Delaware Grammy

Matt’s family has set up a web log through Caring Bridges to post information:

This is the link: 

www.caringbridge.org/visit/matthewwolfer

You may need to set up a visitor’s account, but that is free and relatively simple.  Once you are on the site, there is a link that says “Read Journal”  You will want to click on that to read all that has been posted.  Plus there is a guest book where you can leave messages for the family.

And my thanks to Carlene Swartzentruber for alerting me to this website!

News From Raph!!!

Hey —

We just got back from vacation. It was wonderful. We stayed in a pretty nice resort ate good food and just had a great time. .

We saw some wild rhinos and we got to swim with the elephants. we rode them down to the river and went swimming with them. it was one of the best things about the vacation.

And one morning 3 of us guys rented motorcycles and drove around Chitwon for a gouple of hours. that was also one of the highlights. But seeing wild rhinos ranks way up there

We were supposed to go to Hetauda after vacation but due to roiting and unrest we are back in Kathmandu. we might be here for ten days or we might never get to Hetauda. We don’t really know what is going to happen. So yeah thats what’s going on.

Tell everyone hi and that i’m doing good.. Talk to ya later.

This just came in on our “Yutzy Family Network” From Matt’s Dad,  Terry.

We deeply appreciate the outpouring of prayers, concern, and support for Matthew. We’re so grateful for your love for him and for us.

As a result of the car accident on Friday morning, Matthew suffered multiple skull fractures, a broken jaw, broken sternum and fractured ribs, and a chipped pelvis. The accident severely bruised his brain and lungs. He is currently sedated and on a ventilator to assist his breathing.

One day after the accident, his condition was “critical but stable.” Doctors and nurses report that his first night and second day were “uneventful,” what his trauma doctor said was “the best we could hope for at this point.” Today, he remains in basically the same condition but with an elevated fever.

It’s difficult for doctors to gauge Matthew’s responsiveness because of the sedation so they periodically reduce it. At those times, although he’s not yet responding to commands, he exhibits “purposeful movement” of the head and all four extremities. We’re very grateful for that.

Although we are more than three hours from home, some of our closest friends live nearby. One family met us at the emergency room parking lot, parked our car, stayed with us each day, and provided a place for us to sleep. They are the Ulmers, homeschool friends who lived one mile from us for 10 years before moving to NC last year. We’re planning that David will resume school work at their home tomorrow. Another family we know from Nebraska, the Peacheys, stayed with us the first night and also offered us the use of their home. That seems like a God thing.

If everything goes well, Matthew will likely have a lengthy convalescence. We’ll try to send info periodically. Please continue to pray for him, and especially for his lung and brain trauma.

Terry (for Gina)

Matt Wolfer

Many of you are aware of the accident that Matt Wolfer had yesterday.  Daniel is a first cousin of Matt’s mother, Gina Yutzy-Wolfer, and he has talked to her twice since the accident — and one of those times was this afternoon.

At this point, the best thing we can do for Matt is pray.  He is very battered.  He has much damage to his facial bones, there are skull fractures, and the rest of his body is quite broken as well.  There are broken ribs, a broken sternum and a broken pelvis.  There are several things that are of most urgent concern.  The first is that, though there was no puncture to his lungs, there are multiple lung contusions, and the danger of pneumonia is quite real.  Also, as the swelling increases, and there is great concern about his brain and the injuries there.

Last night, when they decreased his sedation, there was some response, but Gina said that it was very minimal and there has been nothing since.  She said that they will be taking him out of sedation periodically to evaluate his responses.  The doctors told her that the next three to five days are critical.

Terry and Gina have friends who live only thirty minutes away from the hospital and they have graciously offered a place for them to be.  Their younger son, David is with them. 

Please pray for this family.  What actually happened to cause the wreck is uncertain.  It was a single car accident, and it appears that Matt drifted off the roadway into some trees.   He was on his way to Rosedale Bible College and was about 3 hours from home when the accident happened.

She would have liked it.  The service she so carefully planned.  We all did our best, and I could almost see her peering over the edge of Glory saying, “You’d better get it RIGHT!”  (We tried, Dear Friend, we tried!)

I have been trying to remember how it was that we became friends.  There were so many years of laughter and suppers out and confidences shared and good, good times. 

 I remember one time while Certain Man was still a self employed plumber that we girls, Ethel and I, decided to go out for lunch together.  This was something we never did without our husbands, but we felt like doing something different for a change, so we made our plans and were amused at our husbands’ exaggeratedly aggrieved airs.  They made some mention of having a secret of their own, but these fellows often made such statements that were intended to arouse curiosity.  We settled ourselves comfortably in the restaurant of our choice on this particular day, and had just gotten our salads, when who should come down the aisle but our two men.  We were both surprised, but even more astonished when they continued past our table, on around the restaurant to a table on the other side.  (The had gotten the hostess to take them on this deliberate parade around the restaurant)   There they ate their lunch with the highest, mightiest air imaginable.  We thought maybe they came to be nice to us (NOPE!)  or to pay our lunch for us.  (They didn’t.)  We thought maybe they wanted us to come join them.  (Negatory!)  Something!!! We could hardly believe that they were miffed about us going out without them.  (They were!)  We secretly thought it was pretty funny, but I suppose you could say the guys won that one.  We never did that again.

The road was not all easy.  We didn’t always understand each other, and sometimes, understanding,  chose different ways of responding.  I am so thankful for these last few years when we could reconnect, forgive each other, learn to extend grace to each other, and there, found a friendship that was was rich and full and rewarding.

Ah, my Ethel Friend.  You were a friend that sharpened me as iron sharpens iron.  You made me think, you made me go back again and again to God’s Holy Word to see just what it REALLY said.  You were full of courage, you didn’t ever consider anything more important than TRUTH, and you were never afraid of confrontation.  I can truly say that I do not remember a time when you were cowed by what people thought.

You were strong.  You were consistent.  You were beautiful.  You loved JR and John and Brian and Evanna and Brianna and Briar with a love that sought their good, knew them intrinsically, and in the harsh, heartbreaking knowledge of your soon homegoing,  equipped them for life without you, and made incredible memories.

Today, surrounded by so many people whom you loved and who loved you, I find my heart so numb.  The busy-ness of these last few days was easier for me than the waiting of the last few weeks.  There was finally something to DO besides wait.  But in that busy-ness, I feel a numbness, a sense of the surreal.  Right now, I am so thankful that you are done with this old world and its heartache and pain and suffering and disappointment and grief and loss.  But there will be a time — No, there will be many times when I will look for that smile, when I will listen for that inimitable voice that so often said, “Yes, but, Mary Ann——-!!!!”  and I will miss the friendship of a gal whose very difference from me gave me reason to love her.

I’ll see you in The Morning!

 . . . And so, she’s finally HOME!

Ethel, my comrade, friend, buddy and pal —

How very much I shall miss you!

www.xanga.com/Organic_Survivor

Route 36 is really slick!  You all be careful!!!!

This is what just happened in our front yard.

(Nobody is hurt.  Thank God!)

(And it isn’t our vehicle.  Thank God!)

(But I feel really sorry for the nice young man who was driving this pickup — he was on his way to work, and a patch of black ice surprised him.)

Our Family had a wedding!!!!

Joni Alene Slaubaugh married Daniel Geissinger
(Honestly, Joni!  What kind of name is that?!?!?!)

The day was cold, but that didn’t dampen any of the spirits, for sure!

Dan’s Grandpa, Adam Espenshade, brought the message, and Joni’s pastor, John David Swartzentruber perfomed the ceremony.

Mr. and Mrs. Dan Geissinger

The cake was cut and sweetly fed . . .

In a most tastefully decorated “Barn.”

Dan is a train enthusiast, and so the decorations were centered around that theme

Around the centerpieces were small trains, and these little wooden train whistles. 
(Since there were no glasses to tap, the whistles served as the irritating call for a kiss!)

Some of these pictures were taken by Ashley Copenhaver.  Some were my own,  (and I honestly do not know whose were who at this point.  If it is a good picture, it was Ashley’s.  Otherwise, blame me.)

Here are a few family pictures.  I seem to have missed out on the ones I really wanted — of Sarah and Bert’s family.  So these will have to do.

The Bride’s Sister with her Mom and Dad.  Joni’s brother Joe with his gal, Tasha

Little sister, Edie has a pensive moment, while Joni poses with her brothers.

I don’t know what was so funnny, but I love this picture of my Mom with Joni and Dan.

Faces in the Crowd

“If I can survive this, I’m quite sure, I can survive anything!!!”

Yippee!!!!

Some pictures from Raph’s Trek!

He said he would send some and he did!!!

(Well, two, that is . . .)

(But he didn’t give me any explanations, so you all will just have to enjoy the scenery and imagine where they are and what they are doing.).

   God Will Take Care of You

  1
  Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
  God will take care of you;
  beneath his wings of love abide,
  God will take care of you.

  Refrain
  God will take care of you,
  through every day, o’er all the way;
  he will take care of you,
  God will take care of you.

  2
  Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
  God will take care of you;
  when dangers fierce your path assail,
  God will take care of you.

  3
  All you may need he will provide,
  God will take care of you;
  nothing you ask will be denied,
  God will take care of you.

  4
  No matter what may be the test,
  God will take care of you;
  lean, weary one, upon his breast,
  God will take care of you.

Civilla D. Martin 1904

Last night, our family enjoyed a long, long call from Eldest Son.  He is really doing fine, and even though he is somewhat homesick, and even though it seems like a long time until he can come home, yet he says, “I know that this is an experience I will look back on and always be thankful that I did it.  I know this where I am supposed to be.” 

This morning, Gokum’s husband led the above song during our church’s worship time, and I thought about how I can trust an eternal, all wise, loving Heavenly Father with this son that I miss so much.  “Through days of toil, when heart doth fail, God will take care f you.  When dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you!”

And then, in Sunday School, my friend, Thisisloretta, brought the most incredibly encouraging “show and tell” in the form of a little ty “prayer bear” whose name was “Hope.”  Her grandson had given it to her for Christmas, and the story behind the bear, and the story of Loretta’s journey gave me renewed vision as Loretta reminded us again that our only real hope lies in prayer.

It’s been a bit of a tough week.  There has not been a single time when I felt caught up, and even though life goes on in situations like this, it isn’t very comfortable for me.  And then, at the wedding the other day, things were going along quite well, and then, suddenly, there was this big picture of Daddy and Mama and Joni — lifesize on the screen, and I was overwhelmed with this deep, deep longing to just talk to Daddy again.  It just seems like it has been SO LONG!

I’ve had such a sense lately of the reality of him being alive somewhere.  Those streets of gold?  He’s THERE!  The Crystal Sea?  He’s sat beside it.  That City Foursquare?  It’s no mystery to him anymore.  The Face of Jesus?  Ah, he’s looked into those eyes of love and heard the words, “Well done!” and known the joy of being HOME and being FREE.  For so many long months, he just felt so gone.  And now the grief is different some how.  The memories are softer, more comforting, and though I find myself missing him suddenly, and unexpectedly, that terrible dull ache is not so ever-present.  And I really can think of him in specifics when I read what is written to us about Heaven in God’s Holy Word.  It is a welcome gift.

Tonight, thinking of this old world, and the things that I cannot change, I find myself with the tears streaming down my face, dripping off my chin.  I do miss my dad.  I miss my sons.  And I feel so sad for my friend Organic_Survivor and her family.  If any of you reading here haven’t been keeping up, please check in at www.xanga.com/MaryKay_girl and whisper a prayer for all of them keeping careful watch there these long, long hard days. 

 JR, you and your family are never far from our hearts and from our minds and from our prayers.

“No matter what may be the test . . . “

Lord Jesus, may we be found faithful!