From the Desk of Kayleen Reusser

Monday, May 12, 2008

My dad's birthday

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." Rom. 1:16-17



Today was my dad’s birthday. He’s been gone a couple of years from complications due to surgery and we miss him greatly.

At this time of graduation, it brings back some regrets at his passing. I so wish he could have seen my kids graduate from college and my youngest from high school. He would be so proud of them. He loved them and all of us in the family unconditionally. I always knew I could go to my dad with any problem and he would listen and try to help.

I tried not to take advantage of that as I got older, but it was tempting to look to someone for help who always wanted to fix my problems.

Dad loved people so much. Whenever I see a certain guy at church, I think of how Dad counseled him and offered friendship when the guy had legal problems.

His own dad died when dad was a young man, which meant he was now the man of the house. That was a challenge with a large family to feed.

But Dad worked hard and learned to be a businessman on his own. Without going to college, he developed three businesses during his lifetime that profited him well.

He liked to work with his hands. He always had a great workshop. I have two large bookcases and a beautiful cedar chest he made for me, as he did for each of my sisters. If I had asked him to make anything for me out of wood, he would have done so.

Now it is tomato-planting time and that also makes me think of Dad as “once a farmer, always a farmer.” He moved in to town with Mom the last decade of his life, but he had a big backyard and lots of room to grow things like flowers and plants. He was still experimenting that last summer with new tomato plants that were supposed to be huge!

Dad was a back to nature kind of guy, but he liked the latest gadgets too. I remember the first microwave we had – it was huge!! We could have put all of our plates for our family inside at once to be warmed.

One memory I have is the number of men he would employ to work for him. I didn't know it at the time, but some of them had been released from jail and couldn't find another job.

Dad took a chance with them, as these guys could have stolen his expensive tools. But as far as I know, that never happened. Now I write a newsletter for a jail chaplaincy group and I think of Dad whenever I read about an inmate who can't find a job. He needs someone like my dad in his life to give him a boost.

Dad, we miss you, but we know you’re in a wonderful place and we can't wait to join you some day.
Love, Your daughter, Kay

Labels: , , , , , ,

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Getting Ready to Graduate

I try every day to send my kids a scripture verse. I usually pull it from www.biblegateway.com. I copy their verse for the day and paste it into the email. Then I try to give them a brief application of how that verse works in our lives. It is always a good reminder about the importance of God in our lives.

Today’s note is special because we are just about ready to see two of our three kids graduate. Our youngest daughter will graduate from high school. She has done extremely well, pushing herself to achieve great grades, while being a cheerleader and then a member of the marching band color guard. She is graceful, thoughtful of others, loves people, and a hard worker. She plans to attend college to major in business. We know she will carry her Christian principles she has been taught with her.

Our son graduates from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He has been accepted into the pilot training program and will begin in 2008. He has had some challenging times in this rigorous environment, but he has made it and we are proud of him for that. He will be home with us most of the summer and we’re looking forward to seeing his feet on the table and dirty dishes in the sink. Kidding! (I have all kinds of tasks ready for him when he gets home—he just doesn’t know it yet!)

Here’s my note to them. Warning – it’s a tear jerker, at least to me:

This is one of the last days before we're all together again for 2 months! Wow! We have not had that in 4 years.

Here's today's verse:
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”- Romans 12:10

We'll be honoring each other in different ways in the next few weeks, helping each other with tasks and recognizing achievements. We are SO proud of all of you. We said in Sunday School last week that our lives are so much better with all of you. We would not have wanted to go through life without you as our children.

We love you and look forward to a busy, noisy house this summer! Love, Mom

Labels: , , , , ,