God spoke
a word deeply into my heart in our first years in Lexington: My grace is like
an umbrella, not a raincoat. It goes over me and may not prevent the rain from
touching me. If I move out from under the umbrella and try to get ahead for
fear of the rain, I will get soaked.” Ethan drew the following picture to illustrate!
This
first year in Lexington included a tornado. There had been three tornados in my
life now: the first in Nepal that tore up the mango grove and tore off the roof
of our house. The second was my dream about the tornado that went through the
school and divided it. And the third happened in our rented duplex, with broken
windows, uprooted trees and much loss in the neighborhood. I’m grateful Father
is with us in the midst of life’s tornados too.
Other tornados
during this year included our son too. Jonathan was struggling with many areas
of life. He turned 16 in April. He was a joy to our hearts, but it hurt to
see him wrestling with God and wanting his own way. We made a contract with him
for life in the household—rules he helped create with consequences he helped
create. These were effective for peace in the household, but not in his
heart. We later learned of the full
impact of the turmoil in his heart. It was during this time that “I began to
release Jonathan and my mothering and all that didn’t get taught. It was a
death to my vision, but not God’s…. Except
a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it can’t bring forth wheat.” We now have a wonderful relationship with our much-loved son and see him and Barry often.
Jenny was
about to turn 14 and it was time to get medical help for her jaw and nose bone.
She had to wear a mask appliance, but it didn’t help. I wrote, “Jenny has been
so brave and cheerful in this all—an example to me and others.” That summer
Jenny had the opportunity to go to Oklahoma to visit Alison, her best friend
there. I wrote, “There’s an empty spot without her, but I’m glad she has the chance
to do this and receive what God has for her in it all.” She was there for two
weeks.
During
the spring, in the middle of the night, Bill also had a grand mal seizure. This was the second one he’d had
in six years. Dow talked to me on the phone until Orv and Nan came over to help
while he was unconscious. Then he saw a doctor who “ran some tests and found he
has ‘calcified granulomas’ on his brain, probably from parasitic infections as
a child. We are at rest that what God is doing is good, and wait to see all He
has in it. Bill has begun medication and hasn’t been feeling well"
One more
big change-- a new house! We found a lovely home and was approved for the loan
that summer. Dear friend Mary Fleming moved from Oklahoma to be with us and
found a house up the street from us. And Dow and Lois found a new house just
another block away. These were all close to my sister and her family, and Judy
McCullough. It was great being near so many people we loved.
That
summer we also had the joy of spending a week with Dow and Lois in
Pennsylvania. Lois’ brother had a cabin in the mountains so we sent to rest and
every morning Dow sat and taught us from God’s Word about the nature of God the
Father, Son and Spirit. It was a memorable and deep privilege to have that time
together in such a quiet and peaceful place. Isaac's rendition of the cabin and Bill. Lois is at the top. We also found a rustic bridge over a river for me to sit on!
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| Bill replacing a rotted step |
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| The bridge rustic |
Meanwhile
I was busy working on more children’s primers. By the time I’d finished, there
were 8 sets of books, three different grade levels (K-2) with different wonderful illustrators, and many schools,
teachers, and kids, here and overseas, finding them a blessing. The Secret Keys was my favorite set, the story of two kids (Jon and Jenny) who go on treasure hunts to find 12 secret keys as character qualities, each with a unique shape that together form a heart.
I also
had some more prophetic dreams, though I knew it not. “In one dream we were
experiencing a year of great joy and blessing and then sent out into the
darkness, with others, bearing lights. In another dream we were in a car
touring beautiful countryside, then the ride ended and it was dark and our car
lights were the only light as we went further on, leaving the place of blessing
and light.” I was also given a word from the Lord I didn’t understand, as we
had just moved: “The next move will be to Mobile.” There was no apprehension in
the word and even excitement I didn’t understand. Little did I know that word would
come to pass over five years later. “We shared the word with Dow and Lois and
they didn’t laugh, but seriously received it. It is God who moves us on in His
purposes and time.” God has always been so faithful to us. How grateful I am to Him and to the man in this picture. We just celebrated 48 years of marriage--50 years of knowing each other. God is so good.
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| One or two years have passed since this picture was taken but we're still happily in love. |
