We have this anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
Hebrews 6:19 NIV

Last week on Wednesday, we were back in Boston for Noel’s appointments at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The three weeks since Noel’s last appointment, when Dr. Soiffer lowered his prednisone dose, has been difficult. Noel has experienced great fatigue, very swollen feet and legs and loss of muscle strength in his legs. All seemingly side effects of lowering the dose. But on the other hand, we thank the Lord that Noel’s blood work was all within the normal ranges. We hope that any future further reduction of the prednisone with not make the side effects any worse – we are praying it actually eases them. Since needing to take the high dose when he was so poorly in January, it now seems crazy that the treatment to relieve the horrible GVHD flareup back then, now 5 months later, has caused him to have these difficult side effects. Please keep praying.

The mouth sores caused by the GVHD (Graft Versus Host Disease) have continued to be bothersome but have slowly improved, for which we thank God. As we expected Dr. Treister, head of the oral department at B&W, suggested Noel join a Clinical Trial that he and his research team are running. The trial is researching into new treatments for oral GVHD, since there is nothing as yet that has proved greatly beneficial. So after it was discussed, Noel decided to join the trial. It involves using a solution of a drug that Noel took orally for over a year after the transplant to help prevent the rejection of the donated stem cells… Dr. Treister is hopeful that patients will find relief by using a solution of the drug as a mouth wash. So, every day for a month I mix the solutions together, then Noel uses it 4 times a day, keeping it in his mouth for 5 mins. One could have hoped the drug would be provided by the trial but it seems this is not possible, so Noel’s co pay was $270. But worth it if it helps… We pray it will, not only for Noel but for others who suffer from this extremely painful side effect of a stem cell transplant.

This means that our next visit to Boston for Noel to see Dr. Soiffer at the Dana Farber and Dr Treister at the Brigham and Women’s will be on June 10th. Then we have made appointments for a month after that, on Monday July 6th. We have had to make the appointment for that Monday as later in the week we are going to the annual Convocation of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincies Jurisdiction (aka Diocese) of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). Noel, as an ACCTS staff member working with military Chaplains and Veterans, ministers as a commissioned lay Chaplain under their endorsement. It takes place at Dayton, OH from June 9-12 and is followed immediately by a Welcome Home Initiative retreat at West Palm Beach, FL (June 16-18) being led by Rev. Nigel Mumford. We pray for a good number of Veterans to come and find peace and healing for their combat stress and trauma. We plan to return home soon after the retreat ends.

Meanwhile, and not withstanding his health, Noel has been able to meet three Veterans individually, continuing relationships of friendship, acceptance and growing healing from their soul, moral and physical injury. Every time they meet the Holy Spirit does something good in each of their lives. Noel has continued to be involved in a small committee examining how best to finance and build grass roots contacts with needy combat Veterans to strengthen and improve future Welcome Initiative retreats at the Diocese of Albany’s Spiritual Life Center at Greenwich, NY. Please also pray for that the 45 minute presentation about WHI and the associated display table at the Diocesan Convention on the weekend of June 5-7th will be highly successful in developing and building successful WHIs.

Our families on both sides of the Atlantic continue to lead full and busy lives. All the grandchildren are doing well in school and preschool. It is hard to believe that there are only a few weeks left of this school year. And in September, Charlotte and Evelyn will be 3rd graders, William will be in first grade and Lucy will be in Kindergarten.

One coming event for our family is our annual participation in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at Greenwich, NY. As many of you know, we are a small family but one that seems to have it’s share of cancer. There is no history of inherited cancer in our forbears. However, I became a cancer survivor in 2008. Our first grandchild, Charlotte at the young age of 18 months, was diagnosed with a very rare but aggressive cancer of the liver, Hepatoblastoma. After surgery and chemotherapy, she became a survivor in 2009. Noel was diagnosed with a rare cancer of the bone marrow in 2011 and had a life saving stem cell transplant, with cells from an unrelated donor in June 2012, three years ago. So we are the Dawes Survivor Trio – the DST!

Our hope every year is to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. This will be our 5th Relay. The ACS do amazing work funding research and supporting cancer patients and their families. We, ourselves, have been hugely grateful recipients of this support. We have been blessed with accommodation in Boston at their Hope Lodge on many, many occasions at no cost to us (they do welcome donations, of course) saving us what should have added up to thousands of dollars in hotel costs over the past 3 years. So we are asking you to help us pay it forward for the sake of others as we raise money for them through the Relay for Life. Our main hope is to have donations made to Charlotte’s Relay page, so please will you consider making a donation. Last year $3,000 her padre raised made a difference. What difference can be made this year? Thank you for your support.

This is the link to her page… http://main.acsevents.org/goto/charlotte-emma

If you prefer not to donate on line you can send a check to me, made out to The American Cancer Society/Relay for Life. I will see it reaches Charlotte’s page. Oh, by the way, our address is 22 Davis Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801.

Thank you for keeping on keeping on with us as we continue this journey with it’s ups and downs…we are so grateful for all your prayers, love and support. We thank The Lord daily for your faithfulness. Please keep in touch with us. We love hearing your news
too.

Happy Easter to you all and more news from us!

This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118.24).

Last Wednesday saw us back in Boston for Noel’s appointment at the Dana-Farber. In the last 3 weeks there has not been any improvement in how he feels. His mouth is still very sore and the shots he got in his mouth last time, sadly, made no difference. His digestive system still troubles him and he is on less than top form. He is not sleeping well either and also gets leg cramps. All this is from the GVHD (Graft Versus Host Disease).

One good thing is that his blood tests now show his liver functions are good and his platelets are in the normal range as are his other blood levels, so his new bone marrow is doing it’s job very well. But the GVHD, where the donors cells don’t much like Noel is the main problem. So it was decided to put Noel’s steroid dose back up to 30 mg a day.

As we have said before long term steroid use is not recommended as it brings problems and other unwanted health issues with it. If Noel continues to show no real improvement other options will have to be considered, like, maybe, entering a clinical trial for the research they are doing on new drugs for GVHD. It is a somewhat mysterious illness, not yet fully understood and with no clear cut effective treatment. We will have to wait and see.

Noel has also been prescribed a drug he had come off last year. Bactrim is an antibiotic designed to prevent a certain strain of pneumonia that can be very dangerous in stem cell transplants. He is also taking the prescription meds for his digestion again as the over the counter ones not having helped much. But we stay hopeful that this is just a valley in the journey and it too will pass.

In 3 weeks, on Wednesday April 22nd. Noel has an appointment with Dr. Soiffer; and with Dr. Treister, the mouth doctor, 3 weeks later (May 13). Thankfully we already have a room booked at the Hope Lodge for each visit. We were blessed by the Lord this past week as a room became available just before we needed it. We had been on the wait list. We were so thankful to have this refuge as neither of us felt well on the drive to Boston – in fact Noel was quite sick with a fairly short lived but debilitating stomach bug, which was probably made worse by his low immune system.

Spring is now here. Winter was long and cold but our snow has gone in the past week. The grass is looking a bit greener every day and very soon we will be seeing new buds everywhere. We wonder how many of our bushes and young trees will have survived the cold.

Easter is always a wonderful time to rejoice and give thanks for everything the Lord has given us and provides for us. We will celebrate with our family here in Glens Falls with a roast lamb dinner cooked by Granny! We will also be celebrating three birthdays: mine; our daughter in law, JoAnn’s; and Noel’s which all fall in the next 2 weeks.

Noel’s ministry activities have been somewhat less these past 3 weeks, although he was able to complete an intensive personal spiritual retreat called Cursillo. Although he was just getting over a bad cold and cough, he enjoyed the retreat and felt benefit from it. He also took part in several online video conference and other phone calls as a board member of Rev. Nigel Mumford’s healing ministry, By His Wounds (www.byhiswoundsministry.org) (BHW) and the Special Jurisdiction for the Armed Forces and Chaplaincies of the Anglican Church in North America (SJAFC/ACNA) (www.anglicanchaplains.org) in which, as a Commissioned Lay Chaplain, he is a member of the Executive Council and also Prior of the Order of St. Martin of Tours. Sadly, the Welcome Home Initiative retreats for female combat Veterans which should have taken place 2 weeks ago was cancelled due to Noel’s and another staff member’s illnesses and lack of registrations. In his capacity with ACCTS (www.accts.org) he has been in Facebook contact with a Croatian Veteran (Bosnian War) who wants help to bring relief to many of his “buddies” suffering from combat trauma.

We thank you all for your continued support in different ways and your prayers… As we continue on this journey… Please continue to keep in contact with us even if we are slow to respond to emails and messages… God Bless you.

I will give thanks to The Lord with my whole heart…
Psalm 111:1

February Snow in Glens Falls

Snow, snow and more snow… Here in Glens Falls we have had multiple feet of snow on the ground for weeks and Boston has had record amounts of snow this year. But we have been blessed with fine clear days to drive there and back… for which we are very thankful, last week’s trip turned out to be just overnight as we could only get one night’s accommodation at the Hope Lodge, so we left soon after Noel’s appointments on Wednesday to drive home – just ahead of more snow!

During the 2 weeks since his last visit to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute Noel had blood work done at the CR Wood Cancer Center in Glens Falls and it seemed that things were beginning to move in the right direction, so we were very pleased that the tests at the DFCI showed the same movement with slightly better readings for Noel’s platelet levels and liver functions… this coupled with the fact that Noel’s mouth is much less sore and he says he now feels about 70% well… it was decided to begin to reduce the high dose of steroids he was prescribed! Coming back off them is a lengthy process. This is good as the side effects of the steroids are not much fun, one of which we need to keep an eye on is the rise in ‘sugar’ levels… So he will have blood tests again next week at the CR Wood Cancer Center here in Glens Falls.

We praise the Lord that we are coming out of this dark valley and moving forward again. Noel is still on what he calls ‘light duties’ (British Army term) and trying to pace himself and not to rush back too quickly into doing too much. We have now learned that he must be careful not only not to catch infections but also not to over tax himself as this puts a strain on his, as yet still immature, immune system which then seems to result in the GVHD flare ups. They arrive quickly, with little warning, and then take ages to recover from.

But even on ‘light duties’ life seems pretty busy with no time to be bored.

We are grateful for all your prayers and support in so many ways – your snail mail and welcome calls and messages. We are sorry if we are not always quick to reply and hope you will bear with us. We are also grateful for the recent anonymous donation in Noel’s honor to CaringBridge. Although we do not receive the donations made to CaringBridge ourselves, they do go towards providing this great asset for us and others free of charge which enables us to keep in touch with you all though that service.

We were given the option of Noel’s next appointment being in 2 or 3 weeks, so we decided to take the 3 week break and his next appointment is on March 11th. We are once again on the wait list for a room at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge. Please pray for a room to become available there. Hope Lodge is a wonderful blessing and being able to stay there on so many of our visits to Boston has saved us hundreds of dollars in hotel costs. We are so grateful to the American Cancer Society and those who support it for enabling us and others to stay there at no cost. Of course we try make donations ourselves from time to time, and occasional donations from others are always welcomed by the management of the place, which costs a huge amount to run each year.

Meryl, Charlotte and Noel at ACS Relay for Life

It won’t be long now before we will again be turning our own thoughts and efforts towards our own fund raising for the American Cancer Society through our participation in the Relay for Life. For us this has become an annual family event as we celebrate Charlotte continuing to be a cancer survivor, as well as Noel and myself. We would not have chosen these three journeys but they are 3 journeys during which we have received many, many blessings, especially drawing closer together as a family and having our faith in a Mighty God strengthened.

God bless you all.

Meryl and Noel

After note from Noel: We have not been engaged in much ministry these past two weeks. The Lay Chaplains Academy went very well and was enjoyed by those who were able to attend. Sadly as you know we were not able to be there. In conversation with Bishop Dan at the Spiritual Life Center, we have decided to postpone the female combat Veterans healing retreat until later in the year (we had not yet widely advertised it and there were no registrations, coupled with my own health and that of one of the staff at the SLC). The main ministry event recently was the annual Board meeting of By His Wounds ministry (Rev. Nigel Mumford’s healing ministry), which I was able to attend via Webex. I have been able to do a bit of follow up over Facebook with a former Croatian soldier who I met at Global Interaction last December. He wants to translate some of the Welcome Home Initiative materials to help the soul wounds suffered by Bosnian War Veterans.

My help comes from The Lord , who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2

O God our help in ages past. Our hope for years to come . Watts.

February Snow in Glens Falls

The last two weeks seem to have flown by. Lots of snow, some sunshine but extremely low temperatures, Glens Falls was reported one night last week to be the coldest location in the whole country. With minus 32’F, now that is cold!

I am pleased to say I am fully recovered from the bronchitis although very tired and Noel has slowly been feeling much better, the medications kicking in and reducing the horrible GVHD symptoms. The rash is gone and the sores in his mouth are getting much better. He began to go from only liquids and blended soups to soft foods and a more normal range of tastes. Today he has eaten a sandwich for the first time in weeks. Talking for him has become easier although his voice is still not quite his normal one yet.

Davies Street Snow in February

This week we drove to Boston as normal on Tuesday, thankfully a dry, cold and clear day… the countryside looking beautiful with all the fresh snow. Boston had so much snow travel in the city was extremely congested. Huge snow banks and buried cars along the roads. We had been unable to get a room at the American Cancer Society’s facility, the Hope Lodge, but were able to get a room at reduced rates for hospital patients at the Inn at Longwood, almost next door to the Dana-Farber. For which we were very thankful.

Noel’s appointments on Wednesday were early in the morning so we planned on leaving around lunch time to drive back to Glens Falls ahead of the predicted bad weather coming from the North West.

Noel, we thought, had an ear infection, with a bit of associated dizziness, and this was confirmed by Dr Soiffer. We were disappointed in the fact that Noel’s liver function tests were slightly worse again… So Dr S has ordered blood work to be done at Glens Falls CR Wood Cancer Center next Wednesday as he wants to keep a good check on this. He was also surprised to see that Noel’s platelet count had suddenly dropped. They have never returned to what is considered normal at 150.000 but have been holding steady at around 120,000 to 130,000 +/-, so yesterday’s reading of 57,000 gives cause for concern so along with the blood test for his liver they will also check his platelets again next week. If they should fall below 50,000, I expect he will be given a transfusion. But in the mean time he must take care not to do anything that could cause bleeding.. We will then return to see Dr S in 2 weeks time on Wednesday the 17th February.

Dr Soiffer is a little puzzled as to what these changes mean but he does know there is no sign of rejection of the transplant by Noel’s body as tests show Noel’s bone marrow is 100% that of his donor. So he is pretty sure it all has something to do with the GVHD – Graft verses Host Disease.

The antibiotic that Noel was give yesterday, did not suit him at all… After just one dose, after a few hours he was very, very sick. Vomiting and feeling extremely dizzy.. So today I called the Dana-Farber and he has now been prescribed a different antibiotic for the ear infection. One he has taken before so we hope he will not react to this one.

Playing games with the grandchildren

Apart from the health issues we are enjoying being home, seeing the grandchildren, getting back to our church and reconnecting with folk.

Noel is not able to really get back into his ministry as yet. So until the health issues are resolved everything is on hold… Which is frustrating for him. He estimates he is operating at, perhaps, 80% of normal, at the most. Each day is a bit of a struggle – but improving! For both of us!

This week, Noel has been constantly thinking and praying for the Lay Chaplains Academy, mentioned in detail in our last update. It has been tough for him to be there in his heart but not physically.

Thank you for all your loving support, prayers, phone calls and correspondence… they mean a lot to us. Please keep praising God for all his blessings and praying for speedy a recovery for Noel. Safe travel to and from Boston and the funds to cover the increase in medical expenses at the moment.

For those of you, who like us have lots of snow and more to come. Keep warm. For those of you in sunny places. We wish we were there! Our prayers are with you all. God Bless you!

Meryl and Noel.

Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good!
His love and mercy endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16 :34

After extending our stay in Boston by a day, last Friday, a week ago today, we decided to drive home to Glens Falls… 7 weeks to the day since we had left for our long international trip… Nether of us felt well… so were glad to be home and have an early night.

On Saturday morning I went to the Doctors as I felt no better from the cold and cough I had been fighting for almost 2 weeks… seems I had developed Bronchitis, most likely as a result of my cold being either the same RSV virus Noel had or the ‘flu. Seems the ‘flu shot I had last Fall was not able to protect me… since the infection was viral… I was given a 5 day steroid course and codeine cough mixture. It was turning into a frustrating weekend for us both.

Our Health Insurance company twice refused coverage on the special medication for Noel’s mouth that had been ordered by the head of Oral Surgery at Brigham and Woman’s in Boston. Eventually, after many phone calls, I was able to get it directly from the pharmacy in Boston by paying out of pocket and them giving me a 50% price break
and have it sent in the overnight express mail so thankfully Noel was able to begin using it for his mouth on Saturday. The ointment prescribed for his lips was also refused cover. Today at the Dana-Farber a special case is being put forward to try and get it paid for as the out of pocket cost will be $550. And the Doctor thinks it will help. All very frustrating.

We just spent the whole weekend resting, we did not even attempt to unpack from our long trip or read all the accumulated mail the mail man delivered, that had been held for us… It will just have to wait.

By Monday we were both beginning to feel some healing effects of the medications and lots of prayer from friends and family.

Tuesday… We were back on the road to Boston for Wednesday’s appointments. We were glad to be able to return to our room at the Hope Lodge.

Noel’s medical team of Dr. Soiffer and Amy Joyce his PA were pleased to see Noel looking a little better. Having mostly got over the RSV virus… and the medication beginning to bring some relief to his mouth. Although he is still drinking Ensure he has been able to have some Chicken Noodle soup and canned pears which I have put though the blender. And speaking is somewhat easier.

Dr. Soiffer says that the sores in his mouth, the digestive discomfort, the constant hiccups and reflux, his loss of 20 pounds in weight, the skin rash and muscle aches are all caused by the GVHD (Graft Verses Host Disease). The virus contributed to worsening it. Noel’s liver function tests showed some improvement, which is
encouraging.

They are now treating the GVHD aggressively with a high dose of daily steroids… and some prescription medications for the hiccups and reflux and codeine cough mixture for the lingering cough.

Noel is very tired and hopefully will now be able to sleep better with out too much discomfort.

The next appointment to review him is in 2 weeks time. Wednesday, February 4th. at the Dana-Farber. We are on the wait list for accommodation at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge, please pray for a room to be available, as otherwise it means a hotel room.

Although getting Noel’s health balanced again must be his first priority at the moment, it is noteworthy that Feb 4th brings some disappointment too. This was to be the first day of one of his main ministry events for this year. Along with two Anglican Bishops of the
Anglican Chaplains jurisdiction of ACNA, Noel, as Prior of the newly created Order of St. Martin of Tours, was to have led several discussion and teaching sessions at the 2015 Lay Chaplains Academy near Birmingham AL. St. Martin is acknowledged worldwide to be the patron saint of military chaplains. He also had a significant ministry
towards ordinary men and women, also an important ministry for Lay Chaplains. He lived from AD 316-397, became Bishop of Tours, France in AD 371 and his festival day in the same as Veterans Day/Remembrance Day, November 11th. Please pray the Academy will be hugely successful for the training, community spirit development and growth of Lay Chaplains (currently totaling 9) in the Anglican Church of North America.

All Noel’s ministry is on hold at the moment but we hope he will be well enough before too long to get involved again, especially to co-lead a healing retreat for female combat veterans from March 16-18 at the Spiritual Life Center in Greenwich, NY. But in the mean time please keep him in the loop if you are involved with any of his projects: ACCTS, Lay Chaplains ministry, WHI, Spiritual Life Center (SLC). He needs to stay connected.

You can always contact us by phone 1-518-824-5863, I am trying to be Noel’s ‘secretary’ and answer calls. You can also send emails. Copying to us both [email protected] and [email protected]. By sending to both of us hopefully one of us will see it!

Please continue to pray for Noel’s healing and that we both feel well again soon… we continue to be encouraged and not discouraged and please pray for our return journey to Boston on the 4th for good travel weather. It’s a very cold winter here in Glens Falls.

Today our granddaughter Charlotte, who had told me before we left on our long trip that “it isn’t normal, Granny. It’s just not normal” was happy to see us today as we collected her off the school bus and said, “now it’s normal” and we all agreed it was good to see each other again.

Thank you for continuing to support us in prayer . Please keep in touch. God Bless you!

Glens Falls… May 20th 2014

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
Ephesians 1:11-12. The Message

The 2 months since my last update seems to have flown by… life as we get older seems to get busier and busier. Both Noel and I have recently celebrated birthdays, always a joyous time for us as we love to celebrate more birthdays… a gift from The Lord.

During the past few weeks we have been, as always, busy with helping to look after Charlotte and Lucy. We continue with our fitness walking… and Noel is busy once again with his ministry (see his notes below). And, of course, as the seasons change I find myself with yard work to do again, Noel is of course quite happy that he is still restricted from yard work something he has no passion for ! His immune system does not need any attacks from mold etc which is thrown into the air when we mow.

Last Monday we were in Boston again for Noel’s now bimonthly routine appointments at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We were once again blessed with accommodation at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge… such a comfortable place to stay. We had lovely fine travel weather on both Sunday and Tuesday. The country side is looking beautifully green after a long, white winter.

During the weeks since his last appointment, Noel had a second extremely nasty head cold of this year, with a lot of congestion that was hard to shake off… even with prescription meds… and a return of the mouth sores. Amy, Dr Soiffer’s assistant, said the mouth sores, which are caused by the GVHD (Graft Versus Host Disease) are not uncommon in stem cell transplant patients when they are fighting some other infection such as a cold. Thankfully both the cold and the sores are very much better now.

Otherwise Noel continues to get stronger and feels great. It is now just over 3 years since we found out he had this rare cancer of the bone marrow… I say had, as he is now in remission and does not have any signs of the cancer. It really is a miracle that he is alive… with out the transplant he may not now have been. And we give thanks everyday for God’s amazing grace. Noel celebrates 2 years of new life on June 11th – the day he received the donor stem cells. Praise The Lord!

Amy was happy with all Noel’s blood work even though a couple of numbers could be better (red cells, platelets and liver) but he is doing great. In the process of slowly reducing the drugs Noel has been on for the last 23 months, she took him off one of the immune suppressant drugs he has been taking. We pray this will be a good move, without side effects.

We are now just a few weeks away from participating as a family in our 5th Relay for Life. There are thousands of good causes and fund raising events for a multitude of different reasons and I am sure many are dear to your heart. Cancer research, the care and well being of cancer patients are two of ours… because we as a family have had close encounters with cancer, Noel and I, along with Charlotte, our granddaughter, are all blessed to be survivors. For this reason we Relay and try to raise funds for the American Cancer Society in support of the amazing work they do… but to raise funds we need donations… please would you consider making a donation small or large, it all helps… Last year our team HEARTS OF HOPE raised over $2000. this year we hope to raise even more… Please help us.

Charlotte is trying to also raise funds on her own initiative (with a bit of help to show her how). Last summer, during vacation between Kindergarten and First Grade, she held a Lemonade and Cookie Stand every Saturday afternoon… this gave her a good start to her 2014 fund raising …maybe you could help her reach or surpass her goal… and make a donation to her effort… please visit http://tinyurl.com/lh79plo.

For Meryl and Noel please visit our team page HEARTS OF HOPE At this link and click on our names. The web link is http://tinyurl.com/q438cev. Thank you !

Noel’s next appointment at the DFCI in on the 7th of July… But before we drive to Boston again we have several other trips to make. Noel will be travelling by road and air to Virginia Beach, VA and Columbus, GA, as a panel member for a hands-on workshop training church and ministry leaders how to pray for Veterans and their families suffering from combat stress (May 30/31) and co-leader of a Welcome Home Initiative retreat for Veterans suffering from combat stress (June 5-7). Please pray for significant ‘soul repair’ to take place in the lives of those attending both events. Then, from June 28-30, we will drive about 8 hours to Greensburg, PA to attend the Anglican Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (AAFC) annual training symposium and convocation. These ministry activities will all be carried out as staff members of ACCTS (www.accts.org) and as a Lay Chaplain commissioned in the AAFC. Please pray for safe travels, good meetings and sufficient finances to cover both trips.

Please continue to pray for our sons Charles and Toby; our daughters in law, Sarah and JoAnn; and our grandchildren, Evelyn, William, Charlotte and Lucy. Also pray for safety and good health, as we all look forward to a family reunion, all 10 of us, here in Glens Falls in the summer, when the UK contingent visit for a week.

Thank you for continuing to walk this journey with us, your support has been amazing, we hope we can encourage others as they encourage us… please stay in contact with us, send us your news updates and prayer requests. And our door is always open so if you ever find yourself in our area… please visit us… God Bless you and your loved ones.