Thanks for dropping by, Jimmy. Ruth and I have been keeping you, Jayne and her sister and all the family in prayer. Sometimes it seems like we catch it from all directions. When I see the suffering around me (and we see plenty, as Ruth and I visit the sick all the time) it brings life into an even clearer focus for us. All is illuminated... the fragility of life and that tomorrow is not promised, but also the courage and beauty that surrounds us in our lives... so often going unnoticed.

Let me tell you about beauty and joy.

Last night, we had our concert at First Baptist Church. This last year has been very difficult trying to keep the Gospel Messengers in a positive frame of mind. We really miss Derrick, and for a long time, our singing sounded empty without his voice. And his positive spirit. In a way, this last year has been mostly downhill. Frankie has been losing ground physically and he is so preoccupied with his business (paving) that he loses concentration when we're singing. He has terrible alergies and in the Spring has a constant flow of tears from his eyes. Joe is dealing with extremely difficult issues in his life which are most likely to get worse as the months go by. It has taken all my enthusiasm to keep them believing that we still sound good as a trio. Last night was the reward. It started off with me setting up my new sound system, trying it out for the first time. It's a small system, and I had no way of knowing whether it could handle a mid-sized church. When I set it up, it was exciting, because I had the volume on 2 out of 10, and we had all the power we needed. And our voices sounded better than I've ever heard. After we had a wonderful dinner together, with many family, friends and neighbors there to celebrate, Joe and I went upstairs to try the sound system. Frankie got waylaid, talking to people, so Joe and I did a couple of songs as a duo. There were a couple of people sitting in the back, and they were really excited about how good we sounded. It was a gift to us, because Joe realized that even the two of us can still make good music together. When Frankie came up and we started singing, we sounded so good, we hated to stop for the people to come in. There was a lot to celebrate last night. We celebrated our 9th Anniversary as the Messengers, with Joe and Frankie by my side from the beginning. We celebrated the first Anniversary of the new Pastor of the church and what he's done to resuscitate the church in a very modest, humble way. We celebrated Frankie's 80th birthday, belatedly by two days, and Joe's 82nd, coming up on the 27th of May. And then we just celebrated being together as one with many family members, friends and neighbors. I don't think that we ever sounded so good, and if there was any doubt in Joe and Frankie's mind that we can carry an evening without Derrick, it was washed away last night. I say that out of thankfulness, not boastfulness. This last year has been very hard, and last night was the reward. Sometimes just keeping on is the best we can do. It too has its rewards..

Love,

Jerry and Ruth