Do you know how many marriages make it to see their 10th wedding anniversary? About 65%.
How about their 25th anniversary? Only 33%.
50th? A meager 5%.
Part of this is a matter of simple math - Americans now tend to marry in the mid 20s instead of their early 20s (or even late teens). That fact alone shaves a fair number of people off the list of candidates for a 50th anniversary.
But math alone cannot explain what some dear friends of mine just celebrated...
I couldn't even find statistics related to their marriage accomplishment. Given the state of our marital culture today, it's unlikely that we'll ever hear of this accomplishment down the road...
Last week Joe and Grace celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary!
Yes, you read that right - they've been married for 71 years. Using numbers doesn't do it justice. Let me try that again.
Joe and Grace have been married for seventy one years!!
Plenty of people don't live that long, let alone stay married that long. But the most amazing part (and the primary reason for the title of this post) is Grace. She has been a loving caretaker of Joe for many years now. He continues to ever-so-slowly slip into the arms of His Creator and Grace is there with him every step of the way. This beautiful woman devotes virtually every moment of every day to the care of her wheelchair-bound husband. Joe's not himself anymore; hasn't been in quite some time. But still, there's Grace.
She's a living, breathing testament to the power of love in marriage.
Faith. Hope. Love.
and Grace. May all of us be able to follow her example.
Hatushili
[FYI: the statistics I cited are from this website.]
Monday, June 9, 2008
Amazing Grace
Stormy weather
We had our first taste of thunderstorms at the new house the other day. It's rained here since we've moved in, but this was the first really windy, ugly, thunderstorm we've had. We had another tonight, but that's another story!
Anyway, this storm blew in very quickly and it left almost as quickly as it came. Immediately after it passed over, the sky turned this bright shade of almost yellow and the adults in the house all knew what was coming next ...
a rainbow!
But we didn't just get one - there were two rainbows out there in that strangely calm sky. I captured a few pictures, using my favorite Christmas gift of last year (Carmen bought me a polarizing filter for my camera). I hope you enjoy them!
Hatushili
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Update, part 3
I have internet access again!
This is going to sound cheesy, but (seriously) thank God for broadband.
Our service is not blazing fast, but it's broadband and I'm happy for it. I have to give some love to the folks at Lightning Net for providing wireless internet to guys like me that live within a country mile of the middle of nowhere.
Anyway, I believe I've worked out all the initial kinks in having new service. I am able to receive email again (the address linked on this site has worked all along; I'm referring to my more personal address that some of you have). I've also just finished configuring my outgoing SMTP settings, so I can send email from that account now too!
So... if you wish to begin interacting with my posts again, feel free! We are live and good to go!
Hatushili
Monday, August 6, 2007
I'll take one solid aluminum external fixator, please
It's official - Hannah finally had the external fixator (doctor-speak for 'turnbuckle') removed from her forearm. It was a very long day (driving to Indianapolis and back again), but well worth it all. Hannah will get to remove the last of the bandages in a few days and at last she'll have full use of her arm again. Thanks for those that prayed - the doctors involved have been nothing short of shocked that she healed so quickly and so thoroughly.
Hatushili
Friday, August 3, 2007
Vacation!
No, I have not fallen off the face of the planet.
We've just recently returned from our family vacation. It was outstanding, and if you'll permit me I'll bore you with a few pictures...
We travelled up to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and rented a cabin on Drummond Island. What follows is the bulletin board version of our vacation:
This one was taken at Whitefish Point.
Here's a view of Lower Tahquamenon Falls (officially my very most favourite space on Earth, at least that I've actually been too!).
This is the view 40 feet under the surface of Kitch-iti-kipi (a.k.a. Big Spring). Yes, those are trout with sand on their backs! And yes, the water is that clear.
This is Fort Michilimackinac. Notice the bridge to the U.P. in the background. 
These rifles are being fired on the grounds of Fort Mackinac. This is the fort on Mackinac Island - the one above is at the very tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. 
This is my oldest daughter (Rebekah) preparing to help in the saw pit at Mill Creek. That's pronounced "crick", in case you didn't know! 
This is the freighter American Integrity just about ready to head downbound at the Soo Locks. This ship is 1,000' feet long! It's one of the biggest on the Great Lakes. Oh, and it has 14,000 horsepower. 
This is Glen Cove, on the east side of Drummond Island. The road to get to this cove was ... amusing, to say the least. It was clearly designed for ATVs and snowmobiles, not 15-passenger vans, but we made it. And the view was worth the dust and bumps, don't you think?
This is the cabin we rented. It's on the west side of Drummond Island, facing the passageway that all the lake freighters go through on their way to Sault Saint Marie. 
Consequently, we got views like this one every single day, at least ten times a day! I couldn't make out the name of this vessel - the last few days we were there were pretty hazy. Mom absolutely loved sitting in the screen room and watching the ships go by. I know Winston (my dear but departed father-in-law) would've loved them even more. 
It's probably only fitting that I leave you with a view of the sunset we got to watch from the deck every evening. It was truly a wonderful vacation. We're grateful to the God who made these beautiful places and made us able to go and see them together.
Hatushili
Saturday, July 14, 2007
History repeats itself
The one question I get more than perhaps any other lately - "So, how's the search for a church going?". The answer is usually something like, "Faith and patience". That's the journey I'm on right now - one of faith and patience.
But as I was recounting the story of how I came to be in Indiana in the first place, the LORD drew my mind to some interesting connections...
For those that don't know the basics of this story:
Eight years ago I transferred from Capital Bible Seminary in Maryland (just outside of Washington, DC) to Grace Theological Seminary in Indiana. The move made sense for a number of reasons: the cost of living was killing us, Grace has some strengths that Capital lacks, we're from the Midwest originally (Michigan), etc... But the process of moving was anything but normal.
I transferred to Grace, so I knew where I'd be schooling at. What I didn't know was a) where we were going to live, and b) where I was going to work. Not exactly minor details, eh? I had a background in outdoor power equipment (think: chainsaws and lawnmowers), so I used the Internet to find all the Toro and Stihl dealers within a certain radius of Warsaw (where Grace is). I sent my resume to all of these folk ... and got nothing! So went to dealerships on the very fringe of my radius and found two - on in Kendallville and one in Auburn. I sent my resume to both, and got an almost immediate response from the one in Auburn. Before long, we were this close to coming to an agreement for my employment. We were discussing finer points of pay scale - that's how close we were. But then ... silence. I stopped hearing from them. I finally called again and things had clearly changed, for the worse. I still don't know exactly what happened, but I knew I was mad at God for allowing it.
Silly, eh? It was. Especially since I had specifically prayed that the LORD would make it perfectly clear where He wanted me. How could He have made it more clear that I wasn't to go to Auburn?! It took the better part of a day for the LORD to remind of this truth... it's not something I'm proud of.
So, after repenting of my foolish anger, I called the dealership in Kendallville. One thing (slowly) led to another and the next thing you know, I'm employed! I've been there since, and it's been perfectly clear that it was the LORD's place for me.
So now I knew where I'd school and work, but still no clue as to where we'd live. As my grandmother graciously agreed to house us for a few days and watch our two children (from her home in Sturgis, MI), we simply got out a map and started visiting the communities from Kendallville to Warsaw. We started in Kendallville (it's closest to Sturgis) but found nothing. We just kept going down the road, looking, hoping, and praying.
On the second day (if memory serves me right) we found ourselves in a little town (read: 1,600 people) called Churubusco. I couldn't pronounce the name at the time, nor did I see any apartments to rent. But it was around lunch time, so we stopped at the Magic Wand, a burger joint on the main road. As we're talking about our housing dilemma, our waitress happens by. As "luck" would have it, she's also a rental property manager! Turns out she has a house for rent that ends up working for our family for the next four years.
That's the short version of how I got where I am. And now I'm poised on the edge of a similar situation. I'm done with school and know the leading the LORD has given me for vocational ministry. What I don't know is exactly where He'll take us or when. But there have been some really interesting similarities to last time:
- I came very close to taking a pastoral position at a church in KS, only to have things fall apart near the very end. This time I remembered the lessons of history and chose to be thankful for clear guidance instead of angry at a closed door.
- Just like last time, it seems every time I find myself a bit overwhelmed or worrisome about the situation, God provides just enough encouragement to keep me on the path of faith and patience.
- Like the "lucky" encounter with the property manager, I had a similar experience in hiring the man that will eventually replace me at my job. On a whim, I agreed to place our ad with a local placement agency, expecting nothing. The very first email I received from an applicant eventually ended up being the guy we hired - not the guy I initially thought we should pursue. And thus far he's worked out fabulously. Moreover, he's rapidly turning into a good friend, too!
I often advise people struggling with patience to remember how the LORD has worked things out in the past, and trust Him for the future based (if nothing else) upon that past working. He's proving that to be wise counsel in my own life right now.
And I'm (so far) patiently, faithfully thankful.
Hatushili
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Lately the LORD has been teaching me...
Unlike my usual posts, I don't want to blab on and on about this or that right now. Can you believe it?
I want to give you all (lurkers included) a chance to briefly (no pressure to write something profound) share something the LORD has been teaching you.
Click the title (Lately the LORD has been teaching me...) and let's encourage one another, eh?
Hatushili
Thursday, March 1, 2007
This time it's personal
I hate to do this, since my blog has really never featured anything particularly personal about me. But I've had a number of people ask me about the veiled allusions to my back problems these last two weeks. So permit me a brief update, please.
Short version: I officially have either arthritis in, or a stuck or fused SI joint. No one is really sure exactly what the diagnosis is. The x-rays show no space between the two sides of the joint on one side - either a stuck or fused joint. There's also a good possibility that I have arthritis in the joint as a result of years of improper joint function.
The end result is pain. But the blessings have been many:
- I definitely don't have a disc problem (something I had long feared and that would likely end in surgery)
- I am no longer using crutches to get around
- I can walk just fine most of the time
- I'm seeing a decrease in required pain meds (Vicodin) every day
- I've had lots of time to read in the last 10 days
- I've gotten somewhat ahead of my class load (the most courses I've ever taken in one semester)
- I've had lots of extra time to be around my family
- My employer has been various gracious and understanding
- I met a very nice guy in my physical therapist
- Most importantly, I've been graphically reminded of my total dependence upon the Almighty
I thank you for your prayers and look forward to continuing my recovery.
Hatushili
PS: If any post in the last two weeks has been in any way lacking - blame it on the Vicodin!
