Harvest / Holiday Edition: 2023

Dear family and friends,

The Spring/Summer Edition was postponed so many times due to still working on our house that we decided to skip it this year and go directly to Harvest and Holiday News! We’ve packed in double news and photos! Here in NC, autumn is in the air (in the cool mornings anyway) and a few trees and bushes are already beginning to display colorful traces of a change of season.

The news many have been waiting for is here! We moved in to the new house on August 30! It took a while longer to finish the construction and decorating than we had planned, (like a year…) but we are finally done. A few glitches are still being worked out, as always happens with new construction, but it’s good to be out of the camper! 

As you can see, Ruby Cottage is decorated with all of our daughter Stacie’s Coca-Cola collection. We saved everything. It has all been in storage for over eleven years since she moved to Heaven. Unpacking and putting things up again brought many memories filled with laughter and tears, but we are glad that we planned it this way. We love that Stacie inspired this house. 

​One of our favorite things is taking a cup of coffee outside and “porching” every morning while watching our hummingbirds and family of deer! We think they know they are protected by our angels! 

​On our trip west in April, we had wonderful visits with many of you. Good food, fellowship, and shopping! We found this adorable “phone booth” cabinet which was perfect for all the small Coke collectibles that Jeannie didn’t want to dust! Macs Music also has many bits of Stacie’s favorite musical mementos such as a signed copy of a Gene Kelly photograph and two Singin’ in the Rain posters! Our Macs tartan tablecloth (from our former tape and CD table) is the scarf for the new piano (a wonderful gift from our pastor and family.) Our first Macs photo is displayed on top. The sign above this inside door includes our Macs MountainView verse. We love the sign and that it was a gift from Jeannie’s dear friend, Cindy and family in Silver Lake, KS. 

Most of the rest of the decor in the studio is connected to family, friends, and even our Messengers Quartet days in KS. The framed poster is from one of the biggest concerts we ever performed with the Kingsmen and the McKameys. The piano on top of the wardrobe is one Dennis played and is signed by Florida Boys Darrell Stewart, old “Red Socks” himself! We had the privilege of singing onstage with many well-known groups in both the Messengers and the Macs. Side note: Let us know if you are interested in any Messengers albums, cassettes, or CDs. Our former manager, John Oathout has a closet full! Dennis even found a shelf to display his 1973 Shawnee Heights Regional Championship basketball team trophy that Jeannie saved when they cleaned out the old trophy closet at SH. (With permission.) 

​These gorgeous wood signs were made and given to us by John’s daughter and her husband. If you are in need of a custom-made wood sign, see info below.

For your own custom-made wood signs like ours contact: 
Circle M Wood Crafts
David & Lisa Marshall
785-845-6005
[email protected]

With the new music studio in operation, Dennis has already written a new song and looks forward to many more to come! He is deep into volleyball season as a referee, which he truly enjoys. Basketball begins in November and Dennis still runs up and down the court - but now he has a whistle and can stop the game!
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Jeannie is so grateful to have a new Kingdom Corner, (instead of the camper slide-out!) There is a Coca-Cola and mother-daughter presence, but it also includes as many of her favorite books as she could put on the shelves! She made sure Raggedy Ann was also scattered about the house, her second favorite collection besides books. This is where she spends time in prayer and the Word every day and receives inspiration for her God-given writing assignments. She also uses her Kingdom Corner to read for fun. Check out her “Reading Nook” for her personal reading list. ​

Reading Nook

​Jeannie’s new writing area is ready to go, although her old personal computer didn’t make it through five years of storage. She is switching to a Mac that Dennis is passing down to her. He is upgrading his computer in the studio, thanks to his life-long friend, Dave Barkes who keeps him supplied with all things Apple. Jeannie will have a new learning curve to navigate the new system, so pray for her! She is anxious to get back to writing her next project, an adult trilogy, working title is “Tales of Tresia Depot Bookshop.” She is also thrilled to have recently started a mentoring group for new writers. The Warriors Writing charter group is only four members including Jeannie, and they are all excited about what God is going to do through this group. If Warriors Writing sounds interesting to you, find out more about it on her website. 

Warriors Writing

There are many people who have helped us through our 49 years of walking out God’s Plan. You are all so loved and appreciated. God has given us amazing family and friends and we want you to know that your prayers for us have helped bring us to this brand new season. Divine connections are a huge part of who we are and what we do and we pray for you on a regular basis. Our Father is so GOOD! He gave us Jesus, Holy Spirit, and YOU! 
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We praise the Lord for the Vision of Macs MountainView. When we purchased our land in 2016, we started believing and planning to build a mortgage-free Ruby Cottage guest house and Macs Music recording studio. Drawings of the house have been on Jeannie’s Vision Board since then, but this past week she took those pictures down because the building of Phase II has come to pass! We believed God, spoke His promises, did the work, and now we see it! Praise the LORD! What remains in our Vision is 1) spending more time with God, 2) working on our assignments of writing new books and songs and helping other writers and musicians, 3) preparing for Phase III, watching someone else build Sapphire Lodge (our home,) 4) staying healthy, and 5) continuing to walk out the plan of God. For now, we will definitely enjoy living here in the “guest cottage” and music studio! We will share it as we are able, until it can become a full-time guest cottage. 
Three statements were added to the Vision Board this week as a testimony to what God has done and will do. We want to share them because they apply to everyone. 

“It’s fun doing the impossible.”
“God is going to do more than we can imagine.”
“You’re never too old for an adventure with God!”

Please let us know if you will be in our area. We’d love to see you and show you around the new place. Or at least reply to this email and give us an update on you and what God has been doing in your life! 
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Have a wonderful Harvest season enjoying God’s beautiful creation, as well as a BLESSED Holiday Season celebrating Christmas and 2024! Until we send out our MountainView Moments Spring/Summer Edition 2024, or we see you in Heaven, Be BLESSED! 

Love and prayers,
Dennis and Jeannie 

We’ve been so busy that we have not taken any current photos. This was taken right after we bought the property and began this adventure five years ago!”