Just Shy of Twenty-Four Years

by Don 

     There is a sign in front of our house that says, "For Sale by Owner." It refers to our house. Below that is a phone number. The man stopped his work truck along the road and called the number (Karin's) - three times - getting three different messages; basically saying that the phone number wasn't valid. So, not getting any answer, he decided to come up the house.

     After knocking on the front door, he stepped back a ways. He said he does that because he is so big - my guess is 6 foot 5 or 6 inches and some girth to boot. He has frightened people before. Ariana answered the door and came to get me (he said she was real polite - good for you, Ariana!). I invited Brad in and he shared this story: Our neighbor to the north, Chris, had called him (after I had left a message at the Chris' home) and said he ought to check out our home and barn. He forgot all about it until he was on his way to do some work at our Chris' and Chris asked him, "Why didn't you call about the house?" "Well, I forgot about it." "Well, go on down and check it out. I think it's exactly what you are looking for." That's what brought Brad to our front door. He and his wife had been praying about finding a house in this area. She had started a new nursing job nearly an hour from home (22 minutes from here) and he would drive nearly 50 minutes to get to our neighborhood for his work.

     After talking for a bit inside the house, we went to look at the barn. (He really didn't see much of the house, "The house is for my wife. What I am interested in is the barn!") When he stepped in, his eyes got real big and he said, "Wow! This is great! This is perfect! I can back my two trailers in here and I have space to work on my vehicles. The loft will be great for storage and I can store my parts down below. Then I showed him the "apartment," the finished area that we've used for gatherings. "Wow, a place for my office. A place to get warm!" Well, he decided he wanted the place (we're still working on those details).

     I then told him about our chicken coup, and he said, "I've got 26 chickens. We give the extra eggs to needy families." I asked if he had any dogs. "Yes, two: one inside and one outside that weighs about 80 lbs." I showed him the pen and huge dog house and told him about Sheba.

     Brad was very clear in stating his desire to have the place. Brad is a believer, and he felt that maybe the Lord was answering his prayers. On Tuesday, he is planning on bringing his wife to look at the "house."

     Yesterday, I thought I would give him a call and suggest an idea for getting a loan. But before I could tell him my idea, he asked, "Were you in an accident in 1989, on State Road 22, east of Kokomo?" My mind started racing: was that the year? I cautiously said yes. "You had chest pains, and that is why they put you on the "board," and your wife had abdominal pain and neck pain." "Uh, yeah!"

     Brad said, "Yesterday, when I heard your name, I thought I recognized it but couldn't place it. Then, last night about 2 am, I remembered. January 5th, 1989 was my first day for clinicals at St. Joe Hospital in Kokomo. I was studying for my EMT license. I arrived at 4 pm and was supposed to stay in ER, but the charge nurse told me to go with the ambulance. Although I didn't do anything to help, I was to write a record of my experience, taking down every detail." He wrote a full report with names and all the other information from the accident. He asked if it was a Toyota, but I said it was a VW. Then I remembered that the car that pulled in front of us was a gray Toyota.

     I asked, "Brad, do you have a few minutes to hear the rest of the story?" He said yes. I shared how Rev. Helm had been in conversation that very morning with Reimar and Marcia about their trip the next morning to Florida. After hanging up the phone, Rev. Helm called back and said he had a burden in prayer for someone in the family and proceeded to pray through the members of the family. As he prayed, he realized the burden was for Karin and maybe our family. Roger told us later that he prayed all day long.

     That evening, we wanted to go to Parker to be in service with Rev. Helm since he was leaving the next morning. Marcia let us drive her new (less than two weeks old) VW Jetta that Reimar had gotten her for Christmas. We were travelling east on SR 22 when a car pulled out in front of us - actually two cars. The first one passed us but the second one pulled right in front of us. We hit the front of their car and the two boys in the car were not seriously hurt (had our car hit the driver's door instead of the front tire, the driver would likely have been killed). The Jetta slid across to the other side of the road and stopped. We were thankful that, although we had some isolated pain, we were all okay.

     Here is the miracle: Jacob (around six months old) and Jordan (two and a half) were in car seats in the back. Jacob had been crying since about the time we had left home and Karin was about to pull him out of the car seat and nurse him. Had she done that, Jacob would have either been killed or seriously injured. As it was, he stopped crying in the last mile before the accident. Something I had not realized all these years and the review with Brad brought out was that Karin would have had to unbuckle her seat belt and turn around to get Jacob out of his seat behind her. Had she done that, very likely she would have been killed or seriously injured. The impact would have thrown her into the door post of sent her out through the windshield. The Lord witnessed that except the Lord had intervened (and because of intercessory prayer), Karin would have been killed. Praise God for His mercy to protect her and Jacob and to keep her for me and the boys (and the many others she has blessed these last 24 years). We also would not have had the twins. God's mercy is truly great!!!

     Because the Lord brought Brad back into our lives (didn't even know he was there at the accident scene), I see how much greater a mercy God had on us. May He be praised!!!!!!!

     One other thing I would like to review. After the accident, Travis Hollis showed up at our house with a big bouquet of roses for Karin. He said he would rather give her the roses while she was alive and could appreciate them than after she was gone. What a wonderful thought!!!

     As you think of it, be praying for our house to sell - Brad really wants it!  :-)  And God can work all the details out. Praise God!

Grandpa's Corner I

GRANDPAS CORNER

It is not the critic who counts,

not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly...
Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions,
who spends himself in a worthy cause,
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly,

so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never
known neither victory nor defeat.

Teddy Roosevelt

From Grandpa Schultze

Cam & Melissa Moving

Cam and Melissa have purchased a home and are in the process of moving.  I'm hoping they will post more about it when things settle down for them as it is a nice place.  Last weekend, someone broke into their new home and stole a good amount of valuables so they also are working all that out.

Playing music together again

Such a joy to play music with Charles again.  And to hear Heidi and Charles play together.

Trees of the field (Charles and Esther)  http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?video_id=dy-XVQhFPSI&ns=1


Meditation from Thais (Charles and Heidi)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fILxNdO1gkw

Christmas at Litchfields

It was such a blessing to have Mom and Dad and Marilyn come up for Christmas.  Mai was able to come as well, and was a big help around the kitchen!  We praise the Lord for a positive visit with her and with much evident warmth betwixt us all.

Paul Contin's Christmas gift

Christmas Sunday was a powerful morning  Someone received the true gift of Christmas.  The night before Robert went to bed at 11 pm, but when I got up to go to the restroom at 1:30 am he was gone.  I found him praying earnestly in his chair.  He was so burdened for souls.  At church the next morning he exhorted under a wonderful anointing making an appeal for souls to surrender to Jesus Christ.  Our long time friend Paul Contin had just had a near death experience and was under severe conviction - before he even got to church.  He hit the altar during Ann's beautiful "Oh Holy Night" along with some other people and was soundly converted.  His testimony was so strong afterwards.  Later that afternoon Robert asked him how he was doing and he said, "I'm in the glory!"  He spent Christmas day with us and the Helblings, asking many questions about God.  He is reading the bible for the first time.  He keeps saying, "I am so happy!  I am so happy!"

If you have time to watch the video of this, I just happened to have my camera that morning (with the intention of filming music).  You will see Robert's exhortation, Ann's song and Paul hitting the altar and his testimony afterwards.

Touching video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DDqMsOBVpk

Praise the Lord for the convicting power of God on a Christmas Sunday!  (That's one of the hardest Sundays to stay in Spirit, I think!  Too many of man's plans and performance type spirit often competing.  Praise the Lord for the divine take over!)

College Kid Once Again

     I thought that I was done with school. Especially after graduating with an AA and then being an English teacher for six months out of this year. However, it seems that God wants me back in school, for whatever reason. I leave in just under two weeks to embark on my college campus experience at God's Bible School and College. For now, I plan to study in the missions department, and then pray about what God has for me after this semester. After these last 13 months, I've learned that I can't be too sure about what lies ahead, but I can be sure that God is preparing me and guiding me in His will.

    At this point, I'm looking forward to studying again, as well as making new friends that are my age. From my experiences of GBS, I know I can also look forward to exceptional classes that will edify and encourage me. There are a couple of girls there that I know already who I think will be great friends. But I would always love a visit from family... :)

Granny

Naomi's (I) grandmother passed away last week.  She was a very sweet lady who has been integral in Naomi's life.  Today is the funeral so keep them in your prayers.

well tuesday night after work i usually go to meijers and get boxes for are move i was on my way home about 1 am and got a flat, both my front tire are bad and does not help that i need shocks and brakes and sway bars fixed so the front tires were pretty bad. so i got a flat front passenger side i changed it drove home praying for finance to get tires are good used tires would do too. wednesday i went to the retirement lunch for our boss he has stge 4 colon cancer and is hitting him pretty bad, i gave him daddies book as a gift. back up before the retirement lunch i stopped by Leo tire and asked how much for 2 used tires he said 50 dollars. so when i was at the retirment party they handed out christmas cards to each employee, i opened it when i got back in the car and a 50 dollar bill fell out so from there i went and got two used tires thankfull for very quick answer to prayer.

Change in the Air

Yesterday was my last day driving Amish teachers on a daily basis.  With Mikah going to school, and a move in the making, it seemed like time to close this chapter of my life after 2-1/2 years of driving.  Yes, it will be a relief to not be 'tied down' morning and afternoon, but yet it is sad as well.
The teachers were disappointed, but very kind.  Some gave gifts, and there were sweet words like, "We're really going to miss you, Karin." and "It will be hard to find another driver like you."  I was able to talk about the Lord with all 6 of them and more intimately about their souls with 5 of them.  A couple of them seem to have a strong faith.  The others, I am not totally discouraged about, and trust the Lord to use the seeds that have been planted through us and others for His glory.  I haven't been influential like I would like.  My friend, Marsha, who has lived in this area all her life has said that she is seeing a spiritual renewal with the Amish families.  There used to be more hardness than there is now.  Just for the record and to say it one more time....I have loved living in this area!!  As Guy Young would say, it's the next best place to heaven.  (Maybe the only improvement would be an importation of the Rocky Mtns or something like that. :-))

Jordan's Family has been Ill.

Jordan's Naomi spent a couple days in the hospital the end of last week.  She had dehydration as a result of the flu.  In fact, they all had the flu.  Especially Nathanael and Naomi are still recovering their strength and health so keep them in your prayers.

A Letter to Esther

Here is a letter Esther received from a lady.  Esther mentioned she wanted it posted.

Dear Esther,

You may or may not remember me from the CHAP convention in Harrisburg, PA this past May.   My name is Melody Miller and I was in the last workshop of the weekend that you presented.  As you shared about more than music training, but character training I was overcome with conviction in a manner I don’t experience real often (I was saddened and brought to tears).  The conviction was that although I may have missed the mark in some ways with both character & music training in my first two children I was to not follow the same pattern with our youngest child.  As I spoke with you afterwards you compassionately offered to pray with me right there and then said you’d “make me your prayer project” and “I hope to hear your story some day”.  That is why I’m writing to you today.  It is to you that I owe thanks for the sound of Christmas carols being played on a piano in my home this December!   Here’s our story:

After the CHAP convention I was sharing with a mentor friend of mine about the end of my school year, summer plans and I told her about what I experienced in your workshop on music training.  I shared that I sensed our youngest son, Jadon (age 9), needed something that his older two siblings did not do or had not accomplished to strengthen his confidence and individuality from always trying to measure up to older siblings (ages 14 & 16).  I told her I really desired him to have piano lessons.  My friend watches Craigslist regularly so wouldn’t you know one Sun. afternoon towards the end of June she sends me an email saying that a free piano just listed.  Well, I got on that immediately because I knew it would be hard to win my husband over to forking out several hundred dollars for a piano.  So, within 6 weeks of the convention I end up with a free piano in my living room!  I was blown away!  Next, I realized I needed to find the “right” piano teacher.  Checking around with a few friends I found one lady who was willing to consider stopping by my house during her daughter’s co-op day which was very close to our house…she seemed flexible, was cheaper than some and it would be convenient for me; but then I just didn’t have the peace I knew was necessary to make this decision.   I decided to check with a woman in our church who I had spoken with months before and had learned that she gave piano lessons and had her own “studio”.  When her packet of information arrived in the mail and I began reading, I realized she was the type of teacher you mentioned about who was trained in music and would pass along the enthusiasm for music to our son.  This was another wonderful God-connection, guiding this whole process and giving me assurance that He was in this.  By the end of August Jadon began lessons with his teacher, Mrs. Warren, and he has done remarkably well.  Not that he’s the next Bach, but he really has shown great aptitude toward the piano.   When he came home from his first lesson after playing on her baby grand piano and played on our free piano, the first thing he said was, “Mom, this needs tuned”.   Today before we decorated our Christmas tree I asked if he would play his Christmas carols for us.  He did and even played the one with his eyes closed!   I have also seen some benefits with his focus/attention with other academic school work and I am so thankful that I choose to attend your workshop.  It’s obvious that God directed me there and has directed the path since then.   Psst! Our 14 y.o. son who had piano lessons when he was 5-7 has enjoyed sitting down and playing the songs in Jadon’s lesson books.  So, I’m praying again…waiting to see what God has in store.

Thank you, Esther for being willing to share your experience and passion for children and music training.  It really has made all the difference for not only my son, but many, many more children.   Thank you for your prayers and making me “your project”.  Blessings on your Music Academy as you plan for the future and whatever you might currently be involved with.

With deep thankfulness,

Melody Miller

i have been accepted at the Columbus Culinary Institute  i will start march 4th and will be living their durring the week and comming back to don's and karins i hope every weekend unless when i get a part time job it may be every other week. so pray for guidance this will be a long year to year and a half with out jasmine. and for Gods grace in this very heavy school schedule and finciancing such as a good part time job. and for kim mai we dont know what will happen in that situation. thank you and love you all..

chester

Street Trips

We're leaving again today for southern Indiana - this time it's only for two nights. We'll have two services tomorrow at two different churches, then head back on Monday. As some of you know, I've been having some physical problems, and it seems to be worse on/right after trips, so I would appreciate your prayers for me, and definitely for our services, that we would be vessels that the Lord can use and that hearts and lives would be changed.

Faith Family Fellowship

Don and I are now meeting regularly on Sundays with the McIntosh family near Defiance, Ohio.  We have named our church "Faith Family Fellowship".  Don has permission from Grabill Cabinets to go part time as soon as we move, and we also would like to remodel homes for resale.  We have a home picked out to live in, but someone has made an offer ahead of us.  I just heard today that the financing is looking shaky for the potential buyer, and we may get another chance at it.  That would be wonderful as we have exhausted all the options within the area, price range and size that we need...and we've looked at less than 10 homes.  We need prayer that the buyers of our house will complete their financing soon so we can make a good offer!
We went caroling with the McIntoshes the other night.  It was a joy to sing with this other musical family!  We sang to a neighbor lady who does not know the Lord.  She wept, and said we had made her Christmas! We plan to stay in touch with her and her husband and be faithful to their souls.  We also sang at a couple senior citizens centers and another neighborhood home with its own set of needs.  Six precious daughters in this family.   It truly is an adventure to be starting a church there.  Don and I did not think we would ever do such a thing.  I will say it is a privilege to have the gifted and spiritually sensitive McIntosh family on our team.  -Karin

Jake Meets with GTO

Jake and Naomi met with the GTO staff last night.  They were encouraged by the meeting.  They said it felt like they were talking to Christians, not Mennonites.  :-)   The director of SE Asia told them that there will be a board meeting in January at which time they will try to get Jake and Naomi accepted - he doesn't forsee a problem with that.

At that point, Jake and Naomi would be required to do a 5-6 week training in New York City.  Before or after that, they are encouraged to take a 1 month 'Vision Tour' of the area of T. and L. to confirm their sense of call to that area.  The opportunity in L. would be to oversee a vocational school for young men and women.  The track for women would be more domestic in nature, and I'm not sure what the men's track is.  They would have an opportunity to do a Bible study every night with the young people.  Apparently the L. language is 50% like the T. language so that would be a plus.

GTO would hope they would be in L. by next fall, I believe.

The SE Asian director and his wife were very encouraging about how God will supply for those who respond to the call.  They said there has never been a GTO missionary who has had to come home for lack of funds.

Thank-you for praying for them.