The question was meant as a joke, but it was soooo indicative of our year: Andy asked, “So, what do you want to do for our 34th wedding anniversary? Stay home, or stay home, or…stay home?”
I confess that I’m struggling with cabin fever, yet there is still a level of anxiety around going out of the house. Gathering with others. Seeing friends.
Since it is near impossible to plan much for the future, I thought we could look at the past. Much like when Moses and the nation of Israel left Egypt, Joshua and the people of Israel faced an obstacle to getting into the promised land: The Jordan River. The priests of Israel took the ark of the covenant and stood on dry ground in the middle of the river. The water paused until the whole nation of Israel had passed through. Then Joshua sent one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel into the river and they each gathered one stone. Then they made a pile.
We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing . . .’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.
Joshua 4: 6 & 7
Here are some of the recent “stones” in our own memorial pile:
7/2020 — In late March, Hair Cuttery declared bankruptcy and was bought by another company. Cady had already been thinking about stepping down from leadership to spend more time with her girls, and the months off during the quarantine confirmed that. Once the salons reopened, God allowed her to stay at her salon, out of leadership, and keep her clients. Cady is now doing Pre-K with Khloe and Rylie at home. (I get to go there once a week and help — I am in heaven!)
3/2020 — Before the pandemic ramped up and things were canceled, Rachel had made the decision to stay at North Greenville University for another year. She wanted to get additional certifications for strength training and coaching. God was so specific in answering prayers. The NCAA announced that seniors playing sports would be allowed to come back for a fifth season (normally they are only allowed four seasons in any one sport). Off-campus housing for Rachel and two great friends had already been put in place. Rachel moved out of her dorm and into a house just down the street. She was able to get a job and is now working a great internship while taking two classes online.
8/30/19 — Hurricane Dorian was coming. Murphy Catherine Greene-Rettig had just been born. I was recovering from my rotator cuff surgery and experiencing severe anxiety. God was so good. Dorian veered away from Orlando. I was put on a new medication that allowed my anxiety to fade. Murphy was born via C-Section, which was a surprise, yet we had a healthy grandbaby! And Zach and Becca worked together to help Becca recover from the surgery. Six weeks later, Becca started back at her job at Kiddie Academy. She was able to enroll Murphy and be with her during the day.
6/2019 Becca and Zach moved to Florida from Charleston, SC. They were able to get jobs in their chosen fields, Becca in Pre-School and Zach in Physical Education. They were able to find a rental home two miles from our house.
* Zach was named Rookie Teacher of the Year for his hard work raising money for the athletics at his school.
**Becca has since moved up to Assistant Director at her Pre-School! She is doing very well in her new position.
We wanted to be sure that you heard, Cru now has a new leader: Steve Sellers, along with his wife Christy, has been with Cru for 44 years. They were in New England when I (Catherine) was a student at University of Connecticut. They were the leaders on a summer mission that I worked in 1983. They then came to San Bernardino while Andy and I were there. They have been in Orlando since the early 90’s. Catherine was very blessed by being in a multi-year Bible Study under Christy. Steve has led in many parts of the ministry in the US and globally. He has been serving as Executive Vice President globally for the past two years. They will be grateful for your prayers as they step into this responsibility in October.
God’s goodness to us has been loud and clear. You too are a stone on our memorial pile!! You are a part of God’s goodness to us; your prayers and partnership allow us to continue helping others tell students and leaders and moms and dads and high school students and businessmen and women about the joy of following Jesus. And we hope and pray that you have been blessed by your partnership with us. We thank you!
The Kelloggs 