Burgers’ Thanksgiving 2025

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. —Psalm 107:1

Bob

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. —1 Thess. 4:14

  • Dad had trouble staying awake during the meal last Thanksgiving, and the next day I took him to the hospital. Thus commenced a set of trials through which he exhibited a good sense of humor and a quiet faith in Jesus until he went to his eternal home on April 8. See his obituary for more details. My family is grateful for the special opportunities we had to be with Dad and Mom during those difficult days. Dad taught me how to die well.
  • Dad left his house, cars, and financial accounts in good order. I finished his taxes the day he died. (The two things certain in life are death and taxes.) Since then Stacy & I have updated our wills, declared beneficiaries for our assets, purchased cemetery plots, and left detailed notes in our safe deposit box to help our children when our time comes.
  • Mom lives independently at home, and I help her maintain the house and manage her finances. Since she no longer drives, we enjoy bringing her to family activities. My sister Heidi calls her every day from Aurora, CO, and Mom will spend Thanksgiving with my sister Wendy and her family in Livonia, MI.
  • Verla & John were delighted to perform in Leviathan: A Musical at the lovely Paramount Theater in Anderson, IN, in March. The music is catchy, and Evie & Steven ask us to play it on car rides. We’re looking forward to Verla’s performance in Timeless: The Corrie ten Boom Musical next March.
  • Stacy & I found How We Love: Discover Your Love Style, Enhance Your Marriage by Milan & Kay Yerkovich insightful. It helped me discover relational habits that I did not realize were bothering her, and I have been able to love her more effectively. We enjoy taking regular time away, and we went jet skiing on Raccoon Lake in June. There’s nothing quite like flying across the water at 50 mph!
  • I am very grateful to work with a great team and mentor summer interns at Indigo BioAutomation. We write software that helps laboratories automate their analyses in the areas of liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and molecular diagnostics. The FDA recently cleared the EXENT System to aid in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. The test replaces a painful bone marrow aspiration with a standard blood draw!
  • Stacy & I have had a lot of fun watching John and his friend Soren compete in VEX Robotics competitions. John loves the challenge of programming the robot to perform tasks autonomously in a robust way.
  • This fall Wisdom Builders had sweet-spirited, award-winning high school boys and girls cross-country teams. The coaches encouraged the teams to work hard together, and they were so much fun to watch! John broke the Wisdom Builders record for boys by running 5 km in just 16:28 at University High School! Verla also ran well and loved to cheer others on!
  • Spending time with my grandchildren is such a joy! We bought a 2021 Honda Odyssey for transporting them. Stacy & I are looking forward to visiting Angie and her parents in Georgia the week after Thanksgiving. Elizabeth is thriving in her work at a new Publix, and Josh works for the county in code enforcement.
  • Evie joins me in Awana Cubbies at CrossBridge Baptist Church on Wednesday nights. She reminds me of Ruth in the way she so easily memorizes everything. John helps the 8- to 12-year-olds in T&T.
  • It is a privilege to serve in music ministry with Huffy & Robin Tolbert, Juli Van Kley, and Zach Elliott at Christ the King Church. John does a masterful job with the slides and live stream. Our church studied When You’ve Been Wronged by Erwin Lutzer. It gave lots of practical advice on how to deal with conflict in a healing way, even when the other person is unwilling to reconcile.
  • On August 23 I got to visit with people I knew from Rose-Hulman, some of whom I hadn’t seen in 35 years! It was amazing to fast-forward to the end of our careers and encouraging to hear about God’s goodness and faithfulness in their lives!
  • October 22 was liberation day when John & Verla passed their driving tests and got their licenses! Now they drive themselves to school and various activities. We’re ready to pass our student-driver magnets to the next generation.
  • Doing the 7-Minute Workout gets me moving every morning, and Stacy joins me when she can. We have daily devotions from Today in the Word over oatmeal. I appreciate the thoughtful reporting in World news magazine.
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