Urgency of the message

"The Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time."

- Carl F.H. Henry

Family Reunion

Last weekend, we made our way out to Camp Grow on Green Lake in Wisconsin for a family reunion. Kim's cousins (and the Aunts and Uncles came too) all got together for three days of reconnecting, fun, and Christ centered fellowship (think everyone sitting around the campfire singing hymns).

Looks like Brienzi's swimming lessons paid off. She made it twice around the deep end (which was quite a distance) and then had to tread water for a minute to pass the deep water swim test. Here she is showing off her Green Band with second cousin Lydia.

Aidan, with the red life vest on, out on the trampoline.

Delaney getting a ride on the paddle boat.

Ethan loving that c-o-l-d Wisconsin lake water.

Wenny's Chemo Update

We've received a few updates on Wenny's progress with the chemotherapy. She's had three treatments and her body is responding well. She's even been well enough to make a trip to Aceh (remember the tsunami back in 2004) at the beginning of August. She and a few other teachers went there to help train teachers at a new school in that region.

Wenny has an appointment scheduled for testing to see if the tumor has disappeared. They are hopeful it has since the first test after treatment #1 indicated it was shrinking.

Thanks for your continued prayers for Wenny and her family. They have been amazingly resilient during this time, especially in entrusting their lives to God. Wenny has persevered despite the effects of the chemo in weakening her body.

Posting again

We're back in Minnesota and settled in a beautiful little old house in the town of Anoka (actually have been back for a month). The house belongs to a friend from our church, which is also in Anoka.

The town name, Anoka, comes from a combination of terms taken from the native Dakota and Ojibwa. It sits right on the Rum River and the mighty Mississippi, and we're about 40 minutes from the Twin Cities. Anoka is also known as the "Halloween capital of the world" and is said to have sent the first volunteers to the Union Army for the Civil War.

Kim and the kids, with cousin Nathan, on the Coon Rapids Dam, which spans the Mississippi.

It's been a while since I've had the chance to cut grass with a mower (not much of a yard in Indonesia). Aidan's doing the Father/Son tradition thing - didn't have a toy mower, so he improvised with one of Ethan's toys.