
Marion and her husband, Jerry, knew each other since they were young. At fourteen, Marion began to admire Jerry from a distance, and in her mind, there was no one else for her to marry! She was twenty when they got married, and they have now enjoyed almost 22 years of marriage.
Just last summer, in 2024, Jerry and Marion and their family traveled from Fingerlakes area NY, to Alaska in their RV to live here for almost 2 years. It was quite the adventure with their ten children ages 19 to 2 months at the time, but Marion loved the opportunity to travel and experience more of God's creation.
She would have loved to explore more on the drive up to Alaska, but after spending two weeks in a smaller RV, they were all getting ready to spread out a bit more and enjoy something as simple as making and drinking a cup of coffee while not bumping down the road! It was a very fun family time and she will always have fond memories of it!
As a young girl, Marion dreamed of becoming a mother someday. She was the youngest in her family and always loved babies, probably because she didn't have to babysit younger siblings all the time!
In so many ways she is living her childhood dream, and even though life can be very chaotic at times, she feels so blessed and loves her family so much!! Jerry and Marion and their children have always loved to go camping in the Adirondacks in NY, and also go hike a couple mountains. They love going on road trips also, but with older children now and still having younger ones, it has become harder to find something to do that everyone enjoys.
When Marion asked her family what they enjoy doing as a family, one of the younger girls said, “We all like to eat!”
Marion did not know Jesus as her personal Savior until she was almost 30 years old, even though she had gone to church her whole life, and knew there was a God. She was afraid to think of facing death someday. Growing up hearing God's word in church, she struggled as a young girl and then as a young mom wondering what it all meant, and lived with a lot of emotional pain and rejection. Things that people did or said really hurt and Marion struggled to forgive, but remembered hearing the words over and over from her bishop that if you don’t forgive you won’t be able to get to heaven.
She wrestled with fear of this and her perception of God as an angry God did not help much. But then there came a day when she hit rock bottom and met Jesus in all His healing mercy, love, and grace.
Since then, she could not have found a more compassionate, gentle, kind, caring Shepherd than the Lord Jesus. Marion could write books on how He walked with her, showing her a Father's love. His love. And experiencing His power to overcome.
After surrendering to Christ, Jerry and Marion had fellowship with a house church group for 8 years until it broke apart. It was a difficult time for them, both in the fractured relationships with their house church family and also within their own marriage.
Marion can see that during that painful time she shut her heart to God, and the last thing she wanted was to gather with other Christians. She knew there was freedom to be found in Christ because she had tasted it, but she also couldn’t sort through the pain that had come from the hand of other Christians.
Life went on like that for almost five years, but since coming to Alaska, Jerry and Marion have started meeting with brothers and sisters again regularly. It felt very intimidating for Marion at first, but over time she could feel God inviting her to taste of Him again and trust her fellow believers. As she obeyed and began opening her heart to trust God again, things also started to change in her marriage in a mighty way. Walls they have been coming up against for years have been broken through, and Marion has been tasting again of the rivers of living waters.
O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man trusteth in him.
Psalms 34:8
God is everywhere, and Marion has been hearing Him and feeling Him so much through people lately. She is realizing again how important it is to gather with other believers. Above all she has learned that God is worthy of being trusted, and if you can't find your way or feel lost, call on His name. He is a kind Shepherd.
Marion loves all things baking and cooking, and her daughter was right! They love to eat! She also loves gardening, and any flowering shrubs and trees bring her heart such delight! Marion loves to sew and sometimes wishes she could do that more instead of the things she enjoys less, like cleaning and the ever present laundry.
Marion and her daughters love Mama Java coffee, and the Espresso Intenso is their favorite! Chocolate Hazelnut is a close second. She loves to start the day with a latte and occasionally in the afternoon too! Jerry and her oldest daughters bought Marion a Breville espresso for her birthday two weeks ago and completely surprised her! They are all having fun trying out lattes, but haven't mastered latte art yet!
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Thank you for sharing! It’s beautiful how your seeing and feeling God through His people!
Jolynne
Thank you for sharing! It’s beautiful how your seeing and feeling God through His people!