September 2009 to April 2011
(Written June 15, 2011)

I have no blog entries for this period of time. I may go back and try to get some old e-mails or something and post them here, but don’t hold your breath. Here are a few notes.

Last night at our jail service Jeff preached on the Sabbath Rest. He was right. I needed to hear that sermon two years ago. Actually several people tried to tell me, but I’m a hard head.

FALL 2009

The Jail and Bible Study by Mail ministry became overwhelming. We barely knew our children and grandchildren anymore, and except for ministry work were having very little interaction with each other. We began taking steps to get out from under the load. In the fall of 2009 we closed the doors of Love Bible Church, and started taking new Bible Study enrollments from only those who were in the local facility, which we visited, and two women’s prisons. (This last was because we had had such a tough time getting it started there and because some of our volunteer teachers only answered womens’ lessons.) That gave us more time to answer lessons but really just cut our response time from 8 weeks to 4. We were still overwhelmed. We were looking for a church, because we needed to attend somewhere, but also in hopes that would help with the ministry.

At Christmas time my daughter-in-law sat me down and told me they did not want to lose me. Would I please take better care of myself?

2010

Early in January a good friend of mine shared with me how disappointed she was that her father was not taking care of his health. I was reminded at how angry I was with my mother for killing herself with poor health habits when she knew better. Between my daughter-in-law, my friend, and my mother, I was surrounded. I decided I needed to take better care of myself. I scheduled a physical and began exercising and watching my diet. I weighed in at 311 pounds.

In early February my gall bladder died. It was taken out and as I recuperated I laid plans for better health habits. I started walking a lot and eating no supper.

In March the ministry was still overwhelming. We narrowed our church search down to either Faith Baptist or Long Hollow Baptist.

In April, after some further prayer and thought, we decided we would select one of the two churches based on which one was more welcoming to our ministry. We were attending services at both churches.

In May, I met with a man who had a jail ministry and attended Long Hollow Baptist. He seemed enthusiastic about what we were doing, but later he did not respond to my e-mails and calls. I also met with the head of deacons at Faith Baptist. He set up a meeting with the Pastor. They set up a meeting with the church as a whole. We worked with them all summer and by fall we had been voted in as a ministry of that church. The ministry was still overwhelming.

In the fall we got a couple of volunteers and some financial support from the church. In October I was ordained by the church. I began to be drawn into teaching ministry at the church. I love to teach and since I was going to use materials I already had developed for the correspondence courses, how hard could it be?

As the year ended, the ministry was still overwhelming, but I had cut my weight to 248 pounds.

2011

Trisha was wearing down so I began insisting that she take days and sometimes whole weeks off from the ministry. This gave us more time with each other. We got to see my oldest daughter’s family at church and I started trying to make more of an effort to contact my younger daughter more often. I figured I could tough it out for a while longer if Trish was OK. We started restricting new enrollments to only people we met face to face at the jail. The ministry was still overwhelming and my weight had crept back up to 262 pounds.

In April we went into the doctor for annual physicals. I had a growing tumor, a heart condition called atrial fibrillation, and sleep apnea. Trisha had high blood pressure. After some prayer and thought we realized God wanted us to take a sabbatical from the ministry. I was pretty sad about it and felt like a failure. God was about to show me something amazing. It is now June and the ministry survives. Various volunteers have stepped forward and every aspect of the ministry continues, albeit with fewer available courses. I guess I had forgotten it was His ministry, not mine. It depends on Him, not me.

Writing on this blog is part of my de-stressing plan for my health. Trisha’s blood pressure is improving and my sleep apnea is cured by using one of those CPAP machines. We are trying to use natural means to heal. I hope it is helping me. Sometimes I think it is. My next interaction with the medical profession is scheduled in July.

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