Spring / Summer 2021 Edition

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

We received this beautiful wooden sign for Christmas from a dear friend. We love the natural wood, the mountains, and our Vision name. But our favorite part is the scripture at the bottom. This is the Bible verse that tells exactly how we feel about the assignment God has given us and the property where He led us to carry it out. 

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..

Dennis enjoyed officiating basketball in spite of the shortened season and all the virus restrictions such as requiring whistle guards and masks. Like everyone else, he hopes the 2021-22 school year sports will be back to normal. Though he doesn’t officiate football, it is in full swing now in NC, which just feels wrong! Spring mums???? Pre-season Volleyball meetings will begin in July, so Dennis will be back in “Ref mode” soon enough. For now, he will enjoy his tractor.

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.) 

Kingdom Corner Book

Since all of the face-to-face festivals, where she hoped to have a book table, were cancelled last year, she hopes to be able to include a few this year. Word of mouth is still her best marketing tool, so if you have read her books, she would appreciate it if you would pass the word to family and friends and post online reviews. That helps an author so much and Jeannie is grateful for her faithful reader “Clan” on her website, Author Facebook page, and her Amazon page.

Facebook Page

Amazon Page

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.) 

Reader Bonuses

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!

Reader Newsletter Bonus

Spring is in full swing in NC. We love to sit in our glider chairs by a fire and enjoy the view, or hike one of our beautiful mountain trails. We hope you will take advantage of our Creator’s handiwork in these two warm seasons.

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