RICHARD IS RETIRED AS OF 5:00 P.M. TODAY!

Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

After much prayer the last half of 2007 and determining it be in God's will for Richard to retire at the end of the spring semester 2008, .... and after training his replacement this semester (and finishing teaching two college courses), Richard came home from work today with a new label: RETIRED! We had counted down the months, weeks, and days all of this semester, and the day has finally arrived.

Richard enjoyed working at the college for 6 years. It was a spiritual as well as professional dream he had had for many years and was able to realize. We are grateful for the opportunity he had to work for the college and to hopefully make a difference.

We are totally open to God's will regarding this next phase of life as retirees. We have no plans to leave this place but don't know what God might have in store for us so won't say "never." We look forward to entering into more ministry with a lot of time and energy to expend in that manner.

Jaden was still napping when Richard came in from work. In a bit, he woke up and came out to see his Grandpa. He was still trying to wake up when I snapped this picture, but I think you can see that Richard was already in the "retirement mode."




Richard's retirement years began with a sweet family dinner hour here at home. We miss Brian and Belle (they are at a Sports Banquet at Belle's school) but enjoyed Amy, Jarrett, Josh, and Jaden being here at dinnertime. It was a relaxing time. After dinner, Richard and I "laced up" and went for our walk around the neighborhood as we make physical preparations for our trip to Alaska later this month.

I made videos of our dinner time and of a special gift that Richard received. "Welcome Home, Honey!"

Jaden is zonked!

Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Jaden had a hard time giving up playing to go down for a nap, but he has been zonked for 2 hours now.

Do I Love Jesus? How Can I Know?

We have sat under the preaching of our "new" pastor for 15 months. We were very blessed when God sent Dr. Jackson to us and loved him from the "get-go." He has proven to be THE MAN for our church for this time. He is a young man (turned 35 just after taking the pastorate) and has truly grown into the big job of pastoring our church. I am always convicted, challenged, and blessed by his messages. Sunday morning's message was the crown jewel as far as my heart was concerned.

Dr. Jackson preached on our love for the Savior. I was challenged to ponder: How much do I love Jesus? Pastor read several passages as his introduction to the message: Deuteronomy 6:5, Deuteronomy 11:1, Luke 14:26, Deuteronomy 10:12, Matthew 22:37, and I Corinthians 16:22.

He then parked on the conversation between the Lord and Peter as found in John 21:17. In His restoration of Peter, Jesus confronted Peter with the question, "How much do you love me?" He was asking Peter, "Are you going to live for self or for me?" The question began to swirl in my head and in my heart: Do I truly love Jesus more than anything else?

In his sermon entitled, "How Can I Know I Love Jesus," Pastor Jackson then gave us 3 ways to check for evidence of our love for Jesus ~~ John 21:15-19

1. Service ~~ v. 15: Feed my lambs
v. 15: Feed my sheep
v. 17: feed sheep

We are to be about our Father's business. Doing service for Christ without love results in frustration. If I love Jesus supremely, I will love "to do." I will want to serve Jesus. We are not born just to exist. As Christians, we are to feed sheep!! Am I a spectator or a Servant?
II Peter 1:12: Peter received the truth and never got over it.
I John 18: Love in deed and in truth.
II Corinthians 5:14: The love of Christ constraineth us.

2. Surrender ~~ v. 18
Jesus foretold that Peter would be crucified for his belief. When Peter was a young Christian, he was impetuous: cut off ears, reacted in the flesh. As an older Christian, Peter was fully surrendered to Christ. I am to serve even when I don't "feel" lie it. Love others even when I don't feel like it.

3. Submission ~~ v. 19
Another call to Peter to follow Christ.
v. 22: Follow thou me
Keep my eyes on Jesus and follow Him.

Serve -- Surrender -- Submit: Loving Jesus Supremely is the key to a victorious Christian life!

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I don't imagine my sermon notes made too much of an impact on anyone else, but I am still thinking on the message preached yesterday. On this the day after, as I have contemplated yesterday's sermon and what it meant to me, I felt compelled to sit down and email Pastor a note letting him know how his sermon impacted me. I share it here to express my thanks to God for sending Pastor Jackson to us and for God's precious Holy Spirit which works in my heart. I also share it as a way to express my gratitude to Pastor Jackson for being so faithful to preach God's Word ~~ which edifies the Saints.

Pastor,

I wanted to write and tell you how much your Sunday morning message stirred my heart. I was touched, convicted, and convinced all in the same service. What a myriad of emotions went through me as you preached. As you presented the question of "Do I love Jesus?" I began to do some serious soul-searching as the question grabbed my heart. And then when you went into your points of "How Can I Know I Love Jesus" I realized that I truly do want to love Him supremely and serve Him with my heart totally surrendered and in total submission to His will.

As Richard works his last day at the college and we embark on our retirement years, we so much desire that this phase of our lives truly counts for the Master. We don't want to slow down in our devotion and service, we want to speed up!!!!!! This message was such a much-needed "reality check" of our spiritual lives and helped us to more firmly set our course for whatever time left on this earth the Lord grants us. May we be found loving Him with that Agape love and serving Him with our hearts.

Thank you for your FAITHFULNESS to preach the Word, for your deep study that allows you to so PRACTICALLY preach the Word so that we can put into practice what you teach us, and for your LOVE for God and for us all, your flock.

We are praying for you this week as the college year closes, and for your family as you embark upon summertime and get some much needed R&R.

Blessings,

Susan

Little Lily and Family ~~ Waiting on the Final Diagnosis

From Dawn's Post on Friday.......

Please keep praying for Lily. We will not know the final diagnosis of the tumor until Tuesday or Wednesday.

My Marvelous Monday Morning With Jaden

Wednesday is my usual day to keep Jaden, but because of Richard's colonoscopy on Wednesday, we won't be able to keep him. Sometimes I keep Jaden on Friday's when it works out for both me and his Grandma Carol because she keeps him while I go to Bible Study. Well, this Friday we will be at Chip's. I was getting kind of melancholy at the thought of not having Jaden at all this week (yes, I know I am spoiled!) so asked his parents last night if I could keep him today. Of course, they were sweet and said, "Yes."

We are having a fun morning. We have worked outside, played outside, played inside, done laundry, and have laughed, sung, and prayed together. I have made some video of some of our activity and will post them here so his folks can see their Jaden "in action" during his day at Grandma's. house. One of the videos might get us both in trouble. OOPS!

This first video is of us checking out the first "Bella" roses of the season. Kay (Nichols) O'Rorke in Ohio sent the Jackson and Perkins "Bella'Roma" bush as a gift way back in 2003. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Here is Jaden checking out the first two roses in bloom:




Jaden helping Grandma with the yard work: cutting off the old amaryllis blooms to make plenty of room for the azaleas which are just starting to burst out in bloom:



Jaden the Jumping-Jack:



More videoes to follow..... they are uploading on YouTube......

LAST TIME WITH OUR 10 CAMPUS DAUGHTERS

On Sunday we had our "Farewell" Dinner for our Campus Daughters. We have one graduating: Katharina from Canada. We also celebrated our last birthday for this school year: Darla's June 17 birthday. Katharina and Darla each received a gift for those special occasions and we also gave each girl a DVD with all of the pics and videos I had made during these 2 semesters of the school year. We pray the girls have a wonderful summer at home with their families and then we look forward to the 9 under-grads coming back in September. Here is a pic of Darla (black hair) and Katharina (blonde) with their cake.

Josh and Jaden in Master Club's Awards Ceremony

Matthew 23:10b For one if your Master, even Christ.

Josh and Jaden both participated in Master Clubs at our church this school year. It was Jaden's first year as they start with the 3-year-olds. He did GREAT and learned a lot of verses. I have to tell a cute story on Jaden. Last week when he was with me, I was having to get on to him for not obeying me. I guess I had a stern look on my face as well as a stern tone to my voice. He so sweetly looked up at me and said, "Grandma, the Bible says, "Be ye kind one to another. Ephesians 4:32." I replied, "Yes, Jaden, and the Bible also says in Ephesians 6:1: Children, obey your parents (grandparents, too) in the Lord: for this is right." We are thrilled that Jaden has committed a lot of God's Holy Scripture to memorization this school year.

Josh has been in the Club since age 3 and had a great year in 3rd grade Masters Club. He too has committed a lot of Scripture to memory. What a help through life it will be as he recalls verses that will help him in various situations.

Grandpa and I attended last night's Awards Ceremony and were blessed to see all of the children who participated ~~ some 200 kids in our church from 3-year-olds through 6th grade. Grandpa Richard made a video of each of our boys on stage with their groups. Again, we were so far back that we didn't get great video, but it is better than nothing!