Things change so quickly. First of all, we are praising God for my dad’s release from the ICU on Wed. and his entry into a regular room. (See my previous blog post for details.) It is a slow road, but we are so thankful for every single improvement. Continue to pray for the neurology side of this whole pneumonia issue. The docs are interested in getting him in to see other specialists in Chicago, so that is another praise.

Dad ~ this picture of the kids is for you in particular. Notice Dylan’s shirt. We are your biggest fans far away. Much love and praising God for your recovery.

But here we are in South Jersey. We flew in last Sat., and within 4 hours, we were up on the Fellowship Alliance Chapel stage, speaking to the congregation about our journey into full-time missionary work, and how God is calling each of us to have a heart for the world.

(Here’s Ed & Debbie Jurimas, friends of ours since we started at FAC. Their kids were in the youth group and 2 even served w/us in CZ. A cool side note- a pic in their slide show (they serve in the Philippines) has Jay, Dave Patty and some other GYI guys in it b/c Global Youth Initiative did a conference in Manila and stayed where the Jurimas’ work. Small world!)

We’ve gotten together with many friends. (Schiffmans serving God in Cambodia, we miss you!) Although we expected this trip to be more complicated since we have Dylan and Marissa now, it has actually been better than we could have ever expected. People are gracious and the kids have been really good (except for Marissa in this photo.) Our schedules are busy – I just spent 4.5 hours in Starbucks, meeting with different girls. Each night is a different dinner; each day is a different lunch or breakfast. Last night (1.12) we did our big missionary presentation where we can talk more in depth about our role change and the lives that we are impacting by the Lord’s grace. It’s hard to believe that our students from youth group are in their 20s. (Below we are celebrating Matt’s 22nd and Scott’s 24th!)

Things change so fast, but this is a place where we always feel connected and comfortable coming back. Much thanks to the Hibbards, too, for hosting our family, esp. during those nights when Marissa was teething…