Really?! Four years?!

Well, it's good to write to you again, it's only taken us four years to update you on our lives! Let's consider this past few years our time of silence. If you were with us from 2004-2010 during our ministry in Peru, we want to fill you in on what has happened since then.

We were told reentry would be more difficult than leaving the States but it was hard to envision that beforehand. We now agree that integrating back into the States is harder.

We returned in May of 2010 just as the economy was still in the doldrums. Unemployment was 9.5% and I attempted to change careers from non-profit back to finance and accounting.  After nine months of adjusting expectations to the workforce, I found a job at a local community bank near my (Paul) hometown of Wabash, Indiana.  I thought banking was the closest industry to the type of work I was doing in Peru considering the type was called "Community Managed Microfinance". While I greatly enjoyed the company and people, after two and a half years I switched back to public accounting at a small firm in Wabash.

We have been through the worst of the enculturation and are relatively stable now.  We are active in our church in Wabash which is a globally minded missions church.  Our family, especially our boys,  are doing very  well in this faith community.  It is exciting to see our boys grow in their faith there.

Speaking of the boys, Cael is six years old (can you believe it?!) and Liam is four. Our boys are as different as possible but they continue to overwhelm us with joy and energy! We are trying to savor the time we have right now with them because we know it is flying by.

Despite the nagging feeling of wanting to send out an update of our lives, I really haven't had a great motivation before now.  I want to update some and fill the rest in on the situation of our youngest son.

Megan is now 33 weeks pregnant with our third son, Ephraim. We were told at week 19 that he has a birth defect referred to generally as a bladder outlet obstruction. This has varying severity but ours is a severe case with a poor prognosis. After several consultations we have chosen to give birth in Cincinnati.  We are in the process of relocating there for the birth.

How is Megan doing? As with any pregnancy she is tired but with this one she is particularly taxed. The baby has a very, very large bladder. We hate to have this distinction but his bladder is the largest any doctor has seen. Twice we have had the bladder tapped removing over 1600 ml from the baby's bladder each time (that is almost a 2 liter of fluid!). In fact, the ultrasound machine calculates body weight based on the measurements of each organ and they put Ephraim's weight at 20 pounds! Needless to say we are very concerned about the implications for mom and baby.

So what do we want in this situation? Miraculous healing and divine intervention? Absolutely! However improbable we know our God is the God of miracles.  But what if that doesn't happen here?  Megan was reading recently in the book of Daniel about Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.  We like their response to the king when he asked if God was going to save them from the fiery furnace they were about to be thrown in. Their response was something to the effect that "Yes, He certainly can, but even if He doesn't, He is still the living God and we're not bowing to you."

We like their perspective. Too many times we define God's attributes by the outcomes in our lives.  We think, "If something bad happens then God must not love me." How can bad things happen to good people? Or it was just a lack of faith.  Or maybe you've been to a church that teaches if you are a good Christian with enough faith these things won't happen to you.  I think this is a shallow view of faith.  Faith is being sure God is a God of love and interpreting our experience in light of His character, not the circumstance.  The faith hall of fame in Hebrews chapter 11 is full of heroes who faced terrible circumstances and verse 39 says they did not receive what was promised, at least not while they were alive. There is a danger in many churches that teach that right living always lead to great circumstances.  We would love for this to be true but it is not supported by the bible.

How can I help? We appreciate your support and concern. Please pray for a safe delivery for mom and baby and that we are able to handle decisions and outcomes.

We plan to keep this site updated as we learn more so we will use this as a the breaking news for everyone.