ROCK CHALK, JAYHAWK! Though not the most important happening, for basketball fans like us, winning the 2022 National Championship for Kansas was a nice bright spot in March! We would even have had a decent consolation prize if North Carolina had won. Though our precious daughter Stacie, moved to Heaven ten years ago next month, we are still driving her Sportage with the license plate “Tarhawk.” She was so proud of it! We took this photo years ago when the two teams also met in the finals. Though we have lived in NC for 20 years now, we will always be Jayhawks first! We thought about not sending this update because there hasn’t been a lot of change on our property that can be seen. But in the same way that God works behind the scenes in our lives, though it’s not visible to us yet, there has been progress inside Ruby Cottage / Macs Music. Dennis has been busy with wiring, plumbing, and building the back deck and ramp. We are enclosed now, with the recent addition of the soffit and porch roof. We’re thankful to have made it through the winter with no critters moving into the house! Dennis is in the process of painting the doors Ruby Red, and then he will build the front porch. Siding is next on the list, though we have a siding guy to help! Mowing will also claim his time during the growing season, but riding his tractors has always been Den’s prayer time, and often when Holy Spirit downloads new songs to his heart. With the studio close to being a reality, Dennis is excited about writing and recording songs again. And Volleyball officiating begins in August! That is his Re-Firement! Building debt-free in this day of rising prices and inflation has been a challenge, but we are determined to practice patience and pay as we go, as we promised the Lord we would. God has provided funds for every step, and we praise Him for full and overflowing provision to complete this assignment. We know that He provides both finances and the right helpers for whatever He calls us to do. He always has, and we have no doubt that even in this present crazy economy, Jesus is Lord! So, we continue to tackle each project as we are able. God is GOOD! Jeannie has helped with small physical building tasks a few times, but her job is mainly encouragement and prayer support. She spends time in her Kingdom Corner every day to lift up our assignment and the people and prayer requests she writes in her prayer journal. So many friends and family have experienced hardship and loss in the past months. It is an honor for Jeannie to lift those people to the Father. She considers her intercession a vital part of her assignment. This season of still living in our camper (with very limited space) has given Jeannie time to have special fellowship and prayer with God first, as well as keep our daily life tasks up to date. She is working on her craft as a writer, reading books and taking online courses. God has also laid it on her heart to support certain other writers and authors in various ways. Jeannie and her webmaster, Carol, keep her website updated with its various features like this newsletter, Reader Bonuses, (when you sign up, you receive two of Jeannie’s Picture eBooks, illustrated by two former Youth Advisory Board Gals, Ema (Carol’s daughter) and Lilly (daughter of Jeannie’s cousin, Jill.) You can also keep up with what Jeannie is reading in the Reading Nook. For all you “Tresia” fans, a very special surprise made possible by Carol’s oldest daughter, Caity, also one of Jeannie’s former YAB gals, will be posted to the website soon! (Hint: Caity is a theater major…) Visit the website anytime for updates! With this report of where God has taken us up until now, we want to end this newsletter with a thought for the future. Jeannie has been re-reading the “Left Behind” series since the first of the year. We both enjoy watching preachers and teachers who show us how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes. We continue to take steps to finish this building phase so we can accomplish our tasks to write books and songs and share God’s love with the world. But it is plain to us that it is almost time for Jesus to return to take His Church Home! In light of that Truth, some days it’s hard to “keep on keeping on” with what we have been called to do. But Jesus said in Luke 19:13 to “Occupy til I come.” So we will move forward with our assignment, while keeping our eyes on the eastern skies! This was our recent view on our way home from church. We love the rays coming through the clouds to remind us that Jesus is coming soon. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus! Our ultimate assignment is to share the Gospel and take as many as we can with us to meet Jesus in the air! If you don’t know Him, we would love to hear from you and would be honored to introduce you to Him. Those of you who are watching for Him too, we’d love to hear what you are doing while you “occupy.” Just hit reply. We answer every email response. Love and prayers to y’all. Keep looking up!
Dennis and Jeannie Dear family and friends, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 was Jeannie’s verse for 2021, and her Word of the Year is “Still.” The past six months since our Spring/Summer Edition, has been filled with both physical activity and inner stillness testifying that we are exactly where God wants us to be as we seek His further instructions.
Accomplishing our God-given assignment to write both books and songs requires us to have this ministry house. Though we will live there for a time, it will also be available for guests, which is another part of our assignment. Please continue to pray with us that this building project will be done well and in order and always be used for God’s Glory and to further the Kingdom. God has brought many helpers to work alongside Dennis, and we are so grateful for that provision! Dennis is enjoying his role of general contractor for our building project. He is also happy to be playing the piano at services with several other musicians at Cherokee Bible Church. He is excited for the day when Macs Music is completed and he can practice and write songs whenever the Spirit leads! He has finished officiating volleyball season and is ready to begin basketball. Dennis is grateful that God has allowed his love for music and basketball, which began in high school, to both still be a part of his life today.
Jeannie’s last book, Kingdom Corner Connection, has been out for a year! It has been her best selling book thus far and she is grateful to everyone who bought a copy and helped pass the word. Here is a link in case you haven’t read it yet or need a Christmas gift. Jeannie has been brainstorming her next book, but finding a good time and place to set up the laptop is not easy in our little camper. Instead, she has been busy reading writing craft books and taking online courses. Once we are in Ruby Cottage, she will be ready to set up a temporary writing studio and get busy! Just to keep her readers excited, here is a link to the working back cover copy: Jeannie has an email list (separate from this newsletter list) that is especially for her readers. If you haven’t signed up for her “Reader Bonuses,” click the link below. There is still time to download and/or print the eBooks in her “2021 Picture eBook Giveaway.” The last story will be out in early December. These early stories written by Jeannie will disappear at the end of the year, so sign up fast! They were illustrated, and titles hand-lettered, by two of her former Youth Advisory Board gals, Emalee and Lilly. In 2022, her Reader Bonus email subscribers will receive four emails with the theme “Spiritual Truths from the Revealer of Mysteries.” These will be short devotions based on the underlying Biblical parallels in her fiction books. You might also want to check out Jeannie’s “Reading Nook.” This is a list of all the books Jeannie reads each year. In 2021, her reading goal was 60 books! She is on #58! We pray you will have a wonderful Harvest/Holiday season with family and friends. We would love a reply from you to hear what God is doing in your lives.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas from the Macs! Let it snow! Be BLESSED Dennis and Jeannie Psalm 118:23 This is the Lord’s doing: It is marvelous in our eyes. Dear friends and family,
We had hoped to report that we have begun putting up the walls and roof on Ruby Cottage guest house and Macs Music recording studio. We had intended to start construction again in early spring, but when Dennis went in to order the lumber, he discovered that the estimate we had received last fall had tripled!!! Apparently this is the way it is all over. So we are on hold until we make sure of God’s timing on moving forward. Since we are building debt-free, we don’t want to waste any resources we have just because someone decided to raise building costs. Please pray with us that we will have wisdom and peace about when to begin building again. In the mean time, we are thankful that we had the foresight (and good advice) to build a weather-proof foundation. We enjoy climbing up on it, “faithing” about the finished building, and thanking the Lord for our MountainView! Until the Lord gives us the go-ahead to resume construction, Dennis will have plenty to keep him busy with mowing and continuing to develop the property. A flower and plant garden are planned and clearing out the lower two acres along our stream. We finally have a decent path down to the water! Eventually it will be a continuation of “Turquoise Trail” which Jeannie has already created as a small tractor and walking path through our grove of pine trees. There is a story about the name, but we will share that later..
Jeannie has kept busy writing for the past year. Her sixth and latest book, Kingdom Corner Connection, released in November, 2020, has been her most successful book thus far. (If you haven’t read it yet, here is a link that will give you more info.) Since all of the face-to-face festivals, where she hoped to have a book table, were cancelled last year, she hopes to be able to include a few this year. Word of mouth is still her best marketing tool, so if you have read her books, she would appreciate it if you would pass the word to family and friends and post online reviews. That helps an author so much and Jeannie is grateful for her faithful reader “Clan” on her website, Author Facebook page, and her Amazon page. A new feature on Jeannie’s website this year is her Reader Bonuses. This is a separate email list from the one for this newsletter. The Reader Bonuses list is exclusively about Jeannie’s writing, and this year she is giving away six downloadable picture books that she wrote years ago that have been sitting in her “project drawer.” Two eBooks have already been released to those who have signed up, The Animals Bookcase and The Cousins’ Backyard Mystery Club. A new picture eBook will be emailed to her Reader Bonuses list every other month this year. Corresponding coloring pages are also available for download and printing. Jeannie is thrilled that two of her former Tresia Youth Advisory Board gals, Emalee and Lilly, are helping her with illustrations and title page lettering for picture books in this project. The third eBook, Sarsaparilla Cafe, will be sent in mid-May. So, parents, grandparents, babysitters, and even storytellers looking for material to share with the kids in your life, take advantage of this new FREE offer from J.A. McPhail. (Each year Reader Bonuses will feature different topics of interest to readers.) To give you an idea of what you will get with the Reader Bonuses, Jeannie wants to share a “bonus newsletter subscriber” story with you. This story was written as an assignment for a writing course she recently took. It required her to take three photos that people had texted and make them into a story. These are the three photos she had to use. If you are curious as to what in the world she did with them, click below and find out! Then if you enjoyed it, sign up for her Reader Bonus list to get more! Jeannie’s amazing and patient webmaster, Carol, who does all techy things for her, including sending MountainView Moments newsletter and Reader Bonuses, also made this sign. Jeannie’s “2021 Word of the Year” is STILL. We pray you will take time to “Be Still” in His Presence every day. That’s what your Kingdom Corner is for...whether it’s outside in God’s creation or in your armchair or vehicle in cool air-conditioned comfort! It doesn’t matter to Him. He’s waiting for you. Be BLESSED.
Dennis and Jeannie |
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