October 8, 2016

Greetings My Friend, I loved working with the teens for 15 years. At the end of those years I knew it was getting time for me to stop due exhaustion, I no longer could do what I once did. Next I found myself entrenched in remarried ministry helping other remarried couples to navigate the ups and downs of combining lives and traditions etc. I loved this too. My first ministry in remarrieds was helping to put on workshops that spoke about the things couples had to deal with such as a united front. Later I found a ministry of helping to write a newsletter to the remarrieds. After a while I was barely involved in ministry as I became unable to function due to exhaustion, which I now know as Chronic Fatigue. When we moved to Virginia I hoped to recover and begin to find my work within the church again. I did a small period where I helped fold bulletins and straighten the pews but I was not able to deal with this ministry. I have struggled a lot trying to find where my energy would allow me to minister to others. In this journey I have started to see that as an older woman it is time for me to pull back to allow for another generation to do much of the work I once did. If we want our next generation to be involved then we need to allow them to step up to the plate. Our church is handling this fairly well. We have a multiple generation that is involved in the church life which is exciting to me. I have found that God has had new things for me to work with, not the work inside of the church building but out of my home where I can work with my energy level. For me writing has been a dream most of my life and the internet allows me this opportunity. Junior and I also have found a few people in the community that we have reached out to as well. With us being retired and home a lot we are able to see a need that is not as visible to those who are working and raising children. I am amazed at the amount of ministry there is outside of the church proper. I am thankful to be of use to God even in my declining abilities. That has been hard to deal for me the thought that my older years will mean I was not of value to God. God has shown me this is not true and I am amazed at all the things God has given me to do. He also has encouraged me to learn new/old things like baking bread and sewing. I have a desire to do things how I have always done them which many older people do. Because God had us move from one state to another, to see my health fail deeply and to come back to a certain level and then to learn to deal with a broken body in new ways I am not doing many things the same old way because my new life in Virginia and disabilities have made that impossible. God loves us and wants us to be useful our entire life. I know that I will always be able to pray for others when nothing works. God is awesome. May God bless you and make her face shine on you. Love Janet