July 1, 2021
We are in Greenville, SC at the present time but we have spent most of our time since Christmas in St. Louis serving our families (Mike/Erin and Rod/Gina). Jerry has helped Mike paint houses and we both have spent time helping with grandchildren. Painting together allows Jerry and Mike to spend time together, it helps Mike move quicker on some of his jobs and gives Jerry something to do. Win-win!
Mike left us on April 22 and will be gone for 6-8 months as a penalty for wrong doing as administrator of his school. It has been a stressful time for all of us but God has been good and answered prayers along the way. It was going to be one year but for various legal reasons, the time is less for which we are thankful. It has been a learning experience for all of us that we never imagined would ever happen but we continue to pray that God will use it for good. Mike is doing good, is safe and is able to be light and salt. We think he will return a better man, father and husband. In the meantime, Jerry has finished up two houses that Mike had contracted to paint and he has been putting in 40 hour weeks to finish them. Pretty big task for a old guy! :)
This spring we attended the Central Christian College Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Jerry's 1986-87 men's soccer National Championship team was inducted and it was such a great time seeing some of these players and renewing relationships. It was one of those lifetime markers that will not be soon forgotten. Jerry continues to serve Central by chairing the HOF Selection Committee and they are busy selecting the 2022 class. If you have nominations, please contact him.
We were fortunate to get our Covid vaccines in February and all our family including grandchildren older than 12 have gotten their "jabs" as well. It gives us more freedom to move around and live a more normal life.
For 3 weeks in June we took care of Rod/Gina's kids (Will, Eva, and Alexandra). Rod and Gina celebrated their 20 years of marriage by traveling to Spain. They had to keep moving their date until Spain finally opened 3 days before they left. Just getting there was an adventure. They have now returned and we R & Red in a lovely airbnb in South Carolina. It was greatly needed. As much as Covid had restrictions, we still were able to navigate the regulations to enjoy life. You just have to adjust and adapt and be creative which we seem to have in abundance. Jerry has taken all five grands and planned sports activities each day (a different sport each day): soccer, basketball, wiffle ball, volleyball, disc golf, tennis, put put, Top Golf, bowling, etc. The idea is to give them something to do and it also exposes them to different sports skills. We want them to feel comfortable with different sports as they grow older. Speaking of sports: Rod/Gina's church had a slow pitch softball tourney and Jerry, Will and Eva played. At 72 Jerry can still play a little although he can't run as fast but he can hit, throw, and coach everyone up!! No injuries and no pulled muscles :) The churches' team took second place!
Nancy just finished her first of two cataract surgeries and is enjoy 20/20 vision in one eye. She is surprised by how much clear and vivid the world seems to be. More colorful, clearer, etc.
December 29, 2020
We have just made it through the holidays with few glitches, however it was non traditional. We wanted to be covid safe and so we ate Thanksgiving and Christmas outside around the fire. We bought all the families Solo wood burning stoves for Christmas since we are spending so much time outside. We had a movie night in Mike's backyard which was fun and doable. We have all avoided Covid, although we had two close calls which required quarantine. We are hoping to avoid it until we can get the vaccine. Maybe by March 1.
Jerry has spent time putting puzzles together while Nancy has done some online Bible studies. We both have enjoyed biking and eating outdoors with the Jerry and Sharon Moyer. We talk once per week with Jerry and Carol Fithian on zoom.
Our big activity was attending Rodney's 100 mile run in early November. What an experience! We were busy meeting him about every 20 miles and trading off runners to follow him: brothers Mike and Brett and friend Travis. We had beautiful fall weather in the Missouri Ozarks SW of St. Louis.
We think the most interesting thing we have done is watching Rick Steves Europe Special every Monday night. He shows some of his favorite travel videos and stops to narrate and give insights into each one. It helps feed the travel bug.
We had a zoom meeting with Impact Europe which is a group that works with and supports outreach ministries in Europe. Jerry is managing and posting on social media;
Facebook: Impact Europe
Instagram: impa.cteurope
Twitter: impacteurope
Blessings to all of you and we hope you had a Merry Christmas and wish you a happy New Year. We trust 2021 will be a better year!
September 15, 2020
And time just keeps rolling along. Covid 19 seems to be getting better OR we are just adjusting to life with Covid 19. We are spending time in Tower Grove Park (walking and biking). We have 3 coffee places within walking distance and that is a plus. We have a great outdoor breakfast place within walking distance (Rooster). We have eaten on The Hill (little Italy) once and experienced a great pasta meal. You know how much we like to eat out and drink coffee and once we find those places, life seems more normal.
We made a nice trip out to Kansas to visit the Fithian's for a few days and then down to Oklahoma to visit Jerry's brother and sister. It was great to get away and do something different.
Life in St. Louis has settled down to where we are beginning to spend time biking with Jerry and Sharon Moyer; having porch time with our friends Todd and Mike as well as Lindsey. Now that the weather is cooler, we love our front porch in the evening and hope to spend more mornings and evenings there.
We have enjoyed getting to know the family that we rent from. We have had numerous contact points with them and really enjoy them.
Because our retirement is one of service, we have decided to host our grandkids for on line school 3 days per week. This helps our two families to free them up. Also, Jerry continues to serve Mike by painting with him.
We still are doing church online from Greenville, SC Downtown Pres. It gives us a sense of continuity.
Oklahoma Sooners' football is starting and so we will be watching those games each weekend. The grandkids are now starting up with fall soccer so we will follow those games.
Last weekend we went to the Katy Trail to watch Rodney run 50 miles at an all day event. It was pretty exciting and was a beautiful day. He plans to run 100 miles in November so that should be fun for us.....not so much for him. :)
July 15, 2020
We are not updating our blog as frequently because we are in the USA. Also, because of Covid 19, we are not doing as many different things or traveling. Right now we seem to be shuttling between South Carolina and Missouri.
On July 1, we moved from Greenville, SC to St. Louis, MO as planned. We have rented a place near Tower Grove Park for three months. This will be a good time to spend with our two St. Louis families: Mike/Erin and Rod/Gina They are within biking distance from us and we love to bike. We store our two bikes here and so we got to ride once we returned. Jerry rides every morning through Tower Grove Park. We also have ridden with the grand kids because they are all old enough to go good distances.
Just as we arrived, Rod/Gina's family left for vacation in Michigan and South Dakota (Rushmore area) so we have not seen them as much. Jerry is painting with Mike and this gives him something to do. He painted the deck of our rental in South Carolina. It's just something he enjoys and it is relaxing. Painting here with Mike helps him speed up some of his work. They also get time to visit and that is a plus.
Mike/Erin leave this Friday for a vacation to TX. Probably when the families return, we will have to stay our distance from them for 14 days. Oh well, that is Covid life.
We have now been here about two weeks and so we are adjusting to life without near by friends. We do have some friends in the area, but can't just drop in without scheduling. We also aren't able to make church contacts because all services are online. We have zoomed friends like the Fithians in McPherson weekly and that helps with socialization. Guess we just have to be patient until we get this thing under control.
June 9, 2020
So on April 19, we moved from one location to another rental in Greenville. This time, our home
belongs to friends Wendy and Bob Linn and is located in our old Haynie-Sirrine neighborhood. Jerry followed his usual pattern, rehabbing from surgery when we move. It's nice to have limited things to move. We are just 3 houses down from our original rental house and therefore we get to spend time with our neighbor friends: John, Lisa, and Becky along with Marian and Carol. We soon added some new friends Joe and Petrea who live next door. They are a delight and have blended right in. We get together often with this group and sit 6 feet apart. We miss not being able to hug. Jerry has increased his walking to where he can go long distances and so we have walked downtown and in the neighborhood nearly every day. We have ventured out more with restaurants opening. We have a rule that wait staff must wear masks and we only sit outside. The tables are usually 6-8 feet apart and we feel pretty safe. Most of the downtown area, the people are not wearing masks and they do not social distance, clustering into large groups, so we stay away. We wanted to get away and so rented a cabin in the mountains and spent two lovely days beside a beautiful stream. It was very relaxing and made it feel like we were more normal. We have gone on a couple of ventures with friends to Strawberry Hill for strawberry shakes and purchase Nancy's favorite fruit-strawberries. We hiked to a beautiful waterfall, Little Bradley Falls.
Nancy has been zooming with the grand-kids and cooking together. They have thoroughly enjoyed it and have made cheesecake and other delightful things. It has been a fun activity and we get to see these munchkins.
So our life seems fairly normal except there are certain places we avoid and Nancy cannot spend time serving at Homes of Hope, the Neelys, and James. That part is pretty frustrating for her, but life is pretty much the same for Jerry. We still order our groceries and have them delivered, we both have gotten haircuts, but we miss going to the movie theater, sitting inside at restaurants, walking freely downtown, and attending outdoor concerts. The hard part is that these are the best parts of Greenville. Oh well.
July 1, 2021
After 2 weeks in Greenville, we will return to St. Louis to dog sit for Rod/Gina while they take their family on a SW trip to Utah National Parks, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. They are gluttons for travel punishment. :)
Jerry will have to put some finishing touches on Mike's final house he contracted to paint and that will take a few days. We hope to reconnect with the Moyers for biking and dinner. We will continue to care for Erin (Kye and Yuri) when they need us and will continue to visit Mike every two weeks. We are hoping he will return home sometime in October-November!! (answer to prayer).
In the meantime we have a number of trips planned: Nancy's family is having a reunion in early August in Colorado. We will return to Colorado in early Sept. to spend time with Dave and Linda Ferrell and the Fithians at Ferrell's cabin west of Colorado Springs. We really look forward to both trips.
Nancy and her sisters have a trip planned for Palm Springs, CA in early October and then at the end of October we will finally get to do our Cruise with the Impact Europe group. We will be flying to Barcelona and the Cruise will take us to Italy, Sardinia, and Malorca. We get to do this with Delamarters, Summervilles, and the Fithians!!! yeah!! We will stay another week in that area to see the sights. We also will be with many of our European missionary friends and will get updates on their work in Europe. Please support Impact Europe with your donations.
We will then welcome Mike home and hopefully rent a place to celebrate family Christmas together. What a glorious time that will be!
Hopefully spring 2022 we will be able to return to Europe to serve.
December 29, 2020
My, how things change quickly during Covid 19!
In reading our last post: none of that happened!
We made plans and Covid changed everything.
New plans: We are still leaving for South Carolina on Dec. 31. Normally, we spend New Year's Eve with our neighbors but we will delay our "getting together" until Saturday, Jan. 1. A couple in our neighborhood is getting married on the 1st, so we will save our celebration until that afternoon.
We will spend 10 days in Greenville, SC to see friends, do something different, and have a couple of doctor's appointments. On Jan. 10 we will drive to Clearwater, FL to stay at a friends airbnb for 6 days for some R&R in sunshine and warmth. We will then head back to St. Louis for a while (not sure how long). We have a family one day ski trip planned for Jan.18 on a hill west of the city. Mike and Erin's date mentioned in the last post was moved to Jan. 19. Some wishes: We would like to take the southern route to visit a friend in Arizona. Rod and Gina plan a trip to Spain in June (depending on Covid). We will stay with the kids. We would then like to take a trip to Alaska (our last state to visit). We would like to stay the summer. We could serve some friends who are involved in ministry there. Our Impact Europe group has moved our Cruise to October. If we can get our Covid vaccine and get clearance, we will do the cruise and stay two months. It will be interesting to see if these plans hold up. :)
September 15, 2020
We have made more plans for our future. Right now, we have made arrangements to stay in St. Louis through Dec. 31. We are making arrangements to move to Greenville, SC for January and beyond. Winter in the south is much better.
We have family commitments with schooling, soccer, etc. through December. We are starting to find a place to spend Christmas as a family in December. We would like to spend 3-4 days together. Brett and Alison might be here by that time. They will wrap up their time in Atlanta by the end of November. Mike and Erin have an important date (Nov. 30) that we need to be here for them. Please pray for Mike and Erin and this date that God will work out His will and we get a good result.
We plan to spend 10 days in Greenville, SC in October and we are excited to see friends and reconnect with our neighborhood.
Our post January plans are up in the air and we will know more as time goes by. Right now it appears that if Covid 19 clears up we will leave for Europe in May. A committee we serve on--Impact Europe....is having a cruise out of Barcelona. We would then stay in Europe for at least two months (shorter time). We hope that works out for us.
July 15, 2020
Not much has changed since the last post. We are for sure going to be in St. Louis until October 1. It's not exactly the right time to be in St. Louis because July and August are hot and humid. If you want to do anything outside it has to be early morning or late evening. It is amazing how your body adjusts to the temperature. After the two families return from their vacations, we are talking about going to Colorado via McPherson, KS. It might be a time when Pat and Paul fly from Seattle and we can spend time with Nancy's sisters and their families. I think just getting into the mountains will be a break from Covid and also a break from the heat.
We are talking about maybe traveling in the USA because if we did get Covid, we would be covered by Medicare. One thought we have is to travel to Alaska, which is our final state to visit. If we do, we should go before winter sets in. Probably we would go for one month to make it worth our time. We will see.
We do not have plans after October 1 but we might remain in St. Louis longer due to family commitments. We also have agreed to spend two weeks with Rodney/Gina's kids in March 2021 while they take a trip to Spain. I guess that means we will not think about returning to Europe until after that date. It all depends on Covid 19.
June 9, 2020
We are planning on moving to St. Louis on July 1 and will stay there for three months. We believe that the virus will still be around at that time and so we will move back to Greenville, SC for the months following which we think might be until March 2021. We cancelled our July Costa Rica family trip and everyone was disappointed but there was no alternative. We have now begun to plan a family ski trip in December, to a place where we used to have a cabin: Red River, NM. Hopefully, by then we won't be as cautious. We will probably still have some restrictions with the families in St. Louis but it will be nice to see them at social distance. The difference between Greenville and St. Louis is that we have friends in Greenville and we don't have in St. Louis. Maybe that will change. We have also put all European travel plans on hold. We were planning on a cruise with our Impact Europe group and friends in the Mediterranean for November and that has been moved to May, 2021. We hope to possibly let that be the date that we return to serve in Europe. Our fingers are crossed.
July 1, 2021
Oh my, have we been learning a lot!
Adjust and adapt: Covid has thrown so many curves at all of us (world wide). I know we use the term "new normal" and I really think that we will continue to get vaccinated and have limited use of masks for a long time. I know that most of us do not want to face that reality but our lives will be easier if we do accept it. Certainly the more populated areas are experiencing this more than others. It makes you want to move where there are fewer people. :) Farm life in Oklahoma doesn't seem so bad now. Cows don't spread Covid. :)
God's still answers prayer and works miracles: Mike's situation just keeps showing us this. We have just seen how he just keeps working through a lot of big things as well as little things. Mike is tutoring and teaching while he is a the camp. His roommate can't read and so he is teaching him to read. Others need the GED and he is preparing them to take the test. He is back into education which was always a gift of his. God is really teaching him some things and giving him compassion for men that he normally would not have come in contact with.
Patience: we are so anxious to get back to serving in Europe but all that has been put on hold. These are critical years for us (early 70's). We still have health, etc. and want to go but just can't. Even when we return we may not be able to stay as long as before which is a bummer. We just have to be patient and serve God and his people where we are.
Family is serving: We can not define what serving means. Many times we think serving family is not the same but God has shown us that we should not define serving. Jer's painting to finish Mike's jobs is serving. Nancy's taking care of grands is serving. Right now, our families need us and we need to adjust our view of serving to include them. We learned this during Katrina Relief. A pastor needed help finishing his house and most work groups did not want to do that because they wanted to define serving as helping poor and needy people muck their homes and rebuild. We said "yes" and helped him instead.
No person or family is immune to bad things happening to them. Mike's situation is a case in point. It has happened to us and continues. We can empathize with others better now.
The white evangelical church in America is traumatized and not reacting well: We have grown up in the evangelical world, still perceive ourselves as evangelical, and most of our friends are evangelical. It concerns us that so many are mixing conservative American politics with their faith and can't see the difference. We want the church to be salt and light and not a stumbling block. The church has never been perfect and never will because it is made up of people. Just look at Paul's letters to churches in the New Testament. He loves them but chastises them as well for their faults and what they need to correct. His letters are a message to the American church today and we pray that we listen.
Life long friendships and family are so important to our health and well being: During Covid, our world has narrowed. We have had to pull our lives back under the covers and simplify who we are and what we do and who we spend time with. Our friends and family have been our refuge for us. Without them, we would have suffered so much more during this past year and a half. What a blessing!
Church is more than meeting in a building once per week: We have spent fewer times at Sunday morning worship in a church building this past 18 months than we have total the rest of our lives! How have we maintained our faith and growth without this? Zoom ministries, zoom bible studies, zoom morning prayer, and personal time with friends and family of faith. It's almost like the early church: no church building yet the church flourished and the gospel spread. We are seeing that God moves in so many different ways. Certainly we miss that weekly worship time together but I think we have a clearer picture of God's Kingdom. We are thankful.
December 29, 2020
What a slow time this has been! Patience and Sacrifice are the two words that come to mind. Fall has been slow.
Patience because we are all waiting on Covid control before we carry on with our normal life. For us, that involves travel.
Sacrifice because we all have given up a lot of things that we miss:
1. In church worship
2. traditional holidays
3. eating out when and where you want (indoors)
4. spending time with friends (eating and socializing)
5. hugging and showing affection
Lot's of family time, lot's of school time with the grandkids. When Covid got worst in Nov. and Dec., we were more cautious in regard to family and friends. We planned successful outdoor Thanksgiving's and Christmas's together. The weather cooperated. It is now getting colder and so our outdoor activities are slowing down. That is why we look forward to going south. We really appreciate family and friends, social media, and zoom. We are looking forward to the vaccine and hope that frees us up to live a fairly normal life.
We could write books on these past three months about politics, government, and the church but that is too volatile. We certainly have been disappointed in the white, evangelical church and their response to the election, nationalism, racism, Covid, etc. There was a time when we thought about dropping our self description as "evangelicals". However, as we have read more, we realize there is a group that calls themselves: progressive evangelicals. Guess that is our new label if one is needed. :) Maybe we should just call ourselves followers of Jesus and leave it at that.
September 15, 2020
We are learning patience. We just can't get in a hurry. We love serving our kids and grandkids and that is our focus right now. We are beginning to reach out to some of our friends in the area. Jerry enjoyed a coffee time in Greenville, IL with Dr. Stevens, Ish Smith, Don Mason, etc. It is always so much fun to spend time with them.
One of the things we are enjoying is morning prayer (on Zoom) with Lucia Delamarter three days per week. This is with St. Paul's FM Church in Greenville,
IL. It has been a real lift for us spiritually and socially. It is comforting to pray with these people and read scripture and have
conversation.
Jerry is spending time on social media to support racial justice
and encourage following Covid 19 protocol. It has been both depressing but encouraging as he has received both negative and positive feedback. Rodney calls it Facebook
evangelism. :) It does seem like a "calling" at this point in regard to following what God wants him to do. It is time consuming.
Our time with family is very important during this time and we want to take advantage of every moment.
It would be nice to begin to worship in a building again but we have no idea when that will happen.
We long for the day that we can return to Europe and serve our missionary friends there.
July 15, 2020
Covid-19 gives you a lot of the same.....everyday. We are learning about our new community, Tower Grove Park east. It is a mixed neighborhood and we like that. Two blocks down the street is a black owned business that sells burgers and amazing hot dogs. We have intentionally eaten there once and will go back this weekend for our weekly habit of Saturday night hamburgers. We feel like supporting POC businesses is one way of supporting them. We have looked on line to find other places as well. There is a local corner grocery nearby that seems to be owned by a person of color and so we will check that out. It's a small thing but philosophically and spiritually it's a big thing. That is our challenge to our readers. It just takes a little time and effort to reach outside our comfort zones. The protests are calming down and now people in power need to get to work and work on the race issues.
The clock is ticking in regard to our European service travels. Jerry had a heart checkup two weeks ago and found that he needs to lower his Cholesterol because of calcium deposits that are appearing. Nothing alarming but it just demonstrates that our lives will change as our health changes. We are OK where we are and what we are doing. We just wish we could serve somewhere or serve someone on a more personal basis. Right now, God has given us two families and so we are trying to serve them in any way we can. Jerry is painting with Mike and helping him get some business projects done. We will dog sit while they are in TX and Jerry will paint Rodney's fence with grandson Will. Grandma has baked some thing with the kids and we have biked with them. With Covid, they have not spent much time with friends and they are not playing sports, so they look forward to interacting with us (which we love).
Things in St. Louis are not as open as they were in South Carolina and so it was an adjustment at first. We had gotten used to just wearing a mask when ever we go to public spaces. Here, most restaurants are ONLY outside seating (and its hot). Coffee shops are only drive through and many businesses are still closed. We are very diligent about wearing masks, staying social distance and avoiding crowds. We still order our groceries because it gives someone a job to deliver them and we feel that is money well spent. Being retired, we do not face the financial crunch that younger families experience and so we make sure we do everything we can to help them by tipping more than usual, etc.
It's an interesting time and we are making the best of it. If we can just all get on the same page, we can get Covid under control to where we can live with it. It certainly will change the way we do things like church, etc. For example, I bet we will do the Lord's Supper sacrament different for the rest of our lives. No more drinking from the same cup. Some things might be a good change but I'm sure some things will be an adjustment for most of us. We just always need to be searching for ways that God wants to use us during this unique time. Blessings to all of you and we love you.
June 9, 2020
We have adjusted to our semi-isolation but zoom and home movies and Netflix have substituted our evening time. We get out most every day and wear masks whenever appropriate. We are now in the middle of the protests over police brutality with our friends of color. We fully support their cause and would attend the local protests but we do not want to be exposed to Covid 19. It breaks our hearts to see it politicized and people polarizing over the protests and Black Lives Matter. We are all in with our friends of color and will continue to support the cause. We still need to make some social changes in order for them to experience what Nancy and I experience in the US. That is our prayer. In the meantime, we are trying to listen to their stories and understand. We are also consciously trying to support businesses and restaurants owned by persons of color (broad sense of the term). We love living in their neighborhood and interacting with them daily.
Our church (Downtown Pres) has been zooming their worship services and this Sunday, June 14 will be the first physical worship service. We will continue to zoom this week and see how they do and then we would like to attend before we leave at the end of the month. We took dinner over to our pastor yesterday to show our love and support for them. Please consider supporting your pastor in some way during this time.
We have enjoyed morning prayer with our Greenville, IL friends. Lucia Delamarter leads them on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings at 8:30 a.m. This has been a great time of spending time with God using the Book of Common Prayer. It is usually a small group and we are getting to know them and look forward to seeing them.
It is sad to see our friends on social media divided in regard to the corona-virus issues as well as the racial issues. Our frustration is how many choose to confuse their faith in God with their political stance. We see these as separate issues. We have seen long time friendships strained over this. Our prayer is that we can keep our eyes on Jesus and realize that friendships, family, and God must come before politics.