A Time to Say Goodbye

Having served in the pastorate and as foreign missionaries, we know how draining full-time Christian service can be. In 1987, we returned from the mission field spiritually "beaten up". God provided a place of refuge where we could be restored in the beauty of His creation. In 2007, He granted us the fulfillment of our dream to provide a place that we could share with full-time Christian workers in need of a spiritual retreat. And that is how Leahaven came to be.


"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows."

II Corinthians 1:3-4


In 2020 due to Covid 19, we regretfully suspended our Leahaven ministry. In the past two years the Lord has led us in a new direction, and He has shown us that now is the time to say goodbye. We are grateful for God's many blessings and so many precious memories. Thank you to all who have supported and encouraged Leahaven's ministry. We covet your prayers for the future.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Gone with the Wind

I must say, I was warned by friends that a tornado had hit the cabin and messed it up pretty bad.

I was also warned by finding some of our neighbor's barn next to the driveway as I headed in.

Walking back to the lake, I got even more warnings from several trees in the front pasture that had piles of ripped-off limbs around them.

One stray branch was driven vertically into the ground.
It's hard to believe this was even a tree!  It looks like it was stuck into a giant shredder.

As I got back to the lake, I could tell the trees there had suffered, too.
From a distance, the cabin didn't look soooo bad . . .

. . . until I realized that this concrete "popsicle" was one of the corner piers that had been ripped up out of the ground (the hole is directly above the concrete in this photo)--and the whole cabin picked up and slammed down about 8' to the left.

Then the roof got slammed back down at an angle, smashing the cabin beneath it.



I didn't even go in for fear of something collapsing on me.

That's a piece of the roof wrapped around a pine tree at the far end of the lake.

I'm afraid our poor, dear cabin--scene of so many happy hours--has "gone with the wind."

Despite the ruin at the lake, a Canada goose is nesting on the pond, and the house stands untouched.
Friends were staying at the farm when this tornado hit, and we're so thankful to God for His protection, once again!

The neighbor who lost part of his barn had just been in his barn, walked to his house, turned--and saw the tornado come hopping and skipping right at the barn, taking out the very spot he'd been standing minutes earlier.

We know that accidents don't happen with God our Creator.  We aren't sure yet what His plan is for the future of the lake, but we know it is good because it is His plan.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Hearing and Seeing God

I went down to Leahaven yesterday to check on things, and after I finished my work I treated myself to a drive back to the lake.  As usual, there was plenty to photograph.  Later, as I looked at my favorite photos of the day, it occurred to me that a common theme unites them:  Hearing and Seeing God.

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 
Luke 9:57-58 (NIV)
"See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. . . . So do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For . . . your heavenly Father knows that you need [these things]." 
Matt. 6:28-32 (NIV)
There is beauty even in the winter-dark water of the lake that reminds me of Daniel's words to Nebuchadnezzar:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him." 
Dan. 2:20-22 (NIV)
I was already turning the truck to leave when the wind kicked up, stirring the still, dark water into silvery ripples and rustling the grass at the edge of the lake.  I had to stop and jump out with my camera to capture this image of Jesus' words to Nicodemus:
"The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." 
John 3:8 (NIV)