Harvest / Holiday Edition

Dear family and friends,
​

Fifty years ago in November of 1972, Jeannie walked into the music room at Shawnee Heights High School in Kansas, and this “old man” popped her on the backside with his cane! Had Dennis not been in character for the fall play that night, he wouldn’t have dared. But a week later we had our first date on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Five decades later, we see God’s hand leading us in every step of our life together. 

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