How Do You Spell Relief?? W-E-N-D-Y

My head hurts, my eyes ache, and my appetite is gone. I break out in sweat for no apparent reason. I wake up early each morning for no apparent reason. "You're living in the rainforest of Africa where it's HOT - what do you expect??" you might say to me.

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This is true, but there is something even greater plaguing me. I have been in a desert for what seems to be years, with only brief moments of refreshment each evening. But even these moments are not entirely sweet - they are broken, tatterred, incomplete. I am separated from my Wendy!! And my only time of connection with her is in the evenings over the phone - but using skype to call Mercy Ships (where the phone connection isn't all that great to begin with) can at times be more frustrating than refreshing!

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I try to get by each day, filling my time with tasks that I hope will help me forget. I try to gain contentment from these tasks, but somehow, they just don't measure up. Ordinarily, a fresh, clean load of laundry is my pride and joy, but when there is no one to show off my handiwork to, no one to appreciate my hard work, it's just not the same. A recently cleaned shirt just does not smell as sweet unless you have someone to smell it. Because of my tears (and also the high humidity here in Gabon), these towels have little hope of drying today.

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But not all hope is lost. My desert is coming to an end, and my dessert is soon to come! My cupcake, my angel(food), the apple (crisp) of my eye (with ice cream) is coming to Gabon tomorrow!! And I can't wait. It's been a long, long month apart, but the time has finally come to an end.

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My dear wife Wendy will be arriving at the Libreville International airport at 4:10 PM, Monday, June 1st, and that flight can't come too soon for me. Mercy Ships, I thank you for the great training that you've given Wendy these past few months, but you've had her long enough! It's time for me to have her back!

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So, Monday evening, we will begin our life together here in Gabon. We'll spend our first few days in Libreville, the capital, and then it's on to Bongolo Hospital! It's something we've been preparing for and looking forward to for a long time. God has provided in big ways and in small throughout our journey thus far, and I'm sure He has great things in store for the future (which already include a rocker-recliner and a ping pong table in our home in Gabon)!

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Thank you for faithfully praying for us during our time apart! Now that we are soon to be back together, please pray that God would mold us into a couple that effectively brings honor to the name of Jesus!