First Year

At the time, we were still going to the Methodist church and also going to meetings that Mike and Bev Bliss were having....Mike was a pastor also......the Royal Palms Jesus people group had broken up as the building had been sold.....many of the Royal Palms people were looking for a new place to fellowship and naturally went toward Mike and Bev. Their little house across from the church was filled most nights and the neighborhood started to complain...so they put their house up for sale and bought a larger one farther away in a newer neighborhood.
They also started Sunday services....so we kinda quit the Methodist church....not officially but I know now it wasn't the best thing to do but that is looking back 30+ years. I know we probably hurt the Kingsley's as they had been the ones who really been there for us and me...but that is what happened. I heard later they had gotten transferred to Arizona and even later that they had retired....Barbara passed away the last I heard....I would like to talk with Hal Kingsley if I knew where he was and thank him for all his faithful work and pray God blesses him richly.

Anyway....the year was a good one...lots of changes...more and more people would come to the meetings held in the Bliss home, lots of music, guitars, etc. lots of praise and worship..the simple
message of God's love and redemption.....so many came and went but there was always a core
group....we had huge potluck suppers once a week or so....and once a week they had a crafting night where everyone was invited to bring their creations and also to be able to teach others new crafts...I learned how to knit and taught others how to crochet...I still have a large crewel
scripture picture I did which Lawerence (Bev.'s dad) made a frame for.
the teaching was that women should be keepers of the home and submit to their husbands but it was practical too.....men were to also submit to their wives and be a spiritual covering for her.
no one was to lord over anyone else.....but all kneel before the Lord of all.
Unfortunately, in the years to come, this teaching was twisted but all was good for now.

My Dad
we got a call from my mom about two years after we were married, that he suddenly had breathing problems, had gone to emergency and was admitted.....they had discovered cancer.
He had retired from the Marine Corp and was working at the Oceanside post office. We
rushed to the hospital to find him looking well but hooked up to a hose in his side, draining
fluid.......the doctors said the type of cancer he had, they had never seen before, it wasn't from
smoking (Dad liked an occasional cigar) and they didn't know where it was exactly...inside the
cavity around the lungs somewhere, not in the lungs. At that time, Agent Orange was still
an unknown factor.....veterans were just starting to experience the effects of exposure.
Cancer treatment wasn't very advanced. The only treatment they had was chemotherapy
which in the coming months made him sicker and sicker. He would slowly recover from the
therapy, then his lungs would fill up again, he had to go get them drained over and over again...
this lasted about a year....he lost a lot of weight.
He had always been a Christian...and as the months went on, spent hours studying the Bible, praying and preparing himself and us for his passing....there was a Billy Graham meeting on TV and he recommitted himself to the Lord while watching it. His pastor from the Methodist church would come weekly and pray with him. Alan and I came over as often as we could and I was there that evening, the last evening on this earth that he had, kissed and hugged him then went home. Mom called late in the night saying he has passed away in his sleep. He was only 59.
this was in 1977.
As I type this, tears are running down my cheeks....this was over 30 years ago and still I miss him. Love is truly eternal.....and we have the sure HOPE of being together again as Jesus said
"I am the Resurrection and the Life".
That's all for now, I think.