Twenty Years Ago ... Remembering a Very Significant Day

Yesterday, 2/22/22, was a day for us as family to remember the same day of February twenty years ago, 2/22/02. And those of you reading this who were well acquainted with our family twenty years ago, also may remember the significance of this day.

Family gathered for the emotional moments when Gary was allowed to come off of sedation
 three days later, following the accident and surgery on Feb. 22, 2002.

Yesterday marked "20 years" from the date when Gary was involved in a horrific accident, when he was backed over by a trash truck right by our home. He was taken by lifeflight helicopter to UNMC in Omaha. After receiving 14 units of blood that day, and going through a  5 1/2 hour surgery by an expert surgeon, he (together with our whole family) began the long road to recovery. His story of recovery is covered with big and small miracles. Yesterday, we as family (long distance, over multiple states), had a very special time sharing our memories together, and giving our thanks to God for preserving our beloved husband/father's life that day. 

Another precious photo during the weeks of recovery,
with our third grandchild, Luke, just 2 months old.

It was a miracle, by God's grace. The road was difficult, with questions if he could even be stabilized for surgery, and then during surgery, if his right foot could even be saved. The expert surgeon made the decision to try to save his foot, and continued to caution us in the following days that he may still need to amputate. By God's grace and mercy, things turned around! And the injuries in his right leg improved, as well. 

There was a two-week stay at UNMC where Gary graduated from the ICU to a regular room, and then he was moved to Immanuel Hospital for two weeks of rehab. Back home, there were trips back in for more rehab, and continual changes of dressing at home for the wounds on his right foot, and left leg. He progressed from wheelchair, to walker, to crutches, and to using a cane over the following months.

Our family was amazing throughout the days and months of recovery -
here with our youngest son, Lance, at DeSoto Bend.

His progress was quite amazing, as initially, the doctor had told us that if all went well, Gary would likely be able to stand on his own in a year after the surgery. But just seven months after the accident, we were able to leave on a two-week roadtrip with our two sons, the two of our six children who were still living at home at that time. We had a walker and crutches along, and by the end of that memorable trip to California, he was using a cane! How we thank God for this amazing recovery!

It is sobering to think how close we came to losing our precious husband, father, and grampa that day in February 2002.  And how close so many, many friends came to losing someone who had great impact on their lives in many ways. We are filled with thanks for the miracle of these past twenty years. 

And also, we will never ever forget the prayers, the visits, the cards, the care in so many ways that were extended to our family during those days, weeks, and months of recovery twenty years ago. You all were so amazing, such precious tangible touches of God's love and care for us in our time of great need. Thank you again. We will never forget, and never stop thanking our loving, faithful God! 

Happy New Year 2022!

We are now at the one and a half year mark since our retirement from Cru in the summer of 2020! Retirement life has been wonderful, and we are thanking God for His care and help as we have made this big change in our lives. We'd love to share a few of the highlights from 2021 with you ...

Our 50th Anniversary Celebration

Twenty-one members of our family gathered at a rental home in Missouri the end of July to celebrate together! Our six kids and their families gave us the most memorable 50th Anniversary celebration! And what fun it was to spend several days together in a big spacious home with its own little private lake.

Our 50th Anniversary Trip

Shortly after returning home from the most wonderful time together with our family in Missouri, we left on a ten-day trip, just the two of us. This trip was extra special, as we used the money gifts that our family had given us over the past two years (for significant birthdays 75 & 70 for us, and also for our retirement) to fund the trip! We especially love to be by water, so drove down to the southern part of TX, and stayed on Galveston island.

On our actual 50th Anniversary Day (August 14), we were at the Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX. We are thanking God for the joy and blessing of sharing life together for 50 years now! 

After being together with our wonderful family during the summer, we did not even entertain the idea that we could be together again for Christmas. But before we even left the rental home in Missouri, our two sons (the ones who live the farthest away from us), told us that they wanted to come home for Christmas, too! 

Family Christmas 2021

It was a blessing beyond measure, the icing on the cake, to be together with our family twice in one year. Especially after the very unusual season due to pandemic when we had our longest stretch ever when we were unable to all be together.

We were 25 precious family members around our dining room tables, with everyone home except very two loved family members who are in Japan (our oldest granddaughter and her husband). With each year that passes, we are even more in awe of the priceless gift of family. 

Mixed in with the joys of being with family in 2021, we also hold so very many memories of times with our friends, special gifts from God in this season of life that we are in. We are grateful for many memories made, especially with our CityGroup (small group), a special trip we took in the fall with close friends, and so many connections we made with others throughout the year.

And overarching all of the gifts of 2021, we treasure most of all the Greatest Gift of all ... Immanuel: God with us. Through all the joys and trials of life, we sense in even deeper ways than before, the nearness and presence of our Lord and Savior. 

Our Fall Colors Trip to New England

 An unexpected joy for us in this season of life has been to take several trips together with dear friends of ours. And this month we were so very blessed to travel on our third trip together, this time to see the gorgeous fall colors in the New England states!

We drove about 4,000 miles altogether on our 11-day trip! Our main destination was the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Vibrant, gorgeous fall beauty captured us at every turn ... we could hardly take it all in! These first two photos were taken during our 3-day stay in New Hampshire.

Since we weren't that far from the coast, we decided mid-trip to drive all the way to Bar Harbor, Maine! This was such a treat for us ... to be right along the Atlantic, re-visiting this beautiful spot that we had been to as a couple, back in 2012. A short overnight stay, and then the next day we began the journey back west, traveling the back roads of Maine for the first stretch. We were fascinated by the glimpse into that part of Maine ... winding roads, isolated homes scattered here and there, white churches nestled in the hills and trees, even more beautiful in the fall.

We continued our journey back home through New Hampshire, Vermont, and then enjoyed a meal right along Lake Champlain. The next day we drove through the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York (photo above), stopping at Lake Placid where we saw the famous spot of the Winter Olympics of 1980. 

Our last night on the road was at a peaceful, beautiful retreat spot (a surprise, as it just randomly came up as we searched lodging under Travelocity)! The next morning we drove to nearby Lake Michigan (photo above), before driving the final stretch home.

We are thanking God for this "retirement trip" with like-minded, kindred heart friends, enjoying the incredible beauty of autumn in the New England states! (Thank you, Jack & Linda, for the joy of traveling together!)

Celebrating Our 50th Anniversary!

August 14 was a very significant day for us in 2021 ... our 50th Wedding Anniversary!! As the time of our 50th approached, we could have suggested a public celebration, an open house, or something similar. And though we would have loved to see many of our friends, we knew that the best celebration of all would be if we could be all together with our family, especially with our six children. It had been an extra lengthy time since we had all been together, which made us long for this even more. And God granted us our wishes ... we had a very memorable time together with 21 (out of 26 total) of our family the end of July!

We have loved receiving anniversary wishes from you, our friends and relatives, as well, and here in this post, we want to share some of the photos that capture our time together with family! Thank you for your love, prayers, and congratulations to us at this mark of 50 years!

We'll share a few of the many digital scrapbook pages that I (Cherry) have created, preserving memories of our time together in a beautiful rental home in Missouri. It was in a beautiful, wooded area, with its own private dock, paddleboat, kayaks, etc., and the large home slept all of us!

Here are a few of the pages capturing the great fun we all had ...

Our dear family designated one evening for our 50th Anniversary Celebration, and made it so very special ... complete with an amazing grilled steak meal, a bouquet of flowers, a beautiful and delicious cake, cards, gifts, and a sharing of memories! It was just the sweetest time with our precious family!

We also were blessed to have some family photos taken in the very beautiful setting!

We are thanking God for the gift of 50 years together, and for the gift of time with our dear family. We are cherishing the memories of our 50 years, which we also captured in a 30-minute slideshow that we prepared and viewed together as family. Such a fun time that was ... filled with laughter and so many memories! So many, many things to thank God for! And most of all we thank Him for His love, grace, and mercy through all the joys and also the trials of life over the past 50 years. 

March Memories

We must be really enjoying our retirement ... so much that we haven't even been able to keep up with posting here on our blog! Actually, life continues to be full even during retirement, as we are blessed with a big family, and also many friends. These past few months have also been filled with helping with arrangements and much prep for Gary's brother, Neum, to move to Assisted Living. We're thankful we have been able to help out, and now that the big move has happened, we're back here with another post. 

We do desire to keep in touch with our friends! Here are four digital scrapbook pages filled with memories from March ... from early spring memories, to a granddaughter's birthday, to a dream come true of putting up a border fence on the west side of our big yard, and more.

We also had our first dose of Covid vaccine the end of March, mostly done in anticipation of being with all of our family this summer. We are so excited to finally all be together again, and this time, for a big occasion ... to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary! We've reserved a big VRBO rental home, with room for all of us! It will have been over two years since we have been all together, extra long because of the pandemic. 

February: Christmas Memories, Snow and More Snow, and a Few Good Reads

 

Greetings from a cold, snowy, winter wonderland! As we begin writing this update to our family and friends, the weather app on my (Cherry's) iPhone says it's 3 degrees, with a windchill of -12 degrees. Wow, that is cold. I think it's a good day to be indoors! We're also in a "Winter Weather Advisory", with more snow falling as I write.

Also, as I am writing this, the sounds of a snow blower have just started up out on our driveway. We have the most amazing neighbors, who have been clearing our driveway through each snowfall. On one recent, significant snowfall, they cleared our driveway about four times during the snowfall, keeping it from accumulating too much. One time was at 7 am. How amazing is that? Thank you Todd & Lynn, you are such a blessing!

Well, here we are in the second month of 2021. We'll start with a look back at our Christmas, as we haven't posted here for a number of months.

This past Christmas was a most unusual Christmas for us, as we were not able to host our usual big family gathering. How we missed that, a highlight of the year for us. That just couldn't work with the unusual pandemic season we are living through. But surprisingly, it turned out that we could still be with part of our family. Our daughter Carrie & husband Tyler invited us to join them in McCook the week between Christmas Day and New Years. Two of our other daughters, Amy from Beaver Lake, and Cristy from TX, and some of their family members also joined us there. Though we missed those who couldn't be there, it was such a fun, blessed, memorable time together! We absolute loved it! The two digital scrapbook pages below capture some of this joy! Thank you, Carrie & Tyler, for your amazing hospitality to all of us!

We're entering our 9th month of retirement now in February! How can that be? How can time go by so fast? We have yet to have a day when we are "bored", and both of us do not really know what that word means. Our lives are so full ... keeping up with our big family, spending time with our CityGroup (small group) friends, Citylight Midtown services on Sunday mornings, caring for our home, doctors appointments, taking care of some of Gary's brother's needs, keeping up daily with current news and concerns to pray for, and seeking to find time for multiple projects that are on our hearts and minds. It is a gift and a joy to be experiencing retirement together.

Christmas Eve was a very significant time for us as a couple, as we celebrated 50 years from our engagement! 50 years!! And this also means that this year 2021 we'll be celebrating 50 years since our wedding day in 1971! We are blessed beyond measure to be sharing life together with the one we love for almost 50 years now! Thank You, Lord, for leading us together, and for caring for us all these years.

And thank all of you who sent us Christmas cards, and for all the other multiple ways that you connect with us, and encourage us. It is always a joy to hear from you over social media, email, mail, etc. 

My Pursuing Heart blog has been fairly quiet over the past months, but I do love to put up a few posts each month. My first one of 2021 was focused on "In the Kitchen" - you can click here to read it.

And my other post last month focused on "In the Word", and "In Community". It is so very important to keep these essentials in place, even, and maybe especially during all the concerns going on in our country and around us. Keeping our hearts in the right place is essential. Click here to read the post.

Last of all, we both thought it would be fun to share a list of a few books that we each have read recently. It's a great time of year to curl up on the couch with a good book. Here are a few of our favorite recent readings:

From Gary:

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery -  by Eric Metaxas

Uncle Tom's Cabin - by Harriet Beecher Stowe

If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty - by Eric Metaxas

From Cherry:

Becoming Elisabeth Elliot - by Ellen Vaughn

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: finding unexpected strength when disappointments leave you shattered - by Lysa Terkeurst

Hidden Among the Stars - by Melanie Dobson

Along with our love of reading, you'll also often find us watching a movie together in the evenings, close by our new electric fireplace stove warming up the room. We've recently had fun watching a few good ones from past years: "The Hiding Place" (1975), "The Sound of Music" (1965), and "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001). We're also currently enjoying two series airing now from Masterpiece Classic: "All Creatures Great and Small", and "Miss Scarlet and the Duke". 

We'll close off this winter update with a quote from "The Fellowship of the Ring". Gary shared the image below recently on Facebook, with these words:

"I love how Gandalf answers Frodo here. It really blessed me as we were watching The Fellowship of The Ring once again last night. Frodo went through so much and Gandalf was such a wise counselor... J.R.R. Tolkien gave the world such great insights through his stories."

Our Transition to Retirement

 

It's been a bit silent here, as we've been transitioning into this new season of life for us. After 49 years of marriage, and 48 years of being in full-time ministry together, this is definitely a new season!

Also in addition with our transition to retirement, we, along with the rest of our country and world, have had quite an unusual year 2020.  We're all charting unfamiliar waters, filled with many challenges, but also, filled with unexpected joys, as we are held in God's faithful, loving care.

Two of the unexpected joys we've experienced recently have been two wonderful trips! Unexpected because of the extended Covid quarantine life we all have been living in one degree or another. 

These two recent trips in September/October have truly been gifts from God! There's nothing like a long road-trip to make a person feel the joys of retirement! Here's a little peek at our 15-day trip with dear friends, Jack & Linda! We started planning this trip in mid-July, and left on Sept. 9th ...

First of many digital scrapbook pages from our Glacier Trip.

There are no words to describe the joy of traveling with kindred-heart friends! Our main destination was beautiful Glacier National Park in northwest Montana, followed by Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, Arches NP, Canyonland NP, and Rocky Mountain NP. Also the gorgeous Grand Mesa National Forest near Grand Junction, CO. Such beauty everywhere, even on the roads and highways traveling between these parks in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. We're thankful for God's protection as we traveled, and for the soul-filling fellowship and fun that we enjoyed!! 

We also greatly enjoyed the very special treat of being with Cristy & Mark, and their family in Wylie, TX (near Dallas) the beginning of this month! Even more special during this Covid year when we haven't been able to be with family as much as we would love to. Cristy & Mark are down to only having one of their four children still at home now ... our sweet granddaughter, Brianna (8th grade). We timed our trip so that it would be over a weekend when we could watch Brianna cheer at a junior-high football game! We loved being able to be there for that!

We were also able to spend time with Luke, a freshman at nearby Dallas Baptist University, when he came home during the weekend. It was very fun to meet his girlfriend, too.

Also some sweet times with Crystal, who is an intern at a recording studio in Dallas, after graduating from DBU in August! It was such a treat to see her, and also Luke, as we had missed both of their graduations (Crystal from college, and Luke from high school) during the summer because of Covid.                                                                                                               

We sure missed seeing Abigail & Addison on this trip to TX, as they are now serving in Japan with World Venture! We love connecting with them in various ways that social media, and texting provide.

It has been a big transition for us from full-time ministry for 48 years, to now actually being retired! There have been many details to care for, and with these two amazing trips, we definitely are now "feeling" the joys of retirement! The challenges of life continue (daily tasks, doctor appointments, responsibilities, also the challenges of this Covid season and election season), but we continually are thanking God for clearly leading us to this point. It has also been a joy to connect with Jake (now as the Cru Omaha leader here!), and also some former Cru High students in the area!

We took a day to enjoy the fall beauty along the Loess Hills scenic highway in mid-October. Here is a scrapbook page picturing some of what we saw ...

We cherish the gifts of family, friendships, and the beauty of God's creation! And we look forward to keeping in touch here during our retirement.

Also, here are some links to blog posts Cherry has written during this month on her Pursuing Heart blog. Gary also looks forward to writing his thoughts on a variety of subjects here in the weeks/months ahead.

In the Kitchen: Dehydrating Herbs

Whatever the Season, Whatever the Circumstance

In the Kitchen: Flatbread Pizza, Zucchini Bread & Muffins, Pumpkin Brownies