John MacArthur (1939-2025)

Monday evening shortly after 6pm we received the news that one of our favorite pastors was ushered into heaven. We know he’s with his Savior and I can only imagine what that ‘faith becoming sight’ moment was like.
This message is from Grace to You:
Our hearts are heavy, yet rejoicing, as we share the news that our beloved pastor and teacher John MacArthur has entered into the presence of the Savior. This evening, his faith became sight. He faithfully endured until his race was run. More information will be available soon.
~
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
2 Timothy 4:1-8
He was Greg and my first pastor after we were married and living in West Los Angeles. God used him to disciple us through his sermons, books, commentaries and example. We trusted that he handled the Word of God well and didn’t compromise the Truth. We are forever grateful. When I mow our acres I listen to his archived sermons. When we drive to Spokane we pick one of his sermons to listen to. This morning while I watered I was listening, too. We knew he was ‘on his last lap’, his words from a couple months ago.
~
The last time we saw John MacArthur in person was in October of 2019 when we attended the Truth Matters Conference at Grace Community Church. The next photo and paragraph are from a post from 2019.

I’m holding a MacArthur Study Bible in the Russian language. We are enjoying so many great interactions with people from all over the world at this conference. Our heads are ready to explode from what we are learning.

Here is one of the quotes from MacArthur I wrote down in the last year.

“Jesus himself is the goal of human history. In Him all things are summed up. All human history will be resolved and united to the Father through the work of the Son.

Ultimately–everything will be made right in Christ.”

Christians around the world are grieving this earthly loss but rejoicing in Johnny Mac’s promotion to heaven and especially that he is seeing our Savior face to face.

An official post from the elders of Grace Community Church.

Our prayers are for his dear wife, Patricia, his family, his church family.
Thank you, Pastor Johnny Mac. Thank you, LORD, for this wonderful servant of yours!

Garage Sale 2025

It was a long two days in the heat but we made it through with some good profits. Just before we closed the doors on Saturday afternoon we had some large last minute sales.

It was fun to watch these two engage with the public and sell their goods. People were very generous and they made $72.00 over the two days. We were only open for business from 8am until 3pm Friday and Saturday.

The conversation of the day was all about the heat and about the fires. It was fun to meet some neighbors we’d never meet without them stopping at the sale. With so much acreage between homes it’s not easy to meet. We recognized some employees from Wal-Mart.

When the sale was over on Saturday, Jamie’s mom volunteered to load the back of her pick-up with items that didn’t sell and that we didn’t want to hang onto anymore. That was so generous and we are thankful.

Our trees are helpful with the shade they provide.

What a blessing it was to be able to have the sale in the shop instead of everything being outside in the heat.

We are recuperating and it will take a couple days to get back to normal around here.

In other news…

Last Thursday morning while we were getting set up for the garage sale we had the fun treat of seeing a Doe with her two fawns. It is so cute to watch the fawns frolicking. I wasn’t quick enough to get a shot of them while they were on our property. If you look closely you can just make them out in the center of the photo.

Last Wednesday Addy had some dental work done and she was such a trooper. She got an ice cream treat after her procedure.

She was smiling before and still smiling after it was all done.

The fire that is closest to us, Hope Fire, is still not contained. Our community is doing their best to help with support for the fire fighters and with housing animals, etc.

This is an update from Sunday night:

A considerable amount of progress has been made on the Hope Fire. Crews worked diligently to strengthen the control line along the southwest and southeast flank of the fire. Other lines were improved or added, including completion of structural protections on Flagstaff Mountain. Aerial operations are being used to cool down hotspots. Total containment for the fire has been updated to 8%.

I am behind in visiting blogs and hope to catch-up when my brain recovers. Hope all is well with y’all.

 

Praises to Him Who Built the Hills ~ Hymn

Praises to Him Who Built the Hills

Praises to Him who built the hills;
Praises to Him the streams who fills;
Praises to Him who lights each star
That spark­les in the blue afar.

Praises to Him who makes the morn,
And bids it glow with beams new-born;
Who draws the sha­dows of the night,
Like cur­tains, o’er our wea­ried sight.

Praises to Him whose love has giv­en,
In Christ His Son, the Life of Heav­en;
Who for our dark­ness gives us light,
And turns to day our deep­est night.

Praises to Him, in grace who came,
To bear our woe, and sin, and shame;
Who lived to die, who died to rise,
The God-ac­cept­ed sac­ri­fice.

Praises to Him the chain who broke,
Opened the pri­son, burst the yoke,
Sent forth its cap­tives, glad and free,
Heirs of an end­less li­ber­ty.

Praises to Him who sheds abroad
Within our hearts the love of God;
The Spir­it of all truth and peace,
Fountain of joy and ho­li­ness!

The Fa­ther, Son, and Spir­it, now
The hands we lift, the knees we bow;
To Jah-Je­ho­vah thus we raise
The sin­ner’s song of end­less praise

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1861.

Tea ~ Marysville

Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.

This was originally posted on December 2, 2015.

We chose Attic Secrets in Marysville for our tea on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (2015) since we planned to shop at the Navy Exchange Complex afterwards.

We each chose our teacups and brought them to our table and selected our tea.

We were so pleased to see a gluten free tea choices for Letty on the menu, too.

My sister Lana, Sister-in-law Letty, Me, DIL Laura and daughter Katie.

After our lovely leisurely tea we headed to the Navy Exchange to do a little tax free shopping. We made a couple more stops to Cost Plus, Hobby Lobby, and a grocery store before heading back to Josh and Laura’s to see what the guys accomplished. Besides their construction project Josh managed to make a great pot of chili and a pan of gluten free cornbread for us all to enjoy.

This Tea Room is still open!

Huckleberry Season!

It’s Huckleberry season around these parts and our Colville kids found a good spot for picking them. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Steep terrain is a given when picking.

I’m glad they went before the fires started.

Nearly 7,000 acres have burned between Kettle Falls and Northport, Washington, with no containment of the fire as of Thursday morning, fire officials said.

The Hope fire, burning near Northport Flat Creek Road and 15 Mile Creek Road on the north side of the Columbia River, has grown to 6,764 acres with level 3 evacuations, meaning to leave immediately, remaining in effect. The fire is about 15 miles north of Kettle Falls.

Wednesday evening the winds were blowing in our direction so it was very smoky making our eyes hurt. Thursday we did not get that same level of smoke. We saw helicopters flying all day for water drops. We’ve been in the shop working hard getting everything ready for our Garage sale today and tomorrow. That is why you haven’t heard much from me. I hope to catch up with y’all next week.

Have a great Friday!

Truth for Today #152

Thursday July 10th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (NASB 1995)

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,  in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

From Vera:

“But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭40‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Cheryl:

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” I John 1:7

From Dianna:

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6 ESV

From Karen:

Philippians 4:8 KJV

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Better or Worse Hodgepodge

There is always a way to take a photo of our acreage without showing you the close-up of our out of control weeds! 🙂 We got behind and it seems there is no catching up. A couple evenings ago, I was thanking the LORD for this view out our bedroom window. It is His handiwork, not mine. I just water between the rain.

Thank you, Joyce, for more Hodgepodge Questions this week. 

1. What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for? 

All the technology stuff and apps you need on your phone and those QR thingies to take a photo of so you can do stuff like, parking downtown, checking in for a flight, ordering food at your table. Besides being unprepared for it, I dislike it and avoid it as much as possible.

2. How tuned in are you to all the recent food related health news? Have you gotten rid of your scratched cookware? Did you pay attention to food additives before they made the news? What’s one healthy eating/cooking/food shopping habit you need to adopt? 

Oh no, what have I missed or should I be glad I missed it. Maybe I will learn more when I read all the answers from other hodgepodgers. The one habit we’d like to adopt is to eat less sugary things.

I was a home economics major but that doesn’t mean I’m the model of excellence in all things home economics. One thing I learned in a nutrition class that has always stuck with me is that there aren’t fattening foods, per se. What is ‘fattening’ is the total of what you eat not one individual thing. Does that make sense. Some foods have gotten a bad wrap.

3. What’s getting worse and worse as you get older? How about better and better? 

Worse and worse is my memory and being able to recall the right word or the name of something or your name in a pinch! The struggle is true and real.

Better and better is my assurance of and the hope I have in the one true God who saved me by sending His Son, Jesus Christ to be the substitute for my punishment and the redeemer of my life here and the giver of my life in heaven for eternity.

4. Are you more of an indoor person or an outdoor person? Elaborate. 

I’m a little of both. By outside, if you mean having a stroll through a beautiful garden or around beautiful ancient ruins I’m a fan. I’m not a fan of getting to the top of the mountain by hiking where there are mosquitoes and other bugs and natural prey to contend with all the way. I do enjoy an early morning stroll along the beach. The cool of the morning calls to me. I guess I’m a comfort traveler or outdoorsy person. Strong emphasis on comfort.

From 2006-2009 we lived in Camarillo, California while Greg worked in Thousand Oaks temporarily.  Most Saturdays we would walk the beaches starting before sunrise. We moved back to our home in Kenmore (NE of Seattle) in early 2010.

I enjoy being inside in the morning hours in my robe and slippers getting ready for the day leisurely. I’m not a fan of being stuck indoors, though. I will enjoy strolling through a cathedral, or a museum, or a library. I prefer eating inside.

5. If you had an expert personal assistant today, what would you have them do? 

Since being healthy is all the rage, I’ll take a personal chef who makes healthy food Greg and I would eat.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We are having a garage sale this Friday and Saturday. Pricing and organizing takes a lot of time. Hopefully we’ll make enough so that we feel it was worth it and at the same time get rid of a lot of stuff we don’t use anymore.

There will be several more tables added and more stuff but this was the start of things for the sale. That pretty butterfly came to visit while I was pricing things.

We have a fire in our area and people are pulling together to help and give shelter to people and animals.

This fire is north and across the Columbia river from us.

Staying safe in Colville. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Fishing

Our Colville kids went fishing recently.

It was an epic fishing day for JJ. He caught the first fish of the day.

He also caught the largest fish of the day!

Addy enjoys the fishing part but not the slimy fish part.

Last Wednesday the boat was launched in the lake for a cooling off outing. A beautiful time on the water.

When Gramps and I went over for an amazing lamb gyro meal with homemade pita, gyro lamb meat, and tzatziki, JJ was excited to tell me he swam off the boat in the lake and showed me how far he swam. The lamb that we enjoyed was from the lamb butchering that Gramps helped with last week.

Addy and JJ made dessert for our meal and even hand picked all the raspberries. It was delicous!

Quote of the night from JJ; “Everything is better home made!”

We are hard at work here at our country bungalow getting ready for a garage sale on Friday and Saturday. We still have a lot to do before Friday. I keep finding more things to add to the piles. If I’m scarce on my visits you’ll know I’m busy in the shop pricing items to sell!

Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

And…three cheers for our kids who share their photos with us! From Colville, Bothell and Lynnwood everyone had their version of celebrating Independence Day. God bless America.

My heart is heavy because of the tragedy from the Guadalupe River surge in Texas. I can’t imagine the pain and grief so many are going through. I’m sure many of you are feeling the same way. Prayers continue…

Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare ~ Hymn

Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare

Come, my soul, thy suit pre­pare,
Jesus loves to ans­wer pray­er;
He Him­self has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art com­ing to a king,
Large pe­ti­tions with thee bring;
For His grace and pow­er are such,
None can ev­er ask too much.

With my bur­den I be­gin,
Lord, re­move this load of sin!
Let Thy blood, for sin­ners spilt,
Set my con­science free from guilt.

Lord! I come to Thee for rest,
Take pos­ses­sion of my breast;
There Thy blood bought right main­tain,
And with­out a ri­val reign.

As the im­age in the glass
Answers the be­hold­er’s face;
Thus un­to my heart ap­pear,
Print Thine own re­sem­blance there.

While I am a pil­grim here,
Let Thy love my spir­it cheer;
As my guide, my guard, my friend,
Lead me to my jour­ney’s end.

Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength re­new;
Let me live a life of faith,
Let me die Thy peo­ple’s death.

Words: John Newton, 1779.