A Note From Bob Marsh

We were able to touch base with our former pastor Bob Marsh and his wife Myra this summer, under unfortunate circumstances. They were the reason we went to Willowbank to Bermuda for our honeymoon. The Ewings also vacationed there, and the Marshes are able to return there every August. Bob's recap of the summer was refreshing, so I'll share it here...

'I turned around and the month was gone' is the way a friend framed his disquieted observation on the brevity of life. To put it more succinctly, 'where did the time go?' July was one of the most intense months of our lives. Having to go through arduous physical therapy and striving to be able to walk paled into significance compared to the awful death of Dana Goodwin Smith and then the inexplicably horrific murder of Jenny Ewing. August was to be defined by the ministry at Willowbank, Bermuda, but there were moments when we wondered if it would actually occur, given that so many responsibilities were challenging us in Atlanta. The Lord graciously made it possible for us to go, all the little details fell into place, and Willowbank 2006 was a blessed experience that could be explained only in terms of God's guidance and presence!

The three weeks there were filled with hours of Bible study, counseling, praying with people, listening to stories of struggle people, and building bridges of relationships. Our son and his family were there for a while, and the joy of being with the grandchildren was a balm to our spirits. I will never forget the wonderful thrill of looking up each morning as I prepared to teach and seeing the entire family together in Bible study! The thought gripped me that this was a 'foretaste of glory divine.'

A couple from New Jersey: their daughter is hospitalized with depression, and they struggle to know how to deal with this overwhelming problem. A woman from the USA: her husband walked out on her, a man who had the reputation of being a 'spiritual leader' in the community. Another woman who had witnessed 9/11 while working in Manhattan, struggling to make sense of life's tragedies. The head of the department of pediatric neurology at a major university and his family were there, seeking to solidify their relationship to one another. A man from England who had fallen into irrational behavior and sinful actions, telling me the sad story of a family coming unglued because of his moral failure. Stories of bad reports from the doctors, disruption of dreams and hopes, disappointments with children, failure in business, on and on go the stories of people who come to Willowbank, and the Lord gave to us the privilege and responsibilities of ministering grace and encouragement from the word God.

I mention these folk to you because you, in your ministry of encouragement to us, in fact touched their lives. A Canadian pastor and his wife summed up the feelings of many: 'The Lord has spoken through His word, He has given us what we need to go back and face what we have to face.' You are in our hearts with much love and praise.