As I think of Valentine’s Day coming up, people have said to us, 

“You are so lucky to have such a great marriage.”  

There is no luck involved. It didn’t happen by chance. 

We’ve weathered many storms. 

We’ve summited mountains.

We’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death. 

We try to see each other through God’s lens. 

We are a work in progress until Jesus returns.

No matter how much we’re committed to loving one another, we aren’t first in each other’s lives…God is our first love. And because of that, we are better together.  

Whether you are single or married, God has you written on His heart.

Valentine’s Day, and every other day of the year for that matter, it’s not about us. It’s about loving people into the Kingdom of God.

It had been snowing all day and our driveway was getting a little icy. I decided I could make it to my violin lesson. Driving out of the national forest, a man in a truck pulling a camper came around the corner. We both put on our brakes as we slid towards one another. The man decided to run into the snow embankment instead of plowing into my car!

I watched him spin his tires trying to get out of the ditch. I got out of the car telling him we lived not too far down the road and I could get my husband to help pull him out. He was grateful saying his 4wheel drive wasn’t working. I couldn’t turn my car around as the snow berm was high on both sides of the narrow road.

I tried to back down to our house but there was the steep hill that caused my car to hit a tree 3 years ago and give me a concussion. So, I decided to abandon my car and walk home to get Mac.

As I walked down the hill, I remembered the picture I saw earlier that morning from a friend who shot a mountain lion that looked like a prehistoric mammoth a few days before. They had seen his tracks near our property! So, I’m thinking as I’m walking home, I don’t have my gun with me. And I probably look like a tasty appetizer for a mountain lion out here all alone.

I started singing and clapping to make noise that I wasn’t scared! When I got to our driveway, I started hollering Mac’s name. Mac heard me shouting, threw all his tools down, as he was building the horse fences, and headed in his truck to find me. When he saw me walking down the driveway the look of fear came over his face. He thought I had another car accident.  I told him everything was ok, he just needed to help a man out of the ditch.

Next day Mac was leaving the house and saw my footprints on the hill from the day before. I laughed seeing this picture. I was walking so careful not to slip on the ice on one side and not get too far over on the other side and sink in the deep snow. I placed one foot in front of the other to make it home without sliding or rolling down the hill. HA!

And I’m hoping to never see a mammoth mountain lion except in the zoo.

I go to Vanguard Skin Specialist yearly for a skin check as I’ve had a basal cell carcinoma years ago. For many years my check-ups have been clear. I thought maybe I will just cancel the appointment this year.  Then Mac, who never goes to the doctor, was told by the dermatologist he needed to get a skin checkup. Surprise, surprise, Mac said, “I think I will go.”  So, I decided to go with him and make my appointment too.

Emily found a suspicious place in my scalp, a place I would never see hidden in my hair! The biopsy was sent to the lab. I’m usually the ultimate optimist and told Mac, “It’s going to be nothing.” 

A week later I got the call saying its basal cell carcinoma and I need to schedule surgery to have it removed. After Dr. Chung removes the cancer, I wait in chair for 45 minutes for the lab to look under a microscope to make sure all the margins are clear.

I’m reading a book and enjoying resting in the chair to hear the verdict. Dr. Chung comes back in and says, “I’m sorry, we have to cut more to get the margins clear.”  So here we go again. This time for another 45-minute wait, I’m not relaxing reading a book.  Instead I’m praying and taking deep breaths.

Dr. Chung comes in again and says, “Good news, we got it all!” I’m taken to another room for the MOHS surgeon, Dr. Archibald to sew me back up. I ask if Mac could come in to be with me.

Mac is sitting in a chair across from me.  I see a troubled look on his face even though he is smiling at me trying to comfort me. He was worried how I would react when I would see myself in the mirror after the doctor shaved part of my hair off to stitch me back up. He didn’t tell me until we were in the car that the hole on the side of my head looks like about 2 inches in diameter.

I was so thankful as it could’ve been worse if I had not gone in for my annual check-up thinking I could self-diagnose. Today may hair is growing back.  The scar has healed and looks amazingly good.

This lesson reminded me of being in recovery. Sometimes we think we can do life alone and self-diagnose while living in denial. We absolutely need mentors, a sponsor and accountability partners as a part of our recovery teams. They help challenge us and support us.

Your recovery team will walk by your side on your life journey. People who will tell you the truth even if it hurts when it’s uncomfortable. People who will listen to your heart. People who will celebrate with you in your victories!

Lessons learned: 

Go to annual check-ups.

Dig in God’s Word daily to know God better.

Check-in with your recovery team weekly to know yourself better.

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.”  Proverbs 1:5 NIV

Before Mac & I were in recovery, I started learning how to play the violin while listening to our daughters at their violin lessons. They starting playing at 3 years old. I began picking out songs to play bluegrass music with my dad. It gave me something positive to do during those difficult pre-recovery years.

Then when Mac & I started working on our recovery, my violin went to the wayside as I had important things to focus on.  It was always in the back in my mind, though, that I would pick my violin back up one day. Those recovery years have flown by!

30 years later, I started taking lessons. Within in a few months I had a car accident and got a double concussion. I wasn’t able to play for 2 years.  I started back playing again January 2019. Then I had a ski accident that February. That put me back down again for a bit.

But I’ve been determined to not stop learning. I know it’s good for the brain to learn new things as we get older. And this has been so much fun for me.

While we were playing music at the Christmas Eve service and hearing the harmony we were creating, I started to get choked up with tears.  My heart was so happy to be a part of this service.

November 30, 2019:  Our daughter, Callie, helped host a Christmas tree cutting event in the Colorado National Forest. Callie asked me to help as they were serving chili, hot chocolate, hot dogs and desserts. She also created a Christmas photo booth.

The road was narrow, snow-packed and icy. As I met a vehicle coming out of the forest, it was difficult for either vehicle to move over. The truck coming towards me slid off into the ditch of deep snow. Then I saw others behind him that got stuck in the ditch as well.

There were 5 vehicles behind me with another one stuck in the ditch. It was a standstill of 5 cars one way and 5 cars the other way.  Men started coming out of their vehicles with shovels to help dig out the stuck vehicles. The situation turned into teamwork.

One hour later, we were all ready to move forward slowly to pass one another. Both first cars facing each other started moving ahead and then all of a sudden stopped. Everybody realized that one lane of cars needed to pull over, the slightest bit, and let the other lane of cars pass by first. There was some negotiation of which lane would get to go first.

Whew, I made it to the tree cutting location. There was a sense of camaraderie high-fiving and woo-hooing, as each vehicle arrived safely.  We confirmed, at the end of the day, nobody would be left behind leaving out of the forest.

Then later that day, our grandson, Gannon, with his Palmer Ridge football teammates, were playing in the semi-finals. The fierce wind made the wind chill feel like 10 degrees. Everybody was wrapped in layers of clothes and blankets. The field was muddy and the players were freezing. The players worked extremely hard pulling together as a team.

All their hard work paid off. Gannon’s team won!!!

And now they are going to the state championship, December 7 in Pueblo!

Teamwork is a vital key to success in any situation!

We love being a part of the National Team for Celebrate Recovery. We get to meet people all over the world who are followers of Jesus Christ.  People who love to share the hope they have in Christ.

A few years ago, Mac and I decided to bring our oldest grandchild to one of the training events. Ever since then, as the other grandkids are getting older, we bring one or two of them to a conference occasionally.

Last week we were in Orlando teaching at a Celebrate Recovery training event. We took two of our grandsons, ages 12 and 10.  Johnny brought his son, 11.  And Marnie brought her daughter, 12. It was so sweet watching them interact together.

My eyes filled with happy tears having them with us to experience the amazing praise & worship we get to be a part of at each conference.  We are planting seeds in our grandchildren’s hearts; the desire to minister to the hurting, to help them find healing. 

They are the next generation of people who will be equipped to deal with life’s hurts, hang-ups and habits. Unlike many of us in our younger days, they will be prepared.

I have always prayed our children, and now grandchildren, won’t have the hurts we’ve had in our past. And they haven’t so far. But since we live in a broken world, they will have some kind of hurt living on this earth.  

I believe there will always be a need for Celebrate Recovery. Everyone is welcome. We say to come as you are.  All you have to do to qualify is to be human and identify that you, too, have a hurt, hang-up or habit. No perfect people allowed.

An added blessing for us: when we take a grandchild with us, after the seminar is over, we find something close by to make a fun memory together! This time we took them to Disneyworld. Our grandsons said it was a trip they will never forget. But the thing that took us back a little was when we asked their favorite memory of the trip, expecting them to say something about Disney, they said being with the other two other kids who came on the trip.

Our grandchildren are starting to get it.  It’s not about the rides. It’s all about relationships and who we take with us on the ride.

October 9, 2019:  Meteorologists predict snow for the mountains.  Mac stacked chopped wood on the deck, winterized the camper, drained all the garden hose bibs, removed the shade cloth over the garden and took the cats to the barn.

Afterwards, we decided to take a hike before the winter blast hit. It’s a beautiful drive towards Cripple Creek on Hwy 67.

We love getting to share the good news of Jesus across the globe for Celebrate Recovery. I have to say, though, the travel part of it isn’t so glamorous as some may think.

This year so far out of 80 flights we’ve had only 4 that weren’t delayed or cancelled. My heart skips a beat when we receive an alert that our flight is delayed or worse, cancelled.  Lost luggage.  Eating on the go.  Grumpy people.  Weather alerts.  News monitors everywhere proclaiming bad news. 

I reminded myself of the verse I had written down recently: “They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.”  (Ps. 112:7 NLT) So what do you do? You can worry, get angry or pray and praise God. I choose the latter.

Then here we go again: Yesterday, 2 delays in Dallas. We finally made it home last night. I opened my suitcase. Everything was wet. I had packed a brand new large bottle of shampoo. I didn’t take the time while packing to pour some in a small bottle. In the high altitude, the top popped open!

I always take my own comfy pillow with me. It was soaked through. So I put the pillow in the washing machine along with the wet clothes. As I was wiping my suitcase down with multiple washcloths, I heard a loud banging.

Sounded like the washing machine was going to bust through the wall! Mac & I both ran to the laundry room. The washing machine was sideways from the imbalance in the washer.

We had just done a talk on Anger at the CR training event the day before. Both of us looked at each other and wanted to blame each other for something!  Blame stands for Be Lame. Instead, we admitted we both were tired. We needed to keep our mouths shut and go to bed. Tomorrow would be a new day.

I woke up this morning with a grateful, rested heart after a good night’s sleep. We are so blessed in what we get to do through Celebrate Recovery.

We got to share with 500+ people in South Carolina last weekend hearing story after story of changed lives. We wouldn’t know any of those people if God didn’t bring CR to our family. We wouldn’t know the Bakers, the National Team, State Reps, Broken Chains members or church leaders from all different denominations if not for God’s plan in each of our lives.

We don’t have to travel by ship or walk on a dusty road like our forever family did in Bible times. We also have technology to talk face to face, even though we live thousands of miles apart when we need to plan future events. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

I have to close with a funny memory while thinking about my drenched suitcase…at least my suitcase smelled good. 

Once we were traveling to Canada for CR. We told a friend, Marnie, how liquid smoke was good to splash on food on the grill. She had never heard of it. I wanted to surprise Marnie by bringing her 2 bottles to Canada.

My suitcase was jam-packed. So I told Mac I was putting the liquid smoke in his suitcase.  I didn’t think to put it in a Ziploc bag, oops!

When we were unpacking our suitcases at the Canadian hotel, you know the rest of the story, right?!! Mac’s suitcase, all the contents in it and our hotel room, smelled like a barbecue pit! We laughed all weekend calling Mac, “Smokey.”

Lesson learned: order liquid smoke through Amazon to send to a friend or use a Ziploc bag. Also, no matter what happens while traveling, we want to smell sweet to God and one another.
“Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God.” (Ephesians 5:2 CEB)