Walk and don't faint

Isa 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (ESV)

Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (KJV) 

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in his wisdom and skill; let not the mighty and powerful person glory and boast in his strength and power; let not the person who is rich [in physical gratification and earthly wealth] glory and boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] riches; But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord. (AMP)

Have cane, will travel

We are home and pouring sweat in Manila. All flights went very well. Using the wheelchair was a huge blessing at each location. I did go through a panic in Tokyo though. I asked Jeff what time it was in Tokyo before we landed there. He said "quarter to five". All I heard was "five" so I changed the hour setting on my watch to 5:45 instead of 4:45. Our next flight was at 6:25 so I started to get concerned when our plane had to be towed into the gate and then wait for the wheelchair guy to get others into their wheelchairs. Fortunately he brought us to the head of the security check line. We got to the gate with about 5 minutes to spare. But the door to the gate was roped off so I was afraid we had missed the flight even though I saw the plane sitting there. It finally dawned on me that we had an hour and 5 minutes. Phew. It really took me some time to relax after that even though Jeff had prayed that all would go well. He didn't realize I was looking at the wrong time. Anyway, I needed a little adventure at that point. I didn't realize how easily I can self-create adventure based on wrong information (it wasn't said wrong but it went through my grid wrong).

We got through the Manila airport faster than ever and it was a huge help to have the wheelchair guy get all our bags on the cart for me. I had lots of help with our baggage and only needed to get it on the first cart in Minneapolis so that part went smoothly. The security check areas were the roughest part of the trip since I needed to deal with both Jeff's and my own gear and make sure we didn't leave anything behind. Jeff traveled very well. His hip and left foot managed without any problems. Next time we travel he will not be using the cane so that will be helpful--but then we probably won't be using the wheelchair. Dave Majam was there to pick us up and the waiting area wasn't crowded like it usually is. Jeff really enjoys getting the update from Dave and we appreciate his helpfulness as well as from many along the way.

Family

One of our challenges as a missionary family is that our family is spread apart in the US by thousands of miles and then we are another 8 - 10 thousand miles from any of them. It was a blessing to be with family over the Christmas holiday. We started in Minnesota and had the chance to see my folks, several of my siblings and spouses, nieces and nephews and other friends and family. Amos and Laura came from California and we were able to have a reception for them in my parent's building. Laura's parents also came from Sioux Falls to join in the celebration. Then we went to Spokane to celebrate Christmas with our daughter Micah, husband Danny and granddaughter Constance. It was also fun to spend time with Danny's parents, brother (and girlfriend who is now his fiance) and grandparents. All these times make special memories. We were able to get a family photo before we all separated ways. I was especially blessed to have this time with our kids and their spouses and our granddaughter all together as we get to know each other as a family.