The Last Ten Years
My, how life changes
This morning, I came across an old journal of mine. The last entry in it was from January 2016. Ten years ago! As I look back on all that has happened in the last 10 years, it’s amazing to see all that God has done.
Ten years ago, I was just getting started in my teaching of women. I had been to 1 Simeon Trust Workshop. Jono had not yet gotten involved in prison ministry. We were just getting involved at Berean Baptist Church in Livonia, Michigan. This church was very influential in training and equipping us for what God had next for us.
Within the last 10 years, my youngest nephew was born, my nieces and oldest nephew all graduated from high school, and we moved from Michigan to Pennsylvania. This involved losing our cat Mocha and leaving behind precious friends and ministries. Yet God had much bigger plans for us in Pennsylvania. We were able to get involved at a church here. A Simeon Trust Workshop for women started only 1 1/2 hours away from us in 2022. Jono was able to continue doing prison ministry and get others involved not only in that, but in other outreach opportunities as a men’s homeless shelter and local nursing homes. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in 2022 with a wedding ceremony.
In 2024, we joined EveryEthne, the North American branch of ABWE (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism), in order to do local outreach and teach women. That has been an interesting journey. Part of this involved me going to seminary, where I am pursuing a dual degree of a Master of Christian Studies and a D. Min. in Ministry to Women. God has accomplished much in the last 10 years of our lives!
In bookish news: from 2016-2025, I read a total of 1,152 books. That gives me hope that I might be able to make progress through my current to-be-read mountain range. Though they keep publishing books that I am interested in, so the list keeps growing. :-)