a letter from Jen…
Dear Friends & Family:
I hope this letter finds you well. As you are hopefully aware, my family and I recently moved back to Mesa, AZ from Seattle. While we enjoyed a break from the heat while in the Northwest as well as the contrast in culture while living in a very cool city, we realized that Mesa is ‘home.’ Our close friendships are here along with the great connections we have at Central Christian Church of the East Valley. Only two days after returning to Mesa, one of those friends challenged me to stretch my faith by participating in a Global Connection Trip with CCCEV. While I was a bit unsure of the timing of the trip since we are still settling in after moving, I quickly became excited about the opportunity. I certainly experienced a different way of life while in Seattle, but I am looking forward to expanding my worldview beyond the borders of our American culture.
I will be traveling in a group of six women to Egypt October 6-18th. We will be partnering with Life in Abundance International. The mission of LIA is to empower local churches to serve the poor using a holistic approach to transform the community by meeting their practical needs. During our stay we will assist LIA as they put on a women’s conference for Sudanese refugees in Cairo. The purpose of the conference is to lead and encourage the women in their walk with Jesus; to give them an opportunity to forgive, reconcile and unite as one family; and to experience God’s hand of healing.
I am writing with the hope that you will prayerfully consider joining in the partnership of this trip. There are two ways for you to do so. First of all, would you please be praying for this trip? The trip’s success depends upon the prayers of our partners. Second, to participate in this trip I must raise $2500 by October 3rd. Would you consider a financial gift to help me reach that goal? All gifts are tax deductible, online contributions may be made here. Please be sure to make note of my name and trip #276 in the appropriate fields.
Again, I ask that you please keep me and my team: Jackie, Leslie, Marcia, Amy and Denyse in your prayers as we prepare for this trip as well as during the trip in October. Please do not hesitate to comment or message me with any questions you may have.
Thanks,
Jen
I do need to begin with an update on Elias. We saw the doctor twice this week. After all the tests came back from his follow-up blood work last week, the doctors were still rather concerned with his lack of progress toward healing. So, they asked us to come back Tuesday to get another x-ray view of his lung which showed that there was still a significant amount of fluid in his lung. At that point they decided to wait until Friday to do another blood test to see if there was any more progress. If not, the possibility for them to admit him again for IV antibiotics was pretty high. But, we returned for more blood work yesterday and his levels looked a bit better. The doctor was also impressed with Elias’ energy level. Needless to say, Elias was relieved and overjoyed with the fact that he didn’t have to go back to the hospital. We will follow-up with his doctor again next week & another blood test. He’s getting pretty good at them even though he still “cries just a little bit.”
The “more than a pneumonia update” part is much more exciting… We’ve finally made plans to return to Mesa for a visit. The boys have spring break from school at the end of March & Ryan is doing his triathlon in Havasu again this year, so we thought it would make for a great time to get the trailer back out for a road trip. We’re planning to head to Havasu March 17th, then on to Boulder City, NV to see Granny & Grandpa John (and allow Ryan to work a couple of days in Vegas) March 21st. Then we’ll drive to Mesa on March 24th and stay through the 30th-ish. We would love to see as many friends as possible that week. Please let us know if you & your kids are available for a play date. Of course, we’ll be enjoying some Barro’s on at least a couple of occasions and we’d love for you to join us. We’re also looking forward to seeing some sun while we’re there, so if you could work on drying everything up over then next month that would be much appreciated. 
It seems Arizona has received more rain over the last week than we have here in Seattle. How… ironic.
Here are the sporting adventures as they are coming together for 2010… will keep you posted on all of the glory as it continues to unfold.
March 20 - Lake Havasu Olympic Tri – w/ Chris Hedrick & Jason Shafer – time to beat is 2:47:37
Spring – 100 mile bicycle race - location undetermined – w/ Jerome Hawkins
July 18 - Vineman Half-Ironman – tentative; race support for sure w/ teamxxxchurch.com & Jake Larson
Summer - Mountain Biking in Whistler – *when ever the schedule & Jen will allow
Aug. 13-15 – Summit Mt. Rainier – tallest mountain in lower 48; 21st world wide – w/ Jessica Nienaber & Stephen K. Rose
Fall - Marathon (26.2 miles) - location undetermined – w/ Jerome Hawkins
When we moved to Seattle, I really wanted to live as close to downtown and the water as possible. We succeeded in living very close to the water and are only 15 min. from the heart of downtown. Pretty much we accomplished our goals. Last night and tonight we have been on a mini forced vacation… a clean out cap on our sewer line popped out and well, left a crappy mess to be cleaned up and a pipe to be fixed. So at the pleasure of our landlord’s insurance company we have been displaced for 2 nights. All in all, not a horrible situation though since it has provided us a chance to spend 2 nights downtown in a pretty nice hotel in the heart of the city. To be honest, except for the noisy street outside our 5th floor street-side room, the whole experience is invigorating. I am sure that the urban nature of 3 elementary boys would soon turn from adventure to challenge when releasing energy every day, but for a short period it is fun. Tonight I took the boys for an evening walk. Pretty positive that their version of exercise wouldn’t normally fly but they did some urban building climbing, played in the turning doors as we passed by the Westin hotel and made silly faces through the glass at patrons eating luxurious meals at the street level fancy restaurants. 2 nights now, but we will be back!