Recipes for Living Jerry and Faith Reynolds Bowlsby

Longtime members of the Osceola United Methodist Church will remember the years when Rev. Ivan and Ada Bys were here. Both agreed to write for this seventh Recipes for Living book in spite of the summer of 2002 being packed with celebrations of Ivan's 80th birthday, their 60th wedding anniversary, observances of his 50th year of elders' ordination, and 62 years of pastoral ministry. Still they found the time to submit their writings. Alphabetically, Ada’s is first:

Many of you who read this will never know me personally, yet we worship the same God, face the same problems and answers, sorrows and joys. We are all children of God. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are brothers and sisters. Yet we are all different and experience life and God in unique ways. I have a slight handicap in writing, but I wanted to tell my story that has influenced my spiritual formation that I believe began before I was born.

I was born and reared in the shadow of a country church in Linn County, Iowa. I was named Ada Caroline Clark for my two grandmothers, Ada Rachel Thompson Hepker and Caroline Jane Kortson Clark. In sharing some of these stories of my own, I hope that you will reflect with me how young our country is and how we are developing it. Most of us do not remember personally our ancestors from other countries. The American Indians are the true natives. By the early 1900s, personal mail, daily newspapers, magazines, etc., were delivered to homes in rural Iowa. I have newspaper clippings from the early 1880s, which is not so unusual, but what surprises me is the quality of the paper, the printed type and the availability of the press! The reporting was in depth and the print error free. The clippings I have confirm what was told to me repeatedly.

I was born in the same house that my father and six siblings were born. He was the youngest, born on April17, 1889, and named Byron Chester Clark. This house had been built by his parents on land that had been purchased from a federal land grant. During the Civil War my grandfather, George Clark, Sr., sent money back to the North to his mother Lydia Parks, who saved it for him. He was privileged to survive the war and be with the army for the great Washington, D.C. celebration that ended the war.

Upon his return, he moved a house from along the Cedar River about eight miles away. He added to this and built the other buildings, a cistern for rain water, and later a pump with a windmill. There was no inside water or plumbing until the 1930s when rural electrification became a reality.

My mother was born Bertha Odessa Hepker, February 8, 1892, on a sandy farm near Chain Lakes, Iowa. One of the lakes was named for her father, George Hepker. She was the youngest of ten children arid less than two years old when her father died. She was raised in the strict Free Methodist faith.

Mother's uncle, Rev. Warren C. Thompson, an itinerant preacher, was appointed to the Iowa Conference of the Free Methodist Church from 1873 to 1900. He served as district elder for two years. Under his labors, sixteen societies were organized, eight church buildings erected, and over 3,000 converted.

As a youth Mother worked for her older brothers' families as needed. Her only schooling was in an elementary school near her home. She finished eighth grade before they moved to Palo, Iowa, and she never had the opportunity to go back to school. Despite the lack of higher education, both my mother and father were well read and sharp in writing and arithmetic.

I grew up in. an adult world. I had only two cousins younger than I, and they lived too far away to be my playmates. My brother was seven years older and our closest neighbors had a boy that was about the same age. These boys were good to me and I do not remember ever being-· lonely. In the summers, I visited an aunt and uncle in Cedar Rapids and attended Bible School. This was a great treat. My aunt and uncle were older than my parents and had no children. This uncle became my favorite, and it was with them that I learned family daily devotions.

In the winter, we lived in one large room to keep warm. The neighbors that gathered in that season were mostly adults and the food and fellowship were great. A snow storm didn't keep them home. It brought out the sleds. There were fur and wool blankets warming behind the cook stove, and irons and bricks were heated for additional warmth. I remember the close ties when there were sorrows or emergencies. There was no 911, but we did have an emergency ring. One line served many homes, and the emergency call could be sounded on all phones.

I became an avid reader. It helped me that two aunts in town had board and room for school teachers, and my parents had a party for them every year. I was reading before I went to school. I disliked waiting for someone to read Uncle Wigley and the children’s’ recipes in the farm magazine.

During the depression, we always had enough to eat. These were the days when tramps came to the door wanting food, and sometimes to sleep in the hayloft. If they came and asked, my parents would provide. This was with caution as it was also the day of chicken thieves. I remember looking out the window one night and seeing people sneak through our grove. My dad came home from working at the church, and cars with spotlights were quickly sent out to find the intruders. Another time, a gang armed with guns stayed in the church. We were unaware they were there until they had been apprehended.

All my relatives had Bibles. Some were ornate and had family history in them. Usually they were on a small stand in the parlor. Others were small and read regularly- the King James Version, of course. At that time my mother had not been baptized, but she and my grandmothers read the Bible, and Mother's moral principles were concrete.

After my brother was born, my parents were asked to move to the Clark family farm. This was a good move, but Mother knew the Clark men made wine in the cellar. She told my dad that boys and alcohol did not mix. He said that was not a problem, and the wine was removed.

When I was seven years old, Mother was converted in a special service in the church. We were baptized together. This changed our family life from being good people to one with spiritual values. My mother pledged the next day that we would never eat another meal without praying, so we prayed!

When I started to school in 1925, the Palo School District was consolidated. We then had l2 grades and school buses. The school had a library, home economics room with gas stoves, a manual training room, modem rest rooms, and a gymnasium with showers. My best friend and I loved to play basketball there. I was fortunate that we had classes in physics, an excellent English department and higher mathematics. The economy was still bad but my parents did pay my tuition to Cedar Rapids Business College. I had a room in a private home with a small electric burner to heat food.

After college I worked for an insurance man and stayed with an acquaintance of an aunt, who wanted someone to stay with her nights. For this I received room and board, and I could go home on weekends. I will never forget the joy she showed having someone to share daily devotions!

I had majored in accounting but was working as a secretary. Men were preferred in the accounting field. When I found that the moral climate in the office was objectionable to me, I returned home. That freed me to go to the Boone District Youth Camp, where I met Ivan Bys, who would enter Coe College in the fall.

As a young girl, I felt I would be the wife of a minister. The feeling never left. I knew when I married Ivan Charles Bys on June 4, 1942; I was not his first love. His first love was the Triune God and God's church. Ivan and I have what I call a WE relationship. In our 60 years of marriage, we have been so close together that we have been called Avon and Ida by mistake.

We moved to an apartment in Indianola, Iowa, so Ivan could attend Simpson College. He was a student pastor with a license to preach and served Mineral Ridge and Mackey churches. The war clouds were gathering in World War II and the USA was called for greater participation. Ivan volunteered in the Army Reserves. Soon he was called to active duty and I returned to my parents' farm.

Ivan was on maneuvers when our first child was born. We named him Neil Donovan for a pastor of Ivan's parents. He had predicted that Ivan would be a minister.

Ivan passed tests to become an engineer. He was sent to Manhattan College in New York City. It was a Jesuit school. Ivan was asked to have Protestant services on Sunday. These were to be held in the chapel of the Methodist Home for the Aged. The administrator needed help and hired me to work in the dining room. I was given a room for Neil and myself in the nursing section. They cared for him while I worked. All war regulations were followed, including drills, light restrictions, and blackout drapes.

The war intensified, and the school was closed. Ivan went to a base in Mississippi to be sent to the ETO (European Theater of Operations), and I returned to Iowa.

I took Neil to see Ivan before he shipped out. Spouses were housed in the men’s' dormitory of the State College in Hattiesburg. I saw my first total segregation of black and white. I had thought the Civil War was over, but we northern women were so rudely treated in the boarding house dining room that I carried my food from the kitchen door.

War is hard on everyone. Emotions run high. The daily news was grim, but there was little time to brood. Those at home worked hard. Rationing food was never a real problem, if you were willing to eat less meat and sugar. I was not eligible for tires and I remember changing one on a rural road the day our baby could have been born. Emotionally I had good support at home, at church, and by the Bys family who lived 16 miles away. Letters from Ivan were special but few. The mail carrier would honk his horn when they arrived.

Ivan was in the 69th Infantry Division. They were to drive across Germany to meet other units at the Rhine. That completed, units began heading for the Pacific. Finally the 69th was disbanded and Ivan was sent home to take inventory and be discharged.

Returning to Simpson College, he was assigned to the Norwalk, Linn Grove, Spring Hill charge. Housing was scarce but we found a house in Spring Hill. Later Norwalk obtained a parsonage. It was there that Evan was born.

After Ivan graduated from college, and before he enrolled in Boston University School of· Theology, we had a short vacation in eastern Iowa. Roger was born there. In Massachusetts, Ivan was assigned, pastor of the Methodist Church in Saxonville. This is a suburb of Framingham and only a 20-mile commute to the seminary. Ivan became the first fulltime pastor in the 165 years history of that church.

We soon accepted a foster child; a 15 year old girl. Bobi was a sister to the boys and never gave us anything but joy. She was delighted when Deanna was born. Bobi graduated from Framingham High School, but money was not available for college. She was a gifted artist, and could get into correspondence classes. To pay tuition I went to work at Jordan Marsh and Bobi cared for the children. She married a Saxonville man, Tom Woodin, who later became a Methodist pastor in the Iowa Conference.

There was not a lot of money for our growing family, but we were already accustomed to operating on a budget, so it was not hard to budget $1 a day for food. It was then that we began tithing and have continued the practice.

We were in Massachusetts 5 ½ years during which Ivan earned his degree of Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Elders Ordination. He chose to return to the conference of his beginning, the North Iowa Conference. He was appointed to the Lanesboro Charge. It was a happy environment in which to grow along with the church. I had been interested in social work because Saxonville was a mill town. In Lanesboro I acted as guardian for a family under the Aid to Dependent Children program.

Ivan's next assignment was the Carroll Church, also on the edge of expansion. We both became involved in district camping. I had my first district experience as president of the Boone District Ministers' Wives.

While we were in Carroll County, my father had a massive stroke. He lived 22 hours, mostly unconscious. The last morning, he awakened and family prayers of many years were answered. He confessed his faith and asked Ivan to baptize him.

We next moved to Perry. This was also a church that needed a new building. They first bought a new parsonage. It was here that Evan, Roger, and Deanna graduated from high school, and moved on. Evan chose Drake, Roger and Deam1a chose Iowa State University. Neil graduated from Simpson College and left for Temple University in Philadelphia.

When Ivan served Waterloo, I became ill and had to curtail some of my activity. Deanna had married, and returned to Iowa State while her husband was a pilot in Vietnam. Neil was caught in the draft and left for officers’ training after obtaining his Master's Degree. Evan moved to Dallas for a new architectural job. The family that had been supportive in all our churches was scattered.

When we moved to Waterloo, Ruth Lathrop, a former staff person in Perry, moved also. She was so close to the family, they called her Aunt Ruth. When we moved to Osceola, she moved with us and made this her home for over ten years before moving to Madrid, Iowa. Osceola had built a new church with the parsonage next door. It was here that the church held a surprise celebration of the 25th anniversary of Ivan’s ordination. Ivan had been plagued with severe headaches since high school. It was suggested that he change occupations, possibly to work outside. He retired from the Iowa Conference and we moved to Bella Vista Village in Arkansas.

In Bella Vista, Ivan was able to work outside in lot development and I worked as a cook for Concordia Care Center. We both attended the Bella Vista Church. Max Whitfield was appointed as our pastor and Ivan served on his Evangelism Committee as a layman. Ivan's health improved. When Max was moved to Russellville, they wanted an associate. Max wanted Ivan Bys, and immediately petitioned the Iowa Conference to bring Ivan out of retirement. The Arkansas Conference accepted him as a full member. Then we had the idea that I could continue working and live in our house, and Ivan could live in a trailer in Russellville. I worked seven years until both of us, retired in Bella Vista. I served two terms as president of United Methodist Women. I was a Lioness and then chartered in Lions with the new Bentonville Noon Club. I served as secretary for two years. We lived in Bella Vista for 23 years.

As we approached 80 years of age, we considered where and how the Lord wanted us to serve. After looking for affordable lifetime care in three states, we signed with GoYe Village in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. We have a handicap built condo with two bedrooms and a garage. The Med-center (nursing home) or assisted living will be provided if needed. We moved on May 1 and 2, 2001, and on June 11, I had a massive stroke, losing the use of my right side and causing imbalance and lack of confidence.

I was a complete bed patient. Ivan took over my care. He did accept two weeks of out patient therapy to teach me to walk. We accepted what God gave us and He has not failed. No two strokes are alike. I get lots of advice such as "I can walk around the block. How far can you walk?" I don't compete but do what I can. I walk alone now, speak normally, cook, and have a ministry writing correspondence. I am working on my strength, self-confidence, and spiritual formation. Ivan is often asked to fill pulpits, and I accompany him. He continues to teach classes. On September 11, he will launch one on the subject "Prayer Can Change Your Life," and is just completing authorship of a 55-page manuscript for a parenting course.

I turn often to Ephesians 3:17-21. Verse 20 assures us that Christ has the power to work within us and accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine. When Christ dwells in our hearts and we are rooted in love, we have the inner strength to face temptation, take responsibility for our actions, and help others.