The Leichty Letter, 2003

Be Alert! God is on the Move!

As I prepared a sermon for November 30th, I reflected on this Advent theme that our church is using this year.  In Luke 21, Jesus calls on his disciples to be alert to the signs of the times, the signs of judgment on our fallen world.  Yet, above all we are to hear the same words that the angels proclaimed at Jesus' birth. "Do not be afraid."  God continues to be "on the move"--at work for our salvation, culminating in Jesus' return!  Let us truly prepare our hearts to welcome the judgment that leads to new birth, new hope, and our ultimate salvation.   

Certainly God has been on the move in our family life in this past year. Often, we don't understand it all, but we catch enough glimpses of the vision of God's Kingdom that it keeps us moving ahead and following.  

As many of you are aware, our family left the Goldenrod Community this past March after three years of caregiving and beginning to develop the community.  Due to a number of factors, the structure and life of the community had changed to a point that it no longer fit our family.  We were sad to have to let go of some of the dreams that we had, but felt that it was time for us to move on to other things.  The residential programming there is moving ahead slowly under a new organization, and we are glad to occasionally get to see Eric, the young man who was a part of our family for those three years.  

Nathan has adjusted well to our new setting on the south side of Goshen. When we first moved, he was starting a job in downtown Goshen and we wanted him to gain back some of the independence he had in Fort Wayne by riding the bus to work.  That worked out well and Nathan enjoyed the people he worked with at the little food co-op grocery store. Unfortunately, his job of doing cleaning tasks in the back room was not as well suited to him as we had hoped.  By July, he was out of work again.  

Although disappointing, the changes led us to work with a different agency.  We were able to put his new funding source to work so that he now has programmed activities five days a week. The same agency, which is larger and more experienced in our area, is also helping him look for new work.  Currently, Nathan is involved in a classroom setting (computers are his favorite) and volunteers at the Salvation Army and the Mennonite Central Committee Material Resources Center. Most days are long, getting on the bus at 6:45 a.m. and not arriving home until well after 5:00 p.m.  

Our daughter, Renita, made an even bigger life transition!  In May, she graduated from DePauw University with a BA in Communications.  It was a wonderful day witnessed by the three of us as well as three grandparents and assorted relatives and friends.  

At graduation time, Renita was negotiating on a summer internship as a copy editor for a newspaper in Evansville, Indiana.  She lined up summer housing at the University of Evansville and was ready to make it official when the editor gave her resume to the sister paper across the river in Henderson, Kentucky.  She was hired as a copy editor at The Gleaner and it has turned into a full-time, permanent position.  While it's not New York City (her dream), she feels very blessed to secure a job in her field right out of college.  

At the end of the summer, we helped her move into her new apartment in Henderson, within a short drive of the newspaper office.  The downside to being a full-time professional journalist is that she doesn't have enough time off to justify making the 6 1/2 hour trip (one way) to Goshen for Christmas.  So we hope to make the trip her way on New Year's weekend.

Meanwhile, back in Goshen, Nancy is now working at Greencroft, the largest retirement community in Indiana.  In her job as the overnight operator, she teams up with a security staff person (a story in itself) to keep the campus safe at night.  Besides dealing with any emergencies that come along, she sorts all of the campus mail and does any projects needed by department heads.  The hours, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., are not ideal, but she is always off on weekends, Friday and Saturday nights.  Our little rental home has a nice master bedroom suite in the basement which is always dark, which makes for good sleeping despite the odd hours.  Since both of the men are generally out of the house working during sleeping hours, it is quiet also. Most of all, Nancy enjoys considerably less stress than in her previous work, which is a nice change.  

I, Paul, continue the pattern of picking up jobs here and there as needs arise.  At the end of 2002, Nancy and I were both involved in the formation of the Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet).  I have been more heavily involved on the Executive Committee which has been functioning as a volunteer staff while we seek funding.  I'm one of two partially supported consultants, my time being devoted primarily to setting up a website (www.adnetonline.org). ADNet was very pleased to be able to publish our first newsletter recently, which can be found on the website as well.

While researching ideas to inexpensively create and maintain a website, I was intrigued by the vision of Mennonite.net.  Having worked previously (and continuing to work) for MennoLink as Director of User Services, I was offered a job with same title to work for Mennonite.net on a half-time basis.  Mennonite.net is dedicated to provide affordable technology for the mission of the church, primarily through a content management system which allows many organizations to share the latest technology while lowering costs.  I work with customer relations and general operations.  I'm also the “expert user,’ having used this system now to create not only the ADNet Online site noted above, but also a growing site for our church (www.firstmennonite.net).     

In October, I was called to become Minister of Music at First Mennonite Church of Middlebury, where we have been members since our early days at Goldenrod.  That is a 1/4 time position and I'm enjoying the congregational setting and working with music again.  Most of my time thus far has been spent on a Christmas choir and getting acquainted with people and the music available.  

Undoubtedly, 2004 will bring about more changes.  We have been blessed in our transitions even though they were difficult at times.  Truly God is on the move in our lives and in our world.  We want to be alert and ready for any further bends in the road on which God is leading us.  

We trust that you will also find the peace of Christ anew in this special season of the year.  Thanks for your cards and letters, your prayers and your greetings.  Blessings in the new year!

Paul   Nancy   Nathan   Renita

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