Sorry it has been so long since we have updated this blog. Below is an email we sent out in February ... it gives you some details of what has happened this year. Who would have thought we would be back here in the States so soon. God's timing is perfect though and we are so thankful for all He has done.

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Dear Friends and Family

I hate that we are relating this message via email, but it is the easiest thing to do right now.

First of all we want to thank you so very much for all of your prayers and support. In the midst of these trying circumstances God has poured out His provision and blessing upon us in many forms. The overwhelming concern you have shown towards our family has been amazing. Thank you for your prayers and stepping up to help us out financially.

We wanted to let you know that we have made the decision to move back to the States. It is heartbreaking for us to have to do this, but we know it is what we need to do right now. We love the people and the country of Honduras and the work we are doing there.

We have grown in many ways during our time in Honduras and wouldn't trade this experience in for anything. The circumstances we are in right now prevent us from fulfilling our commitment and we are very sorry for that. Jordan's medical bills are overwhelming and on the rise, plus we have realized that her physical needs can not be met in Honduras at this time. These reasons alone are cause enough to return but there are other issues as well. God seems to be using this situation to call our attention to other areas in our lives that need to be taken care of.

We took Jordan to the neurosurgeon on the 23rd of January and all is well. Her cat scan looked good and she does not have to go back for a year. We found it interesting that the doctors said they had never seen this happen before. She was classified as shunt independent 2 years ago and yet her shunt failed and she is now shunt dependent again. They have some theories on what happened but really don't' know, they said it was bizarre. Her foot is doing much better. They put on one more cast, it is mostly healed and they are planning to do surgery in about a month.

We had been waiting to get more information on Alan before we headed back to Honduras to tie up some loose ends. Alan had one more test last Wednesday (a gastric emptying test, he had to eat radio active eggs and they took pictures of how they went through his system) and it came back normal. So now they have scheduled him for gallbladder surgery on the 25th of February. We were really hoping that it would be sooner so that he could feel better, especially having to take care of things in Honduras but since they can't get him in until then end of February we are going to go ahead back for a few weeks.

We will be leaving this Tuesday the 5th and returning the 19th. We will be getting rid of all of our things there with a few personal exceptions. It cost too much money and takes too much time to get them back here. So we will be starting over from scratch as far as material possessions. We decided to take AJ and Jordan back with us this time. They are old enough and been a part of this process from the beginning that they need to go back and say their goodbye and help with this process. The other four kids will be in the care of our good friends, Dean and Angie Rish.

God has blessed us with a loving, supporting Christian family (I'm talking about all of you) and we are so thankful that He continues to meet all of our physical and spiritual needs. A local church here in Columbia has a house they use for missionaries who are on furlough or in transition. It is available from mid February until the end of June and they are going to let us stay there. That will help us out greatly.

A note to our financial supporters...

Our intention was to get a real letter out to you... sorry about the email, but we wanted to let you know what was going on and now it's "crunch time". WGO will accept your contributions for us up until April (if you need an tax receipt) and forward them on to us. We are going to ask if you would continue to support us until Alan gets a job. Thank you so much for your care and concern for our family.

We love you all and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you have done for us. It certainly has been an adventure... and it's not over. We are all in this (life) together.

Love,
Alan, Dana and kids