Hi praying friends!

I am back in the office this morning, trying to catch up on hundreds of emails before a day full of meetings. I am really, really bad at taking my vacation days. Last year I finished the year with over half of my days remaining - so one of my growth goals this year is to actually use the vacation days I have! So, I took a good chunk of time off around my birthday (I turned 50 on Tuesday!) to spend time with Johannah, to go to the Baltic Sea, and to plan a birthday party.

The time with Johannah was wonderful. My birthday party was great! I really enjoyed being able to see so many people. I got some amazing gifts, including a beautiful Reverend guitar, a variety of food stuffs, some mind-teasers, a coffee cup to remind me how old I am, and some meaningful art pieces from artist friends.

The rest of my vacation was root canal and sinus infection - which had me reading and playing video games because I was not always feeling good enough to do a lot else! Was it a bad vacation? Not really. Was it a great vacation? Not really.

Maybe I'll write some other time about how turning 50 messes with my brain a little. If you have experienced that yourself, maybe you can write me a quick note about how you processed through hitting the half-century mark!

Some prayer requests:

1. Pray for Johannah as she finishes her travel back to the US.
2. We have a new team arriving on Tuesday of next week. Our last team for the summer! This will be our first team of high schoolers. Pray for them as they travel and for us as we host!
3. Pray for the medicine currently packed inside my tooth to work well, and for the final stage of my root canal (still months away.)
4. Our work at Envision Berlin - including our exhibits, concerts, services, etc. is continuing to draw attention in the community. Please pray that these contacts continue to move forward into relationships which can bear the weight of the gospel!

Thanks so much for praying!

mike