Dear friends of Vital Signs Ministries, May 2025
Whoosh — there went April! And given the winds we have experienced this past month, whoosh seems the perfect word to describe how swiftly it carried us along. And, now that I think about it, whoosh also seems an appropriate word to describe the pace of ministry activity we’ve kept up these last few weeks. Those ministries have ranged from hosting 20 people for the Assure Women’s Center banquet, to singing Easter hymns during our prayer and sidewalk counseling sessions out in front of the Planned Parenthood abortion business, to holding the hand until the ambulance crew arrived of an elderly woman who had fallen at a volunteer appreciation breakfast held at Pacific Springs. And yes, there was a whole lot more. Indeed, let me review for you a few of those ministry activities.
* The Sunday afternoon church services at Aksarben Village Senior Living continue to go “swimmingly well.” The music is always fantastic — as attested by the increasing numbers of you asking us to send the links to the songs we use on Sundays. The sermons are short but spot on. And the fellowship afterward (enjoyed along with coffee, lemonade, and Claire’s chocolate chip cookies) is always lively and refreshing. Alas, we have lost several beloved members of our congregation recently yet, at one of our recent services, we had 23 in attendance, not counting the members of our visitation team that day.
* In addition to our church services, we were honored to create and conduct a Good Friday service for the Aksarben Village residents. Plus, we have been blessed to make a few personal visits to friends who are no longer able to make it to church.
* As you know, we take the ministry of correspondence seriously and April saw us writing 92 letters and cards of advocacy, encouragement, gratitude, etc. Included in that number were a few “open letters” to political figures and business leaders; that is, letters that are not only directed to specific recipients but also published through our social media.
* In addition to the Assure banquet mentioned earlier, Claire and I were honored to attend the Lincoln Pregnancy Center fundraising banquet with Kevin and Samantha Sorbo. They were fantastic speakers! (Thank you, Deb.) There was also a profoundly sobering luncheon of the Pachyderm Club where we heard Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine speak about the rampant, violent lawlessness which has become a defining element of America’s cities, including Omaha.
* Our regular duties outside the abortion mill continued in April and we had to endure some most un-springlike weather. Yipes. The month also saw my continued participation on the Board of the Business and Professional People for Life. We conducted a BP4L Board meeting; we arranged the date and venue for the next luncheon; and I provided items for the group’s newsletter. Oh yes, April also involved Claire and I hosting at our home the Vital Signs Board members for dinner and our quarterly meeting.
* The quarterly Vital Signs Book Brunch was this past month with Diane, Mary and Christopher, Ruth, Karla, and Claire and I discussing Randy Alcorn’s terrific Lord Foulgrins’s Letters over coffee and tea — and pumpkin muffins and cream puffs and lemon tarts and chocolate chip cookies!
* Our fellowship ministries in recent weeks have included a wonderful time with old friends from the Christian Brotherhood days; a group prayer meeting in a friend’s hospital room; a quick visit to an “art show” of another friend; the regular Tuesday Zoom conversations with members of my family; and several breakfasts, lunches, coffees, and back-porch visits with a terrific assortment of friends and colleagues.
* Our April “When Swing Was King” shows were super with larger crowds than usual. Indeed, a presentation at Sterling Ridge drew 42 residents, the largest we’ve ever had for that facility. Also, we have added 2 new senior living facilities to our monthly schedule.
* Claire’s visit to a dermatologist ended up with his removing quite a few “brown spots” from her arms. But, in two places — one on her left arm and the other on her forehead — he told her he “didn’t like the look of them at all” and he dug those out deeper for biopsies. The one on her forehead required 4 stitches to close. Thank the Lord, however, that the subsequent tests for cancer were much better than he expected.
* Among Claire’s April tasks were her figuring out the taxes for Vital Signs (and for us). And, blessed with the help of a good friend (Thank you, Hope!), everything worked out just fine.
* Among our exhortation efforts through social media in April was an effective alert about the pro-abortion positions of Omaha mayoral candidate, John Ewing. There was also the Top 5 compilation posted and sent every Saturday; the open letters I mentioned earlier (Trump, Fischer, Bacon); and several articles posted on Vital Signs Blog and/or the VSM website. The five articles from this past month we most recommend are:
1) “Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing” (April 30)
2) “I Knew Every One of Those Songs!” (April 28)
3) “The Earth Is the Lord’s” — Arbor Day vs Earth Day (April 22)
4) Is One’s Salvation A “Done Deal?” (April 13)
5) Chastity: The 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions (April 9)
* And finally a few “home life” items from April — We have been busy with the lawn…..A conscientious, persistent team of mechanics at Woodhouse Hyundai finally discovered (and fixed!) a major problem that had “grounded” our Hyundai since late October…..A visit from our “furnace guy” resulted in him fixing a dangerous leak that we knew nothing about….We purchased one of those “revolving photo frames” and really love it…..Claire’s cookies continue to find their way to bless so many people…Among our free time pursuits this past month? Music, of course, but also several swashbuckling, silent movies starring Douglas Fairbanks, Ozzie and Harriet TV programs, and Jack Benny radio shows…..And finally, our April reading included Lord Foulgrin’s Letters (Randy Alcorn) and Artists in Crime (Ngaio Marsh) for Claire and then Failure Is Not an Option (Gene Kranz), Lord Foulgrin’s Letters (Randy Alcorn), The God Who Is There (Francis Schaeffer), and Dombey and Son (Charles Dickens) for me.
Okay, I see I have no room for a genuine signature here, let alone the space to adequately tell you how much we appreciate your prayers and support. But we do! Until next time,
Denny & Claire