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. 
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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!
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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.
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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. 
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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! 
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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

Psalm 118:23 This is the Lord’s doing: It is marvelous in our eyes. 
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Dear friends and family,

We had hoped to report that we have begun putting up the walls and roof on Ruby Cottage guest house and Macs Music recording studio. We had intended to start construction again in early spring, but when Dennis went in to order the lumber, he discovered that the estimate we had received last fall had tripled!!! Apparently this is the way it is all over. So we are on hold until we make sure of God’s timing on moving forward. 

Since we are building debt-free, we don’t want to waste any resources we have just because someone decided to raise building costs. Please pray with us that we will have wisdom and peace about when to begin building again. In the mean time, we are thankful that we had the foresight (and good advice) to build a weather-proof foundation. We enjoy climbing up on it, “faithing” about the finished building, and thanking the Lord for our MountainView! 

Until the Lord gives us the go-ahead to resume construction, Dennis will have plenty to keep him busy with mowing and continuing to develop the property. A flower and plant garden are planned and clearing out the lower two acres along our stream. We finally have a decent path down to the water! Eventually it will be a continuation of “Turquoise Trail” which Jeannie has already created as a small tractor and walking path through our grove of pine trees. There is a story about the name, but we will share that later..

Jeannie has kept busy writing for the past year. Her sixth and latest book, Kingdom Corner Connection, released in November, 2020, has been her most successful book thus far. (If you haven’t read it yet, here is a link that will give you more info.) 

A new feature on Jeannie’s website this year is her Reader Bonuses. This is a separate email list from the one for this newsletter. The Reader Bonuses list is exclusively about Jeannie’s writing, and this year she is giving away six downloadable picture books that she wrote years ago that have been sitting in her “project drawer.” Two eBooks have already been released to those who have signed up, The Animals Bookcase and The Cousins’ Backyard Mystery Club. A new picture eBook will be emailed to her Reader Bonuses list every other month this year. Corresponding coloring pages are also available for download and printing. Jeannie is thrilled that two of her former Tresia Youth Advisory Board gals, Emalee and Lilly, are helping her with illustrations and title page lettering for picture books in this project. The third eBook, Sarsaparilla Cafe, will be sent in mid-May. So, parents, grandparents, babysitters, and even storytellers looking for material to share with the kids in your life, take advantage of this new FREE offer from J.A. McPhail. (Each year Reader Bonuses will feature different topics of interest to readers.) 

To give you an idea of what you will get with the Reader Bonuses, Jeannie wants to share a “bonus newsletter subscriber” story with you. This story was written as an assignment for a writing course she recently took. It required her to take three photos that people had texted and make them into a story. These are the three photos she had to use. If you are curious as to what in the world she did with them, click below and find out! Then if you enjoyed it, sign up for her Reader Bonus list to get more!

Jeannie’s amazing and patient webmaster, Carol, who does all techy things for her, including sending MountainView Moments newsletter and Reader Bonuses, also made this sign. Jeannie’s “2021 Word of the Year” is STILL. We pray you will take time to “Be Still” in His Presence every day. That’s what your Kingdom Corner is for...whether it’s outside in God’s creation or in your armchair or vehicle in cool air-conditioned comfort! It doesn’t matter to Him. He’s waiting for you.

Be BLESSED.
Dennis and Jeannie 

Dear family and friends,

Since we want this newsletter to be uplifting, encouraging, and packed with news about what God is doing here at Macs MountainView, we are not going to comment on what the world has been like in 2020. All we need to know is that God is always good, His Word is true, He loves His kids, and He has a plan for each of us that is far greater than we can ever hope or imagine. We hope and pray that this edition of MountainView Moments finds you happy, healthy, and thriving as a child of God. Know that if you are on our family and friends email list, you are prayed for on a regular basis. If you didn’t receive this newsletter in your inbox, but want to next time, join the list on our website homepage. (www.jamcphail.com) Then you will be on our email list and our prayer list! 

In July we spent a day in GA to celebrate Dennis’s 64th birthday. We discovered Anna Ruby Falls on our August weekend in Helen, GA, for our 46th Anniversary. We took a quick September trip to KY and TN for Jeannie’s birthday, (65! Hello, Medicare...) and stopped in Clinton, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg, TN, to shop and antique. Lots of good eating went on also! From TN, it’s a beautiful hour drive through Smoky Mountain National Park pass, then another hour home. We added a second trip in October to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg to meet friends and refill our KU canister with Carmel Corn! We always stop to see the elk in Cherokee. We used to have to go to Colorado to see them, but now we just stop by on our way home from TN, or before we to go to church! 
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When we sent out the spring newsletter, Jeannie had not intended to begin her next writing project. She wanted to wait until she had a better place to write than squeezing her old laptop onto our camper kitchen table! But God gave her the assignment, and her new book was released on November 1st! Kingdom Corner Connection: Where Wonder Awaits is a non-fiction companion book to her Tresia series. Kingdom Corner was the term used in the Tresia books for the place where the main characters met with the Holy Spirit character. 

In this day and age, we believe it is more important than ever to spend daily time with God. That is why, with much encouragement from Dennis, Jeannie knew that the Holy Spirit wanted this book written now. It is filled with personal stories, scripture, and practical ideas on where, when, how, and above all, why to create your own Kingdom Corner. Thanks to those who have already ordered and helped spread the word, and thanks in advance to the rest of you! (And Amazon and other online reviews are always appreciated!) ​

Dennis has been busy all spring, summer and fall with our first building project. Dirt work, septic line, footings, concrete block foundation, floor joists, and finally a subfloor! The framing and trusses are next.

It’s exciting to see things progressing. We are building debt-free without a bank loan, so we don’t know when we will be finished, but Dennis is enjoying the process and we know God is our Source and Provider. We told some missionary friends that we are learning to live by faith like they have done all their lives! We have had tremendous help from friends at church (thanks Randy, David, and Zane) and we are so grateful for their time and strong muscles! Ruby Cottage and Macs Music are the first phase of our vision and their purpose is to be shared with family and friends. Pray with us as this first building project is completed. Our motto is “All is done well and in order, for the Glory of God and the benefit of the household of faith.” 

Dennis has officiated a few volleyball games at private and Christian schools who had their seasons at the regular time. Public schools are supposed to start volleyball in November and basketball is scheduled for the first of the year. Sports schedules are still up in the air, but he hopes to have both seasons to referee as this has become something he really enjoys. It keeps him young and in touch with kids! 

We are both looking forward to a taking the next few weeks off to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas. No travel plans as of yet, but even if it’s just the two of us and a quiet celebration here at Macs MountainView, we are so BLESSED. In a very strange year, God has done more than we could have ever hoped for or imagined.

Harvest and Christmas BLESSINGS,
Dennis and Jeannie 

​Recipe for Holiday Olive Cheese Balls 
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup of melted margarine (holds together better than real butter) 
36 pimento-stuffed queen green olives

Mix cheese and flour. Add margarine and mix thoroughly. Mold one teaspoon of dough around each olive and shape into a ball. Place two inches apart on untreated baking sheet. Cover and chill at least one hour. Heat oven to 400 and bake 15 to 20 minutes until bubbly and brown on bottom.