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For those who our interested in our wild 2022, here are the highlights:
January – After working hard to recover from her broken back, losing all kinds of weight and going to physical therapy all year, Sherrie was discouraged to learn her heart was clogged up. She had three stents put in her heart on 12/30/2021 and was back at work the next day. She added cardiac therapy to her physical therapy regimen.
February – Sherrie celebrated her 65th birthday and 30 years at the Blue Belle Inn. We enjoyed a short trip to Florida, and found a vintage motel just across from the Gulf on North Reddington Beach. We love walking on the beach, picking up seashells, photographing the sunset, and swimming. On Valentine’s Day, Sherrie hosted her ever first Tasting Menu with many happy customers attending.
March – Mark announced he would retire from “full-time” ministry as pastor at Zion, Hudson at the end of June. We went through the “last-times” with meaningful Lent and Easter season services, confirmation classes, and Vacation Bible School.
April – Sherrie sent HIGHLAND HEATHER, her new Scottish mystery, out into the world to rave reviews. After much prayer and discussion, we contacted a Realtor and put the Blue Belle Inn up for sale. Facing uncertainty as to where we would be going, Mark interviewed for a part-time call as pastor of Sion Lutheran Church, LCMC, rural Lake Mills, Iowa.
May – We accepted an offer on the Blue Belle, with a closing date just a few weeks away. Frantic packing ensues at two of our 4 homes. Dozens of guests were eager to eat and stay at the Blue Belle one last time. Sherrie worked double time trying to keep up. Sion extended a call to Mark to become a part-time pastor, preaching three Sundays per month. On Mother’s Day, while Mark was driving and Sherrie was on the phone to her mother, an uninsured motorist rear-ended us and totaled our Subaru. We now have no car and no place to move. We found our next car in North Dakota, and checked out an acreage that was up for auction. On the day of the auction, Sherrie had 20 people coming for lunch. They all prayed for God’s will to be done. When Mark came home, he had won the auction and we were the owners of a three bedroom home on five acres near a beautiful marsh, with two barns and other outbuildings, just three miles from our new church, a mile from a lovely lake where we love watching sunsets.
June – Moving started by preparing our home in rural Worth County (new paint inside and out, new flooring, new toilet, and a new well for starters). We said goodbye to the Zion congregation after ten and a half years along with dear friends and Blue Belle customers of up to 30 years.
July – Mark received a warm welcome at Sion. Sherrie wowed them with her piano playing. Moving was in full swing, with wonderful helpers to aid in the humongous task. Mark’s knee replacement surgery was postponed for the first time. A blessing in disguise? There was (still is?) so much to do. We continued to spend 2-3 days a week in Hudson, packing up the parsonage and made many trips to St. Ansgar to check in guests and clean Anne’s House, which we still owned.
August – We used our first “Sunday-off” to take a short trip to Wisconsin to hear the Red Hot Chilli Pipers at Irish Fest in Milwaukee and visit Amish country.
September – We headed to California for Mark’s 50-year high school reunion with sightseeing and visits to friends and family in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, and California squeezed in.
October – Anne’s House of Dreams sold and the loss of so many sweet moments and memories finally hit Sherrie. We closed on 40 acres of the original Hansen homestead. We listed our “cottage” in St. Ansgar which remains unsold. Mark’s knee replacement surgery was postponed a second time. Sherrie served 68 pumpkin dinners at our new home, reconnecting with faithful customers and thanking those who helped us move.
November – Mark’s knee replacement surgery went well. He began a period of recovery and physical therapy. Sherrie wrote 65,000 words for her NaNoWriMo project, SEA SHELL GINGER, a mystery set in Florida, and finished the rough draft soon after. Now on to edits!
December – Sherrie continues her nightly prayer and piano time on Facebook – a great way to ward off anxiety, encourage others, and give our burdens to the Lord. We are finally feeling settled in our new, much smaller home, although there are still many boxes to unpack. It’s time to decorate for Christmas but there is no room at the new Inn. Every inch is already full. A Christmas program at Sion accentuates our strengths – little ones who are adorable sheep (baaa) and shining stars (“Follow me!”) – and an entire cast of enthusiastic adults. Our oldest is an 89 year old wise man, our youngest, a 5 month old Baby Jesus, with many ages and talents represented in between.
It’s been quite a year! Not unlike an intense game of monopoly…
We have learned over and over that God makes beautiful things out of broken pieces. He brings joy out of despair and gives hope to the brokenhearted.
God makes all things beautiful in His time.
Thanks to all of you – friends and family – who have prayed us through this year of upheaval and transition. We love you all!
Love, Mark and Sherrie
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Mark and I only send Christmas letters to those who send them to us, so if you use the same system, this is your only chance to see what we included in our Christmas Letter for 2020.
Dear Friends and Family:
Amid the many disappointments of 2020, we make adjustments while continuing to be thankful and have hope for the future.
The year began with what has become our regular continuing education experience, the Abundant Life Summit in Fountain Hills, Arizona. As we waited at the Phoenix airport for our flight home, the big news was the first few cases of COVID-19 being noticed locally. We had cut our time in Arizona short because of a large private party scheduled at the Blue Belle, which ended up being cancelled at the last minute. Little did we know it would be the first of many bookings, special events, mystery dinners, and trips to be cancelled in 2020.
Like everyone else, our lives were greatly impacted by the pandemic. Although we both had the memorable experience of dealing with kidney stones in 2020, so far, we are thankful to report that neither of us have been infected with the virus.
For Sherrie, the Blue Belle Inn was without any overnight guests for two months – something that has never happened before in the 29 years she has been open. We are grateful for her loyal customers (many of whom we are happy to call friends) who found ways to support the business as she re-opened with limited seating for dining and many more take-out orders than she’s ever had. She has come to appreciate the new demands of being a “short order cook” and greatly enjoys the pleasant crew of people she has as her staff members as business begins to trickle in once again.
Mark continues as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in rural Hudson, Iowa, now completing his ninth year. He finds great fulfillment in the ministry there. Although the church never “closed” we have greatly adjusted how we do things. We switched to putting our services on Facebook Live, when we couldn’t have worship with people inside the building. While we continue those internet postings, we are blessed to have a faithful group of in-person worship participants. What a surprise it has been to see people from well beyond our regular membership viewing these services online.
Sherrie published her 14th novel, Plum Tart Iris, set in the Bohemian Alps of the Czech Republic and is nearly finished with her next book, Ragged Robin, set on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. She started posting a daily prayer time on Facebook Live to pray for our country, and friends and acquaintances going through rough times because of the virus, playing a song on the keyboard each day – another big adjustment for someone who has always been shy about having her picture taken and playing the piano by herself.
Mark was able play golf more often than in previous summers. Although part of that involved a trade-off of devoting less energy to his other hobby of repairing old bicycles, getting outside in the fresh air has been positive. He wore short pants so often, that he actually had tan-lines for the first time in many years.
As we look ahead to 2021, we pray you may all have a year blessed with love and health. We are hopeful that we will finally get to go back to Europe this spring, and that some of the frustrations we dealt with in 2020 will be worked out eventually. Because we know that’s what God does! We continue to believe that God works all things together for good. As Sherrie likes to say, God makes beautiful things out of broken pieces.
Love to all of you,
Mark and Sherrie
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To friends and family on the occasion of Christmas 2015,
It’s been another exciting year – we have so much to be thankful for! Although we’ve resorted to a form letter once again, we hope to give you a little taste of what we’ve been up to in 2015.
We both enjoy the awesome speakers and music at Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ gatherings. In May we participated in a continuing education event in OH, stopping at Sherrie’s nephew, Michael’s and Abby’s house in IN on the way back. In Oct, we drove to Dallas for the LCMC’s 15th annual gathering, staying with Mark’s cousin, Monte and wife Karen in OK on the way.
We made two trips to Ely, MN; one in June for a few relaxing days with Mark’s Uncle Frank and Aunt Pat at their “cabin” on Bear Island Lake, and one in July with granddaughter Imix to see cousins, aunts and uncles who were there to celebrate Pat and Frank’s 50th Anniversary.
The next big event in our busy summer was Sherrie’s Mom and Dad’s 60th Anniversary Party, hosted by Corey and Kaye at Hansen Family Farms. Visiting nieces, nephews and cousins from all over the world (North Carolina to Seattle, and Boston to southern Brazil) made it a very special occasion, with great friends, good music, and a lot of delicious food all adding to the fun.
After going a couple of years without a “real” vacation, we spent 17 days in Europe in July and August. We combined a visit to Romania to see Mark’s son, Erik, and his new wife with a stopover in the United Kingdom. Driving down narrow, hedge-lined byways on the “wrong” side of the road, enjoying plenty of caramel shortbread, eating at a pie pub with Sherrie’s cousin Sarah and family, visiting the quaint village where Doc Martin is filmed, climbing thousands of steps up to castles and down to the sea, and watching the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean while sheep grazed on the beach in Croyde, Devon, were all amazing adventures.
The highlight of our 12 day trip to Romania was celebrating Erik’s wedding to Cristiana, or as Mark says, “chaperoning the honeymoon.” In Bucharest, we rented a car and circled the country with Erik and Cristiana as our personal Romanian-speaking tour guides. We spent an afternoon in Bacova, the ancestral hometown of Mark’s great grandmother as well as experiencing many beautiful castles, medieval towns, and the picturesque, traditional villages that dot the mountain valleys and countryside. Erik and Cristiana are well suited for each other and we enjoyed getting to know our newest member of the family and discovering a truly delightful corner of the world that we never would have thought to travel to if it weren’t for them.
In addition to playing the piano at church, and working more hours at the Blue Belle than she has in years, Sherrie kept busy with the release of Shy Violet, her latest Wildflowers of Scotland novel, writing and casting numerous murder mysteries, and completing a 50,000 word writing challenge in November to finish the rough draft of Sweet William, her next book.
Mark continues to find joy in his call at Zion Lutheran in Hudson, and enjoys watching our church family and Sunday School grow. In the midst of our busy, back and forth schedule, it’s an honor and a privilege to share our lives with and minister to the people at Zion.
We are both thankful for the improvement in Mark’s mother’s health, and that Sherrie’s mom and dad have come through a trying year, medically speaking, and still continue to be active. It’s been fun to hear from each of you, too! Although we may not see you often, we continue to keep you close in our hearts and prayers. Until next year (or sooner if you travel our way!), we wish you a Merry Christmas and many blessings in the New Year.
Love, Mark and Sherrie
Blue Belle Books... a Blog by Author Sherrie Hansen 