The time since we arrived in the DR in June 2017 has flown by.  When we arrived it felt as if we’d never left, which was really reassuring that we were right where God wanted us.  As I’ve stated in previous blogs, this past year has been filled with many transitions, but it has been amazing to watch God work through us and the ministry of SRI.  We are so thankful for the unified team that we get to work alongside in San Juan!

April has been a light month for us.  The first two weeks we did not have teams.  We spent the first week in Naples, Florida with Jeff’s family celebrating his mom’s birthday.  That was our first trip back since we arrived last summer.  It was fun to catch up with everyone and have a glimpse back into American life.

When we returned to the DR the following week, Braegan went back to school and Jeff and I caught up on different SRI responsibilities.  We took a beach day to Barahona with the staff and had a blast. It was so fun to get to hang out with everyone!

There were a few boats of fishermen bringing in these swordfish.  Braegan even touched one of their “beaks”.

Braegan has been enjoying her time with her two favorite girl friends, Nashley and Madi.  This past weekend I took Braegan and Madi to the park and they enjoyed racing down the slides together.  Braegan then spent the afternoon at Nashley’s house dressing up and singing Karaoke!  Life is one big adventure for her:)

This past weekend, Jeff and Jon went into the capital which allowed us SRI girls to catch up and have some quiet time in San Juan.  We participated in an online retreat for women serving overseas.  I have shared about these before in previous blogs.  The theme this year was “Sustain”.  Going into the weekend I felt very drained and vulnerable.  Braegan, Jeff, and I have all been fighting chest colds and very restless nights.  As I reflect back to our previous years in the DR, I believe that I am at a healthier place in ministry now than I have been in the past, which is encouraging.  I’ve learned how to set better boundaries for myself and my family to live a more sane life.  On the days when I find my anxiety is getting the best of me, I turn on Bethel Music and lose myself in worship.  “Tremble” has been the anthem of my heart recently.  I had a lot of time to read through scripture, pray, and journal this weekend.  On Saturday afternoon, we met up at Nicole’s to share our take aways from the retreat sessions.  We then went out for dinner at Rincon, a little Mexican restaurant in San Juan.

What’s ahead?  Well we have another two week break coming up.  During the first week in May we will be heading to Las Terrenas for a staff retreat with Brad Burkholder, a pastor from Kansas who was originally born as a missionary kid in San Juan.  We are excited to have time with him and get away!  Following our retreat we start our summer teams.  This summer’s schedule is a little different than most in that we have a 3 week break during the middle of the summer, and we will be spending this time back in the midwest catching up with friends family.  Following that we will return to San Juan and finish out the summer with teams.

How you can be praying:

-For health and rest: our immune systems seem to be pretty low right now, and we are ready to get on the other side.

-Our marriage: we celebrate 10 years in July