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Dear family and friends,
We are grateful that we could spend some time this summer and fall with family and friends. Unfortunately, our June visit to KS was cut short due to covid, and we were disappointed to not be able to visit with a few special people. We were grateful for the family and friends we were able to see and that God kept us and our loved ones safe. We made it back home and were both back on our feet in a week. We apologize that we exposed everyone that we saw in that brief visit. Thankfully, we only shared it with our dear friends Dave and Kathy, who let us stay with them, but thankfully they also recovered quickly. We plan to go back to Kansas in April (healthy and well!) to visit again and catch up with those we missed! After living in our camper for over four years, we are thrilled to announce that we are close to moving into the house that Dennis has been building since we moved to our property in 2019. Our original goal to spend Christmas Eve in the “Ruby Cottage” side of the house, may have to be moved back a few weeks. Yes, we could move in and look at Sheetrock walls and sleep in sleeping bags on the floor for a while like we did when we built our first house in 1983. But at this stage, we agree that it wouldn’t be as fun or easy as it was all those years ago! So if needed, we will put up a few Christmas decorations in the camper again and continue to be patient. We are both excited to see visible progress toward Phase II of our building project being complete. Best of all, there will be no mortgage payments when we are through! We praise the Lord for giving us this debt-free vision and providing in miraculous ways to bring it to pass. Not the least of which has been Dennis doing most of the work himself, with help from a few amazing friends. Our vision verse and God-given slogan have been our guide since the time of purchase and breaking ground and will continue to be our declaration:  This house will allow us enough space to get back to writing books and songs and we both look forward to returning to those assignments. As you can see from the photo, Jeannie’s Kingdom Corner isn’t quite finished yet…but her new washer/dryer is ready and waiting to go into the bathroom! Dennis is still working on some plumbing issues, but the ceiling is going up!
As close as we are to the finish line on this house, it is not “our house.” Ruby Cottage, one side of the house, is a small (but huge after living in the camper!) studio apartment that will be used as a guesthouse and retreat for God’s workers. Macs Music is the other half of the house and will be for Dennis to both write and record his own music, but also help other musicians to do the same. We will need to live in Ruby Cottage until the Lord provides for us to build our home, “Sapphire Lodge.” Until then, we can’t truly fulfill the “hospitality” part of our assignment, however we will find a place for special guests! Please pray with us as we complete Phase II and look forward to beginning Phase III. (Dennis is off the hook for Sapphire Lodge. It will be built for us!) Then Macs MountainView will be ready to accomplish all that God has called us to do here.
Dennis still enjoys officiating volleyball and basketball. This is his fifth year. He likes the exercise and being with the “kids.” Almost 40 years of teaching and coaching put the students and athletes in his heart and that connection didn’t change with retirement. Most of the time, even as a ref, the kids like him! For volleyball season he has a coin to toss with a KU Jayhawk for heads and “Beak ‘Em Hawks!” for tails! Even the NC fans think that’s pretty cool!
Jeannie has been planning the decor for her new Kingdom Corner where she will not only spend her time with God every day, but will continue with her writing. Since her last book, Kingdom Corner Connection, (2020) was written on a laptop in the cramped camper, she decided to wait on her next book until she had more room and her computer set up again. She has spent the last two years preparing for what’s next and can’t wait to share it with her Author Clan! Keep checking her website to keep up with what she’s writing, reading, and doing next!  This year Jeannie has kept a daily Gratitude Journal. Writing something down to be thankful for each day has been a wonderful reminder of how much God has BLESSED us. This will be the tenth Thanksgiving that we will have turkey for two. We choose to spend this day grateful and full of joy knowing that our precious daughter, other family, and dear friends who have moved to Heaven already, are celebrating together! We are so thankful for the peace, comfort, and heavenly perspective that God has given us. Keeping our minds on the wonders of Heaven that our loved ones are enjoying every day makes all the difference as we continue to accomplish our assignments down here on earth. We look forward to the day when the Father tells Jesus to call us Home and we will meet again face to face and spend eternity together! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas! We’d love to hear from you. Just hit reply and share what you are thankful for this holiday season. God BLESS us every one! Dennis and Jeannie
ROCK CHALK, JAYHAWK! Though not the most important happening, for basketball fans like us, winning the 2022 National Championship for Kansas was a nice bright spot in March! We would even have had a decent consolation prize if North Carolina had won. Though our precious daughter Stacie, moved to Heaven ten years ago next month, we are still driving her Sportage with the license plate “Tarhawk.” She was so proud of it! We took this photo years ago when the two teams also met in the finals. Though we have lived in NC for 20 years now, we will always be Jayhawks first!  We thought about not sending this update because there hasn’t been a lot of change on our property that can be seen. But in the same way that God works behind the scenes in our lives, though it’s not visible to us yet, there has been progress inside Ruby Cottage / Macs Music. Dennis has been busy with wiring, plumbing, and building the back deck and ramp. We are enclosed now, with the recent addition of the soffit and porch roof. We’re thankful to have made it through the winter with no critters moving into the house! Dennis is in the process of painting the doors Ruby Red, and then he will build the front porch. Siding is next on the list, though we have a siding guy to help! Mowing will also claim his time during the growing season, but riding his tractors has always been Den’s prayer time, and often when Holy Spirit downloads new songs to his heart. With the studio close to being a reality, Dennis is excited about writing and recording songs again. And Volleyball officiating begins in August! That is his Re-Firement! Building debt-free in this day of rising prices and inflation has been a challenge, but we are determined to practice patience and pay as we go, as we promised the Lord we would. God has provided funds for every step, and we praise Him for full and overflowing provision to complete this assignment. We know that He provides both finances and the right helpers for whatever He calls us to do. He always has, and we have no doubt that even in this present crazy economy, Jesus is Lord! So, we continue to tackle each project as we are able. God is GOOD! Jeannie has helped with small physical building tasks a few times, but her job is mainly encouragement and prayer support. She spends time in her Kingdom Corner every day to lift up our assignment and the people and prayer requests she writes in her prayer journal. So many friends and family have experienced hardship and loss in the past months. It is an honor for Jeannie to lift those people to the Father. She considers her intercession a vital part of her assignment. This season of still living in our camper (with very limited space) has given Jeannie time to have special fellowship and prayer with God first, as well as keep our daily life tasks up to date. She is working on her craft as a writer, reading books and taking online courses. God has also laid it on her heart to support certain other writers and authors in various ways. Jeannie and her webmaster, Carol, keep her website updated with its various features like this newsletter, Reader Bonuses, (when you sign up, you receive two of Jeannie’s Picture eBooks, illustrated by two former Youth Advisory Board Gals, Ema (Carol’s daughter) and Lilly (daughter of Jeannie’s cousin, Jill.) You can also keep up with what Jeannie is reading in the Reading Nook. For all you “Tresia” fans, a very special surprise made possible by Carol’s oldest daughter, Caity, also one of Jeannie’s former YAB gals, will be posted to the website soon! (Hint: Caity is a theater major…) Visit the website anytime for updates! With this report of where God has taken us up until now, we want to end this newsletter with a thought for the future. Jeannie has been re-reading the “Left Behind” series since the first of the year. We both enjoy watching preachers and teachers who show us how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes. We continue to take steps to finish this building phase so we can accomplish our tasks to write books and songs and share God’s love with the world. But it is plain to us that it is almost time for Jesus to return to take His Church Home! In light of that Truth, some days it’s hard to “keep on keeping on” with what we have been called to do. But Jesus said in Luke 19:13 to “Occupy til I come.” So we will move forward with our assignment, while keeping our eyes on the eastern skies! This was our recent view on our way home from church. We love the rays coming through the clouds to remind us that Jesus is coming soon. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!  Our ultimate assignment is to share the Gospel and take as many as we can with us to meet Jesus in the air! If you don’t know Him, we would love to hear from you and would be honored to introduce you to Him. Those of you who are watching for Him too, we’d love to hear what you are doing while you “occupy.” Just hit reply. We answer every email response. Love and prayers to y’all. Keep looking up! Dennis and Jeannie  Dear family and friends, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 was Jeannie’s verse for 2021, and her Word of the Year is “Still.” The past six months since our Spring/Summer Edition, has been filled with both physical activity and inner stillness testifying that we are exactly where God wants us to be as we seek His further instructions.
Accomplishing our God-given assignment to write both books and songs requires us to have this ministry house. Though we will live there for a time, it will also be available for guests, which is another part of our assignment. Please continue to pray with us that this building project will be done well and in order and always be used for God’s Glory and to further the Kingdom. God has brought many helpers to work alongside Dennis, and we are so grateful for that provision! Dennis is enjoying his role of general contractor for our building project. He is also happy to be playing the piano at services with several other musicians at Cherokee Bible Church. He is excited for the day when Macs Music is completed and he can practice and write songs whenever the Spirit leads! He has finished officiating volleyball season and is ready to begin basketball. Dennis is grateful that God has allowed his love for music and basketball, which began in high school, to both still be a part of his life today.
Jeannie’s last book, Kingdom Corner Connection, has been out for a year! It has been her best selling book thus far and she is grateful to everyone who bought a copy and helped pass the word. Here is a link in case you haven’t read it yet or need a Christmas gift.  Jeannie has been brainstorming her next book, but finding a good time and place to set up the laptop is not easy in our little camper. Instead, she has been busy reading writing craft books and taking online courses. Once we are in Ruby Cottage, she will be ready to set up a temporary writing studio and get busy! Just to keep her readers excited, here is a link to the working back cover copy: Jeannie has an email list (separate from this newsletter list) that is especially for her readers. If you haven’t signed up for her “Reader Bonuses,” click the link below. There is still time to download and/or print the eBooks in her “2021 Picture eBook Giveaway.” The last story will be out in early December. These early stories written by Jeannie will disappear at the end of the year, so sign up fast! They were illustrated, and titles hand-lettered, by two of her former Youth Advisory Board gals, Emalee and Lilly.  In 2022, her Reader Bonus email subscribers will receive four emails with the theme “Spiritual Truths from the Revealer of Mysteries.” These will be short devotions based on the underlying Biblical parallels in her fiction books. You might also want to check out Jeannie’s “Reading Nook.” This is a list of all the books Jeannie reads each year. In 2021, her reading goal was 60 books! She is on #58! We pray you will have a wonderful Harvest/Holiday season with family and friends. We would love a reply from you to hear what God is doing in your lives. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas from the Macs! Let it snow! Be BLESSED Dennis and Jeannie  |
Archives
November 2022
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BooksKingdom Corner Connection
Tresia Book III -- A Perfectly Magnificent Cane (Includes short allegory, A Glimpse, The Truly Excellent Scepter) Tresia Book II -- A Quite Extraordinary Umbrella Tresia Book I -- A Most Remarkable Hat I Will Not Fear A Chosen Life Dawn of Day |
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