GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES

 HIGHLANDS GRACE REFORMED CHURCH

516 N. Pine St.

Sebring, FL 33870

(originally NOVEMBER 2004)

 

"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

II Corinthians 1:20

For many months we’ve been assaulted with numerous promises by the candidates for various political offices in our country. These promises have been carefully selected to present those specific items that are of primary concern to the voters and have been packaged and presented with utmost attention to every detail. Smiling faces have assured us that our lives will be somehow wonderfully transformed and the tragic consequences of living in violation of God’s standards will amazingly evaporate if we’ll only select the candidate offering this marvelous solution to our troubles. Whether it’s health care, job security, the economy, the war on terrorism, foreign policy issues, moral issues, or whatever, these political magicians seem to have figured out a formula that they claim will resolve the most complex challenges we are facing. They tell us to check out the details of their plan on their convenient web site. Do you believe these political promises? 

Honestly, most of us grow weary with the political posturing and empty promises. We know that whatever party is elected to office will likely prove incapable of dealing with the responsibility of dealing with all the promises they’ve made. The Bible doesn’t call this posturing, or politics as usual, or disappointing. It has a much stronger word – lie. When someone doesn’t keep their word, God calls it a lie. Broken promises are common in America. Many politicians are liars, and many of the citizens that they govern are liars, too. Think of all the broken promises in our lives. The consequences are horrible. Dreams and hopes are shattered. Hearts are scarred, relationships destroyed. People become disillusioned and distant. And the father of lies, the devil, leverages this as much as possible to encourage us to be skeptical, alienated, bitter, antagonistic and unbelieving. None of us are innocent in this matter. We’ve all sinned and come short of God’s glory.

But the Bible, God’s precious Word, tells us of one who promises and never, ever fails to keep his word. These promises aren’t little, insignificant things of no consequence. They pertain to every issue you’ll have to face, no matter how impossible you’ve found them in your experience. Monumental issues you can hardly understand much less solve are included. God never fails to keep his promises. In Jesus Christ they are all yea and amen to God’s glory. It would rob God of his honor if he failed to keep even one single promise, just one time.

At this season when men have lied by promising what they won’t or can’t do, rather than becoming disillusioned or angry, I encourage you to turn with relief and confidence to our wonderful, faithful God, and discover afresh his promises. Whatever you’re dealing with, whatever your needs at this very moment, God has promises that will minister hope and help exactly as you require. He wants us to trust him. This is the essence of the life of faith. And as you personally discover how faithful he is to you by appropriating his promises, see how he in turn makes you faithful to keep your word to those you make promises to. May God make you and I repairers of the breach, Isaiah 58:12, and restore relationships and heal broken hearts as we shine his light into a darkened and perverse generation to his glory.

Your pastor still discovering the wonders of Jesus,

Ed Sager

MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS JOSEPH HENRY AND MARY WEMETT

 MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS JOSEPH HENRY and MARY WEMETT

Joseph Henry Wemett about 1920

Obituary April 1922

My great-great grandfather had quite an interesting life. He was born and died in the same house that his father built in 1841 after moving down to Canadice, NY near Hemlock Lake from Canada. His story is told online at a website dedicated to the area of Hemlock and Canadice Lakes. Their daughter, Cora, was married to Edward Wolcott “Tinkie” Weeks, who I am named after. I remember Edward and Cora and visited them at their home in Glen Allen, VA in the 1950’s. I wrote another blog post about his life. https://www.hemlockandcanadicelakes.com/hcl_homestead_canadice_wemett_joseph.htm

The Joseph Wemett Homestead

Joseph Wemett came to the U.S. in 1814 at 14 years of age, settled first at Lowville in Lewis County and later moved to Canadice, NY. In 1824 he married Elizabeth Welch. He bought what was known as the Augustus Shepard Farm from his wife’s family, and in 1841 built the house which still stands on the site. At the time this house was built it was the finest house between Lima and Dansville.

At the time of Joseph’s death in 1870, the farm had grown to 500 acres. The next to occupy the homestead was the 2nd of Joseph’s sons, Henry Joseph Wemett. Born in 1841, he attended Genesee College. In 1865, he interrupted his college education to enlist in the Union Army for one year. Within days of reporting to duty he was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lt. in the 188th Infantry and fought in 10 battles in Virginia. He was at the surrender at Appomattox. After the war he finished his college and taught school for several years. During this time, he became Superintendent of Schools. In 1868, he married Mary Knapp. He was instrumental in the development of Hemlock Lake as a resort area. He owned and operated several steam ships on Hemlock and Honeoye Lakes. He died in 1922.

Next to occupy the homestead was Robert Roy Wemett born in 1881. He was married to Mary Laurita Willson in 1905. Robert was a carpenter and did some farming on the homestead until his death in 1956. His widow, Mary Laurita lived on the farm for the most part until her death in 1971.

In 1973, John Millard Wemett, one of the sons of Robert and Mary, moved on to the farm after his retirement from Rochester Gas & Electric Co. He moved from Rochester one year after the death of his wife, Edna Steamer Wemett, in 1972. He stayed on the homestead until his death in June of 1994 at the age of 86 years.

The homestead is now (2011) owned by Linda & Terry Sawyer.

On a recent trip to the area we found his gravestone and my great-great grandmother’s also, Mary Knapp Wemett in Union Cemetery, Livonia, NY.

One of the steamboats my great-great grandfather owned and operated. This one was named after his daughter, Cora.

5520 NY 15-A, Springwater, NY 14560

Mary Knapp Wemett, my great-great grandmother.

Edward ‘Tinkie’ Weeks standing left with his wife’s family, the Wemetts.

Another account of his and his father and the family history appears in a document available at https://www.richmondny.org/api/blob/viewBlob?rf=t&i=nGtXuFccKDBb7%2Fo5w4tYzX9H%252BRdToF1QefRWxlyd4cvq4rNPQVqse43balS6hx%252BR.

Henry Joseph Wemett (1841) was born February 1841. He attended Genesee College which his father had helped endow and upon graduation taught school for several years. Being of a jovial disposition and always joking, he was sought for near and far to complete the term of some

unfortunate teacher who had been thrown out of a school house window. In 1865, he interrupted his college education to enlist in the Union Army for one year. Within days of reporting to duty he was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lt. in the 188th Infantry and fought in 10 battles in Virginia.

He was at the surrender at Appomattox. Upon his return he was known as “Captain” Henry. This was a particularly fitting title since one of his occupations was the pilot of the Hemlock Lake steamer named [Seth Green]. After the war he finished his college and taught school for

several years. During this time, he became Superintendent of Schools. [Henry J. Wemett was on the school board for Hemlock School in 1911.] He was superintendent of schools for several years. In 1868 he married Mary Knapp. His children: Frank(1871-1946), Cora (1874-1958), Harry (1875-1922), Dora (1877-1922), Roy (1879-1879), Robert (1881-1956), and William (1885-1911). At the time of Joseph’s death in 1870, the farm had grown to 500 acres. The next to occupy the homestead was the second of his sons, Henry Joseph Wemett. He was instrumental in the development of Hemlock Lake as a resort area. He owned and operated several steam ships on Hemlock and Honeoye Lakes. He died in 1922.

On familysearch.org https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/G2GM-HJ4

there is a family tree of our Wemett ancestors going back many generations in Quebec and prior to that in the 17th century in France. About three or four generations lived in Quebec before they came to this area of New York State. The spelling of the name was anglicized from Houymet to Ouimet then to Wemett.

SEBRING BREAKFAST KIWANIS CLUB 1983-93

 SEBRING DOWNTOWN BREAKFAST KIWANIS CLUB 1983-93

1983

Sometime in 1983 I ran into an old acquaintance, Hal Keyes. Hal worked as a clerk for my father, Bill Sager, at his Western Auto franchise store in Sebring in 1964-66. He was a little older than my father, and was originally from Miami. He and his wife and daughter, Cindy, lived in Sebring Hills not too far from my Llewellyn grandparents’ winter home on Dove Avenue. Hal and his family built their home while they camped in a tent in Highlands Hammock. He gave us their old 1950’s Sears Roebuck canvas tent, complete with the original box. It was a very large cabin style tent with floor, screened windows and an attached screened room and had large diameter aluminum pole framing and tie-offs. Clearly they kept very good care of it.

Eli with our hand-me-down tent in our back yard on Fernvale Ave., June 1986.

We camped in that tent for many years into the mid 1990’s and took it as far as North Carolina to the Asheville area and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It took two of us to lift it out of the trunk. Thankfully our big Cadillac trunk could accommodate it.

Anyway, Hal Keyes invited me very forcefully to join a new breakfast Kiwanis Club that was starting in downtown Sebring. Back then there was a restaurant on N. Ridgewood Drive called the Lunch Box where Gilbert Drugs was in the 1960’s owned and operated by Fred Nugent. Fred had been a regional manager of United Telephone before retiring and owning the restaurant. I visited once and soon joined them. Back in those days Kiwanis was exclusively for men. It was a service organization and their focus was on children. We supported high school programs called Key Club and Keyettes (for girls), and some scholarships. It was very similar to Rotary, which also had a club in town. 

We would meet at 6:30 a.m. and have breakfast together, so it was good for Fred’s business. We lived only about one mile away so it didn’t take any time to get there. We opened with the pledge of allegiance to our flag, and prayer, and had a meeting chairman who lined up speakers. We had some interesting ones. I remember one who was the pilot of the Presidential helicopter for some of his career. We had officers and I served over those years as secretary, vice president and president. For one year I served as spiritual leader, I forget the exact title. Another term I served as meeting chairman. Once I asked the local Lutheran (Missouri Synod) minister to share about the Protestant Reformation at the end of October. We had several Roman Catholic members, so I hoped it would be a blessing. There were dues and fines for silly things to raise money. We hosted a fishing tournament once on Lake Istokpoga to raise funds. Several times we had field trips. Once we were able to visit the U.S. Air Force bombing range in Avon Park. We were allowed to climb up in the spotting tower while a fighter jet, I think an F-16, came over from McDill AFB in Tampa and came so close to us we could see the pilot through his domed top. They had targets laid out on the ground and sensors that detected where their virtual bombs hit. Another time we toured the brand new Philips Power Plant and were allowed to see the huge diesel engines that ran the huge turbines.

Most of the members were much older than I was. Two of them had daughters in my high school class - Ferrell Smith and Leon Tolar. Ferrell was Dr. Smith, and served our county school system for many years in various capacities. He remembered when the administration offices were on the third floor of the main courthouse! Leon Tolar was the local Farm Bureau agent. The two of them were best friends. George Smith was from Lorida and was very quiet and solid Christian, a member of First Baptist in Sebring. Darrell Smith who owned Frames and Images was in our club. Lots of Smith members! Lon Worth Crow the attorney was a member, too. Pastor Jay McCall of Sebring First Baptist Church was a very pleasant man and a neighbor of ours. Bill Champion had worked for United Telephone with Fred Nugent. Jim Ruley had an old folks home. Bruce Lybarger was a local CPA (and still is). Mike Avert was the county school board finance director. Circuit Court Judge Olin Shinholser was in our club, although at that time he worked in the state's attorney office as a prosecutor. His office was down the hall from mine in the courthouse annex, so I got to know him then. Our city Police chief Bob Baker was a member and Fire Chief Eddie Deloach for awhile. We also had the staff attorney for the County Sheriff's Office, 'Smokey' Stover. He was a very witty man and we always enjoyed his conversation and stories. He worked to send his son to law school and then went himself and passed the bar exam! He was a pretty remarkable man. Mason Whidden, a coach and teacher in Sebring High School, was a member. I am pretty sure that Tyrell Morris, a local funeral director, was also a member, and John Clark later on, Fred Nugent's son-in-law. Dave Henderson was a banker with Barnett Bank, later Bank of America in Sebring at their main office in our downtown area. There were men from various backgrounds and walks of life. It was an opportunity to get to know people I otherwise would not have. 

There were lots of forms to fill out, and records to keep. I had a pin for my lapel and a paper weight after serving as president one year. Other than those momentos I have my memories.

After ten years the club opened to female members and the entire atmosphere of the club changed. Times changed. Peg Whitehead and Fred Nugent’s wife Judy joined and some others. They were nice people, but the camaraderie among men was gone, and I missed it. Since I was pastor of our church and worked full time and we still had children at home and schooled them I decided it was a good time to conclude my time with Kiwanis. I appreciated the contacts and opportunity to get to know some men in our community. I did not realize until later that my grandfather, William Henry Sager, was a member of Kiwanis, too. My father joined the Lion’s Club when he had the Western Auto store and also the Toastmasters Club. But as far as service clubs, that time in Kiwanis was my only experience and it was good to have been part of it back then. 

My grandfather on right at Atlantic City Boardwalk Kiwanis International convention 1946

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICHES

 PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICHES

A Sager Family Food Story

March 24, 1974 Our wedding reception - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

Our 50th Golden Anniversary celebration with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on our cake!!!

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have a peculiar repulsion for me! This certainly has nothing at all to do with our wedding. We relied on the ladies of the church to put together our reception and that’s what Terrie chose. And at our 50th anniversary celebration, daughter-in-law Margaret simply knew we had to have a peanut butter and jelly adorned cake! There is a Sager family story that goes with this.

When I was young my brothers and I fell into the bad habit of complaining about our mother’s cooking. This had to be in the early 1960’s, since it took place in Elkins Park, PA before we moved to Sebring, Florida. Mom got real tired of hearing our complaints, which must have been relentless. So she asked us one day when we complained again to tell her what we liked. We all agreed that we liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Little did we know what we were in for. Mom told us that was good, because she fed us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next week! Lesson learned. We were very careful about complaining about her cooking after that, and actually appreciated her cooking. I still do not really like PBJ’s. Ironically Mom had her college degree with a major in home economics and was a very good cook. 

Brother Willi had a food lesson once I remember. He really liked jelly beans. On one occasion he was allowed to eat as many as he wanted, and after that he did not like them. 

Another food story from our youth - my brothers and I had really healthy appetites. The first initials of our first names spell EAT - Ed, Andy, Tom. How about that!

Christmas 1960 - I still have that book of Carols.

Among other food memories from our youth I remember being taught manners. We were required to keep our elbows off the table at the dinner table. Our family always ate together when Dad came home from work. We all sat together and ate in the dining room. It was very traditional American. We had to ask politely to pass things and be sure not to take too much when our turn came. Food was normally served family style at our table. Mom had silver and china only for special occasions, but normally she used her Currier and Ives printed blue and white plates and stainless flatware. We had to say please and thank you. We also were informed that if we put our elbows on the table, Dad would poke it with his fork! That didn’t happen often! We also always prayed together before we ate. Dad would lead us usually in some formal prayer and we’d all say ‘Amen’ and start the meal. We were allowed to talk, but if we got too silly, or went into regions that were off limits we were restrained. If we had company we were to allow the adults to hold conversation. And we always had to ask to be excused, and make sure to tell our Mom how good it was! Very important.

January 1964 at our house on Fernvale Ave. Sebring, FL with our maternal grandparents, W.T. and Ella Llewellyn and paternal grandmother, Fern Sager. I am on the right wearing a white shirt and tie, so it must have been a Sunday dinner.

Mom had a dinner cart she would load up in the kitchen and wheel to the dining room to set the table. Of course all this was way before the era of microwave cooking. In Elkins Park, PA we had a gas stove, and it was very nice during a blizzard around 1961 and we had heat and the power was off in our neighborhood due to ice on the power lines pulling them down. Neighbors came over to cook. 

My silver spoon with EWS initials engraved on one side and the year, 1960 on back. We also have some of the Llewellyn and Stratton pieces dating back to the early twentieth century.

My engraved silver baby cup from around 1952.

Mom’s regular dinnerware - Metlox Poppytrail Provincial pattern stoneware.

One thing we brought to Sebring with us from Elkins Park was a picnic table and benches. We had them in our kitchen and ate breakfast there and informal meals. Mom kept that old set her entire life! My brother Tom and Viki inherited it! We had many good meals at that old picnic table. So it was not all formal type dinners at the Sager home! Maybe someday I’ll follow up with some old family recipes. That might be fun! Stay tuned.

CONFESSING YOUR SIN TO GOD

 HIGHLANDS GRACE REFORMED CHURCH

516 N. Pine St.

Sebring, FL 33870

(from JUNE 2004)

 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I John 1:9

Why here is a grand question tucked inside this precious verse to lead us to our Savior this summer season. “If we confess our sins.” Then it is possible that we may not be about this sacred matter. “If” suggests that we might put it off or ignore it when it is time to confess our sins or resist the sacred impulses of the precious Holy Spirit.

What (who) keeps you from confessing your sins? 

First must be pride. We can be so full of self satisfaction that we can’t stand to face the ugly reality of our own sinfulness and will not acknowledge our sin because we are too proud to do it. By nature we all find this so hard to do. It’s painful to the flesh to acknowledge our own sin. It’s so easy to spot sin in other people, but when it comes to doing something about our own sin something in us rebels against it. Think of how long the prodigal son must’ve been miserable before he even realized that if he went back to his father and admitted to his sin he would be better off. Wouldn’t you be better off to go right to God and tell him your sin and ask him to clean it all away and forgive you for it right now? Why wait any longer? 
Then we also can fail to confess our sins because we are distracted and hindered by the enemy. Satan doesn’t want Christians to be confessing our sins to God and finding his forgiveness and deliverance. He wants us to remain in a sad, miserable state of ineffectiveness and fruitlessness and impotence. Toward that end he can keep us busy with a thousand things except what we need to be about. He is a master at diverting our attention into channels that are unprofitable and vain. He loves to keep Christians off balance and this is one area we have a natural propensity to err on the side of morbid introspection or superficiality he leverages to great advantage. And just when you get serious about confessing your sin the enemy will resist you and throw everything in your way to prevent you. Don’t let Satan rob you of this great privilege that will surely keep you back from God’s blessing and peace in your life. Go to your heavenly Father at once and confess your sin and ask him to make good on this wonderful promise and forgive and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, no matter what it is.
We can also lay the blame on our own willfulness. There are times when we are so accustomed to getting our own way that we refuse to acknowledge that we’ve sinned and cling to the lie that we are right. When God touches an area we don’t want to deal with, instead of humbling ourselves and submitting to him, we can resist him and become touchy and make excuses or shift blame elsewhere. We can run away and try to hide from the truth God is showing us. When we do this we are not fulfilling God’s call here to come directly to him and confess our sins against him. 
Another hindrance is confusion. The gospel is so plain and simple yet we can get all twisted around in our hearts and minds and fail to recognize that this profound and wonderful promise from God is calling directly to us. If God is so interested in us coming to him and confessing our sins to him, and promised here very simply and lovingly to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, surely he means us to take it seriously, doesn’t he? Yet we can become weighed down with our guilt and feel that God doesn’t really want to hear our confession. This is especially the case if you’ve confessed your sin in a specific area repeatedly and have fallen right into it again. How can you dare hope that he will make good on this promise after so many sins of the same kind? Let me ask you a simple question: does God tell us here how many times we are to confess our sins or place a limit on what we can expect by way of his forgiveness and cleansing? Is he limited or scolding us for coming and confessing our sin again? Friend, look honestly at this precious promise from heaven. Doesn’t he tell you directly here that he wants to forgive you and cleanse you and he is just calling you to confess your sins to him and then he’ll do all this for you? 
In the 1599 Geneva Bible notes the translators wisely pointed out ‘for this is our true happiness.’ The old Puritans referred to the practice of ‘keeping close accounts with God.’ Let’s not allow our sins to go unchallenged and unforgiven and uncleansed. Take time this summer to come to God with your confession of sin. Tell him what you’ve done and haven’t done and open up your heart to his forgiveness and cleansing. You won’t have to root around to try to find sin. The Lord will make you aware of your sins by his Word and Spirit. If He convicts you of sinning against someone, go confess it to them and get right. How else can the church prosper and grow and have spiritual life and power? How else will we know the blessing of being those who dwell on the heights with God if we don’t have clean hands and pure hearts? (Ps. 24:3-5) May God find you and I confessing our sins and experiencing his forgiveness and cleansing. He is able and willing. Don’t hold back and rob yourself or the church of the blessing God promises. He will do it when we do.

Your pastor needing forgiveness and cleansing too,

Ed Sager

OUR GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

 50 Years Mr. & Mrs. Ed Sager: OUR GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

March 24, 1974

Our wedding took place fifty years ago, March 24, 1974! Terrie Lee Cox became Mrs. Terrie C. Sager when we committed our lives to each other. What an adventure awaited us! I had no idea then what a precious gift Terrie was to me. That day in a church worship service at my mother’s home on Bellevue Avenue in Sebring in our marriage covenant in front of friends and family and our God we gave our lives to each other. He has blessed us beyond our dreams in so many ways. He has kept us and provided all we need by His amazing grace.

Looking back through our families we join others who are so blessed. In our direct family lines we know of these: Terrie’s parents, Roy and Tabitha Cox, were married 51 years, 1940-1991.

1990 Golden Anniversary celebration.

1990 Golden Wedding anniversary - Roy and Tabitha Cox family.

Terrie’s great grandparents, Melville and Sarah Annie Mayo Hedick, celebrated their Golden anniversary in 1924 in grand style at Chinsegut Hill in Hernando County, Florida. 

Ed’s paternal great-grandparents, Edward and Cora Weeks (Ed is named after him), were married for sixty one years, 1896-1958.

Cora and Edward “Tinkie” Weeks, 61st anniversary in 1958.

Tintype photo of their wedding in 1896, Cora Wemett and Edward Wolcott Weeks.

Ed’s great-great grandparents, Henry Joseph and Mary Wemett (Cora’s parents), were married for 54 years, 1868-1922.

Joseph Henry and Mary Wemett, 1920.

Ed’s other paternal great-grandparents, Sanford and Martha Jones Sager were married for 51 years, 1883 -1934.

Martha Jones and Sanford Sager at home in Slingerlands, NY.

The longest marriage we know of in our families was Ed’s Uncle and Aunt, Walter Elisha and Wynefred Gunhild Fillman Llewellyn. They made it to 71 years, 1940-2012!!! Wow!

Wyn and Walter E. Llewellyn wedding 1940.

Walt and Wyn Llewellyn 1991.

His older brother, Robert Hall and Jane Hosmer Llewellyn, were married for 59 years, 1948 - 2007.

Jane and Robert ‘Bob’ Llewellyn family - 1958.

Glenn and Ellen Llewellyn Shoun, Ed’s Uncle and Aunt, were married for 66 years, 1949-2015. 

Ellen Llewellyn and Glenn Shoun wedding, 1949.

Ed’s maternal grandparents, William T. and Ella Hall Llewellyn, were married for 62 years, 1915-1977. 

William T. and Ella Hall Llewellyn wedding, 1915 at Arch Street Friends Meetinghouse, Philadelphia, PA (Still there!). 

1965 - Golden Anniversary William T. and Ella Hall Llewellyn and children, at their home 229 E. Moreland Ave., Hatboro, PA.

Ed’s cousin Dan Llewellyn has the signed marriage certificate from our Llewellyn ancestors, 3rd great grandparents William Llewellyn and Sarah Thomas dated 1821! Their son Thomas was the father of Elisha Llewellyn. Thomas and Martha were married for 59 years (1847-1906).

There are other cousins and relatives that qualify, but these are the ones we identified so far.

We are blessed with our two wonderful sons, Elisha and Roy and their beautiful wives, our daughters-in-law Margaret and Deanna, and eight amazing grandchildren. What a legacy of love God has given us.

Highlands Hammock State Park, Sebring, FL.

We join a host of blessed couples who have been together for half a century or more. We have been blessed with mentors who have shown us what such a lasting commitment looks like. Dear friends including Jim and Chrissie Handyside (67 years), Bill and Doris Neese, Fred and Shirley Plant, Ken and Kath Ashcroft, Ken and Carleen Newton and others that have not lasted quite as long were also very influential in our lives. The Ashcrofts had their 75th anniversary July 24, 2023! And what a joyful, godly couple they are.

Of course the longevity of our marriage is not the most significant aspect of it. We are happily married! We truly love each other and are best friends forever (BFF’s). Terrie is a wise woman who built her house - Proverbs 14:1. The quality of our marriage is what really matters. We draw from the infallible, inexhaustible fullness of God’s love for us in Christ and enjoy the benefits of being His by grace. We pray together daily. We learn to trust God, not ourselves. The foundation of our marriage is built on God’s great and precious promises. Through all the changing scenes of our lives God has been faithful to us.

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW! ALL GLORY TO GOD FOR HIS AMAZING LOVE AND GOODNESS TO US. What a wonderful life He’s given us in Jesus Christ our Lord. ‘The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places; yea, I have a godly heritage.’ Psalm 16:6

What a blessing to be married to my beautiful wife Terrie for all these years, and journey together through so many adventures. She has been and continues to be an amazing answer to my prayer.