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Dear Friends,
Greetings to each of you from our home to yours! As I think of you I reflect on John’s words, "Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” (3 John 2) Indeed, this is our prayer for you. We can testify that our souls are “getting along well” since we last shared an update with you. We’re grateful that in good times and bad, our souls can continue to do well as we follow God’s plan for our lives.
Like people all over the world, our last year has been shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic. While it is easy to focus on what this has taken away, it has also opened plenty of opportunities for us. Here are a few of the opportunities Covid brought to us:
-Working together from home
-Doing less travel
-Having much more time and focus on prayer
-Having stronger connections with extended family virtually than prior to Covid.
-Realizing more clearly that we are not in control of our lives
-Finding new ways to connect with our church family, sometimes meeting outside and seeing God bring a stranger into our fellowship.
-Recognizing the value of personal connections which we took for granted before
-Appreciating more fully the roles of so many that did not previously seem significant (the delivery person, grocery worker, health care professionals, etc.)
-Time to do some renovations and decluttering in our home both physically and spiritually!
So, in all situations, we continue to thank God for His faithfulness.
Loice has gone through many health challenges but we have seen God’s grace upon her life and she is doing so much better with more energy and spring in her step than she has had in many years. She continues to find joy and fulfillment in her work with the refuges God has brought to our city. While working from home she has pushed landlords to take care of their property, helped clients figure out electrical issues in their basements, helped kids connect virtually to classes, helped teaches understand where these kids are coming from and challenging the kids to rise up to their potential. She has been able to influence so many lives in the school system as well as in the community.
Jon continues to thrive in his role with Center for Serving Leadership. He’s done a lot of work behind the scenes from tech issues, to HR policy development to leading the executive team meetings. He’s beginning to engage more in training leaders as well which he loves. This is a year of development of infrastructure that will allow for greater expansion in the future. We continue to work towards more involvement overseas in the future. The Covid crises has accelerated the pace of offering online training as well as many meetings via Zoom. We recently started recruiting intercessors to stand with us in our vision to see a flourishing world in which serving is the trademark of leadership.
We always enjoy any connection we can have with our children and granddaughter. Joe & Joylie and Elizabeth live close to us while Joshua & Rachel live an hour’s drive away. Even FaceTime visits with our 9 month-old granddaughter bring lots of delight. Occasionally we are able to meet in person (see picture). We are so grateful for protection over them during the pandemic.
We are so grateful for your friendship, love and prayers. |
