June, July, August 2011

I returned to the states for 2 ½ months.

I arrived in Michigan in time to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. We had a good time and she enjoyed the gifts, balloons and of course the cake and Ice cream. It was good to spend time with both my Mom and Dad. I was able to celebrate my Dad’s birthday with him also. As for their health, Mom is about the same health wise, she didn’t know who I was in the beginning, but I think there was a couple times she remembered me. She still knows my Dad and waits for him to come each day. My dad is experience some more health issues than I remember last year. He had an out patient surgery to remove a lump from his leg that was causing numbness in his toes. The surgery seemed to help. He appears very depressed and lonely. He misses my Mom very much. It is hard to have her in the nursing home and know he can not do anything about it. Please keep both my Mom and Dad in your prayers. It was nice to spend time with my brother and sister there in Michigan also.

I arrived in Phoenix on a hot summer evening. My friends picked me up at the airport then I spent a few days with them just outside the Phoenix area. It was so nice to be able to share with them about the previous year in Madagascar. Saturday evening after a nice barbeque I headed down to Tucson. On the way I experienced the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. God is so good to make such beautiful things for us. Sunday morning I was blessed to be able to share with my church family at Craycroft Baptist Church in Tucson. While in Tucson I was very busy, but happy to meet with church family and friends almost every day. I spent one evening at the pool with my nephew his wife and their 1 year old daughter. She has grown so much in the last year. I also had the opportunity to spend time with my sister and family. This time in Tucson went very quickly.

Mid August I headed to New York, arriving on Thursday evening, rearranging my suitcases and flying to Florida on Friday. On Saturday morning my friend and I boarded a cruise ship for a 5 day cruise in the Bahamas. While on the cruise we saw the news that there was an earthquake on the east coast being felt in NY and even in Michigan. The next day we arrived in Nassau for a day. We noticed more ships in port than expected. This was due to hurricane Irene and they had to divert a couple of ships to avoid the storm. The next day was at sea. We saw on the news that the hurricane hit the Island of Nassau the next evening. The following day we arrived back in Florida and flew back to NY. I was scheduled to have 1 day in NY then leave on the next day. My plans were changed due to the hurricane. It hit NY late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning. The airports were closed Saturday and Sunday. I was able to secure a seat on Tuesday arriving back in Madagascar on August 31 at 9:45 pm. This was just in time because my Madagascar Visa expired at midnight on the 31^st. There was a little problem at the airport but in the end they allowed me to enter the country and directed me to get my new visa immediately the next day. My entire luggage arrived with everything safely packed inside.

Again I say God is good.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I couldn't do this without you.