Hey Team!  It has been a while!  I'm chiming in on a snowy Easter Day in Alaska!

Coming out of a season where earthly death was a real possibility, the excitement of Easter and what it means for each of us tastes a little bit sweeter.  I hope all of you have had the opportunity to soak up the reality that HE.IS.RISEN!

If you're in a hurry and want the cliff note version: my dad is doing well!  He is gaining strength every day and continues to feel the benefits of each of your prayers as he continues on this recovery journey!  Thank you!!

If you're more of a reader, I've got some details and highlights to share with you to help give a glimpse of his recent days!

1. As of Friday my dad has completed all of his pic line treatments and his pic line has now been removed and he has graduated to an antibiotic pill!  Woohoo!  This is not only exciting for him but also for my mom and sister who have been administering his pic line meds 3 times daily.  This is also exciting specifically for my mom because she cringes every time she sees that he has cut a hole into another one of his shirts to make the pic-line dynamics easier :)

2. Many of you know that my dad has been a runner for many years.  He prides himself on his commitment to push his body physically and his competitive nature often has him expressing excitement when he hits a new personal record.  He's not exactly in the same bracket that he was before, but he has been training hard, and has officially graduated from his need to use a walker!  In the last week he has had two occurrences of walking one consecutive mile in 35 minutes and he feels a little bit better each time that he works at it!  Side note: for my entire life he has played Ken Griffey Jr Baseball on the Super Nintendo while he runs on the treadmill to "distract his mind".  He hasn't gained back the coordination yet to play while he walks, but for fun I wanted to make sure everyone knows he has found a nice little set up to still do some "gaming" in his free time. lol!

3. My dad has re-entered his ministry work!  As many of you got to see in his thoughts through this whole journey, having "one more run at ministry" has been a longing in his heart.  While we celebrate this answered prayer with joy and gratitude, we ask that you will continue to be praying for him to discern a healthy pace.  To my dad and all of his clergy (or non clergy!) friends reading this - God wants your heart more than he wants your ministry!  It's okay to sometimes cancel the meeting, wait to respond to the email, and let the phone go to voicemail!!  As someone who has spent a great deal of time in and around the church, I have always been fascinated by the craftiness of the devil. We all have our weaknesses, but time and time again I have seen that he has a unique ability to take advantage of things people do for God and turn them into an idol or at a minimum convinces us that God "needs" our service.  News flash: Easter is the perfect day point out the fact that we aren't the hero! God is not "going to win" and is not "winning".  HE.HAS.ALREADY.WON!  (interrupt for applause!) By no means is that an excuse to sit on the bench, but as phone calls, emails, meetings, and task lists grow, we ask that you would join us in prayer that no guilt or lies will creep in when things don't look the way they used to. As life continues to slowly shift back to"normal", we are striving to be intentional not to lose sight of the closeness we have experienced with Christ through this journey, and the way that all of our priorities shifted when it looked as though the end may be near.

4. Still deciding if this is a warning or a celebration (interpret as you so choose), but the final update for today is that my dad has been given permission and freedom to return to driving on his own!  This may seem small, but each gift of returned independence is a tangible representation of the kindness of God.

Bonus fun facts/information:
- Yesterday my dad took his first "normal shower" since February 1 (weird and gross - but thank God next time you shower!)
- This morning my dad put on normal clothes and went to church for the first time since January 29 (SO fun that got to happen on Easter!)
- Grandkids are great medicine and motivation for recovery - lots of love for Papo Jack! (Thank you Brian and Bri for making cute babies so the pressure is off for the rest of us!)
- my dad had a followup with the surgeon and was told at the end that he is doing great and the surgeon "hopes he never needs to see him again".  Woohoo!
- Brian (my brother), Rachel (older sister), and my mom have been daily warriors for my dad, helping with appointments, haircuts, medication, entertainment, and more.  Pump them up!  (Hannah (younger sister) and I have been cheerleaders and prayer warriors.  There are moments we wish we were close, but there have also been moments where we are okay with the fact that we both chose to move out of state! No thank you to the Lasix that makes my dad urgently have to pee all the time!!)

Thanks so much for all of your comments, encouragement, prayers, love, and support!  We will continue saying it over and over again - we can't express enough how thankful we have been to those who continue to pray for my dad!  He feels it every day and the Lord continues making Himself known through each stretch of this journey.  We love you all!

xoxo