November 18, 2017

Greetings my Friend,

Junior and I are not rich, we are not poor either although people seem to think we may be poor. Neither one of us have a need to wear the most stylish of clothing and we are as at home in a thrift store as we are in a department store so we buy what we choose. We rarely will pay full price for clothes at a department store always seeking the discount rack first. Our SS and Junior's retirement pension from the VA allows us to be comfortable. With the sale of our house in Michigan our finances are once more manageable and life is good for us. We are grateful we can support our little fur family making sure they are spayed and neutered and getting their check ups as they need which makes us happy that we can provide for them. I am grateful that God has given us a comfortable retirement and I find when people point out who is rich in our community we are under impressed in general. The last thing I want to do is to beholden to someone with a lot of money. Through the years we have been able to interact with people who are from a lot of money, me with my job in Commercial Loans, I often talked to CEO's and CFO's from companies like Ford Motor Company and such. We have had friends that were doctor's and investment bankers so we have been comfortable around people who have had money. We tithed a tenth of our income for many many years of late God has told us to donate our money elsewhere because we have been too comfortable saying we were tither's thinking that as tither's we would be accepted into the church. God has been showing us that it is not our tithe that prompts Him to meet our needs and I am grateful. For me I often tithed my time as well for the church because I wanted to be known as a dependable worker in the church. I am saddened that I don't have the energy to do much of the work in the church anymore although God is showing me that He has a lot of work for me to do behind the scenes. I am learning to love not being the center of the goings on in church but to come worship, fellowship and be loved for who I am. Last Sunday was Junior's birthday, his name was on the birthday list in the monthly newsletter along with other November birthday's. Many people spoke to Junior one on one to wish him a happy birthday. It was also Veterans Day weekend so the people who served in the military were asked to stand, as usual Junior refused to stand due to the way he was treated when he returned from Vietnam. People know this at church and each year want him to stand, mention it to me, to him and Junior refuses to stand. This year we were recalling the nice day Sunday was for him, he felt extra special with the one on one acknowledgement of his birthday. Junior also mentioned that next year he might stand because he feels very respected for being in the service. He relates a whole lot to Pastor Joe because they both lived a crazy childhood and respond to life in much the same way. For the first time since he was a young child and a Catholic Priest took Junior under his wing, Junior has made friends with a minister. For me Pastor Joe and Jenny feel familiarly comfortable, my parents were close friends with the Minister at the church I grew up in. There is no need to put on pretense on either of our parts, we are who we are. We are fitting into a church family in a deeper way than we have in either of our lives. I am acknowledged as Junior's wife but also I am known in my own right as well which feels extremely nice. We are also seen as a couple who love each other and are a good fit for each other, I love that too. I feel like I have met the new church found in ACT's in the Bible, we are loved, wanted and accepted for what we can do and give and are not judged strange or unacceptable. It is a good feeling. I am grateful for God having us tithe elsewhere for several years now so we could learn it is not about what we have, we give or do but because we love Jesus, that is enough to be part of the family of God. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet