Does the story ever end? Ask any artist: the sonata could have one more movement or rest, the painting one more shade of light, the sculpture one more softened edge, the story one more period… or another new beginning. Does the story ever end?

Why? Why is it so humbling a task when time seems to all but stand still as you open your hands, your mind, your heart to the Author, Creator, Perfector, of all things? It just is, when you are called. Summoned? When you hear the whisper? You become the brush, the clay, the pen. The Hands rest on your hands, you surrender to the miracle called creating something new—like the first line of a poem, or the last.

Where will it begin? When does it end?

In the beginning…

Can you tell I’m pondering? The book launch celebration was last week. Marc couldn’t make it. Today is his 85th birthday and it has had me pondering life, death, never-endings and new beginnings…

From a young age, they both seemed to understand the power of true friendships, and the futility of fame and success by the world’s standard.

Marc understood what it meant to tell, to be able to tell, one devastated friend that he would see his mother once again. At ten…on a swing-set…

Nancy understood what it meant to gather a group of friends in her parents’ den, around the piano, to sing, to laugh, to pray, when she was what? I don’t know. Probably about the same age.

They both understood, if not the words in depth, the meaning, in depth, of connecting with others. They were learning from the Scriptures the adventure and the truth of God’s power to transform a wounded heart, a hurting world.

He so loved the world and these two children, and they so loved Him and the people He brought to them, that when He asked, “Whom shall I send?” they each answered, “Send me.” And then one day they said together, “Send us.”

When I started writing this post last Monday, the Book Launch had just been the day before, and I am now adding periods, missed letters to words and removing the old to make room for the new. It was the Celebration of the Story about two people, whose lives, together, have modeled, wherever they’ve stepped, what it means to be Just Along for the Ride.

That title wasn’t chosen to imply our inactivity when we turn and offer God the Driver’s seat, but the amazing activity of God living and loving, in and through us, healing, restoring, forgiving, flowing in to flow out.

If I were a weaver, I would create a rich textured tapestry with a continuous scarlet thread running through, tying it all together, signifying the amazing Grace available to us.

Today, I could be sad that the last Chapter of the book is finished, the Acknowledgement page completed, because either or both could signify an ending. Yet, here I am, still writing about this precious couple. I reflect and ask, how could it be that I was granted, the time to sit beside, to listen, talk, laugh, cry, pray and sing with Marc and Nancy, week after week, year after year, as time seemed to stop? How does this happen? I didn’t deserve it or do anything to earn it. But when I heard the whisper, I was willing…and that has taught me something beyond what I could have ever imagined.

They would say, they’re just ordinary people serving an extraordinary God, following the call of the One who knows us by name, and asks (maybe like Jesus asking Peter) “Do you love me?” And each, in their own unique voice, answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I do.” And he continued on to say, “Take care of my sheep.” And they said, “Ok, show us how.”

From that point on, God took the wheel, took away fear, the world became their stage, their scripts full of great adventures with a cast of amazing characters, each being transformed because that’s what only God can do. Only God. Why? Because there are no unimportant people.

And the story continues.

Just follow the red thread. Sickness comes, danger abounds, loss and death. Not just in the places they went to but at home, too. And I wonder how often Marc and Nancy asked, “Why, Lord? Why this?” And He responded,“Trust Me.” And they did.

But Sorrow meets Joy. It’s a beautiful Love Story, God’s own.

I have a feeling I’ll be pondering this story that connects to so many other stories and people for years to come. And probably writing about it and them, too. Because what’s better than a beautiful Love Story with the red thread of Grace running through it?

Red has always been my favorite color. I remember, Marc wore red when he spoke at my mom’s funeral—her celebration, the service. There had been one before hers, and one that followed, when, you know, Jesus came to take members of my family Home to their true Home. That’s something to celebrate. But by the third time, I had to ask, When do we get to grieve?

Then one day, it came, the grief that runs through you like a faucet that won’t shut off.

Oh, flow river flow. God wants to fill you back up. And keep refilling you with His never-ending Love.

At the end of broken dreams, people need the Lord, as another one of Marc’s favorite song’s goes. When Grief strikes, Joy hovers, as only Joy can, when we keep our eyes on the Author and Perfector of our faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, scorning its shame, and sat down in Paradise, with its never-ending new beginnings, in the glorious Light right beside the Tree of Life. 

It seems I keep seeing how God is in the business of making all things new. People, stories, life!

Happy 85th Birthday, Pastor Marc Erickson!August 22, 2025.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it…?

Just Along for the Ride~the Missionary Journey of Pastor Marc and Nancy Erickson

With thanks to Mari Chevako for moderating, Leslie Osborne for organizing, Eastbrook Church for hosting, Michael Braun @Ten16 Press for publishing the book, and my unending gratitude always to Marc and Nancy.