reader's digest version...with pictures even!

Okay. Pull out the oxygen and revive yourselves. Here's an entry.

I am known amongst family and friends as...shall we say, "Verbose"? My friends Heather and Moses call it "shaggy dog". Crimsen tells me her family makes jokes about how long my guestbook messages are. And my sister Laura always tells me, "Okay, hurry up and get to the point. Give me the reader's digest version." So here is the reader's digest version of April through August 2007.



April - spent most of my time doing LST prep, pining over the kids from Cambodia and all the AWESOME Christian youth in Asia that I met, and thinking about what's happening in my life. Gaku also moved in with Ben and I, so that he could begin to study the Bible and experience a relationship with God on a more tangible level.



May - took a spontaneous trip to Germany and France (planned 3 weeks ahead) to go see Crimsen and to prolong burnout from setting in. (My flights were paid for through redeemed air miles!) Then, I scrambled to complete preparation for LST.





June & July - LST dominated my life. Virtually no days off for two months. A good team from York came to do LST, and two awesome MAP interns were a-"Hmong" us (A & Kao). Our FriendsCamp was also awesome, and we had a great team from our sponsoring churches. Many awesome faith conversations, many seeds planted...praying for a harvest from the Lord.





August - rushed off to Bali, Indonesia to host the AMF, and celebrated 17 years as a Christian on August 1st. The AMF was fabulous - got to see many loved ones from all over Asia and from North America! Got sick from pushing myself too hard. Had a wonderful visit from Dottie and Steve when we returned. We hosted and celebrated Shi's wedding, sang our last concerts and have begun preparation for the next stage of work and life. I'm proud to share that I successfully executed a day-long date and surprise birthday party for Debi's 25th birthday. We found out Crimsen's mom has cancer, which also has thrown many new questions into the future, but we are so excited to see things progressing in a good way for her. And more exciting news: Akiko is going to Thailand to be a mission apprentice!!!

There's much more...but that would mean shaggy dog stories. And now you know why I have been allergic to blogging. No time. No energy.

Okay...this was still a lengthy entry, but you have to give me credit for summarizing five months (and five of the busiest months of my life).