Dear Readers,                                                                                                         June 2006

            I haven’t written a newsletter for almost nine months now. In fact, our website has been off-line for a while, due to the unexpected death of my web master, Tim Duplissey. At Forty-nine years old, Tim had struggled with Juvenile Diabetes for most of his life. After recovering from a routine surgery last fall, his heart simply quit beating. It was a shock to all of us who loved Tim, but especially to Susan – his wife of twenty-one years.

            Tim worked as a technical manager for World Vision, and hosted my web site on his garage computer. He did it because he loved Susan, and because he loved my work. He believed in me. When he died, we realized none of us knew where he kept his files. For months, we didn’t dare turn off the computer.

You know Susan because she was the inspiration for the character bearing her name in Serenity Bay (published in 1999). We’ve been friends for nearly ten years now, taking research trips together, writing and performing in church dramas, and sharing more coffee than I care to admit. If I were Anne of Green Gables, I would say that Susan is a soul-mate.

Susan has had a tough year; and I suspect that she has many difficult months to go. She could use your prayers. Alone, she now raises two teenage boys. Jeremy will graduate from High School this June.

I’d like to dedicate this newsletter to Tim, knowing that he’s in heaven waiting for us, enjoying unending music, great health and all the sugar his heart desires! I long to greet him again. It’s been quite a winter. I’ve lost a friend, gained a son-in-law, expanded my speaking influence and made it through my first winter with an empty nest.

In the meantime, another good friend, Kerrie Hubbard has stepped in to help me with my web site. She is an artist/writer, specializing in watercolor, and some day you’ll be able to say you first heard of her here!

A Summer Story: 

Though in most parts of the country it’s nearly summer, here in the Northwest, we’ve suffered through a week of heavy rain. After a teasing bit of sunshine and warmth, the gray skies seem especially punishing. I’m late getting my flowers into pots, and a couple of nights ago, while I was up to my elbows in potting soil, this thought occurred to me:

I’d never make it as a farmer.

I plant blooming flowers from four-inch pots. I buy healthy plants from reputable greenhouses, expecting to have immediate results. I don’t have the patience to start anything from seed. I want my pots to look professionally done within minutes.

This last Mother’s Day, my older daughter bought me a peony. And since it is my second peony, I know something about them. These plants take time to settle in before they bloom. Often years go by before they burst into their famous full-frilled flowers.

Lots of crops require patience. You sow the seed, or plant the plug and then you wait. Apple trees, asparagus, rhubarb – they insist that we wait to enjoy their fruit. In the meantime, we continue to care for them, while fighting the diseases and pests that would destroy our efforts. And so it is in the realm of the soul.

            I want instant soul results too. I don’t like to wait. I don’t want to cultivate and fertilize and spray and trim and WAIT. But some soul crops force our patience. We may sow prayer for an unsaved loved one, and then wait patiently for the crop to bear fruit. We may sow righteousness in our children, and then wait years for them to begin righteous living. We may sow character in our own lives and then wait years for a longing to grow from wishes to habit to character. Waiting is tough, especially with my limited attention span.

            But the soul crop is worth the wait. Wait with me, will you? And in the meantime, let’s keep on planting!