Back from vacation...and desperately in need of a vacation! No, not because of the typical frantic sightseeing of many vacations. This was one for the books. Soon after we drove to Washington DC with Kim's folks, we realized her Dad was not well. A trip to the hospital confirmed a mild stroke. So...the rest of our time focused on Jack and his recovery. I'm please to tell you that he has had a wonderful recovery and is now back home in California. Kim accompanied her parents home to provide some care along the way and at home.
Though so many of the things we planned on seeing and doing, went undone, in many ways it was still a remarkable time. If family is important to you....and it is to us...then this was a wonderful time. Kim and I were able to be with her parents at a critical time. Kim's sister and brother-in-law were there with us and we formed a good team of care-givers. Because the stroke was mild and recovery began almost immediately, we were also able to slip away occasionally to see a few things. We also were able to persuade Kim's mom to come with us to supper a few days. You really realize in times like this how important it is to have good family relationships.
It was also a time when we saw God move in significant ways. The timing was great...being with Jack at this critical time. The damage was minimal. The doctors and nurses were awesome. Jack has determinedly pushed through this crisis and is well on his way toward full recovery. Thank you God for being present in our family throughout this situation.

Okay, so I'm a little slow. This is my first blog. I've planned on it for years, but just now got around to it. Thanks goes to my assistant, Dean Gambill for setting this up for me. Most of my blogs will center around prayer....no surprise there. It's what I do. But I do want to just share about other things as well. For instance, this year is a great one to talk about elections and the whole weird process of choosing a President.

Right now I'm getting ready to go on vacation. Kim and I are taking her parents to Washington DC. Her Dad, Jack, is a Marine veteran of WWII and has never seen the WWII Memorial in Washington DC. So, we'll drive there and meet up with Kim's sister Ruth Ann and brother-in-law Phil. Of course, Kim and I were just there two weeks ago for all of the activities happening around the National Day of Prayer. I guess that was just the advance party for this trip.
As always, the NDOP was great. In some ways, the event on Capitol Hill seemed even more significant this year. Perhaps it is the awareness of the struggle going on for the soul of a nation...but it certainly was a time of great prayer and encouragement.
We got home from that trip and immediately jumped into the 10 days of prayer leading up to the Global Day of Prayer, which was May 11. By the way, when we were in Washington, those who went to the White House told us that the President shared that he hoped that someday there would be an International Day of Prayer. Someone needs to tell him about the Global Day of Prayer. There's already over 200 million of us gathering for prayer on that day.
Enough for a first blog. I hope to hear from some of you. I'll respond after we return from vacation.