December 2013
Dear Friend,
The year 2013 has proven to be a one of change for the
Eastern New York/New England team, as well as for the James family. If you have a couple of minutes I’d like to
share some of them with you.
In August, Susan and I closed on a home in Ballston Spa,
NY. This is a quaint village 25 miles
south of Queensbury, where we have lived for the past five years. The district parsonage and office have been
turned into a vacation rental/corporate retreat center called The Retreat at West Mountain. Located in the heart of vacation country,
the property is centrally located to Lake George and Saratoga Springs.
Moving the district office to our Corinth church, outfitting
the retreat center and remodeling our ninety-year old home has kept us very
busy this fall. However, we thrive on
projects and are excited about this new chapter in our lives.
Susan is busy writing a book. The first draft is complete. She is in the middle of the re-write phase
now. Reliving parts of her traumatic youth have proved to be more painful than
she anticipated, but she is confident that God will use this story to help
others.
Paul still enjoys coaching and consulting with his
pastors and churches. Twenty-four of our
churches have now completed the consultation process that we call DTP (District
Transformation Project). Doors have
opened for him to share what we have learned with other districts. He is thrilled with the miracles that are
happening in churches where the revitalization weekends are taking place. Making disciples for Jesus remains his
passion.
David surprised us in February by announcing that Dana
Wagner had become Mrs. David James.
David and Dana live in Overland Park, Kansas. He is still involved in computer work and
greatly involved in the lives of Peytan (9) and Kyler (6).
Beth and Pete are in the process of relocating to the
Raleigh, NC area. Pete will be managing
an office for Jenkins Restoration. Beth
has many interests and friends, but is most active in interior decorating. This is a hobby that has turned into a small
business for her. Kailey (11), Gabriel
(9) and Josiah (5) are their children.
Kathy and Earl live in Clarksville, TN. Earl is stationed at Fort Campbell where he
is commander of Echo Company 5-101.
Kathy home-schools the kids, Hannah (15), Brianna (11), and Isaiah (7). The disease, polymyositis, that Kathy has is
in remission and we are grateful.
Dad and Mom James reside in Winter Haven, FL. Dad is 87; Mom is 91. We are grateful for the reasonably good
health they are enjoying for their ages.
They keep up with family and friends through the Internet and are
vitally interested in the lives of their three boys and families.
The last time that most of us were together for a picture
was last Christmas. Since many of you in
the northeast know little of our family, I thought I’d dust this picture off
and send it on to you. We have added
Earl, who was in Afghanistan at the time and Dana, who had not yet joined the
family when the picture was taken.
Sincerely,
Pastor Paul & Susan
|
Back Row: David,
Hannah, Kathy, Kailey, Beth, Pete
Front Row: Peyton, Susan, Kylar (Susan’s lap), Paul,
Isaiah (Paul’s lap), Brianna, Gabriel, Josiah
|
| Earl Morris |
| Earl Morris |
| David & Dana James |
