More Than Ordinary Lives

Life brings trouble, heart-rending tragedy, and unchangeable challenges. Being married means sharing them. Especially in an ongoing situation, difficulties can severely strain any relationship and destroy many.

The events we lead primarily deal with problems from within a marriage for example poor communication, selfishness, or different priorities. However, every couple also deals with eternal challenges perhaps health, finances, or extended family issues. We have led several seminars offering guidence to couples dealing with pain and loss and recently published  well-researched Better Together.  You can purchase the book at Amazon (including a Kindle version) or by contacting Kit and Drew.  But we would also be happy to give you a PDF version for free. 

“Why does God allow suffering?” is a universal question in every heart. And the question is reasonable and valid. Lack of a meaningful answer may cause despair. Shallow answers can undermine faith. Fortunately, the Bible gives clear reasons that God allows suffering and teaches us how to respond.

Kit and I worked on God-honoring projects to the limits of our strength last fall. We expected January to be a relief. But a number of serious misfortunes converged on us. Then Kit went to California to be with her dying mother. In Kit’s absence, a week of severe cold—see Kit’s frog pond—froze our impossible to access water pipes. If any pipes burst great damage would be done. In despair, I thought, “Things can’t get any worse.”

Our garage is separated from the house by a heavy solid-wood door with an electric lock. We never use the lock, only the handle. Severe cold is hard on wildlife. I went into our garage to get cracked corn for them. Behind me I heard a little humm. The electric lock had locked me out in freezing temperatures wearing my sleeping clothes and bedroom slippers. In three-and-a-half years living here, it had never locked itself. The lock would not respond to the combination. My backup keys were inside on my car keyring. Kit had her keys in California. I had no phone. I had to take a sledgehammer and smash-in the stout door.

Strangely the episode made me smile. I realized things could be worse. That realization turned my despair into determination. In an intense eight-hour effort, I accessed the impossible pipes and unthawed them with Kit’s hair blower.

I hope to always remember, “Things can get worse.”

Drew

Kit has written a new article on hospitality which Cru will distribute around the world.  The picture illustrates fishing hospitality.  The following link remains on our website and is safe.   https://morethanordinarylives.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hospitality.pdf

This Thanksgiving I’m grateful that three hectic months for Kit and myself are winding down. Opportunities to do good things for others–mostly speaking and distributing books–kept popping up despite our already full schedule. Frequently doing a good job required intense preparations. We found ourselves working sixteen-hour days. Mothers of young children might retort, “Only sixteen hours?” But we’re in our seventies now. Then Kit’s elderly mother had an accident. She’s slowly recovering. But Kit needed to make two week-long trips to California. I felt like we were treading water to stay afloat then circumstances tossed us an anvil.

Kit correctly attributed our struggle to spiritual warfare. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

I remembered the “Be proud of the way you handled this,” advice Kit gives to people facing difficult situations. She had applied this to her cancer treatments decades ago. In this context, “Be proud” doesn’t imply exalting ourselves. Rather it connotes joy in trusting God and doing the right things despite a difficult situation.

So, I’m “proud of the way” we faced this fall’s challenges. And I’m thankful that we were “afflicted in every way, but not crushed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8) .

Drew

Sugar maples cover the Appalachian mountains from Georgia to Maine. I’ve seen them in glorious autumn reds, oranges, and yellows. But fall here in Washington has a special quality. Kit figured out why. Our deciduous trees, mostly maples, turn against a background of dark evergreens. The contrast makes the colors more vibrant.

I couldn’t decide whether to post a red or a yellow tree against the green. So I combined two photos both from our yard. The yellow is looking out our bedroom window.

“Differences make you stronger as a couple . . . we teach “. . . because you bring different strengths to your relationship.” I think contrasts combined make nearly everything better. Chefs tell us that the juxtaposition of flavors can make a recipe remarkable. The best sports teams have players with different skills. Appreciate the contrasts you experience for a richer life.

Drew

The first six novels we created received high ratings by reviewers. Then we combined everything we had learned about writing into the seventh story. Missionary and the Witch immediately became our best seller.

Transylvanian culture, folklore, and history have been thoroughly researched–including six visits there–and are authentic. Our self-sacrificing primary characters are likeable and admirable. Although the book cover is unsettling to some, the good vs evil tale is wholesome with positive messages.

We think this novel is worthy of a national audience and are striving to achieve that. If interested, you can get the Kindle version on Amazon right now for only 99¢. Or we can email you a PDF file without charge.

Kit and Drew

Catching fish from a guided boat is fine. But I much prefer landing a fish by myself  with my feet on the bank.

Salmon are running in Washington. They follow shorelines looking for their river of origin to spawn. Where a point extends into the sound, salmon cut-the-corner passing withing casting distance of shore. I found such a spot along with other fishermen.

I started with a salmon lure that had worked well in Alaska. Up and down the shoreline men pulled in fish. A man next to me caught four salmon while I got nothing. He noticed me eyeing his lure, a type I had never seen before. “Those are hard to find,” he said and told me of a distant shop that “might” have one.

Another man watched me searching in vane through my Alaskan tackle for a similar lure. Without speaking he took my rod and tied on something. My eyes widened when seeing the rare lure. A few minutes later I noticed that man leaving and hurried to return his lure. “Keep it,” he said.

A little while later I pulled in a nice salmon, my first from shore in Washington. I shouted with excitement as the other fishermen smiled in bemusement.

I’ve extended kindness to strangers myself on occasion. Those times stand out in my memories and give me joy. Receiving kindness from a stranger rekindles my desire to be kind myself. My prayer for America and particularly for Christianity is a great surge of kindness.

Drew

On Friday, Kit and I went on a salmon charter. We shared the boat with three experienced and avid male fishermen. On the way out, Kit assured the men that she would catch the most and biggest salmon.

An hour later, Kit had four large king salmon in the boat. The three men and I had none. It was so funny. The guide said that Kit had caught both her and my legal limits then suggested we step back to give the other guys a better chance. By the end of the day, each of the three men (all good sports) had two keepers. But Kit still had the largest three fish.

A husband taking his wife fishing can strengthen a marriage.  A wife who wants to go and catches a lot of fish is even more important.

In Our Lord

Drew

We’ve been creatively writing for eight years with considerable success, despite lack of training and arguably little aptitude. We’ve put together all we’ve learned to create a novel, consistent with Scripture, involving demonic activity, authentic Transylvania culture, and a dash of romance. The engaging tale carries important principles about spiritual warfare.

This story is good enough to attract a national audience. But we are little known authors and old. I understand why publishing companies won’t take a chance on us. Therefore, we are embarking on a complex marketing campaign that puts us in direct competition with literally millions of writers and every publishing house.

Prayers and advice are welcome.

This link remains on this site and is safe.   Missionary and the Witch

Kit and I recently finished fifteen intense months living up to being “Full Time Volunteers” for FamilyLife. We also wrote and published a new novel. I’m amazed and deeply grateful to be fully engaged at age seventy-three. Still, Kit and I don’t have hive-of-bees energy like we used to.

Therefore, we rewarded ourselves with a care-free road trip to Oregon, Utah, and Nevada. I’m the speck at the center of the bridge in front of Multnomah Falls. We also visited Oregon Trail sites, Park City, Crater Lake, Mount Shasta, Great Salt Lake, Bonneville Salt Flats, and drove through a dozen snow-capped mountain ranges.

Sometimes the right thing to do is set aside our important goals and have some fun.

Drew