Crystal always has a lot to say. It wasn’t until we had been married for a couple of years that I realized the disparity in our conversations. We had just bought one of those new fangled answering machines (yes we’re old). I was in the habit of calling home during my lunch hour. One day the machine recorded one of our conversations. Crystal would say two or three sentences followed by me saying ‘I see’ or ‘I agree’ or ‘uha’, etc. Then she would continue. Listening to the tape that evening was a shock. I’m not complaining. I think she just has more words to get out than me.
She is also a more prolific writer. So the next couple of blogs are dedicated to my better half. I have never been much of a “Mission Impossible” fan, but love her take in the following.
Crystal’s Corner
My brother and I watched “Mission Impossible” when we were growing up. I especially like the music and the actors like Leonard Nemoy and Barbara Baines. Sometimes the stories were too violent for me, but I liked that the team would figure out what to do and carry it out. It was usually surprising and intriguing.
We are called as Christians to be on missions for God. If you choose to accept it, because of Jesus, those missions are made possible (“With God all things are possible.”). Life is not predictable or logical. Many things have happened in our lives that seemed to make no sense at all. Later when we looked back at them we can often see that God had the plan all along. Ron and I have written in our memoir about our lives and our parents’ lives and we can see God’s hand in all of our lives. It is beautiful to see this. I am so grateful for God’s blessings and His leading us from situation to situation. I am considering writing a second memoir about our ten years in Indiana; because God did so much for us there. He led us there in the first place, brought the church and people to help us, and blessed us many times. He has led us here to Ohio and blessed and sustained us while we have been here.
God makes our seemingly impossible mission, possible. I recently won second place in an essay contest sponsored by the Museum here in Coshocton. It was about Coshocton history in the 1700’s. I wrote about the Lenape tribe that lived here. Many of them were converted to Christianity by the missionaries. Their culture was not that different from the Christian way of life. Their Great Spirit is very similar to God. It surprised me to learn about the history of this place where God brought us in 1999. I have entered many writing contests and gotten nowhere. I knew that God helped me research and write this article.
God told me when we were in Greensburg, Indiana, “You are moving east where three rivers meet.” The Muskingum, Walhonding, and Tuscarawas rivers meet in Coshocton County. It is a unique place here in Ohio and in this country. The Native American tribes named these rivers, Coshocton and many cities around here.
I am grateful not only on Thanksgiving but every day. I am grateful to be in a wonderful marriage to my best friend, Ron. I am grateful for my lovely daughters: Liz, Michelle and Lisa who have become strong, caring, hard working young women. I am grateful for my grandchildren. I am probably one of the proudest Nanas that exist today. I am grateful to be a 19 year cancer survivor. Even though I do have health problems, I don’t have spiritual problems. I am happy every day I am here. I see the beauty of the earth and the wonder in life.
Sometimes the challenges of life seem impossible to meet, but with God’s help we cannot only survive, but overcome.
Ohio is a beautiful place to live (view from our front window).