Standing Stones - February 2015

Did you know.............

20% of pastors are “in crises” which means that they are just “hanging on” and just coping.

70 % of pastors fight depression.

55% of clergy in America would change careers if they had an alternative.

80 % of pastors say that their ministry has had a negative effect on their marriage.

Among Protestant clergy, over 1,000 quit the ministry every month.

In 2010 one major Protestant denomination spent $66,000,000 on stress-related claims.

Internet pornography is a serious problem for between 20% and 40% of church workers.

Do these statistics find yourself with your mouth hanging wide open?  Only in America, folks.  Our shepherd’s (anyone in full-time Christian service) are suffering at a rapid rate from depression, churches attacking their families to debilitating hours of service with no help or reward from their fellow brothers and sisters in the ministry.  Wayne and I have been astounded by what we have learned that servants are going through since we have been here at Standing Stones.  This ministry is here to help and if you know anyone that needs it please refer them immediately if not sooner.  There are only 2 services of this kind in our nation and you know as well as we do that people should be lined up waiting to get in to receive help for themselves as well as their mates.  We have seen people arrive with their demeanor so low that they themselves think there is no hope, but they leave receiving love and a renewed strength realizing God needs them and can use them.  We came knowing this project was very new to the SOWER organization and that our help may be a different kind.  We along with 2 other couples, Ed & Laura Shuster and John & Ann Lund have been busy non-stop.  The men are working on new construction of a 8-bedroom casita and fellowship room.  It has been physical labor from morning to noon everyday.  Ladies are cleaning before and after a 8-day retreat, board meeting, luncheon and concert which entails about 13 loads of laundry, providing mid-morning snacks for clients, cleaning of 2 kitchens after meals, yard work and sewing.  We have to admit the weather here in February is probably the nicest in America for this time of year!  We are not complaining - 70-80 degrees during the day, 40-50 degrees at night.  While here we have enjoyed the Gold Rush Days in the big metropolis of Wickenburg, AZ!  This is the roping capital of the world by the way - gunslingers, cactus 8-10 ft. tall, and a real saloon on just about every corner!  Definitely high desert with an emphasis on your horse trailer - everybody has one!  Phoenix is close by (within one hour) so any type of major shopping is available along with events.

 Wayne & Ed Shuster resizing windows

John Lund securing beams to metal structuring

Preparation for lowering the ceilings and providing area for electrical and venting

Casita that the men worked on for 3 weeks

Laura Shuster, Ann Lund and Gail squeezing and freezing lemon juice

Our guys!  What a hard working crew!

Our "homes" all in a row - gorgeous setting

Back of the retreat center - they lavish their clients obviously! 

Our group went to see "Unbroken" - great movie

L-R:  Wayne & Gail, Ed & Laura Shuster and Ann & Jim Lund

Wayne and I continued to help our daughter, Sarah, son-in-law, Vince, and 2 grand girls, Evangeline and Abigail move from Flagstaff to Tucson where both have new jobs awaiting them.  Vince will preach his first sermon March 1st to his first congregation, Mountain View Church of the Nazarene, Sarah will begin her position at a new veterinary practice, Evangeline will begin her first day at pre-school the last week of February and Abigail will just be Abigail at home with Mom and Dad!  This family has been through so many changes since the birth of Miss Abigail on Dec. 28th.  A move after a birth is taxing to say the least on everyone but Wayne & I have been most awed by the many people that came out to help on both ends to move them in and out.  Flagstaff even stayed to clean and the new friends in Tucson was waiting for their vehicles to turn the corner of their apt. complex on their end.  God’s family is amazing when they work together in harmony and yes, as I always say, “God still amazes me”.

Last play in the park in Flagstaff

Well, it looks like we are going to make another major purchase and hopefully the last of this kind for a very long time - a new car.  Our CRV has over 200,000 miles and with a faulty air conditioner we have chosen not to put anymore $$$ in her and bite the bullet for a new hybrid.  So, with less than one week left here the dealership is scrambling to have the car towable ready with a bike carrier on the back.  Part of the deal!!!!!  Thank you Lord for providing once again.

We are getting ready to pack up and start East once again.  Friday to Tucson to visit the Carotenuto’s for 3 days and then off to Trinity Pines camp in Trinity TX just above Houston where we hope to visit with Uncle John & Aunt Eleanor and all their family before heading to the East to visit with Philip Fieler family for a while.  The adventures in the Southwest we have experienced are unbelievable and the friends we have made are only a “God Thing”.  Making (many) miles - RV crazy or what? 

Christmas 2014 - Ground Hogs Day 2015

Christmas 2014 - Ground Hogs Day 2015!  Where did the time go?  SLOW DOWN - we are having way too much fun!

Here we are midway between Phoenix and Flagstaff in a small valley nestled between 2 mountain chains called Camp Verde, AZ serving at a ranch for disabled adults - Rainbow Acres.  What a highlight for our holidays and while on our “off time” we have been helping our daughter’s family get ready for a move from Flagstaff to Tucson.  Vince has been extended a lead pastorate position at a Nazarene Church and Sarah will be taking a position with a veterinary clinic.  Not only that but our 3rd grand daughter was born Dec. 28th so it has been busy, busy, busy to say the least.  We have been able to still fit in a few sightseeing excursions and a few days of sickness - blah!  I hope we are getting that out of the way for 2015 early and do not have to buy another box of Kleenex nor cold medicine for a long time.  You would think that both Wayne and I would have lost at least 10 lbs. this project just blowing our noses!

Palmer Center of Rainbow Acres

Celebrating Christmas with the Carotenuto's

The weekend after Christmas we kept Evangeline so Mama & Daddy could bank some sleep, rest and possibly fit in a “date night”!!!!  NOT - Abigail decided to come fast and furious in a record time of 2 1/2 hrs - this just may be life defining - no grass will grow under that girl’s feet!  She is so cute in her own special way - dark hair, blue eyes and a smirk to boot!

Abigail Grace born 12/28/14

We have had the privilege of hosting Miss E several times since we arrived in New Mexico last September.  She calls our dwelling “the Bus” and we have had so many fun memorable experiences.  From taking a bath in the shower, eating pop corn with G’Pa to many walks to see farm animals from New Mexico to Arizona!  Even tho we have had snow there has not been one visit that did not include a trip to the park - the child is obsessed with a swing!  The child has literally grown up before our eyes in 6 months and we will miss her like crazy the minute we drive off.

 Popcorn with my g'pa

G'pa remembers how to play with play dough!

Our first sightseeing trip was up to the small ghost/mining town of Jerome.  Dodging puddles and snow mounds was fun but after perusing the menu of the Haunted Hamburger we decided that for that price we could eat many hamburgers in the valley and enjoy just as much!  The town is so old that it amazes every time we go back that the whole thing has not dropped off the side of the mountain.  Definitely interesting mining history along with indian remnants scattered around.  Eclectic and artsy is a good way to describe it.

Always feeling like you are falling off the side of the mountain in Jerome!

If you love this you are way too old for your own good!

3 1/2" snow on New Year's Day - 14" in Flagstaff

The Verde Canyon Railway was next.  No matter the season, this train ride is a MUST.  Definitely worth the price and you will want to go first class for the food and entertainment.  Was not real thrilled with the trip through the tunnel but in order to get from point A to point B you have to!  Eagles in flight and eagles aboard - the local aviary rescue had one aboard our ride and we were able to go to one of the outside cars to view the demonstration.  They do this the first Saturday of every month, so it is the best time to book your trip. A 4 hr. roundtrip excursion was just what we needed for much R & R.  The scenery just after a snow was incredible.

Verde Canyon Railway - 4 hrs. of gorgeous scenery any time of year

A hitch hiker on our train ride

And of course Sedona is just as gorgeous as ever.  Yesterday we hiked to Chicken Point via The Little Horse Trail (about 5 miles round trip)……you can’t beat the view.  It is beyond my comprehension how people get their jeeps up there and I really don’t want to know!  Bicyclists everywhere and I even asked one fella - “does your mother know you are doing this”?  He laughed - if I were his mother I would have cried!  Again, beautiful creation by our God.  He still continues to amaze me.

Red Rocks of Sedona - always beautiful

The January 2015 project:  Rainbow Acres, Camp Verde, AZ.  These are God’s special people - the ones who live here as well as the ones who work and volunteer.  Wayne & I were the only couple here during January so we were able to work together for all but one week.  We pulled up carpet located in 4 houses underneath the serving bar and replaced with ceramic tile; refinished the wood countertops in the medical treatment area for 6 houses; repainted 3 rooms in the volunteer building and replaced several electrical outlets; various repairs at the barn area; and this past week Wayne was in the wood working shop cleaning, assessing/repairing equipment and overall revamp.  I was in the craft room enjoying the company of 4 other volunteers and many ranchers that were working on various projects.  I learned a new craft - button art and shell art.  FUN - it really was not classified as work in my opinion but just being available to the ranchers for help and making projects to be sold at future events.  It amazes me how the professional volunteers have been able to bring out talents that these ranchers never knew they had.  From music, art, life skills, crafts to computers and literary creations.  Their world is greatly expanded here at Rainbow.

Painting one of three volunteer rooms

Removal of carpet & replaced with ceramic tile in 4 houses

Stocking one of the new houses

Making crafts to be sold

We have 2 days of helping the Carotenuto’s get packed and then we are off to our next project just west of Phoenix - Standing Stones, Wickenburg, AZ.  A retreat center for “hurting pastors” - this will be a new experience.  After that on to Trinity, TX just outside of Houston and then to NC once again.  Some of you are aware that there was an attempt for a break-in at our house in NC so we are eager to get back there just to do some minor repairs and try to push the sale of the house.  It is not easy being on the road constantly worrying about a dwelling you have left.  Although our son has taken excellent care of the premises our desire is to be rid of it!  God’s timing is best…….tick, tick, tick!

Laguna Beach, Simi Valley & Sun Valley, California - Nov./Dec. 2014

Laguna Beach, CA is a must see by anyone wanting to see the sights along the Pacific Coast.  The weather was beautiful for the 3rd week of November and the flowers were gorgeous - even the state parks along the coast revealed beautiful scenery while the rest of the US was beginning to experience the dreaded winter months.  It is amazing how houses are built close to the edge of cliffs overlooking the ocean - now I know why flood insurance is so high.  Wayne did a close inspection of the makeup of these mounds and pulled out a few boulders…….this is why you hear about so many mudslides, etc. in California.  Here the bike trails were awesome along the beaches.  It was hard to believe it was November.

We were able to visit the Capistrano Mission and the surrounding sights.  Amazing historical beginnings of these now huge metropolis’s with the church going in to small gatherings to educate the children and meeting spiritual needs of the local people.  If only we still realized how powerful God can be in our societies…….instead we have pushed God to side and said “we can do it ourselves”.  

We ate at some pretty incredible restaurants and did most of our Christmas shopping because the variety of stores in Newberry Springs, CA is nil!  Sometimes we just have to venture into the big cities to make sure America still exists out there!  A dose of the traffic told us that living out in the desert (middle of nowhere) and serving Jesus is still the best place to be!!!!!

Roy & Sue Anderson accompanied us to Simi Valley and Sun Valley the 3rd weekend in December.  It was so much fun to just act like we were “double dating” and just enjoy the sights that were close by once again.  Do you miss Ronald Reagan as much as we do?  We miss him even more after visiting the Reagan Library in Simi Valley - a must see if you ever get to the Los Angeles area.  We have been told that out of all the presidential libraries this one is the best.  We were even able to go aboard “Airforce One” and “Marine One” - never new that is what the helicopter was called.  

Before leaving that weekend we ventured over to Sun Valley to hear the Saturday Matinee of the Christmas Cantata at John MacArthur’s church - Grace Community.  Now that is what I call an “uptown” experience!!!!  They do it up right.  At one point there was even a smaller choir echoing in the back of the auditorium.  The children’s choir was about 60 children - incredible.  So well behaved and well trained.  Two hours non-stop of professional, well pleasing to our Lord music.  A gorgeous stage and stately………just a little taste of Heaven here on earth.

We are now in the Flagstaff, AZ area enjoying our daughter’s family.  Sarah & Vince brought into this world our third granddaughter - Abigail Grace - on December 28th.  She is beautiful and God has given us an adorable group of granddaughters.  They are precious in His sight and both sets of parents are diligently bringing them up in the admonition of our Lord.  Praise Jesus, we are blessed beyond measure.

Evangeline (Big Sister) kissing Abigail (Little Sister)

We will be in the area - Camp Verde, AZ for the month of January working a SOWER project - Rainbow Acres, a home for disabled adults.  I will not hold back when I tell you - it’s COLD!  Burrrrrrrr………14 inches of snow in Flagstaff last Thursday and 4 inches in Camp Verde and the temps are well, let’s say, way down there!  We have learned to keep a faucet dripping at night in order not to have frozen pipes………it happened, only once, and unthawed quickly with no damage!  Thank you Lord.  So, that being said we have learned that coming from the Mojave’ Desert was not as bad as it seemed - at least it was warm and sunny!!!!!