shalom kazoo

02/07/2026

SHALOM Woolery's Skirt-a-Thon Thank Ewe Event!

02/06/2026

A perfect motto for the month of February and the whole year!

We love Jesus, people, and serving people delicious cookies and drinks!

Come visit the SHALOM Coffee Connection and The Connection Depot Thrift Store. Both exist to enrich the lives of adults with disabilities and to share the love of Jesus with our community.❤️

We can’t wait to see you!!

02/02/2026

I didn’t know it was going to be this hard. So, so hard.
But it’s hard so God can teach me reliance on Him, not on myself.

Last week I wanted to quit. I was feeling so bad from radiation, so fatigued, so ill-at-ease that I wanted to quit. How can I train and run in the Boston Marathon like this? What was I thinking? I felt like a rag, like giving up.

Then I thought of YOU. Your support has been amazing. Your generosity towards the new SHALOM home furnishings is incredible. You are praying for me. You encourage me when we cross paths. You message me and text me. You tell me you are inspired! And more giving comes in. So, I am not quitting because of YOU. Thank you for running with me! You are God’s Provision to me!

I was given 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Reliance on God, not myself. Reliance on the One Who raises the dead! Resurrection power! What if God’s plan is IN the hardship? What IF HIS POWER will overcome my fatigue, but I quit and would not give Him that chance?

I was on the verge of denying God His due glory!

What if in my weakness He plans to show off His strength? What if He wants to help me grow in reliance on Him alone? I am learning to cut out my control, to hold loosely my plans, to see things from God’s design, not mine. That, too, is hard, but so, so good!

Please claim this verse for me! Not self-reliance, but God-reliance! Please pray for God’s healing and that the radiation treatments (2 ½ more weeks!) will be effective. And please pray that God would pour out His generosity through many more people as we raise funds for furnishings for adults living with disabilities. I will run for them!

Please share this post. We have just 11 weeks until Boston! I added the furnishings website in the comments. Checks should be to SHALOM, designated to “furnishings,” mailed to PO box 265, Kalamazoo, MI 49004. Bless you!

The pics show me at Planet Fitness on an elliptical when the wind chill is below zero…, the lesser of two evils! Also, running today in SUNSHINE! Six miles will do! Thank you, Lord!

01/25/2026

Whew! What a COLD SNAP! Is there any HOPE? I keep looking, but I am getting weary!

So, thank you for running with me as we are running to raise funds for furnishings for the new SHALOM home! Warm blankets are part of this fundraiser marathon!

Yesterday I declined to meet with my running group. It broke my heart, but it was -15° F wind chill. No joy there! I understand that 12 members still ran – ending up with frost on their eyebrows and lashes!

Instead, I ran inside our building at Haven Church. Did you know that running from one end to the other with a lap around the Great Room is two tenths of a mile? I was going to run two or three miles, then go to the gym for the “dreadmill” and elliptical. But I ran a full eight miles inside!

Sometimes I do feel hopeless, discouraged: so many training miles, so many more radiation treatments, more side effects, such cold wind. I know that feelings, like hopelessness, are another part of life we should submit to the Lordship of Jesus. And I do.

I define hope as “the anticipation of God’s future blessings.”

In April 2025 I wrote:
“In the Lord I am… Hopeful: I am optimistic about the future, having a positive expectation that something good will happen. I expect future blessings from God. ‘…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.’ (Isaiah 40:31)”

I am so thankful for the PROMISES of GOD in that verse! Renewed strength! Soaring with eagles! Running without weariness! Walking with clarity and purpose! It’s a “God’s got this” verse – to those who hope in the Lord. I am, and I will!

THANK YOU for running with me on these THREE marathons – furnishings fundraiser, Boston, and cancer. Your support gives me HOPE! Let’s keep running together!

Please share this post – and give others a heads up for the Boston Marathon fundraiser!

The pics show the back of my shirt, a devotional I wrote to describe what the shirt means to me, and the QR code for furnishings! I put the website address in the comments.

Checks can be made to SHALOM, designated for “furnishings,” and mailed to PO Box 265, Kalamazoo, MI 49004, or brought to the SHALOM office at the Woolery Barn, 3191 Van Buren. THANK YOU, and SHALOM!

01/23/2026

Brrrrr🥶 It’s cold outside, but it’s WARM at The SHALOM Coffee Connection!!

We have hot drinks and delicious cookies. Try our new gluten Free/dairy free Samoa Date cookies!!

The Coffee Connection and Connection Depot are open today and tomorrow from 9-3.🥰

01/22/2026

The Woolery is still "woolering" today.
Safe travels everyone!

01/19/2026

SHALOM is building a new home - but we need beds and tables and chairs!

01/17/2026

Live music is happening right now!!

Come listen to Silver Strings and enjoy a tasty beverage and cookie. You can even get a little shopping in at The Connection Depot while you’re here!!

The SHALOM Coffee Connection and Comnectiom Depot Thrift Store are open until 3:00.

01/16/2026

Just a quick reminder to join Pastor Keith THIS Sunday at 7pm for a Facebook Live event where he will give an update on his training for the Boston Marathon in April, which he is doing to raise money for the furnishing for a new SHALOM Home. Keith will reveal how much we have raised so far!

Mark your calendars for future FB Live events scheduled the 3rd Sunday each month, through April - 7:00 PM.

**See pinned post.

serves adults living with disabilities through housing, work, & community opportunities.

01/14/2026

Thank you to Michele Rachel, her family and team of volunteers for providing delicious dinners for our SHALOM family, friends and community!
Community Prime Time Dinners: 2nd Tuesday of the month at SHALOM Shepherd’s Barn.

01/11/2026

Oh no! Just 14 weeks of training to the Boston Marathon! Train FASTER! I am running to raise funds for furnishings for a new SHALOM home. I am blessed and inspired to be doing so!

Now is the beginning of intense increases in training mileage. This week I will run 32 miles and should be at 40 miles a week by early February. In March, I plan to get up to 50 miles a week, more than I have ever done!

Then in April I’ll begin tapering down to recover before the race on April 20. If the Lord wills! And tomorrow I begin radiation treatments for more than five weeks. I’d rather run!

I am planning to run the race with the names of donors on my shirt! Also, I will carry these same names on a card to pray gratitude as I run! Thank you for running with me in this important effort! You WILL be running with me!

Yesterday I began the Saturday morning long runs with the Kalamazoo Area Runners. About 100 runners gathered at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo to run 6 or 8 or 10 miles at different paces. I ran the ten-mile course, then ran another two miles in the parking lot! I had the privilege of running with Pat, a guy who suffered a serious heart attack while running in the Detroit Marathon in 2024. He is training for his next marathon – hopefully this spring! Very inspiring and hopeful!

My heart is broken for our dear sister and friend and SHALOM network caregiver Julie, Doc and her family and residents, as Julie’s oldest son, Calvin, has passed away suddenly. Please pray over this great loss for God’s comfort and mercy can carry them “through the dark valley of the shadow of death…for You are with me…” A great promise!

As we pray for Julie and family, please also pray that many people would be touched to give to this great cause, that my radiation would start well with the Lord in charge, that I could keep up with my training plan, and that the joy of the Lord would be our strength! Thank you for running with me!

The pics are from yesterday!

01/10/2026

It is our pleasure to name Linda Driscoll as the SHALOM Woolery January Dear Volunteer; congratulations are in order!