Transition

My father, Herb Ritland, passed away last night at the Windhaven care facility in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He died exactly one month short of his 95th birthday. Our family considers his death a blessing because of his deteriorating dementia. He was living in an Alzheimer's wing of the facilty. My mother was with him at the time of his death.

He was a wonderful husband and father. My cousin (Herb's nephew) Mark Ritland sent me an email today expressing his sympathy. Here is a portion of what he said, "I'm very sorry to hear of Herb's passing.......I didn't know that he was in ill health. He was one of the finest men I've ever known....I always enjoyed talking with him about sports, outdoors, or family. Everyone in our family really loved him. Many, many times I heard former AHS students say what a great teacher he was....he must've really been an outstanding teacher. He was very humble and never said much about himself.....it was only a few years ago that I learned he was a participant in the battle of Iwo Jima."

May he rest in peace in the loving arms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
JR

Solemn Assembly

The St. Louis Gateway National Day of Prayer Committee hosted a Tri-State Solemn Assembly at First Evangelical Free Church of St. Louis County today. Representatives from Kansas, Missouri and Illinois were present.

There was a very powerful time of worship, repentance and prayer from about 10:00 to 1:00 followed by a lunch and two breakout sessions. Lisa Crump, Shirley Dobson's right hand woman, commissioned the attendees to take the lead rallying God's people to prayer for our nation.

The 6-state Central Region NDP director, Sue Stolz, was also on hand to encourage those present. State NDP leaders from Kansas, Missouri and Illinois were also on hand.

In the afternoon, breakout sessions on Transformation, networking, and local coordinator training were held. The transformation DVD highlighting cities transformed by God was very encouraging. About 500 cities worldwide have experienced tranformation and the list keeps growing. Praise God.
JR

Close to Home

The murder rampage at the Kirkwood City Hall last Thursday night was one of six multiple murders over the last couple weeks nationwide. So often these sorts of news stories go in one ear and out the other (so to speak). Someone in our SS class this morning prayed that this would sensitize us to the tragedies worldwide that we read about daily. It is easy to become desentized at a time in history when suicide bombings occur with regularlity. So as we pray for the friends and loved ones of the deceased in Kirkwood and the ongoing fight for life of Mayor Mike Swoboda, let's not forget about those accross the globe that need our prayers.

On a more encouraging note, the name of Jesus has been lifted up with regularity over the past few days. Friday night at the prayer vigil across from city hall, pastors from the Kirkwood Ministerial Alliance alternated reading beautiful scripture passages and praying powerful prayers. Let's hope and pray that this message will not fall on deaf ears.

JR

In the Beginning

Welcome to the blog of John and Susan Ritland. We look forward to using this site to keep in touch with friends and relatives (and anyone else who would like to participate).