Every month, when I begin to write this letter to all of you, I’m amazed at how full the days of that month have been. Last month was filled with seminary class finals, graduations, and our grandson’s wedding, plus the travel for all these events. June began for us the morning after James’s wedding as we headed to the airport to fly to Budapest, Hungary!
Dennis and I went on a river cruise with Dallas Theological Seminary and had the opportunity to speak to all the guests on “Right-Sizing Relationships with Adult Children.” We enjoyed sharing with all the couples the many lessons we’ve learned mostly from our mistakes. Isn’t that how we all learn?
This is a photo of us with Dr. Mark Yarbrough, president of the seminary, who introduced us for our session on the ship.
There were many highlights from the cruise, of course. One of the biggest was the great conversations we had with several couples. Three of them we’ve known for years; one is the chairman of the Ever Thine Home board. Others were new friends, including a seminary prof. After getting to know him and his wife, I think I’ll be taking his class on the prophets. He’s from Canada originally and we really enjoyed hearing their stories.
Another highlight for us was the last city where we got off the ship and stayed for a few days. Prague is an amazing and beautiful city. Our son Samuel backpacked around Europe after college with a buddy and Prague was by far his favorite place, so I’ve been eager to see it for a long time. It didn’t disappoint.
Besides discovering quaint restaurants and cafes and enjoying all the gorgeous architecture, we went to an international church on our last Sunday before departing early Tuesday. It was Pentecost Sunday, June 5 this year, and the pastor began by saying they often ask for a roll-call of nations. Like the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, this church was filled with believers from all over the world including: China, Korea, Philippines, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Tanzania, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Hungary, Germany, Canada, and more. The many languages spoken was a taste of what heaven will be like! It was really cool.
Flying home we missed our connection and had to stay in Amsterdam for a night, finally arriving in Little Rock about 24 hours later. Jet lag is real. And it is not my favorite thing!
Our first full day home was a fog but over the next few days we got our to-do lists in order, caught up on things like mail, laundry, grocery store, emails, pulling the millions of weeds that grew, and all the other agendas waiting for our return. A week later I still wasn’t fully back to normal. It just takes time.
Nine days after returning from Prague we flew to Colorado to babysit five of our grands for a week while their parents went on their own river cruise. I took my art supplies and a book to read to all of them at bedtime every night. The book is the first in the Inheritance Cycle, a book my grandsons read several years ago and loaned me to read. We read for hours while we were with them.
On Sunday, before Rebecca and Jake left, we went to visit their first-born Molly’s grave—what we call her “doorway.” A doorway is a term that comes from a poem by Calvin Miller that Dennis read at her memorial service. The line reads, “ … our graves are merely doorways cut in sod.” Molly lived seven days and made a mighty impact on many lives. Rebecca and I wrote a book about her life and our families’ experiences, which is sadly now out of print. I’m praying we can find a way to reprint it one day.
And one last memory to share: We went to dinner with Rebecca and Jake and we had a tiny celebration of our upcoming 50th wedding anniversary. After dinner we went searching for our first house; we lived in Boulder for our first year and a half of marriage and bought our first home there. We found it and had so much fun telling our kids all about it.
Our Ever Thine Home team is planning for our 50th anniversary in early September and our kids are planning a weekend for all of us to celebrate. So watch for announcements of our plans and ways you can be involved!
Happy summer everyone!
Ever His,
Barbara
Friends & Family June 2022 will be the last personal monthly letter from Barbara to appear on our blog page. Starting in July her monthly correspondence will be available only through email and only to our subscribers. So if you are reading this through our website be sure to subscribe for FREE here and don’t miss out on Friends and Family, weekly blogs, new products and offers or podcasts.
Barbara, I am so glad to have “reconnected” with you, Dennis, and your lovely family thru the discovery of your blog. The Biblical truths, guidance and lessons you have shared have had a profound impact on my life and the life of my family and have drawn me closer to God. Thank you so much!