Like many of you in full time ministry, our weekly lives vary greatly. Sometimes there are planned meetings or get togethers, sometimes the week seems open and unplanned for about five minutes before it fills up. Our family has recently begun taking bi-monthly sabbaths which is difficult in ministry, but necessary. We take a Friday…

Thanks to some generous friends, Jon’s been enjoying his new smoker weekly cooking up some amazing food. This is one of our recent meals. We are loving it!

The kids and Linnea spent a little bit in a nearby farmers field filled with cosmo flowers. These flowers are grown as fillers in between crops and then turned over but since Okinawa’s spring comes quickly it’s often one of the first flowers blooming after our shortened winter.

Along with several leaders in our church, Jon kicked off a leadership cohort on Sat night that will be training sessions for any in our church who would like to grow and learn as leaders. These sessions will be once a month with bi-monthly small group get togethers- for five months. Please pray for good…

Nov – Dec Nov – Linnea celebrated her 40th birthday, much to the shock of everyone who assumed she is much younger. Jon and Linnea had the chance to get away for an overnight for her birthday also. Thanks, friends! Thanksgiving was spent with our sweet MC and we ate everything traditional except for turkey!…

Sept- Oct Sept – saw the beginning of Linnea’s new career in teaching and the kids returning to school. We also continued growing our small garden and investing in the lives of new people on the island. We also hit up our local taco place again! Emma and Jon revised their podcast – Okidoki –…

July – August July – We had the joy of seeing our immediate families in Ky and NY/PA along with other friends not pictured. Just a fun time resting and eating lots of American food. Also, if there was a theme, it would have been baseball. Jon saw a lot of baseball this summer! August…

May- June May – We said goodbye to more friends and more friends and more friends. We didn’t get as many pictures this year but trust us when we say it was a painful month. We are still missing all y’all. We also had the joy of every month uniting with our friends and celebrating…

March- April March – We finally got a furry pet – hamster. He has given the kids much enjoyment and continues to remain alive which our kids are excited to see happen. Jon and Linnea are also excited that they are excited. 🙂 Monsoon style rain overwhelmed our backyard and created a fun swimming space…

Jan – Feb Jan – We went on the annual Cherry Blossom hunt and ate some amazing ice cream. We also said goodbye to some amazing families who left in Jan. They are sorely missed to this day! Feb – We made Japanese food with our family – Satomi and her hubby, John. Jon and…