Two weekends ago, Steve mentioned that he wanted to attend a memorial service in Colorado the following weekend, and John then suggested we go early and celebrate our anniversary. After praying about it overnight, plans were quickly put in place to make it happen. The Lord graciously provided Steve and me three nights and two days in a cabin in Colorado outside Buena Vista. What a delightful gift.
We greatly enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation in the mountains with beautiful views right from the cabin. One day we drove to the Continental Divide to see the mountains from there. The other day we simply relaxed at the cabin. There were quite the thunderstorms each afternoon or evening, but we had no hiking plans so we could simply watching the storm from the shelter of the cabin.
The residential area where the cabin was located included many large, multi-acre lots. The roads there provided us a great place for our morning walks, in safety away from the highway.
We are grateful to the Lord for His provision and took this as an opportunity to celebrate our 42 years of marriage coming up in August.
Trusting in Jesus, Teri
“Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.” (Psalm 57:5)
Hmmm. I can’t remember the last time I updated you on Anna Marie, so it’s time to do so. You’ll hear from her following my note. As you’ll read Anna Marie’s comment on baby names, the funny part is Joshua told us a name recently that wasn’t even on their top baby name list. I especially am excited about the girl name they’ve picked out, but sorry, y’all, we’ll have to keep you in suspense as it’s not public! Well, I should say it was their top pick two weeks ago, so you never know if it’s changed. I love to see Christopher and Anna Marie’s thought and prayer that goes into their baby’s name!
Love, Sarah
It is amazing to think how quickly this pregnancy has progressed, with an active little baby growing and already being incorporated into family life. His/her siblings already enjoy feeling the baby move, as well as talking and singing to “New Baby” on a regular basis. It is sweet to see each of their personalities and responses to the baby. We are still prayerfully considering names and as we mention different ideas to the children, it is fun to hear Joshua’s analytical mind at work as he will state, “Then we would have Joshua, Ruthanne, Lydia, and ____.” As our resident little mommy, Ruthanne is especially excited about the baby and frequently talks about ways she would like to help care for him/her. Ruthanne can’t understand why we would just leave the baby in Mommy’s tummy instead of taking it out to begin playing play with it. 🙂 Lydia is now officially a toddler as she toddles all over the house trying to keep up with everything and everybody, and is becoming proficient at saying “bay-bee” and caring for dollies with Ruthanne! The cousins frequently ask how the baby and I are doing. Abigail and Bethany recently came over for a couple of afternoons to help me organize little boy and girl clothes in the baby room, all ready for use! We are all looking forward to welcoming our new little family member in about a month, Lord willing!
I wanted to thank you all for your prayers for my varicose veins too, and let you know they have been somewhat better this pregnancy than they were on my last one. Though it goes contrary to what we would think (yet our midwife commonly sees this) , the pain actually begins to decrease around the 32-34 week point, so they are beginning to feel better at this point. We are grateful to the Lord and thankful for your prayers!
Rejoicing in Jesus, ~Anna Marie
“The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.” Psalm 128:5
In just 24 hours’ time, Dad and Mom decided to take a trip to Colorado this week. The trip idea originally started out with attending a memorial service and supporting friends of ours. Then, someone in the family suggested they spend a few extra days and celebrate their anniversary. The Lord opened up doors for them to spend time at a cabin in the mountains before going to the service. You all know how we love Colorado! So, they drove out yesterday and will enjoy some rest, extra time with each other, and God’s Creation.
Love, Sarah
Leaving!
Now enjoying the mountains.
“Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.” Psalm 36:6
Steve Maxwell, husband to Teri for 40+ years, dad to 8 children, and grandpa to a growing number
Happy Father’s Day to our incredible dad. We are so grateful for you, your love for Jesus, your love for us, and your desire to bless dads across this country. The Apostle Paul well states: “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you.” That’s you!
As an interesting twist to this Father’s Day, I (Sarah) asked each of my brothers and sisters to share a memory about dad: either from their childhood or young adult years. Here goes!
Eight Memories from Eight Maxwells:
Nathan: I remember a wonderful cross-country road-trip with Dad—Washington to Kansas, Christopher, Dad and I. The cab of the Ryder truck (a rental company like U-Haul but didn’t break down as often) was never orderly (probably more of a Chris deal than me :)), there were suction cup darts stuck to the windshield (when they weren’t falling off and getting sent flying back up again), and I probably asked when the next stop was way too often—but it was a great trip with Dad, and I’m grateful he took us along. Love you, Dad.
Christopher: I remember a winter when Dad and I would go for early morning jogs together. It was dark and cold out, and the only vehicle that would be out and about would be a delivery van throwing newspapers to houses. I had a great time jogging with my Dad and am so glad we had that time together.
Sarah: When Dad worked in Kansas City, he would send us faxes sometimes over his lunch break (that was 20+ years ago, folks). One day I sent him a card at work, and I felt so special when I received my very own fax back (see the picture at the bottom of the post: I found it when working on this!). I also loved when he wrote us notes and left them out for us before going to work. Little acts mean so much to children!
Joseph: One of my most appreciated memories of Dad was our weekly meeting times. On Sunday, he would rotate through chatting with us. It was a heart-to-heart time of discussing problems that we were struggling with as well as him encouraging us in the ways of the LORD. That was such a blessing and something I will never forget.
John: Dad would often do projects, when I was growing up. I am grateful that he would include us on them and let us help. I have great memories of spending many Saturday’s working together.
Anna: Even the small things make impressions on us when we’re young. I remember one special outing with Dad when I was young. We were going to pick up books or something in Kansas City and as we were going down the road I remember discussing what some of the buildings were. Then Dad said he wanted to show me something special. He pulled into a parking lot for a tall hotel. We walked in together, and I remember as a little girl standing there awe struck. I had never been in a hotel with such a huge atrium with flowers and fountains everywhere and a fancy restaurant in the middle! I felt so special and loved that Dad had wanted to show me this pretty hotel. We walked around just a little as I soaked it all in, and then it was time to go. That memory is still imprinted on my mind. It wasn’t just seeing a nice hotel but the fact that Dad had thought of something special just to show me.
Jesse: I have fond memories of grocery shopping every week with Dad. We went in the evening and Dad would load all of us in the van, and we would all try to help where possible. Whether we actually were helpful or not, I don’t know, but I do know we had a great time!
Mary: One of my fondest memories of Dad was when I was just starting to think about sin, Jesus, heaven, hell, and death. I was only 5 at the time, which is quite young to understand the concept of Jesus dying on the cross for your sins. I would ask Dad questions about getting saved. He knew I was young and wanted to make sure I fully understood the ramifications. So he would put me in his lap, and we talked about Jesus and what He did for me. Finally one night, I ran to him, begging that I could ask Jesus into my heart that night. He brought me to the living room where we both knelt down (the family joined us too), and Dad helped me pray, and I placed my faith in Jesus Christ. I’m amazed at how much he invests in us!
Dad’s fax to Sarah 21 years ago!
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” 1 Timothy 5:17
Guess who just celebrated her birthday? This brown-eyed little girl: Christina! As we look back on the day she was born, wow, what drama and uncertainty surrounded it. How thankful we were for the doctor’s quick decision to perform a c-section. Tina is full of spunk, witty comments, thoughtful kindnesses, and love for others.
Tina had Grandpa and Grandma over for a picnic lunch on her birthday. They did it inside due to our heat wave here in Kansas. Her sisters had decorated the house, too. I think birthdays are such special days!
Aunt Anna and Aunt Mary made these special cookies for Tina.
“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.” Psalm 92:1
Thank you to everyone who prayed for me after the wreck. The Lord blessed, and as far as I know, nobody sustained any serious injuries. I have the best chiropractor in Kansas City, and he got my back fixed up. The car that I was spun into, had two little kids in it. They walked away from the wreck—which was a miracle.
After a few weeks of looking, the Lord provided a new truck. I loved my old truck and was not ready to get a new one. However, I found a great deal on a 2014 F150 and flew to Texas to pick it up. It is almost identical to my old one, which is all I was looking for. It is just newer, with less miles, and a few upgrades.
The takeaway for everyone is. Pay attention at stop signs. If the driver of the first vehicle had stopped and looked, none of this would have happened. The second takeaway is, make sure you have good insurance.
John
“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” Psalm 91:14
The Maxwell family and ministry blog of Titus2.com.
Two weekends ago, Steve mentioned that he wanted to attend a memorial service in Colorado the following weekend, and John then suggested we go early and celebrate our anniversary. After praying about it overnight, plans were quickly put in place to make it happen. The Lord graciously provided Steve and me three nights and two days in a cabin in Colorado outside Buena Vista. What a delightful gift.
