On the Road with the Marshalls, No. 12

On the Road...with the Marshalls.
Vol. 6, Issue 1, No. 12 - May 2002

Pastor Howard & Marge Marshall
Klawock, Alaska

[Send us an e-mail if you'd like to receive the "snail mail" version.]

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.. Romans 8:28 NIV

Greetings from Howard:

On Wednesday of each week, I’ve been going to the Klawock School for lunch. Reason? Just to be with the kids and staff members for them to know who I am and for me to know who they are. It’s working!

As I was visiting with Jon Rowan (Native Arts instructor) in April, I said to him "...it doesn’t seem possible for school to be out next month" and his reply, without missing a beat, "...oh, yes it does!" It’s all in the perspective we’re viewing it from. A number of students have asked me how I knew their names and my reply has been, " I have my methods!"

One of my goals was to know each senior by name; to date that hasn’t happened. I know only about half of them by name and who they are. Next year it will be better. The cooks look for me on Wednesday. Last week I had to visit the school on Friday and stopped to say hello and it threw them off because it was not my usual day.

Why am I talking about this? Because it wouldn’t have happened if Marge and I had not visited SE Alaska in 1995. We made additional trips in `96 and `97 to POW (Prince of Wales Island), in `98 to the Yukon Delta in far west Alaska with the Yupik Eskimos and then in March 1999, we were called to pastor Prince of Peace Assembly, for which we are very thankful.

Marge is keeping busy with her business of designing web sites - has a number of customers in Alaska and a few scattered around the country. After all, she is retired and needs to keep busy! She has volunteered to serve on a healthcare advisory committee serving POW and seems to enjoy the connection with these professionals.

People often ask what I do to stay busy. Well, just pastoring and being available to our people. Our first year was working with a building crew in getting our new parsonage built, which we moved into on December 28, 1999. One of my goals is to get it paid off in 5 years. Just in case any of our friends would like to make a donation towards the "parsonage pay off" you can just send a check payable to Prince of Peace Assembly and indicate it for that project. Thank you in advance and God bless each of you is our prayer.

A closing thought: "If My people who are called by My name..." (II Chronicles 7:14). People stop with that verse and I encourage them to read verses 15 & 16 as well. "...Now My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."

It has been nice "talking" with you and I want to encourage each of you to "keep your hand on the plow and do not look back." Keep looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.

–Howard howardmarshall@yahoo.com

Howard & Marge Marshall
6312 D Street, PO Box 432
Klawock, AK 99925

The vision of Prince of Peace Assembly is to be a lighthouse of hope and love for all by sharing Jesus’ love, being friends with our neighbors, and serving in our communities.

Our Golden Wedding Anniversary

Fortunately, nowadays even young folks get to celebrate 50 years of marriage! We’re so excited about it (big grin) that we’re going to celebrate twice! On June 23^rd, we’ll have a party on our actual anniversary here in Klawock. Labor Day weekend, our children are hosting a reception for our family and friends in Kansas City. We’re dropping BIG HINTS that we hope everyone will bring or send us photos of themselves so we can make memory albums!

The reception will be during the afternoon of Saturday, August 31, 2002 at Northland Cathedral, 101 N W 99th Street, Kansas City, MO 64155. (816) 455-2555. [This is a new location for the church.] We’ll renew our vows, and Owen Carr will be there to officiate, just as he did in 1952.

Please consider this to be your invitation to attend. We would love to see you. If you can’t come, send us your photo so we can be thinking of you!

C o o k ’ s C h o i c e

For years, Howard has been asking people if they have heard of chocolate gravy. He had it at his Aunt Sally’s home near Sallisaw, Oklahoma when he was young (10 years old or so). Most people never heard of it. Those who had didn’t know how it was made. In October 1997, I searched the Internet and found it! Unfortunately, I forgot to make a note of the site from which I copied it.

Chocolate Gravy

2c. milk or 1c. Pet milk plus 1c. water
3/4c. sugar
2 Tbs. cocoa
2 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat milk in saucepan. In small bowl, mix sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt. Stir in milk, enough to make paste. Pour mixture into rest of milk and stir until thickened. Serve over hot biscuits with butter.

Family Stuff

Since it has been quite some time since our last publication, we’ll mention some of the things that have taken place. Our vacation in 2001 took us to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a visit with Larry, Renée and Miranda. The following week was spent with David, Shannon, Branin and Halee in Alpine, Texas.

While we were in Texas we took a trip into Big Bend National Park, and another to Del Rio and over into Acuña, Mexico. The reason we went to Acuña was to see Radio Station XERF! In 1952, Marge’s dad, Walter Seaton, gave his heart to the Lord as he listened to a broadcast by Evangelist J. Harold Smith. Dad was a different man after that. He’d always been a good Dad...now he was a great one! We have a web page about him at www.spaciousskies.me/Family/WalterSeaton.html.

August was spent in the Kansas City area. The biennial General Council of the Assemblies of God were held there during the hottest time of the year, Aug. 6-10. Sweltering! We were also busy with dental appointments and a Layne’s Hospitality Home Reunion. Howard made a trip to South Dakota to visit with his sister, Marcille and her husband, Jack. Then when we arrived in Lyons, KS to visit family we learned Howard’s brother-in-law Elmer Battershell had died of a heart attack. So we attended his funeral before returning to KC.

Our daughter Janet was our hostess while we were in Kansas City. She and son Tasso are doing well. He visited his dad’s family in Greece during April of this year...he’s been there several times now. We also got to visit with our grand-daughters, Kari and Jami, and their families. Such beautiful great-grandchildren they are! Jaden and Jax belong to Kari and Andy, and Jacey and Hunter are Jami’s children. They all live in Gardner, KS.

Miranda in Albuquerque continues her competition in gymnastics, and is doing quite well. At Level 7 (14 years old) she now goes to regional meets, beyond the state level.

Our grandson Jason is in the Army. His hobby is rock climbing, and we tell him he should come to Prince of Wales Island and visit us, because we have plenty of rocks. But when he thinks of Alaska, he tends to think of the BIG rock, Mt. McKinley, which is also known as Denali, the "big one." But we’re a long way from there – more than 800 miles by air.

Marge’s mom is doing well, and she’ll be 90 in September. She lives in the Good Samaritan home in Lyons. Howard’s sister, Eva, also lives there.

~From an e-mail; author unknown

Inner Peace

I think I have found inner peace. I read
an article that said the way to achieve it is to
finish things I had started.

Today I finished two bags of potato chips, a
chocolate pie, and a small box of chocolate candy. I feel better already. Please pass this along to all your friends who need Inner Peace.

A Few One-Liners for You
(authors unknown)

Prayer - don't give God instructions - just report for duty.

The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.

He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

The Lord doesn't want shares of your life; He wants controlling interest!

Our Year of Jubilee

The 50^th year was declared to be a year of jubilee in Leviticus 25, so 2002 is our year of Jubilee, and we’re celebrating all year long! The first "road trip" we made was to go to Anchorage for District Council in April and then on out to Kotzebue, Alaska to visit our friends Jim & Nancy Mercer, who pastor the Assembly there. Kotzebue is north of the Arctic Circle and the farthest north we’ve ever been. The 1,300 mile contrast between northwest Alaska and southeast Alaska, where we live, is dramatic ... totally different climates and geography.

Our second trip will be to Kansas and Missouri, and from there, on to LONDON, ENGLAND! After 55 years, pen-pals Marge Marshall and Kath Green finally get to meet! Kath & Norman live in Camberley, Surrey, and they plan to show us as much of London as we can cram into a week!

Note, 26-Mar-04: Norm & Kath were wonderful hosts! Meet them at www.spaciousskies.me/England/.

Our Home Page is at www.spaciousskies.me/home/.

Spacious Skies Web Designs by Marge Marshall

Credits: Roadster, Corel. Lighthouse, www.bellsnwhistles.com. Blueberry graphic, source not known. Shimmering line, Microsoft. Our wedding picture, Titus Studio, Lyons, Kansas. Current photographer, Howard Marshall.