How Jonathan and I Got Together

A few weeks ago during tent meeting, we enjoyed eating together and visiting with Elverne and Olive Asbury, as well as Olive's sister, Bonnie Lacy. They were in town to attend a memorial service for Olive and Bonnie's mother.

We shared memories of how Asburys and Lacys helped Jonathan and me get together--and of course I wanted a picture of these old friends for my blog on account of how their families had been instrumental in Jonathan getting to know me!

My family and I had been invited to sing for the missions service at the Lacy's church in Ohio, I think it was, about 23 years ago, and I had spoken about my upcoming mission venture to Ukraine, a talk which was recorded on tape and taken back to Colorado by a lady who knew Jonathan and thought maybe he would be interested in hearing it!

Bonnie or Asburys remembered that it was Sam and Nancy Davis who were the other missionaries who spoke at the same service that I had.

I had forgotten that!
After Jonathan started writing to me, he had gone on a trip to China and met the Asburys, who knew me and my family. I had traveled to China with a group that included Bro. Asbury and son Glen.
Apparently whatever they told Jonathan about me did not turn him off, and Asburys seemed to be very happy about us getting together!

Below, the ladies and girls on tent meeting Sunday are preparing the desserts.

Rose is arranging fruit on our fruit pizza.

And Carrie is helping fill Fern's cream puffs.

I've been busy with summer activities and had more energy so I don't sit down often to blog like I did when I was really down. 

But here are some thoughts that I copied and pasted a while back from Christy Fitzwater's blog:

http://www.christyfitzwater.com/comfort/finding-simple-comforts-complex-life/

She was going shopping for blouses to wear for teaching Spanish classes, and told herself:

"No skirts. No skirts, I told myself. You have foundation skirts already. By foundation I mean navy blue, black, and tan. A girl does not need more than that. She wants more (especially that white eyelet A-line), but the foundation pieces are sufficient. One can trade out tops with classic skirts, to create a whole lot of new outfits.
All that story is to tell you that a few days ago I was feeling a lot of things. A little stress. A little sadness. A little discouragement. A little joy. You know how those things can all be twisted in together at the same time?
I was praying, but I didn’t even really know what I needed from the Lord. So I just asked if he could make me feel better.
I opened the Bible and read this verse:

Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3

I read the facts over and over, and they changed what was happening in my heart. In this verse, the psalmist didn’t talk about anything I was feeling –not the stress, not the sorrow, not the discouragement, not even the joy. Still, the facts calmed and comforted me. I meditated on the verse for the next few days.

The LORD is God.

He made us.

We are his.

These are foundation pieces. Maybe sometimes we want more from God, but what if this one verse is enough? We can mix and match all of our feelings and experiences with these truths, like pairing colorful shirts with staple wardrobe items, and come away feeling calm and secure.
So I put out this very simple challenge for you today: grab a notecard and write down Psalm 100:3. Carry it with you and say the verse to yourself all day long, no matter what you’re going through. Let the Lord comfort you with a reminder of who he is and who you are."