The Long Way ‘Round: June 14

We are a little over two weeks in to summer travel, and already so much has happened! Our family has spent sweet time with friends and family we’ve not seen for far too long, and coming back together to encourage one another with stories of God’s faithfulness has been encouraging beyond words. Beyond the stops previously mentioned, we’ve now spent time in Camdenton, MO and Cookeville, TN.

There’s no practical way to summarize the joys of these times of fellowship; God has used both the expected and the unexpected to begin refreshing our hearts and renewing our excitement for what He is doing. We’ve spent time with a dozen different families and individuals, each of whom are more than dear to us, and whose encouragement of us in the Lord has far outstripped that which we hoped to bring them. We’ve shared at the church where we attended during our missionary training, had conversations with dear mentors, shared meals with friends and ministry partners, and rejoiced in stories of God’s faithfulness over the past dozen years.

So far, we have traveled nearly 2,500 miles… and I expect we’ll quadruple that by the summer’s end! We are currently in Tennessee, and have one more family in Nashville to visit here before heading out to South Carolina and the Atlantic coast. After that, we’ll turn our vehicle northbound towards Kentucky and Michigan.

Thank you for your continued prayers with and for us this summer. As we continue onward, we ask prayer for our dear friends Ana and Denny, who both are dealing with aggressive forms of cancer… as well as for my sister Jenica and niece Bonnie, who are dealing with fibromyalgia. We have been reminded this summer that our God deals with things too big for anyone else to handle… would you please join us in praying for complete healing for each of these four ladies? What a testimony that would be to His boundless mercy and grace!