasting friendships and of course found the need to pray for many of them and considered it an honor to pray for them and do little errand or acts of love as you would in any neighborhood.

We were especially concerned for one lady who was very limited and had many needs We tried to be neighborly and encouraging to her and we were also concerned because she needed the Lord in her life. I would stop in and Ken would check on her often to make sure that she was o.k., since she had fallen several times and was not able to help herself.

I volunteered to start a Bible Study in the community room and several of the ladies attended. One of the ladies (Jenny) who attended the Bible study was a member of the South Litchfield Baptist Church and they were in need of someone to preach for them while looking for a pastor. She knew that Ken preached at several surrounding churches to fill in for area pastors. She gave the pulpit committee Ken’s number and we were contacted. and in September of 2009 he filled the pulpit for the first time and several times after that until January when they asked him to be interim pastor.

During this time Lily’s health was deteriorating rapidly and her family made the decision to begin to make the arrangements to move her to a nursing home in the Fort Wayne area where she would be closer to her son.

As things progressed at the church they decided to call Ken as their pastor and he gave his notice at the village and Lily moved to Fort Wayne about one week before we moved to the parsonage.

The one lady that we tried to help and prayed much for was moved recently to a nursing home and when we heard of it Ken began including her in his calls to the nursing homes.

This past Tuesday, when he called on her after three years of prayers she trusted Christ as her personal Savior sweetly praying in her own words to receive Christ.

The Lord used Doris who was concerned for her brother’s spiritual needs and prayed and asked the pastor to call on him.

Donald & Lily trusted Christ because of those faithful prayers and concern.

God used Lily to be instrumental to bring us back to this area, in His wisdom he used Jenny to share with the pulpit committee of our availability and now here we are involved in the ministry to which he has obviously lead us.

We have had the privilege of ministering with this dear congregation for two years since Ken first filled the pulpit until now and we have grown to love them. We are so happy in the service of the King and so thankful for his wonderful provision of a place to serve him.

Wait on the LORD… He is in control and knows so well what is best for each of us. Thank you Lord.

ISAIAH 40:31

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

I Thessalonians 5:17
“Pray without ceasing”

Still Singing His Praise – PROVERBS 2:3-5 “If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”

This is my choice of Scripture for 2011…. and my song is “Higher Ground”

Each New Year, as many do, I like to think about what I want to happen in my life.

The Lord has burdened me for the lost and I would love to win some souls to HIM this year…..

I have selected the above Scriptures and Hymn for part of my goals for this year.

There are so many around us who need the LORD in their lives. Even some who profess Christ as their Saviour, yet deep in their hearts they know that they need to draw closer to HIM and be more faithful and obedient to HIM.

Are you reading the Word of God every day and are you praying for guidance every hour of the day? Are you attending a church where the Word of God is preached faithfully?

My personal desire is to point others to Christ. Either to introduce them to the LORD or help those who know him to grow and love serving HIM daily in a way the they too will ultimately win others to HIM.

Perhaps you have stress or anxieties that you deal with and that gets in the way of your faithfulness and obedience to God.

Let me pray for you. Leave a comment.

Those who are reading this and know the LORD, please pray with me concerning lost souls and that I may win those with whom I come in contact.

I do not want to put a number down because I do not want to limit myself nor the work of the Holy Spirit in lives.

So, I am praying for many lives to be brought to a saving knowledge of Christ or a closer walk with HIM in 2011 because of my witness.

NOW DON’T PUT THIS IN A HIDING PLACE
SO YOU CAN’T FIND IT IN A HURRY
OR YOU WILL LOSE THAT PRETTY BUTTON
AND CAUSE LOTS OF WORRY.

IF YOU PUT IT ON A LITTLE SHELF
OR HANG IT UP SOMEWHERE
YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO LOOK AGAIN
FOR A NEEDLE FOR REPAIRS.

SO AS I SEND THIS LITTLE GIFT
I PRAY THAT YOU WILL KNOW
THAT THE WORD OF GOD NEEDS TO BE
IN A PLACE WHERE IT WILL SHOW

THEN WHEN YOU HAVE A SPECIAL NEED
YOU’LL KNOW RIGHT WHERE TO LOOK
TO SEEK WISDOM FROM ABOVE
AND FIND PEACE IN THE “BOOK”.

ISAIAH 26:3 – 4
“HE WILL KEEP IN PERFECT PEACE
ALL THOSE WHO TRUST IN HIM,
WHOSE THOUGHTS TURN OFTEN
TO THE LORD.
TRUST IN THE LORD GOD ALWAYS,
FOR IN THE LORD JEHOVAH IS
YOUR EVERLASTING STRENGTH.” LB
by Jane A Pierpont 8-27-10

“TRUE HAPPINESS AND PEACE
DO NOT EXIST APART FROM GOD”
(I wrote this little poem to give with the “Thimble Hats” that I crochet for my dear friends. See the link on this site. http://jane.wpatch.com/2008/11/17/crocheted-thimble-hat-needle-holder/)

THE CONTEST IS FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS… JUST FOR FUN… THIS IS ONE OF THE TROPHIES…A LITTLE CROCHETED SNOW ANGEL…PLEASE SEND YOUR ENTRIES TO MY EMAIL..

The contest will continue until the last snow in the spring 2009                         

Our furniture is fairly well placed, thanks to our children and grand-children and their commitment to help us with their youth and strong backs. We still have somethings in storage which we are struggling to fit in or part with. This is probably the most difficult thing right now.

We are praying for the Lord to direct us to a place to worship and serve Him. Though we are retired we still have a great desire to be faithful in His service as He gives us strength

We had the privilege of visiting the First Baptist Church of Litchfield, MI which is right in the center of our little city and we were truly blessed in the services.

We were blessed today by the ministry of a missionary who was home on furlough. Eric Schrock, who was raised in the church, with his wife Lily (a native Romanian) and their little girl, presented their slide presentation of their ministry in the Sunday School hour and preached a strong message on “Counterfeit Christianity” in the evening service.

We are praying for God’s direction and wisdom in the future days.

We claim the promise “….All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Isn’t God good.

I close tonight with a hymn we sang in the service today.

“I’d Rather Have Jesus”

Yes, when we were young and first started out in the ministry I loved the “Adventures in Moving” including the U-Haul truck or trailer, seeing how the Lord provided little things for us like reaching into the curtain boxes and finding just the right type and color of curtains for the right number of windows in each room. The joy of meeting new friends in Christ and new avenues of ministry. Yet, missing the ministry and friend of the previous work

This Sunday with tears we shared with our people here that we believe it has come time for us to retire and move to a small retirement village in Michigan, not to far from our previous ministry at Jonesville, where we believe the Lord has opened up a place.
The people were so sweet and understanding and encouraging.

Ken will be a key person on the night shift in exchange for our housing in a very nice small apartment. It has recently been completely redecorated with all new appliances. It is just across the street from one of our sweet ladies that Ken and I have called on, who attended the Jonesville church until she became house bound. She is the person who referred us to the job there at the Friendship Village in Litchfield, MI.

At this stage in our life now, this is definitely not what we would call “Adventures in Moving” even though we are still using the tried and true biggest white truck they have.
I just pray that we can get all of our saved treasures tucked into our little place.

Now we are at it again and this time it is a different step in our lives. Scaling down again and parting with dear treasures gained in fifty years of ministry. The treasures consist of four file cabinets of sermon materials, pamphlets and articles in his “Memory-O-Matic” file system (before the computer age). for Ken and two files of music, teaching materials, flannel-graph materials and a five drawer “Simplicity” file of crafts and cassette accompaniment tapes and two three drawer “McCall’s files of yarn and sewing supplies (used in my sewing business) complete with an upholstered board on top for a cutting table, and five sewing machines. Between the two of us Ken and I have seven bookcases with approximately 1,500 books.

I donated my two commercial sewing machine prior to our last move to the Wycliffe Bible translators in Florida where Ken’s brother Bill and his wife, Billie ministered for the past few years)

Today both of us went through our closets and tried to be realistic and parted with a lot of clothes which in the past we felt we could not do with out.

Several times I would take an item and put in in the trash, take it out, put it in the pile for a charitable organization, take it out again. One such item was a sweet little plaque that the pastor’s grandson had given me at the Christian school where we taught, with eight adorable baby kittens in decoupage on a little piece of wood. That little boy grew to be a teenager and was struck and killed by a truck while mowing the lawn. I have treasured that little plague for years and of course there are many more things just like that, so hard to let go.

But, our greatest treasures we do not have to let go. The wonderful memories of our ministry and the dear friends we have from Oklahoma, Kansas, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana to Michigan.

In all of our years of ministry there has never been a time when we have been without.

Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Our precious Lord has met our every need and many of our wants. There is not enough ink to write all the wonderful joys and heartaches of the ministry, the strength that the Lord gives through hardship and trials, the wonderful joy of leading someone to the saving knowledge of Christ as Savior and seeing the Saints grow in grace and knowledge of their faith.

My prayer today is, as we are trying to accept our limitations of increasing age and decreasing health that we will have a sweet spirit of love for one another and those to whom the Lord allows us to minister in our everyday lives. That we will not use that weakness as an excuse to become bitter or lax in our total commitment to You and that we will honor You in all that we do.

Amen

Yesterday, we attended the memorial service for a young man who took his own life…

My heart aches for the dear parents, siblings, friends and acquaintances.

The preacher was an uncle of the young man and did a superb job as he attempted to help us all to deal with such a difficult situation.

One of the first things he said was, “I can see satan’s finger prints are all over this situation.” “It is a WAR right here.” “Satan is telling us it is our fault, that we failed in some way. We should have done this or that. We could have been a better parent, friend, Sunday school teacher, pastor, etc.”

I personally was especially reminded of the fact that “satan, the Prince of the Power of the Air”

Ephesians 2:2 (KJV)

“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

is truly doing all that he can to cause Christians to doubt, for young people to make wrong choices as they begin to make their own decisions.

I see it in the Church- satan wants to cause us to get our minds off the Saviour and to cause us to find fault and complain and whine. I have seen it in the past in our ministries and others. The church that is in the building program and excited about the growth of the ministry will become attacked by satan to cause the people to disagree and fuss. The choir that is “Singing His Praise” may began to have devisions,.. why doesn’t the choir leader give me a lead part? Why are the practices so long? I don’t like to wear robes! He is singing off key. You name it… satan does it and our song is lost.

Oh what a joy it is to see people serving the Lord faithfully and keeping their minds on the Saviour, no mater what.

Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.”

Lord, Help me to keep my mind on YOU and your will and make a difference in the lives of those around me. Lord, help me to not be critical or judgmental and help me to remember to Pray more for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Father, help us all to have victory over satan’s tricks and attempts to steal our JOY.

Yes, I know that ‘satan’ is a proper name, but I have a hard time giving him that honor, yet I truly believe he is real and alive today in our homes and churches.

I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: ”

“Oh,Victory In Jesus”