Geezers Give Back - Leona

I love how people in our generation are beginning to find ways to give back to the next generations. This article highlights some interesting stories. I love the last line of the article:

If more people take on encore careers, he says, “The boomers who arrived on the scene by igniting a sexual revolution could leave by staging a give-back revolution. Boomers just may be remembered more for what they did in their 60s than for what they did in the Sixties.”

Read the article here!

El Salvador revisited - Terry

Where do I start to write about my recent trip to El Salvador to visit the village of San Diego de Tenango? So many memories. I find it difficult to process at this point in my journey. I felt the same after a visit to the same village last year. My brain and heart fills to capacity, and I need some time to let the joys and sorrows sink in. Our main purpose in visiting is to build relationships with the people. We do some physical labor, working with the people, but mostly we are challenged to work on relationships. Our village has had an ongoing relationship with Agros and UPC for 6 years now. But it has been the last 3 teams (July 07, January 08, and July 08) that have seen an opening up of the villagers to us. Many of our team members were now on their second visit to the village. We have one member who has visited this same village 5 times now. The villagers are beginning to trust us and seek us out during our visit. And we find commonality in the hopes, dreams, worries that we all share as humans.

I have always noticed that returning missionaries show slide after slide of people. I confess I have often found myself slightly bored, waiting for the pictures of scenery, houses, animals, flowers. But anyone with a heart for missions soon realizes that the faces of the people are the pull on the heartstrings of the caring. I give you faces from San Diego de Tenango .

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Comments, please!

Before I started blogging, I rarely, if ever, left a comment on a blog I was reading. Now that I'm blogging, I have started commenting elsewhere, because I know the bloggers love getting comments. We know you are out there reading our blog, as many of you have commented to us personally and we have a stat counter! But we would love to hear from you personally and see what you like or don't like about what we are writing. Please feel free to add your comments -- it's easy and fun! If you'd like to send us blog ideas, you can email us at graceandgravityblog(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @). If you're new to our blog, please go back and read our first post so that you understand our reasons for blogging. Terry

(photo by Morbit Photography, Flickr)

Moldova revisited - Leona

Nearly 20 years ago I met Terri B2 in Bellingham. We shared a common interest in serving older adults and worked together on many projects in Whatcom County.

But what makes our friendship so special is that we also share a faith journey. We participated in a small group of midlife women that we called "Sisters of Grace."

When the opportunity to minister in Moldova came up I knew that Terri just had to go with me! Here is her account as published in The Bellingham Herald this weekend.

Colonoscopy - the joys of aging - Terry

If you've ever had a colonoscopy, are about to have one, or know that you really should get that done, you will get a big laugh out of Dave Barry's description if his experience. Here's a quote from the end of the article:

Which brings us to you, Mr. or Mrs. or Miss or Ms. Over-50-And-Hasn't-Had-a-Colonoscopy. Here's the deal: You either have colo-rectal cancer, or you don't. If you do, a colonoscopy will enable doctors to find it and do something about it. And if you don't have cancer, believe me, it's very reassuring to know you don't. There is no sane reason for you not to have it done.

I am so eager for you to do this that I am going to induce you with an Exclusive Limited Time Offer. If you, after reading this, get a colonoscopy, let me know by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to Dave Barry Colonoscopy Inducement, The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132. I will send you back a certificate, signed by me and suitable for framing if you don't mind framing a cheesy certificate, stating that you are a grown-up who got a colonoscopy. Accompanying this certificate will be a square of limited-edition custom-printed toilet paper with an image of Miss Paris Hilton on it. You may frame this also, or use it in whatever other way you deem fit.

But even if you don't want this inducement, please get a colonoscopy. If I can do it, you can do it. Don't put it off. Just do it.

I speak from my vast experience as a person who had TWO colonoscopies last year and gets to have another this year -- you WILL get through it! DO IT! (I'm fine, really, just some sadistic medical person wanted me to have something to write about).

Riding the buses - Terry

I have been fascinated by people riding on buses since the days in Phoenix when I rode the bus downtown daily to a summer job. There was an old, wrinkled man who smelled of pickles and I made up stories about him in my head. It turned out he really did work at a pickle factory, and his real life was probably much more colorful than my stories. And just the other day as I rode the bus in Seattle, I thought to myself that one could certainly see a lot of the city by riding the buses from starting point to the end of the line.

So I was surprised to read this article in the Seattle Times. This man was looking for a way to spend his time (and his wife was looking for a way to get him out of the house). He chose to ride the city buses, starting with number one and working his way up through Seattle's buses, seeing the city in its entirety, meeting interesting people, and filling his days with unique experiences. I thought this deserved our attention as this man has found a way to add inexpensive experiences to his life as a retiree.
(Photo by Andreas Solberg, Flickr)

The coffee shop - Leona

Once in awhile, when I tire of the quiet of my home office, I venture down to the local coffee shop. It’s upscale with all of the possible coffee-drink combinations imaginable.

An interesting clientele hangs out there: Midlife persons meeting for their triple-shot, hazelnut lattes, no foam. And small tables of retired men in baseball caps enjoying the freedom found in sharing a mid-afternoon cup of decaf-drip-no flavors.

I’m always fascinated to hear the predictable conversations: real estate prices, diets, surgeries, politics, and always—always—discussions about un-reconciled relationships between adult children and their parents.

Today the old guys at the table were lamenting about how little they heard from their children.

“Makes you just want to spend all your money before you die,” said one.“Not leave an inheritance.”
“Problem is, you don’t know when you’re gonna die,” said another.
“I’ve decided I’m going to carry a bullet and a cyanide capsule in my pocket—and when I’m tired of living or run out of money, I’ll just end it all,” said a third man. “Only thing is, with my luck, I’ll be so demented, I’ll swallow the bullet and shoot the cyanide.”

We laugh, we cry, we try to deny, but the realities of the generations colliding is around us.

Makes one wonder about how many un-reconciled relationship there are out there. Or in my life.
(Photo by Joel Bedford, Flickr)

Stuff - Getting rid of books - Terry

My mom is trying to get rid of some of her stuff and since her books are among her prized possessions, this is a difficult task. I, too, love books, and have had a major shift in my thinking over the past several years. I used to say that a book wasn't worth reading unless there were things in it I could underline and quote. But I have changed my ways now that I've joined the Paperback Swap. I don't have enough room to keep my own personal library and so was looking for a way to get rid of my beloved books. For awhile, I gathered them and sold them at a local book store, using the in-store credit to buy still more books.

But with the growth of the internet, getting rid of a favorite book doesn't mean it's gone forever. You can always buy or swap it back, if you need it again. I listed many of my personal books on the swapping site, made a wish list of books I'd like to read, and it has been a great way to pass on books I've read, as well as get the books I'd like to read for very little cost. I don't spend money on new books now; I just list desired books on my wish list and wait until they are available. Then I use the points from the books I've swapped to get a new book. The only cost to me is the media rate cost for mailing the books I ship. I now have a pile of books, just waiting for me, where in the past I was always on the search for the next good book.

My husband has resisted this option for some time, but recently I convinced him that he can keep a list of those books he's sure he'll want to read again some day, and if he ever does want them, I'll just order them for him again. We don't underline in our books now; we copy things that we want to remember, so that our books can be sold back. Now if I underline in and keep a book, I know it is a very important book to me and will be saved.

By the way, you can also swap CDs and DVDs!

A Grandmother's Hands Revisited - Leona

I appreciated Donna's story about her hands. Mine look more like my
Grandmother's all of the time. I not only have the huge blue snake-
like veins, but I have brown freckles that are expanding into what
some have called "age spots." If I think about it too much I could
really feel embarrassed and depressed.

But recently I went to the zoo with my grandson and found my Grandma hands to be appendages of quiet and wonder. By staying very, very still and holding my hand quietly in front of him, a beautiful butterfly found a spot to visit. Neither my grandson nor the colorful butterfly cared about these tell-tale signs of age. In fact, my hand became a launch pad for an exquisite experience!

Stuff: Part One - Terry

“A home is like a reservoir equipped with a check valve. The valve permits influx but prevents outflow. Acquisition goes on day and night, smoothly, subtly, imperceptibly. I have no sharp taste for acquiring things, but it’s not necessary to desire them. Goods and chattel seek a man out. They find him even though his guard is up.” E. B. White, "Essays."

E. B. White is much better known for Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. But his essays are a delight and he starts our discussion of stuff so perfectly. I came across this quote in the middle of my last move and identified completely. The essay is hilarious, beginning like this:

"For some weeks now I have been engaged in dispersing the contents of this apartment, trying to persuade hundreds of inanimate objects to scatter and leave me alone. It is not a simple matter. I am impressed by the reluctance of one’s worldly goods to go out again into the world."

I brag about the fact that there is a box waiting to be filled and transported to Goodwill in my house at all times. I do seriously make a trip to Goodwill almost weekly, usually with a small box of belongings, but still we have too much stuff. I believe this is one of the big challenges of aging: How do we part with our stuff? And when do we part with our stuff? And who will have to do the work of parting with our stuff if we don't keep working at it?

I made a pact with myself several years ago to seriously begin to get rid of stuff. I had just stopped in at an estate sale, hoping to nab some good stuff, and was aghast to find an elderly woman's entire life laid out for the public to peruse. Our stuff loses it's value and has the possibility of this type of an end. When I came across a table displaying this woman's bras, I made a pact to begin getting rid of the things my children won't be needing or wanting. I can't promise that I've done a great job of fulfilling that pact, but I am working on it. Since my husband and I keep moving to smaller places, we have had to let things go, but we have not yet stopped accumulating, so the task remains.

Stay tuned for many parts to this thread on "stuff."

Sharing the Burden - Leona

On April 17, 2008, eleven of us boarded the plane to travel to Chisinau, Moldova! We were a team assembled to minister alongside of the pastors and people of Bethany Baptist Church. It was amazing to see how this group had come together – eight from Seattle, one from Bellingham, and two from Chicago. Our ages ranged from 47-82 and we were on a mission to minister to the older people whose needs had gripped our hearts.

I was excited to see how God was going to use us. I knew that the elderly in Moldova would feel loved and valued by this team. I also knew that the individuals traveling with us would never be the same. I had no idea what would become of this, but I knew it was the beginning of something revolutionary!

We took money, soup mix, new clothes, books and tons of art supplies. We wanted to share life and color in this gray land. We had the privilege of feeding old people, holding hands with infirmed, playing with street children, sharing communion with former communists, and best of all, listening to the stories of grace and survival.

We have returned determined to continue developing a relationship with these incredible people. Residents at two different retirement communities (Seattle and Chicago) are raising funds to help supply food for the hot lunch program. Our team members are sharing the story of their experiences. A small group is praying for direction for next steps.

We are looking at the calendar to see when we can go again.

Meanwhile the situation in Moldova is only growing worse for the elderly. News reports from June 17 indicate a growing desperation and hopelessness.
We must not quit.

Visiting Moldova - Leona

In May 2007 I made my first journey to Chisinau, Moldova. Accompanied by my husband and son, I saw for the first time what Leila had described to me. We found a once beautiful city marred by the effects of a corrupt government and a collapsed economy. We met a still beautiful people who loved their homeland but were beaten down by the daily struggle to find food and stay warm.

This former Soviet Union country is notably now the poorest country in Europe. Moldova’s children and elderly are oppressed and the middle aged and young are fleeing to other countries to find work. Young beautiful women are prime targets for human trafficking.

Amidst the overwhelming struggle for survival is a growing Christian movement. Churches are springing up all around the city and surrounding villages as people find love, hope and strength through a new relationship with Christ. One of these churches is Bethany Baptist in the Ciocano district of Chisinau. The pastors and people of this church have a heart for the people of its community, including the elderly.

While we were there the church held a special luncheon for the elderly in the community. It was like the ones they had done regularly before losing the funding. The grateful attendees were anxious to share their stories with us. We met women who showed us their bankbooks that once calculated a simple but growing retirement fund. Now the accounts were completely empty. They had lost everything in 1991 when the USSR collapsed. Their current pensions of $30-50 per month barely covered the cost of utilities, much less food and certainly not medicines or sufficient health care.

We vowed to bring their story back to the U.S. We promised that we would return and that somehow we would help feed the older people of Moldova. It was a calling we could not ignore.

An insight from El Salvador - Terry

This post was scheduled by me prior to my trip as I will have no internet access during this week (how will I survive?) As the leader of this year's trip, I have been immersed in information about our village, Agros, and El Salvador. On my first trip to the village, I noticed the quality of the houses. There is another Agros village nearby and that village has houses that were built by Habitat for Humanity. I wondered why our village hadn't gotten new houses and was hopeful that they would someday have that opportunity. Recently I heard that our village leaders chose to build their houses themselves out of bamboo and adobe for the following reasons:

1. Payback on Habitat homes begins immediately and they wanted to pay off their land first.
2. Wooden houses are hotter than mud and bamboo.
3. Wooden houses don't stop bullets. In an adobe house, the bullets gets lodged in the walls.

This is a huge lesson regarding our inability to totally comprehend what is needed and helpful when we come in as outsiders for a short "mission" trip. We who have never had to worry about war within our own boundaries have no idea what that would be like. I am humbled by my own naivity and open to learning more.

The Least, the Lost, the Left Behind - Leona

“Someday I will come and help you feed the old people in your country.”

They were words that flowed out of a heart deeply touched during a conversation with a young woman from the country of Moldova in Eastern Europe. Surprisingly, they were MY words! The moment they were uttered I knew my life would never be the same.

I had been asked to meet a young woman from Moldova named Leila. She was studying for a year at the University of Washington through the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program. She had expressed interest in understanding the systems of care for elderly persons in the U.S. and so a friend suggested she meet me. Of course, I was delighted to wax eloquent about the abundant options for eldercare and how I had been privileged to work in many of them.

Leila listened to me with interest and then her dancing eyes suddenly clouded with intense sadness. She began to tell me of the old people in Moldova who were starving because they do not have the money to buy food. Her church had offered a hot lunch program where they served soup and bread to some of the most vulnerable elders in their community. The church no longer had the funds to offer this and Leila felt sure that many were suffering as a result.

I have never felt such searing pain in my soul as I did during those moments. I have spent my life developing services and programs to meet the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of older people. The thought of elders starving to death was completely reprehensible.

I knew I needed to do something. And thus began my relationship with a tiny country called Moldova and the hungry grandmas and grandpas who needed food. That meeting with Leila was in February 2006. Little did I know where this conviction toward compassion would lead me. Read more in the days ahead.

Missions and Poverty - Terry

Lest you begin to think that we will only be writing about our aging bodies and the woes thereof, I wanted to start a new thread. This is about our shared interest in the area of poverty and what we as Christians can do in the world -- something we can do that will only be a small bandaid, but will at least be a step in the right direction.

If you watched Leona & Dick's film, you would have noticed that one of the doors that their seniors open is the door of missions. Both Leona and I have become deeply involved in a couple of mission endeavors. You will be hearing about them from us along the way. But I am about to leave for 8 days to visit a village in El Salvador. This is a village brought into being by Agros International. If you are interested in the work of Agros, please check out their website. I have been involved with Agros for several years now, first as a volunteer in the office and now as a person who cares deeply about a group of people in a small village in El Salvador called San Diego de Tenango. I visited this village last July and am co-leading a group that will return to the village this July. I am posting this on the day after my departure and can't wait to give updates of what we learned in the village on this trip.

What I learned last summer, however, is that there are people in many parts of the world who have so much less than we have, yet have more contentment than many of us ever achieve. Agros tells the story of a woman who suffered through many of the ravages of Civil War and lives a very simple life with no amenities as we define them. Yet, she stated that she had need of nothing and was happy and contented with what she had. That is the lesson for me.

I took this picture as we walked behind Rosalio, returning from planting cashew trees, in the hopes of getting the villagers beyond subsistence crops so that they could begin to pay back the loan from Agros for their land. In the end, they will own their land. I love this picture, mostly for what it brings to my mind. Please pray for our team of 14 members and for our experience in El Salvador.

Coming Monday!

Beginning Monday, please join us for a 5-day series on missions.

On mouse holes - Terry speaks

I suffer from the usual aging annoyance of marching into a room with great certainty and forgetting completely why I am there. I retrace my steps, hoping that something along the way will jog my memory and get me back on track. Or I hurry to my computer, sit down, and can’t remember what was so pressing that needed my immediate attention and 3 or 4 emails later, get up and remember that I was in the middle of a recipe. I go to the grocery store, leaving my list on the counter at home.

I am at a total loss to remember to bring my eco-friendly grocery bags into the store. We here in Washington are being hounded to bring our own grocery bags and I am dedicated to the idea. But the few times I have finally remembered and gone back to the car to pick up the bags, they were at home by the front door. I have requested a huge sign outside the grocery store saying: “Don’t forget your bags.” There is one store here that has done just that. Now I forget to read the sign.

If my husband takes a day off that isn’t his usual day off, I am out of sync all week. Two times last Saturday I tried to remind my husband to turn on the radio and listen to the sermon since we had to miss our usual Sunday service. The second time he reminded me it was only Saturday, he had a strange, knowing look on his face. I wonder if he thinks I’m losing it. I wonder at times if I am.

But this is even worse. I do this every day. Yesterday I went up to our loft to get a box. While there I noticed the guest bed and decided to change the sheets. The phone rang. I hurried down and answered it. Someone wanted a name and address. I sat at my computer to find the name, then read some email, followed a link somewhere. Before long I remembered the project for which I needed a box, and went up to the loft. And there I finished making the bed. I begin the day with a list of goals that really must be accomplished, if not by the end of the day, then soon. I am like this hound:

The fable is told about a bloodhound who started a hunt chasing a stag. A fox crossed the path, so the hound chased the fox. After a while a rabbit crossed the path, so the hound went after the rabbit. Later, a mouse crossed the path and the hound ended up chasing the mouse into a hole. The hound began his hunt on the trail of a magnificent stag and ended up watching a mouse hole!

Being computer addicted certainly does contribute to watching a lot of mouse holes. Some are fun and worthwhile, while others are deep holes down which one can fall and not surface for hours at a time. So please, don’t ask me what I do all day. I probably won’t remember.

(Mouse hole Photo by Hot Grill, shared via Flickr)

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Even if it is sagging.... Leona speaks

A chapter in one of my favorite books about women in midlife is entitled “Strut your stuff, even if it is sagging.” Of course the chapter is about accepting our bodies as they are… blah, blah blah.

Naturally I read it with half-hearted agreement.

But this week I found myself doomed to sagging. Yes, my insurance company rejected, denied, flat out said “no” to approving an upper eyelid blepharoplasty. Even though my eye doctor felt my sagging eyelids inhibits my vision, and the plastic surgeon submitted startling photos of my hooded eyes (without makeup!), the powers that be at Regence Blue Shield denied authorization.

I have to admit I’m disappointed. I had hoped that this simple surgery would lift my lids and reveal my sparkling blue eyes, rendering my true youthful inner being. My deepest desire was for people to quit telling me how tired I look!

So this morning I’m resigned to sagging. Guess I’ll go put on my make-up and make an effort to strut.

Pity the next person that tells me I look tired.

On giving up my rollerblades - Terry

As I recover from my knee surgery (all my resolve wasn't enough to heal meniscus tears on both sides of my knee), I have come to a sad conclusion. It is time to sell my rollerblades. I bought these fancy skates, and all the trimmings, when Ken was working in Duluth, Minnesota, and I needed to find a way to fill my days. I walked along the downtown waterfront trail in Duluth watching all the rollerbladers and I knew that I could do it. I had been an accomplished roller skater in the days of my youth, spending an entire summer camped near a roller rink in Montana, skating every night. The roller skating rink was considered an "in" place to be in those days. I had no worries about my ability to skate. Stopping was another matter, and I practiced my stops before I got very brave on the skates. But I was right -- it all came back to me and I loved skating.

Shortly after our return to life and work as we now know it, I was skating around the local lake. But at just about that time, an acquaintance about my age was mowed down by young kids while skating around that same lake. She had major injuries and a long recovery. I put my skates up on the shelf for awhile, just to think about it. In a nutshell, I got cold feet!

I realize that many people over the age of 60 are still very active in the sports of their youth, but what happened for me is that I couldn't help but weigh the costs. Skating was fun, but I wasn't really all that stable on the skates, and the threat of major trauma scared me a lot. It wasn't the pain or the recovery that worried me, but the possibility that I would not fully recover and give up some of the things that I hope to do for many more years -- like walk! I have not totally given up all activities -- I still bike in spite of a fall a couple of years ago that was quite nasty. Some things still feel worth the risk.

But I think the skates have got to go. Four months of not being able to take my beloved exercise walks have been hard on me, and hard on my exercise partner, Ken! We both are feeling lethargic and out of shape. We still have a lot of travel we'd like to do, and these things must all be weighed. I've kept the skates tucked away in a corner of our attic, just waiting.... It's time. This is one of the necessary losses of my own aging journey.

Heaven - Max Lucado

"My kingdom does not belong to this world." John 18:36

"Unhappiness on earth cultivates a hunger for heaven. By gracing us with a deep dissatisfaction, God holds our attention. The only tragedy, then, is to be satisfied prematurely. To settle for earth. To be content in a strange land....

"We are not happy here because we are not at home here. We are not happy here because we are not supposed to be happy here. We are 'like foreigners and strangers in this world' (1 Pet. 2:11).

"And you will never be completely happy on earth simply because you were not made for earth. Oh, you will have moments of joy. You will catch glimpses of light. You will know moments or even days of peace. But they simply do not compare with the happiness that lies ahead." Max Lucado, When God Whispers Your Name

Heaven is God’s Mystery - Leona speaks

At times of death and loss I often turn to Joni Erickson Tada’s devotional book entitled “Heaven, Your Real Home.” She has a most unique perspective on suffering and faith, loss and hope, earth and heaven.

I have a hard time reconciling the realities of death with heaven and what sometimes feels like fantasy thinking. So it helps to be reminded of the need for simple faith.

In her chapter, “Heaven is God’s Mystery,” she writes:

Heaven is your journey’s end, your life’s goal, your purpose for going on. You’re supposed to be eagerly awaiting it. But trying to grasp heaven without faith is like trying to admire the outside of a huge great cathedral with grand windows. Standing outside, you see an impressive but imposing structure. The building is striking, but has no real glory. But if you go inside the cathedral—which is a little like looking at heaven through eyes of faith—you are breathless as you stand washed in glorious colors from the light that streams through the window.

Faith takes us beyond the imposing and impressive language of golden cities and thrones, and reveals the better, brighter glory inside the walls of the New Jerusalem. Faith takes the descriptions of 24-karat asphalt and big pearls swinging on hinges and makes us certain that what we hope for is far, far better than here.

Joni Erickson Tada
Heaven: Your Real Home
Zondervan (1996)
Page 18

The weekend

We are committed to posting daily, Monday through Friday. Please catch up on our older posts and enjoy this 4th of July weekend.

The unbearable knowing - Terry

This is what youth must figure out:
Girls, love, and living.
The having, the not having,
The spending and giving,
And the melancholy time of not knowing.

This is what age must learn about:
The ABC of dying.
The going, yet not going,
The loving and leaving
And the unbearable knowing and knowing.

--E. B. White

Leona speaks....

A friend died today.

It’s all too common of an occurrence lately it seems.

My friend: once vibrant, once wild with dreams and ideas--suddenly taken out by the swift blow from an enemy too strong to stand against any longer.

I’m sad. I’m confused. I’m even a little frightened by the reality of human vulnerability. I’m perplexed by the normative Christian response that she is “better off now.” I suppose that is true, but I don’t think her little 2-year-old granddaughter who thought her grandma was perfectly happy playing with her here would agree.

Once Jesus stood at the tomb where his friend’s dead body lay. He cried. I don’t think he just shed the kind of tears that embarrass grown men. He shouted words that would overcome death for one man for one time. He wept because as a human he experienced what every human before and after him has felt: The sting of death. The wretched reality that one will never walk beside his loved one again on this earth. Ever. The desolate awareness that a power so strong exists that it can snuff out the very breath of life.

Lazarus’ friends told Jesus it stunk. I think he agreed. I sure do. Death stinks.

Lest it appear I have lost faith, I haven’t. In fact, death probably makes me re-evaluate exactly what it is that I believe.

I’m banking on the other words Jesus said while he was here. Like the ones where he promised an eternal Kingdom where He would reign and the enemy called death would be dashed. Forever.

With Age Wisdom - sequel #2 - Terry

With Age Wisdom

At twenty, stooping round about,
I thought the world a miserable place,
Truth a trick, faith in doubt,
Little beauty, less grace.

Now at sixty what I see,
Although the world is worse by far,
Stops my heart in ecstasy.
God, the wonders that there are!

Archibald MacLeish

When God Stirs Your Nest - Leona speaks

I have a friend is going through a very difficult transition. It seems as though their once-thriving business is all but defunct, the home mortgage is nearly impossible to pay, and their health is deteriorating under the stress. They are experiencing more loss than ever before in their married lives. Yet, some time ago they asked God to show them how to best serve Him. I thought of this article that a friend gave me 25 years ago when we felt that God was doing something to change our lives drastically. He did. We moved, started over. I’ve had to re-read it several more times in the last two decades because God has stirred the nest often!
I sent the article to my friend.