Thursday, May 28, 2020

Coming Back to Life?

Coming back to life after eight weeks of COVID CRAZY...who'd a thunk it? We're not even sure how to do it, but each of us are working it out as best we can, together, like it or not. No one seems to be happy. Everyone perceives others as too afraid or not afraid enough. So little "middle" remains. 

Liability and lives and liberty and limits and great loss all intertwined in a complex tapestry of political, cultural, personal, private, public, spiritual, medical, and financial threads seemingly fallen from their spools and knocked from the very loom on which we'd anticipated creating a wonderful warp and weft.

Now...what is left? Life. We ARE coming back to life. As a neighborhood, as a city, a county, state, and believe it or not, even as a nation. Through God's grace we are coming back to life.

May these photos visually inform, inspire, and involve you with our personal "coming back to life." It's going to be okay. It may not be a pretty process, but it's going to be okay. We have Christ's word on that.

Chickadee Fledge Feeding
Chickadee fledge feeding

Bluebird fledge feeding

Brown-Headed Nuthatch fledge waiting to be fed

In seven years of watching our backyard birds, we've NEVER seen more bird families take flight in one spring: Chickadee, Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Northern Cardinal, Eastern Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, Brown-headed Nuthatch, House Finch, and Downy Woodpeckers have all brought their fledglings to feed in our yard. We are coming back to life.

Bell Pepper, Banana Pepper, Habenero Pepper, and two Beefsteak Tomato plants.

Roma Tomato Plants (the heart of Karen's Side-street Salsa)

Our salsa garden is in the ground and healthy. We are coming back to life.


I'm back in the Mobilization Office (MOBOFF)

Karen leads a multi-mission software training session online.

After mobilizing MMS candidates from home for seven weeks, I'm back in my office downtown. Karen continues to train missionaries at MMS Aviation and around the world in donor management software from her office at home. We are coming back to life.

The missionary pilot and our staff gather on the MMS ramp to pray over the Cessna 206 before departure. It came to MMS for engine and avionics upgrades.

The upgraded Cessna departs Richard Downing Airport in Coshocton, OH 
on the first leg of its journey back to ministry in South America.

 And the hangar at MMS Aviation is back in full operation! We are coming back to life. 

Thank you for partnering with us to prepare people and planes for worldwide missionary service. Your faithful prayer and financial partnership over the time of this pandemic is a true testimony to God's grace, love, and provision. None of this would happen if it weren't for your direct involvement and personal investment in our lives.