Hello!
We are bringing you mid-summer greetings once again from Normandy. We sent out a ministry newsletter last week (if you missed it and would like to catch up you can click here). This edition is to give you a family update, prayer points and sign off before we take some time off to welcome our baby boy!
Baby Watch
Our whole family is eagerly anticipating the arrival of our fifth child! Joanna is 38 weeks along so the birth could be any day now or still a few weeks away. We are really happy to say that our baby boy is doing well and both he and Joanna are healthy. We have been pleased with the medical care we’ve received here(!) and now we are simply waiting for the appointed time for his arrival.
Please pray for continued good health and we appreciate lots of covering prayers for a safe birth and recovery. Please pray as well for our kids and our family dynamic as we’ve been a tight group of six for nearly 9 years and a new baby will be a big change for us.
Reuben’s Health
We’re thrilled to report that Reuben’s health has continued to improve, and he is doing rather well! The final few months of the school year were much better for Reuben, and he has been approved to advance to his next year at school despite missing more than half of the year. Having Reuben feeling more able to be his usual bright and sunny self is a huge blessing to all of our family and now that this run of good health has lasted a couple of months, we are feeling such relief and joy. It’s been an incredibly hard 18 months for Reuben and our whole family. Thank you all so very much for your prayers and your care for us as we’ve walked through this challenge.
Praise God for His care and healing. Please pray for Reuben’s continued health journey as it is likely that Reuben will continue to have difficulties with migraines, but it seems that the medicine he is taking is working and Reuben is doing so much better!
Teenagers and GEM K
At the end of May, we traveled to Amsterdam to participate in the Renew Gathering with Greater Europe Mission. Above are some pictures of our visit to the street art museum in Amsterdam. During our time in the Netherlands, Reuben and Eli were at a youth gathering at a hostel near our conference hotel. This is the first year that they have been old enough to participate in GEM’s youth group program called “GEM K”. They spent a couple days and nights away with other missionary kids from around Europe. It was a special time for them to grow in their relationship with the Lord, to be in community with other young people who can relate to their situation and to have input from youth leaders. We were so grateful, that despite Reuben’s health challenges, they both had a great time and have started to make some friends in the group.
Having been youth leaders ourselves for a long time, we know and appreciate the value of having others sow into the lives and faith journeys of our teenagers. This is something that we have to be intentional about on the mission field as there are not youth pastors or many resources for them here. We plan on taking them to the Onelife Young Leaders Conference in London this fall and hopefully sending them to another GEM K event after Christmas in order to give them more valuable opportunities like this.
Please pray for Reuben, Eli and Silas, as they enter into their teen years, that the Lord would provide opportunities for them to grow in relationship with him and other believers who are peers. Pray for protection over their hearts as they enter this crucial time of making their faith their own.
Sortie and Summer at Home
The month of June is always heaving with end of school events, concerts, and trips for the kids. We are pleased to have successfully completed this school year with all the kids moving up in school, in relatively good health, and growing positive friendships. Praise God!
We decided to take a week's vacation right after school finished to a campsite in Brittany, only 2 hours away near St. Malo on the northern coast of France. We went to a campsite that we visited 8 years ago when we were living in Paris and where we celebrated Elodie’s 1st birthday! The great thing about many French campsites is that it is more like glamping than roughing it in the woods. We stayed in a mobile home with plumbing, electricity, and beds we didn’t have to inflate. Plus, the campsite had pools, waterslides and a small indoor water park. Our time was spent playing, reading, swimming, and napping (for Joanna).
The rest of the summer we are hunkered down here in our home, waiting and preparing for the baby to arrive. This will be our first full summer here in France without major travel, lots of visitors and big ministry events. We are so grateful for home and the place of peace it is for us and our kids as we look ahead to make this big transition to a family of 7.
Please pray that this summer will continue to be restful for our family as the months of August and September will be major months of transition. Please pray for wisdom and for those who are filling in for us as we take some time away from ministry responsibilities for parental leave. The kids start school on the first of September with Reuben and Eli in 8th grade, Silas in 7th, and Elodie in 4th. Pray for safe and smooth travels for Tom’s mom, Alicia, who is coming at the end of august to help after baby boy arrives.
Gratitude
As always, we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Your prayers are sustaining to us, and every word of encouragement is like a drink of cool water in the desert. Thank you for walking with us, for your support and care for our family. Our communication might be a little less frequent in the coming season, but we will send out a quick email to share the news of our sons arrival!
