attacked her with a pitchfork. That encounter also sent her to the hospital.

Though we at times battled discouragement, we have ‘waited for Jehovah,’ in line with Lamentations 3:24. He is the God of comfort. At one low point, Fern received a beautiful letter from Brother Nathan Knorr. He wrote that since he was born near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where Fern started pioneering, he well knew that Pennsylvania Dutch women like her are strong and tenacious. He was right. Over the years, we have received encouragement in many ways and from many people.

Despite the difficulties, we have tried to keep our zeal for the ministry alive. Comparing a zealous spirit to Lambrusco, a delicious sparkling Italian wine, Fern jokingly says, “We mustn’t let our spirit lose its sparkle.” After more than 40 years of traveling in the circuit and district work, we received a new privilege of visiting and organizing groups and congregations in languages other than Italian. Such groups preach to people from Bangladesh, China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and other lands. A book would not suffice to recount the wonderful ways in which we have seen the power of God’s Word transform the lives of those who have tasted Jehovah’s mercy.​—Mic. 7:18, 19.

We pray every day that Jehovah continues to give us the emotional and physical strength needed to carry out our ministry. The joy of the Lord is our strength. It makes our eyes shine and convinces us that we have made the right choices in life as we spread Bible truth.​—Eph. 3:7; Col. 1:29.

Questions From Readers

At Genesis 6:3, we read: “My spirit shall not act toward man indefinitely in that he is also flesh. Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty years.” Was Jehovah limiting the life span of humans to 120 years, and did Noah preach about the coming Flood for that long?

The answer to both parts of the question is no.

Prior to the Flood, many humans lived for centuries. Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came, and he lived to be 950. (Gen. 7:6; 9:29) Some who were born after the Flood also lived much more than 120 years. Arpachshad died at 438 and Shelah at 433. (Gen. 11:10-15) Yet, by Moses’ time, the normal life span was down to 70 or 80 years. (Ps. 90:10) So Genesis 6:3 was not fixing for humans a maximum or normal life span of 120 years.

Then, does that verse amount to a divine comment to Noah about warning others of the destruction to come in 120 years? No. On a number of occasions, God did speak to Noah. We read ten verses later in the account: “God said to Noah: ‘The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is full of violence.’” In the following years, Noah finished the massive task of building the ark, and at that point “Jehovah said to Noah: ‘Go, you and all your household, into the ark.’” (Gen. 6:13; 7:1) And there are other