Greetings to all of our precious friends! We miss you so very much. You may have been wondering, “Where are they? What are they doing since having to close down the ministry in 2024 due to life challenges and health challenges?"
Well, I will take a couple minutes to share what’s going on. First of all , Larry and I are celebrating 60 years of marriage on October 16th. Wow...time flies whether you’ve got wings or not! Honestly, I never dreamed we could be sweethearts and enjoy marriage, ministry and family this long (60 years--amazing)! I am so thankful God brought us together as young teenagers and now here we are: I’m 81 and Larry is 82. Someone said years ago, “We come together out of passion (meaning we look at each other and bang the sparks fly and love is in the air), but what keeps you together all through the years is compassion." This is so true as we have discovered when you get to our age, we share our compassion for each other to help each other through each day--- every mountain top, every valley, every challenge, at times wiping each other’s tears and cheering for each other. We have definitely ventured into a new era of our journey.
Scroll through the following pics for a few of the stages...
For us it has been “sweet and bitter"!
SWEET – our love for each other and family is so sweet and it keeps growing. How blessed we have been to be able to share 60 years of life and love together AND a ministry of seeing nearly 100,000 people make decisions for Christ. That has made the journey exciting.
BITTER—-we have experienced that coming through struggling with various health challenges. Life changes
… and it is our love and compassion for each other that shines and grows even through the changes. As most of you know, Larry has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease which his mother, his brother and his uncle had. I remember a day specifically about 7 years ago when we were ministering in a little church in South Dakota; we were standing hand-in-hand, heart to heart. In that moment, I felt God speak to me – – “Changes are coming." I was hoping it was a great surprise or something of that sort – – but day by day, I saw how the disease began to steal a part of his body. As of now, it is progressing quickly. Larry has come to need his cane, his walker and of course me (his shoulder) to lean on due to his balance that is quite unsteady. These changes are so hard to see in someone who has been so strong. To see this outgoing man of God hurt is hard, but he stays so happy and sweet in the midst of it all. I am blessed. Larry misses ministry deeply, he misses meeting and talking to all of the people, he misses preaching, and of course, telling his “bad dad jokes“! Ha ha!
Yet, we take our present circumstances, and we continue to minister day by day in person at clinics, doctors offices, the hospital, or on the phone as we come into contact with so many hurting people. We are definitely kept busy with ministry in this way now that is what God called us to do. Larry has had four back surgeries in the past couple years, and I just got out of the hospital two days ago again with ER runs due to heart problems, but God is faithful. I am now not only his wife, but his caretaker—no, no, no--caregiver. We know the Lord is with us in this part of the journey just as He has been with us through every other part of our journey, but I do ask for special prayers for both of us for strength and healing as we navigate each day and the unknown it brings. We definitely need to rely on God‘s strength to get through it. Our kids are so wonderful to help us. We are just so proud of them and incredibly grateful for the respect, love and help that they give us. We don’t know what we would do without them. Thank you, Jesus.
In closing, I just ask you to continue to remember us in prayer. It would be so sweet to hear from you. That would bring great encouragement to Larry and I and we would also love to see how you’re doing also.
Here’s our address: 3241 Potts Xing, LaVergne TN 37086
We love you! God bless you until we talk again.
Gloria
definitely a new journey for both of us. We saw it coming about five years ago as his mother was bedridden for 17 years with it and his brother, Lowell, had it along with his uncle. It is very difficult to watch Larry who has always been so active, energetic and strong struggling with balance , walking and everything that goes with it. We trust God every day to give us strength. I am now honored to be his caregiver. I am thankful that we are settled here in Nashville where the children are able to help us. They are so good to us. Now my main ministry is taking care of my husband. He’s as sweet as ever, and oh yes, continues to have a great attitude and of course a plethora of crazy jokes. We do therapy walks at Home Depot or Lowe’s where he can push a high cart. Everyone knows him and greets him. They act like they’ve been friends forever, and of course, he cannot miss the opportunity to tell a crazy joke or witness or make them laugh. They always ask him, “Larry do you have a new joke today?" Needless to say if he doesn’t have one, he makes one up on the spot. I know that does not surprise you or me. Then when we are leaving, they say, “Thank you, thank you for making my day and giving us a smile.” He does the same on his business phone calls and almost every time they’ll finish a conversation saying, “Mr Larry-thank you for making my day. Call me every Friday or call me every Monday to brighten my day." Larry is allowing his pain to become a new pulpit to encourage and touch other lives. His joy is contagious!
Greetings from Tennessee! As I’m writing this, we are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Francine which made its way along the Gulf Coast. We are praying for them. We are grateful just to get some heavy rain and high winds.
thought you would do. It's terrific!" -Mike K.
August greetings from the beautiful smoky mountains of Tennessee! It’s an unusual, low humidity day, and we are savoring it as tomorrow the heat index and the humidity will go sky again reaching 105 with the humidity. It’s hard to believe it’s mid-August already. Our neighbor asked, “How do you like retirement?" And I responded, "I’m still trying to close down everything that I’ve been doing for many, many, many years, and we still have ministry out of our home." I continued to share with her that there are so many people hurting who need prayer, comfort, advice, counseling, and to just know that someone cares". And the truth of the matter is.....when you care about people, you never retire from ministering. 
friends. She’s full of life. She will definitely keep everybody busy! LOL! She said to me on the phone yesterday morning, "Do you remember being in second grade?" I said, “Yes." And then she asked, "Do you remember your teacher's name?" I responded, "Yes, Miss Johnson." She continued to question, “What do you remember about her?" I told her, "She was very pretty, sweet and when we all got her spelling words correctly, she would give us a butter--a yellow Butterman for reward-- and yummy was it ever good!" She giggled, "Wow! You remembered a lot!" The quiz was good for me---I think I passed my senior moment! Nova is full energy, and she told this grandma that she loves all school and school projects. She has no lack for words and brings excitement to any situation. 
eather has definitely warmed up here in Tennessee. I am hearing Larry use his favorite summertime joke that it is so hot that the birds are using potholders to get the worms out of the ground! That's Larry and I am so grateful for him! As we come to celebrating Father's Day, I am grateful for the great father, grandfather and great-grandfather he is. He adores his family and it is his deepest desire that he is leaving a legacy that always points them to knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior each and every day of his life.