Greece Pilgrimage

We got the opportunity to go on a week long Pilgrimage through the Footsteps of Paul in Greece. We traveled with a total of 50 people and it was amazing. We traveled all through Greece.

The highlight of our trip were the Baptisms at Lydia's baptism site. She is believed to be the first person baptized in Europe. Our dear friend Jason baptized Brian and then together they baptized Hayden. It was so amazing!

Brian was thrilled to have the opportunity to speak on Mars Hill in Athens. This is the same spot Paul preached to the Athenians about man made idols in Acts 17. With the Parthenon literally right behind the hill Paul was trying to tell the Athenians that God doesn't live in man made temples.

Gage's second follow-up (4 weeks)

The DR was much more encouraged this X-ray! He said he could definitely see new bone growth and that the bone was working as one now! Praise the LORD!!!

The DR said that he still needs to be in the sling but can slowly work is way out of it. Gage took that to mean he could take it off forever immediately.

Gage is out of sports and normal activities for at least 6 more weeks. I am signing Hayden and Levi up for baseball today. Gage is a little bummed that he can't play but he told me that he would be mad if it was soccer season. I told him that he gets the privilege of being his brothers number one fans.

Please pray for protection and continued healing.

North Carolina here we come...

We have finally gotten our next job location!! It looks as though we will be moving to the Goldsboro area in August. We are getting SO excited. We have been reminded by 2 sets of friends, who have been diverted en-route, that this can change at any given time. We will continue to trust that Lord that he will place us exactly where he wants us.

Gage and Levi continue to pray that we will go to NM instead of NC. Our dear friends are moving there and the boys just can't bear the thought of being without their "Brothers from another Mother". Another family we love dearly is moving there as well and we would have loved the opportunity to love on them as they are facing some challenges right now.

Brian and I have been having a blast looking at houses. We should have no problem getting a bigger house, I don't think we could find an 800 square foot house even if we wanted to.

After being outside the US for 12 years it will be a culture shock for sure! We have forgotten about some many conveniences that the US offers. For example as we "house shop" we are thrilled about the simple things like garbage disposals, closets, screened windows, big ovens and laundry rooms. We look forward to stores being open past 6:00 pm, and also the convenience of being able to shop around.

The last couple nights we have been out and about with friends. We had so much fun fellowshipping with our dear friends but we got a little discouraged when we tried to go out for dinner! On Saturday night the restaurants we wanted to go to were closed at 5:30. Who closes a restaurant at 5:30 on a Saturday night?? Then Sunday night we had to try 3 restaurants before we found one open. These inconveniences we won't miss.

What happened to Spring??

We went from having really cold weather last week to amazing weather this week. It has been 70 degrees and sunny all week!! And the forcast predicts 70's for at least the next 5 days. So, we went from winter straight into summer!

We have had a dreadful winter this year! This was the wettest and greyest winter on record so this sunshine is very welcome!

The boys are loving it too! Today they ate breakfast outside and did school outside!

Gage's First Follow up

Well Gage had his first, of many, follow-ups on Friday. The X-ray shows what appears to be new bone growing which is fantastic!! However the DR said he would have like to see more bone growth. So, Gage is in the sling at least until our next check up in 2 weeks. He plans to X-ray every 2 weeks for at least 8 weeks because the break is so severe.

When the break first happened he assured me that children under 14 don't need surgery. This week when we left he gave me "Worse Case Scenario" if his clavicle doesn't heal properly. They will go in and do surgery scraping out all new bone growth, re break the collar bone to align it properly as it is displaced about an inch. Then put a rod through it and then plate it. However, this means a second surgery to remove all the metal. We are desperately playing that we don't have to go this route. He said the surgery will be several months away as he tries to give kids every opportunity to heal on their own.

On Saturday a little boy pulled Gage's chair out from under him causing him to hit the back of his shoulder blade. The caused Gage great pain and he is back on meds. These are the little things that could hinder his recovery.

Please pray for healing and a hedge of protection around our precious Gage!!