Since Christine’s Death…

I spent the last half of last week in Cincinnati with Nancy and Dave. The trips I have been able to take since Christine’s death and my time away from responsibilities at Westwood have been a blessing to me I have been able to spend valuable time with family as we have grieved Christine’s death together and have processed many of the things that we need to accomplish in the days and weeks ahead.

At times this process has, of course, not been easy. We have remembered and we have cried, sometimes at the thought of the smallest of things. Some tasks that are usually accomplished without much difficulty have taken greater effort. One of those was handling a flat tire on my trip to Cincinnati, and another has been having a new microwave installed at home. I appreciate the help of Gary Rockwell in finally getting the microwave installed on Tuesday this week.

As I returned on Saturday from Nancy and Dave’s, I changed plans and decided to be at Westwood on Sunday. I was glad I did so. We had a wonderful day at Westwood as Jennifer Shaw was baptized into Christ and Don Hochmuth preached for us and led our adult class. If you missed his sermon from Romans on “Putting Grace in Place,” you can listen to it on our church website. It is an excellent message on understanding the centrality of God’s grace in our salvation.

Following classes on Sunday, Don, his wife Kris, five others from Westwood, and I went out to lunch. We had an enjoyable time visiting for half of Sunday afternoon. The entire morning and afternoon were a balm for my heart and soul.

On Tuesday this week, I left Madison in light snow and flew to Southern California where the temperature was about 80 degrees when I arrived. I am spending a week with my sister and her family in Moorpark. On Friday, Christine’s sister and her husband will arrive from Oceanside to be here for the weekend. I may have opportunity to also see some other friends who live here.

As things stand now, this will be my last extended trip before I resume my responsibilities at Westwood on February 1. I will visit another church in the state on January 26 and still have a one day trip to make to Illinois to see some dear friends. Otherwise I will likely be in Madison most of the time for the remainder of the month. If you would like to visit with me personally about Christine during that time, I would be glad to do so.

On the next two Sundays, two of our own men will preach at Westwood, first Wayne Shockley and then Terry Walker. I trust they will also bless your life as the others who have preached at Westwood have in the last month.

Many of you, along with numerous other friends and family — some of whom Christine and I have known for many years, and some whom we have known just a short time — have blessed my life in the last few weeks. I am extremely grateful to each one who has reached out to my family and I. While I rejoice that Christine has received her reward in heaven, these days are still difficult — for you as well as for me. Yet I trust that God will bring wonderful blessings through the days ahead and advance the work of the Kingdom of God.

God bless,

Ken