The following is a story of pictures to give
you a snapshot into our lives during this time. Marlene chronicled this journey
that I have copied for you here.
“Toward the end of July, I realized we would
be busy and traveling a lot and I thought, “I’ll just wait till the end of
August to chronicle what we do”. I could not have imagined all that it would
include. This post is a little long, but if you’re interested, read on. There
are highs and lows in it. I’m just truly grateful that God walks with me
wherever I am.”
July 26 - 27
We started in Wichita, KS with a visit with
one of our retired missionaries, Nina Kunkle who was recovering from a leg injury. Such a
special lady. She’s working really hard in recovery. The following pics with
comments will take you through most of the rest of our time
We visited with one of our longtime supporters, Delores who loves to sing
while Ned plays.
Precious lady and faithful prayer warrior.
July 28 - We were able to connect with some
As we drove on through Kansas, we realized we
would be driving through the town our friends
Angie and Dr. Arlo Reimer had moved to, so we
dropped in to where we knew Angie worked
and surprised her then went to their home to
see Arlo and
Daniel
On to South Dakota…yes this was our first rodeo!
The Black Hills are so beautiful and
interesting!
An abandoned mine (Fillmore Mine) that had been
Exploring with
Jo – a champion of our ministry since Ned worked with her at the hospital in
Jackson, Michigan before we went out to serve in Ecuador. One of the great
highlights of our time there was to hold an impromptu worship service at Jo’s B
& B in Deadwood, SD. On Sunday morning 10 persons join with us as we shared
a reflection on the story of Jesus calming the storm. We all related to the
storms in this life and how God is with us through those difficult times.
Beautiful
landscape overlooking the Black Hills of SD.
We came home then headed East and stopped to visit
WGM retired missionaries and friends, Jim and
Alice Vanderhoof Waverly, New York. So great
catching up from the times we shared in Kenya and
beyond!
Many of you know that my “little” brother, Gary Post had a stroke in
May and is still in recovery mode. I desperately wanted to see him
and his wife Cindy in person. Having lost our brother, Donnie, to a
stroke, two weeks after Gary’s stroke, reminds us that time together
is priceless.
You can’t go to the triple cities area without getting at least one Speidi
sandwich.
On August 10th we celebrated 36 years of life
together
We we’re actually both, sick on our anniversary so we made our own yummy dinner!
Then we were off to Arkansas for ministry.
We then had the privilege of attending the celebration
of life service of one of our sweet missionaries’
daddy in Little Rock, AR. The grandchildren were so
precious as
they shared scripture.
We also climbed
this tower…it’s wayyy taller than it looks
After a few days home, we flew with Ned’s 96 1/2-
year-old mom Marguerite and his aunt Donna to
Massachusetts. (I only slipped my mask down to tell
them to smile)
Our nephew Christopher McGrady married the
beautiful Miss Kate in a gorgeous garden wedding.
Ned and I and his brother Jack and his wife Naomi went exploring in New
We walked a lot that day so we needed to get
reenergized! Glad you can’t see what we had!
A quick visit to Mansfield, Ohio found us playing dress up …I was Anna, of
course!
Our Beautiful
kindergartner, Rowen
Sweet Elliot
loves to be pushed high!!
We then received word that my mom’s sister Aunt Carol had
passed away from complications of Covid so we made a quick trip to FL for her
celebration of life service on Sept. 1. She was an integral part of my life and
she and Uncle Bill have supported us since day one. On our way back home from
FL we received word that my Uncle Richard
(mom’s brother) passed away this week in NY. In addition, we have two family
members hospitalized with Covid. As we were connecting flights in Charlotte to
come home, Ned had a voice mail notifying us that his 22-year-old great-niece had suddenly passed away. We came
home, repacked and headed to Ohio to be with family. Her service will be next
Sunday, Sept. 12 in Southern Ohio and Ned is officiating. She was such a sweet
girl. Our hearts are broken.
We gathered just the other night before coming back home with some of the
family! Ned’s mom is pictured here with our daughter Jessica. Seeing
family, our daughter Jessica, her husband Zac and of course their sweet
babies, did our
hearts so much good.
Making faces
with Ama!
We conclude this chronicle with thanks and appreciation for each of you and your prayers for us as we continue in this work and ministry. We know that in these times we need each other and we remember to pray one for another.
May Jesus be close to you as we abide in His unfailing love,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
