Lower Michigan, Southern Wisconsin and Southern Illnois

October 20, 2021

After the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we settled in for a couple of weeks in lower Michigan.  Our time quickly filled up with reunions with more realtives and friends we havent seen for 50 years or more.   What a blessing!!

Friends from our youth at Redeemer Baptist Church, Warren, MI sharing great stories (which will not be repeated here!).  But what fun!

My family was always close to extended family growing up.  As such John got to know his mothers cousins, as if they were his 1st cousins.   The watress who took this family picture obviously didn't know how to use a camera!

Some are now with the Lord.  Some are close to John's age.  One is eight years younger.  My mom's sister Ann was there as well as her son Ed, my 1st cousin.  I hope you arn't confused! 

There great stories here from my mom's family history.  All of these are descendants of Andrew Walaksay (John's great grandfather) of the former Yugoslavia, who heard the Lord speak audibly to him as he was shepherding sheep in the hills of Yugoslavia as a young man in the late 1800's.   One of the cousins, Rich Cook, has been documenting miracles from the time of young Andrew until now, amoungst the family.   When young Andrew immigrated to the the US and landed in Detroit, he accepted Christ and immediately insisted on being baptisized by immersion.  It was January 1, 1910 at Battery Park in Detroit on the banks of the Detroit River.  And yes...the river was frozen over.   And yes...they broke the ice and baptized young Andrew, John's great grandfather.   What a priviledge to be born into such heritage!

Frankenmuth, Michigan is little Germany in mid-Michigan.  Bronners Christmas Store in acres and acres doing a great business with Christmas stuff all year long.  The Zehnder family started with amazing chicken dinners served family style decades ago and the rest is history.  Main Street is a delight with lots of German food and shops.

Mel and Iris Underwood, dear friends from 50+ years ago have 15 acres in Leonard, MI (Macomb County) and operated a working lavender farm and offered sustainable farming workshops and training for 10 years.  Lavender, Bee Hives, organic farming, chickens, etc.  It was amazing to see and hear all about it.

Rich Cook, mentioned earlier invited us to their huge log home on a lake in Rockford, MI.  Unbelievable stories of miracles in the Christian history of the family!  His home is populated with stuffed wild game compliments of his son, who is an avid sportsman.  We had hours of talks and wonderful times of prayer.

In traveling through northern Indiana to southern Wisconsin, we ran acoss some of the most beautiful fall scenes.  Barns, fields, sunsets, Shipshewana Amish area (IN), Lake Geneva (WI)

The Wedding in Lake Geneva, WI.   John's sister's son, Weston got married to his bride Sarah, at the gorgeous Grand Geneva Resort.  The weather was sunny and perfect.  The celebration and testimonies were heart-warming.  It was a great wedding!

Legendary Mustang Sanctuary, Alhambra, IL.   This is a non-profit that rescues mustang horses and burros  We camped for free at their farm, heard the presentation and the history.  Interfaced with the founders and hosts, Shawn and Kathy Lewis.   Check out www.legendarymustangsanctuary.org for great information.  It was quite impressive.  They have about 35 volunteers and operate entirely through donations.   They are very dedicated to rescue and rehab of mustang horses abd even operate S.A.V.E. (Sanctuary And Veteran Equine Project).  Therapy horses for veterans.

Tomorrow we leave here and head to Branson, MO where we will see the Sights and Sounds which is presenting the Life of Jesus Christ. We anticipate seeing some other shows in Branson and visiting another Weber cousin.  This will end this chapter of our Blog.  God is protecting as we travel and see many fun and interesting places and pray for opportunities to continue offering the Gideon New Testament to folks as gift to share God's plan of Salvation. Thanks for your continued prayers!

John and Linda

Weber's Chosen Odyssey

October 20, 2021