Clearly God has been active this month since Slick is still alive after pulling Donna into the pool. Donna was fine of course, but the phone drowned!

He also finally let us in on the secret of Donna’s 20+ year old collarbone pain after months of doctor visits. The path to healing? Stop the moving. LOL! Thankfully, God’s work through modern medicine has also relieved Slick of constant back pain, the bane of many a fighter pilot. There are benefits to living in the US…

In May, we explored a position in Long Island while friends watched our girls. God abundantly responded to your prayers for both direction for us (we are staying on course for Japan for now at least) and protection for the girls – they have yet to stop talking about how much fun they had at their respective friends’ houses. Not only were the girls safe, but they were blessed and blessings to those who watched them (or so our friends said!). Slick leaves NJ mid-June when Donna and the girls go to summer camp. We’ll rejoin in early Aug. Would you undergird our many travels and Slick’s house hunting by joining us in prayer for safety, expedience and opportunities to serve those with whom we interact?

As we depart the Phoenix area, I’ve lost count of the moments of deep gratitude for the time there, scootering to school with the girls, walking to the library one block away, biking to the YMCA pool one mile away, swimming in Nationals with the Masters team, the two older girls doing their first triathlons, feeding fish at the local pond (and Zoe falling in!), selling enough brownies and iced tea to buy goats for a family in need through Compassion International (totally the girls’ idea), hiking and running desert mountain trails with blooming cacti, road tripping to God’s vast and striking beauty in Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks – and along the way, playing in Utah snow on Memorial Day weekend!!

More importantly, we thank God for the opportunity to encourage the folks at our local church and do some work for them, while also reconnecting us through a lost pool buoy with an old friend from a the world of writing (www.brenna-stull.com). On each of her and Donna’s weekly bike rides, she shared the amazing work God continues to do in the local high school and among the community of their church plant. Replete with laughter and discoveries of common ground, dinner with the Stull family this past week was a huge blessing, as was their watching our girls the evening we left so that we could finish packing and cleaning. Praise God for friends like them!

And praise God for friends like you who continue to follow our journeys and to stand beside us in prayer. Please let us know how we can return the favor. We’d love to hear from more of you!

Donna near Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park

Matti, Gwen and Zoe at Bryce Canyon National Park