NAMES mean something. All through the Scriptures, God gave people particular names for a reason. My husband’s name, Conrad, means bold and wise counselor, which played out in his life over and over.

I struggled with the meaning of my name because Mar means bitter. “Naomi said, ‘Don’t call me Naomi… Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me’” (Rth 1:20). Then I read about Myrrh, which also means bitter in Arabic. The resin of this shrubby desert tree gives a bitter, pungent taste and a sweet, pleasing aroma, which incidentally covers the odor of a dead body. I remember singing, “Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume Breathes a life of gathering gloom….” When the Israelites came to a fountain of bitter water in the wilderness, they named it Marah. Divinely directed, Moses cast a certain tree into the water to take away its bitterness (Exod. 15).

Jean, in Hebrew, means the Lord is gracious. So, MarJean becomes, Bitter Grace. The capital “J” represents “Jesus,” whose wooden cross makes bitterness sweet. At times I wanted to say with Naomi, “Call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. Yet, because of the power of Christ’s death and resurrection, His sweet Holy Spirit makes me the fragrance of Christ, which turns bitter things sweet. Therefore, MarJean becomes Fragrant Grace.

God calls me to live a life filled with His love and grace, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. So we thank God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ. To those perishing, the aroma of death, and to those being saved, the aroma of life (see Eph 5:2; 2Cor 2:14-16).

WHAT DEFINES ME? At this age? I suppose what I’ve always been… creative, optimistic, goal-oriented, determined (most of the time), and too sensitive, unless I use it to encourage others through my writing, poetry, linguistic metaphors or artistic illustrations.

I’m also a wife of fifty-two years to one amazingly sweet man, mother of four wonderful kids (3 sons, 1 daughter), and their loving and gracious spouses. I’m also grandmother to seventeen of the most precious children in the world.//I published “Courage for Bush Ministry Women” each month since 2005 for Arctic Barnabas Ministries until our retirement in August of 2019. I’m still passionate to encourage others to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts (Acts 11:23).

Yet, if I should lose all that seems to define me at any age, my true identity remains in Christ who purchased me with His blood. I am His, and He is mine forever. I possess no identity outside of His amazing grace.

A Short Biography

From fruitful California deserts to the balmy San Francisco Bay area, north to the frozen prairies of Saskatchewan, and back to Central California, God carried Conrad and MarJean in His Everlasting Arms. Their journey continued into the lush green of western Oregon to the desert sage and vineyards of eastern Washington and into the rainforests near Seattle. Their adventures launched them into the far north of Alaska to fly in bush airplanes across vast the tundra, rugged mountains, deep valleys and winding rivers into isolated villages. Finally, they landed near the golden wheat fields and fruit-laden orchards of Spokane, Washington.

While in Alaska, they taught God’s design of personality brain dominance to individuals, couples, at retreats, seminars, church classes, and mission groups. Their heart for people, marriages, and the Bride of Christ still compels them to offer this practical tool to increase love and understanding for one another and gratitude and reverence for their Creator/Designer.

Their ministry to encourage missionaries and pastor’s families in remote Alaskan and northwest Canadian villages through on-site visits, publications, counseling, phone calls, and e-mails began in 2005. Since the spring of 2013, MarJean continues to write and edit for ABM from Spokane, Washington. Conrad represents the mission in the Pacific Northwest.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Conrad grew up in a pastor’s home and spent his teen years in the San Francisco Bay area where he attended Western Baptist Bible College. He also took a year at Moody Bible Institute. He graduated from Fresno Pacific University and married MarJean in 1969.  

MarJean, born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up on a farm near Carrot River. She spent her teen years in Dallas, Oregon and graduated from Fresno Pacific University with a BA degree in art and literature. After graduation, she and Conrad moved to the Portland area where she taught high school art, and Conrad received his M. Div. from Western Baptist Seminary in 1973. Their three sons and one daughter grew up in that rich diversity of geographical places, cultures, and adventures. Seventeen precious grandchildren continue to enrich their lives.