The Villa

Schowalter Villa is where we live. The Villa is a retirement center here in Hesston that began way back in 1961. We live in one of the original living units, a duplex in a string of three connected by a common roof. We think our location is one of the best in the whole campus.

My parents moved here in 1969, only eight years after it began. Since then many new living units and other associated buildings have been constructed and put into use. There are now 166 independent living units that include duplexes, fourplexes, sixplexes, and several individual houses. Eight more units are scheduled for construction in the near future, and a whole new area is in the drawing table stage. In addition and located in the central building are 40 assisted living units, room for 49 residents, 106 Health Center beds, including a 12-bed Memory Care and 19-bed Personal Care. There are also 50 independent living apartments in the Hickory Homes area, a HUD subsidized housing arrangement with rent based on one's income.

In addition, two significant buildings have been added. One is the Wellness Center located in the Lake Vista area which has living units for up to 78 persons, a public restaurant, state of the art exercise room, swimming pool with spa, indoor walking path, woodworking shop, craft room, and community room with five pool tables. All these facilities are available for residents of the Villa without additional charge.

The other addition is a building that houses the Hesston Intergenerational Child Development Center (HICDC). This facility is directly connected to the Villa's central building by a Main Street that includes a craft store, branch bank and ice cream stand. There are activities planned by both HICDC and the Villa for interaction between the children and the Villa residents. There are about 100 children now enrolled in HICDC so there are many opportunities for the residents to observe the children at play as well as interact with them in some way.

By living here we have opportunity to engage in many different activities, like pursuing a hobby in the woodworking shops for me, working at HICDC for Clara, attending the many activities conducted by Villa personnel, or the special programs in the Villa chapel. We both volunteer for some things such as serving on the library committee (Clara) and conducting morning devotions in the dining room a couple of times a month (Wayne). We have developed many new friends here and enjoy interacting with the residents living in the central building.

That's where we live. We feel secure here knowing that we have a place to live for the rest of our lives where we can receive the care we need at any level, and where we can share our lives with others in meaningful ways.

Pilgrim on the way

Rainy Days

This picture was taken at our son, Gordon's, house in Brunswick, OH a few years ago. I don't remember the exact reason we stood in the rain for this picture, except that Gordon wanted a picture of us on his deck and it was raining, so we just used the umbrella and took the picture anyway.

Sometimes we think our children are sort of, well, silly at times. I guess that's because they all have a sense of humor that spills over into some "silly" actions. I think that's good, and I like their silliness, most of the time. Being able to laugh, or even smile, when its a "rainy day" helps to lift one's spirit.

We are smiling, not singing, in this picture, but I am reminded of the song, "Singing in the Rain" when I see this pic. Being able to smile, laugh, or sing when things aren't going exactly as we would like is always good, but hard at times.

Sometimes it takes playing a favorite CD, listening to uplifting music on the radio, or even just the smile of a friend to lift our spirit. Sometimes a friend drops by, like happened to me this morning, just at the right time to help us forget the "rainy day" we may be having. Anyway, its not much fun to go on about a rainy day and not make an effort at least to see the sun shining through the clouds.

Its not raining here this morning so I don't know for sure what triggered these thoughts, except perhaps my day was starting out a bit "rainy." It is good to have friends who stop by with a bit of "sunshine" and to be able to go about the day with a brighter view of things. I'll carry my umbrella today too to keep the raindrops from falling on my head. Will you carry yours?

Pilgrim on the way

Books, reading, etc.

I am not much of a reader anymore. There was a time when I was active in ministry that I would read about a book a week. Most of those books were theological, or related to my pastoral ministry in some way. I developed much of my theological bias, as it were, from reading a lot of those books. Of course I read and studied the Bible a lot, which was foundational to my belief system.

Of late I have read very few books from beginning to end. I have dabbled around in some, but have become quite picky in what I choose to read totally. My book reading is something I do in relation to something else usually, like Sunday School class studies, speakers I hear, or someone I read about that sounds like they have more to say that I want to hear.

One illustration of the above is the book, Road Signs for the Journey, by Conrad L. Kanagy. Our S.S. class did a study of this book recently led by David Greiser, a teacher here at Hesston College. It gives statistics and commentary on a profile of Mennonite Church USA which was done last year. Some of the information reported was eyeopening and challenging. Our denomination is changing, in some areas quite rapidly, and it is important that we are aware of that and try to help make the changes positive rather than negative.

Another book I am currently reading is, The Myth of a Christian Nation, by Greg Boyd. We first saw and heard Greg Boyd when he was interviewed on CNN's recent special broadcast, God's Warriors. Boyd spoke briefly there about Christianity as one of the "warriors" seeking for control in our world, the other "warriors" were Judiasm and Islam. Boyd also spoke in our church about three weeks ago following a weekend conference here at Hesston College. His blog following that weekend was titled, It Turns Out I'm A Mennonite. Interesting. Anyway, I am finding much to like about this book and the approach he takes writing in layman's language what the Christian faith is all about.

In addition to reading a book now and then I like to keep up with our Mennonite periodicals. We have access at the Villa to current issues of The Mennonite and Mennonite Weekly Review. I also have these websites bookmarked on my browser. These papers and magazines help keep me informed about many things, such as theological trends, happenings at our church colleges, and family things such as births, marriages, and deaths. It's surprising how many names I see in these publications that I recognize from one place or another where we have lived or visited.

All of this to say that while I do not read a great deal, I still do enough reading of one kind or another to keep myself informed of happenings, events and trends in the church around the country, and the world. I would not like to be without these important channels of information.

I guess in a day and age when there's so much information out there, coming at us in all kinds of ways reading still has a place in our world. At least it does in mine.

Pilgrim on the way

jujubes

Friday, November 23, 2007

Never heard of jujubes? Try Chinese dates. Some folks from China or India call they jujubes, some call them Chinese dates. So take your pick.

Anyway, we have a tree of jujubes in our front yard that has produced proficiently again this year. These dates are smaller than the dates one would buy in the store, but in the ripened stage they taste very much like them. We begin eating them just as they start to turn from green to brown. At this time their texture and taste is very much like an apple. As they ripen and become darker the flavor changes, as does the amount of fruit as they begin to wrinkle up and become smaller in size. The seed inside seems larger in proportion than the common dates we normally use.

Since we had the leaning top limb trimmed off, our tree is probably about 15 feet tall or so. With a small ladder we can pick the "dates" fairly high but there are always quite a few left for the winter weather to take care of.

Last year we learned from someone here how to prepare candied dates. We made a large batch last year and have already done two batches this year. While we enjoy them as they come off the tree, we especially enjoy them candied. A by-product of this process is a honey like syrup which we like to use on our morning serving of hot cereal. We also just put the dates into the cereal, remembering when we eat them to pick out the seeds.

Another thing we enjoy about this tree and its fruit is the opportunities it brings to talk to people who stop by, and to give them away to interested persons. Some people really like them, and others eat one or two and make no effort to get more. These dates keep so well that we had some left over from last year in our frig when the new ones were ready to eat. We are well stocked again this year, but I doubt any will last through the winter.

So now you know what jujubes are! - if you've read this far that is. In case you would like to read more about this interesting, and delightful, fruit, you copy and paste this website - http://www.tytyga.com/category/Jujube+Trees?gclid=CMXPrPyI848CFSgKIgodyWf7FA

Pilgrim on the way

Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Yes, it is Thanksgiving day. It is a beautiful, but cold, day here in Kansas. Our thermometer read 20 degrees this morning. Frost was everywhere. And those flowers out front and in back that survived earlier cold snaps finally met their waterloo.

What to be thankful for today? I noticed a poll on CNN.com giving three choices of what would be most enjoyed today - family, food, or TV. I voted for family, even though Clara and I will spend our day by ourselves today. Family got 50%, food about 40%, with TV coming in way behind. That's good.

Not all would vote for family knowing that their family get-together might not be a pleasant one, or perhaps because they have no family with which to gather. I think our children are all gathering with their respective families today. We plan to be with extended family on Saturday - the time when all those invited could be there, I assume.

My devotional reading this morning was from Psalm 145. It made me aware again that my basic sense of thanksgiving is for Who God is, and for what He has given us - this good earth and His eternal Kingdom. I quote several verses from this Psalm for your thought and meditation:

"I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts." (vs.1-4)

"They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
so that all "people" may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. (vs 11-13a).

"My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord,
Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever." (v.21).

These words lifted my spirit and gave me just cause to truly thank the Lord for His goodness, His love, and His mercy which He so generously has given to us.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Pilgrim on the way.

Hobbies

Hobbies are important activities that help us get our minds off of the stress of life. They also help those of us who are retired, so to speak, from stressful activities, to occupy our time with useful activities that can benefit ourselves and/or others.

Hobbies can take various forms and shapes. For some their hobbies require a significant amount of energy expenditure and even athletic ability. For others, hobbies are mostly sit down type of activities not needing much in the way of strength or agility. Some may require both of the above.

My favorite hobby is woodworking, as I state in my profile. Successfully working with wood requires both some training and experience as well as a degree of proficiency. Woodworking also has a bye product in that besides using one's abilities and creativity, it often results in some finished products that can either be sold, donated, or used in one's home.

Hobbies can give one a purpose for getting up in the morning when there's little else to provide that stimulation. They can also give a person a sense of self worth when things are created that are not only beautiful but useful to someone.

I work on my hobby almost every day when my health allows for it. I find my hobby very gratifying and useful in and around our home and sometimes in sharing with others through the annual sale here at the Villa or the annual Mennonite Relief sale.

There is also a secondary hobby which occupies some time for me for six months during the spring and summer. I have been a Chicago Cubs fan since 1945 when the Cubbies were in the world series against the Detroit Tigers. They lost that series to Detroit, and the last time they won a world series was in 1908. The 100th anniversary of that win is coming up next year, so that's the time for the Cubbies to win a world championship again.

I call watching the Cubs a hobby because I watch most of the games they play throughout the season. This hobby requires a satellite dish and a special sports package in order to get the games I want to watch. I guess I'm what some would call a dyed-in-the-wool Cubs fan, because win or lose, I'm still a fan. That's unlike many who are fans only when their team wins.

Well, that's part of what my journey is about. If you don't have a hobby, it would be good to get one!

Pilgrim on the way.

Getting Started

Saturday, November 17, 2007

This blog is about a journey, one that began way back in 1931 in Harper, Kansas. It is a journey that has eclipsed many miles and many years. The journey has taken me to Arthur, IL, Goshen, IN, Chicago, IL, East Peoria, IL, Orrville, OH, New York City, NY, back to Arthur, IL, and now to Hesston, KS.

The road to and from these various places around the country has been mostly smooth, but there were also bumps and rough places that came. This road also has had curves and hills, speed zones, busy roads, and lonesome roads.

Along the way I found a traveler to accompany me on my journey. This woman has accompanied me now for 53 plus years. We together have experienced many good, wonderful times, as well as those times which challenged us in many ways. As the years have taken us over this journey together, we have grown closer and learned to depend more and more on each other. It is a very good time for us now and while we share our lives differently now than early on, we both feel blest to have one another on our journey.

I have another fellow traveler Who is with me always. His name is Jesus. While He was always present in my home, He didn't come into my life in a meaningful way until I opened the door in about 1952 or so. Since that time I have attempted to walk the Jesus way, but have to confess that sometimes I wondered off the track. In these later years Jesus has come to mean more to me than ever before, and walking in His way is the most important goal I have for each day.

This should get this blog started. I hope to make additions on a regular basis, but probably not every day. I invite you to read and share your comments as we go along. May God's peace be with you.

Pilgrim on the way.