We pray this beautiful spring season finds you well and thriving. We are excited to share our update since the last edition of the newsletter. Dennis had an enjoyable volleyball and basketball season as a referee, and Jeannie has been having fun mentoring three new “Warriors Writing.” These “kids” we work with keep us young! Jeannie also has an exciting announcement about her Tresia series. After considering adult age group options, she and Holy Spirit have decided that Book IV, for a young adult audience will be her new project. It is in the beginning stages! She is excited to get back to her fictional world of Tresia! Recently, we were sad to have to finally let Stacie’s beloved “Sport” go. It had 262K miles and too many repair bills to continue driving her. We had so many memories, both trips with our precious daughter, and since it has been our “run around vehicle,” that it was kinda tough to see her towed away for the last time. But seasons change. Next, we want to share a few verses with you that the Lord brought to our attention in recent months. They will help explain the title change of this newsletter. Mark 5:19, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you.” Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is season, a time for every purpose under Heaven.” Job 5:9 (The Message) “God’s famous for great and unexpected acts; there’s no end to his surprises. God definitely surprised us, with His latest directive. We thought we would stay in NC until He comes again to take us Home. But He made it clear that it is time to go back to our roots in KS and spend those remaining years with family and dear friends we’ve known all our lives. We have perfect peace about the move and God has confirmed the decision in many ways already. We have always followed His peace in every move and season, but this one truly did surprise us…at first. However, now that we are mostly packed up and only a week and a half away from putting Macs MountainView on the market, we see His Hand and Voice guiding and directing us all along the way. So, our new home will be Macs MeadowView! We will miss the mountains, but look forward to the vast KS sunrises, sunsets and golden rolling flint hills. Until this property in NC sells, we will be staying with a close friend, (pics are from his backyard!) But we are looking for our own “MeadowView” to re-establish our Kansas Ruby Cottage and Macs Music. (If we build again, someone besides Dennis will do the building, although he may choose to help with some fun stuff!) Our assignments of writing books and songs has not changed—just the location where we will continue to accomplish them. Please pray with us for God’s timing on selling and buying (or building again.) We both tend to want to get things settled on our time schedule, but we are both determined to wait until God shows us exactly where He has already planned for us to be. And what a BLESSING to not have any pressure to move quickly because we have a wonderful place to stay with our friend John, until that time comes! Jeannie’s website will remain the same, as well as our cell phone numbers and, for the time being, our email addresses. But note our new temporary mailing address below. Check the website Vision Page for current updates on what is happening with us. We are leaving behind our wonderful church family and many friends, but we will keep in touch! We want to thank everyone in North Carolina, Morganton, Hickory, Franklin, and Cherokee, who have made our 23 years here so enjoyable. We are happy for the memories, especially living close and singing with our precious daughter as the Macs. Her friends (our adopted family) have been such a BLESSING, as well as all the people who helped us navigate a new path after Stacie moved to Heaven. God is so good. He always gives us what we need at the time we need it.
At this time we know we need to be with family and friends back home in KS, and we are looking forward to this new season that our amazing Father has planned for us. Thank you all for your prayers and for being part of our journey thus-far. We will see what God surprises us with next! Until further news in the Harvest/Holiday Edition… All our love and prayers, Dennis and Jeannie P.O. Box 186 Silver Lake, KS 66539 Dear family and friends, We have had a wonderful year here at Macs MountainView in NC. We’ve enjoyed our first year in Ruby Cottage and Macs Music. But instead of our usual update on us, we decided to share an article that Jeannie wrote many years ago. We hope you enjoy this timeless story filled with memories of special holiday times. Have a very BLESSED Thanksgiving and Christmas season! Love and prayers, Dennis and JA (Christmas photo from a couple years ago) Holiday Cardboard Memories It sounds strange, but when I think about childhood holiday time, many of my memories started out as just plain old everyday cardboard. But in that magic time of year, ordinary cardboard was transformed into a colorful cornucopia centerpiece, full of perfect fruits and vegetables that looked good enough to eat. Fold pieces of cardboard in half, have the cousins write names on them and add a sticker, and they became handmade personal place cards, which sat atop each sparkling plate that surrounded the family table. Cardboard turkey cutouts hung on the front and back door windows, greeting visiting neighbors and Thanksgiving Day guests. The next day, the turkeys on the windows were replaced with grinning cardboard Santas. Cardboard bells hung in the doorway, silently ringing in the season. Homemade cardboard ornaments, each with their own special memory, were lovingly hung on the Christmas tree every year. Underneath the tree lay cardboard boxes of every size and shape, wrapped in bright paper, ribbons and bows, waiting to be opened. The cardboard fireplace burned bright with it's flaming logs and painted red bricks. On the cardboard mantle sat a whole cardboard Christmas Village, each little town building placed side by side over the cotton-snow. A tin foil ice rink held little cardboard skaters and a cardboard sleigh was suspended between the housetops, paper reindeer hooves resting on cardboard chimneys. But my favorite was the little cardboard church that got assembled every December 1st. The steeple held 25 little cardboard gifts and every morning during the month, my brother and I would take turns opening one of the gifts. Each little package held a piece of the Nativity; the shepherds, the animals, the wisemen and the Holy family. Number 25 was opened on Christmas morning, and the precious baby Jesus was always in that very last gift box. That ordinary cardboard box held the reason we celebrate Christmas. God still used the old, ordinary "cardboard" in our lives by transforming it into some of His very greatest gifts. Over 2000 years ago, God used the ordinary of this world to bring us a Savior. Jesus is His greatest gift of all. It's all there in the book of Luke, chapter 2. Read the Story. -Jeannie Dear family and friends, Since our last newsletter in September, 2023, there has been both a flurry of activity and many peaceful times of rest. We have enjoyed a few visitors, worked on the finishing touches here in Ruby Cottage and Macs Music, and done a bit of landscaping! There are many more projects on our to-do lists, but we are trying to take them slow and easy. In this season of our lives that plan is both wise and necessary! Our first visitors were two of Jeanne Ann’s (as they knew her) girlhood friends from Topeka! Debbie Tucker Haukenberry and Gail Price Scott arrived a little over three weeks after we moved in. We still had the camper then, so we gave them the run of the house and we became campers again for a few days. Debbie and Gail cooked for us, drove us around to see the sights, and we enjoyed many hours around the campfire and “porching” with coffee and memory-filled conversation. They also came bearing the perfect housewarming gifts. Debbie created a beautiful Kansas sunflower picture and Gail created a gorgeous piano quilt to hang over Den’s piano! Christmas was wonderful and peaceful. Putting up all of Stacie’s Coca-Cola and snowflake decorations warmed our hearts with sweet memories. Again, we were glad that her collections were chosen and saved for Ruby Cottage. Lots of Coke red also fit in well with the name! We had a wonderful trip to KS in early spring visiting family and friends. The photo at the end of this newsletter was taken at Ward Meade Park in Topeka as the tulips were first blooming! Dennis will be in his seventh year as a referee beginning with clinics and meetings in July. He still enjoys the activity and connection with kids. He’s glad for break in seasons this time of year as he needs to keep up with mowing our four acres! But he loves riding his tractor, too. God has given him several songs since he’s been in his studio, but inspiration often began on his tractor! He is ready and looking forward to doing small recording projects, so let him know if you want more info. Dennis is also writing instrumental music for JA’s Tresia series as background for the audio books that are in the works. We will keep you posted on that project! Here is a preview of the Tresia Theme. Dennis first wrote it for the book trailer video, but it has been updated in Macs Music Recording Studio! Jeannie keeps busy writing her own new book series, as well as mentoring her online writers group, Warriors Writing. Two of her Warriors began blogs over the past year. Carol’s “Positioned for Purpose” and Krista’s “Consider the Wildflowers” are encouraging words for women from these amazing new writers. (Both can be subscribed to and delivered to your inbox.) Her third Warrior is Jeannie’s niece, Amy. Some of you may remember the three “Cousin’s Backyard Mystery Club” picture eBooks that Jeannie wrote a couple of years ago for her great-nieces and nephews and her writers email list. Amy wanted to add to the collection with another story about the now dozen cousins! The first draft is done and Aunt JA loves it! Please visit the website for updates to J.A.’s Reading Nook. This list contains books Jeannie is reading and if they made the list, they are recommended. She recently finished the Truth Series by F.D. Adkins. If you enjoy futuristic political thrillers, this is the series for you. It is especially timely in this election year to get a glimpse into what our country could look like around 2050. Here’s my review. Speaking of an election year, for Believers we highly recommend following current events on “Victory News: Coverage in the Spirit of Faith” on the Victory Channel at noon and 5:00ET. We also enjoy “Flashpoint” which airs Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 8:00ET on the same channel. Victory Channel can be found online and on DISH, Direct TV, Roku, and Rumble. Our latest great-niece, born in December to Adam and Kelsey Aadalen, is Jolie Jeanne, her Great-Aunt Jeanne Ann and cousin Stacie Jeanne’s namesake. This was such an honor. Aunt JA asked her friend Gail to make a special quilt for Jolie Jeanne so she will always know the connection. Jeanne Ann was named after her mom’s best friend Norma Jeanne, so Jolie Jeanne is the fourth Jeanne in the “family.” What about all that dark wavy hair! We are a proud Great-Aunt and Uncle! We are so grateful to have Ruby Cottage Guest House and Macs Music finished and being used to the limit we are able. We continue to look forward to the building process for Phase III of Macs MountainView, Sapphire Lodge (our home.) Please pray with us that God’s direction and plan will be provided for and the vision clear. We seek and trust Holy Spirit’s guidance every day for each step we need to take. That brings you up-to-date on the Macs. Please reply and let us know what God is doing in your lives! We love hearing from you! Love and Prayers, Dennis and JA P. s. Please feel free to forward MountainView Moments to anyone you think would be interested in subscribing. Thanks!
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November 2024
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