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Hello Everyone,

I know it has been awhile since I posted. We have been in midst of transition and have been waiting until we got a little settled before I updated everyone. Here is what has been happening:

As you all know I have been dealing with serious back issues since last June which included major back surgery in August. On of the complications of my back issues and surgery was "facet joint inflammation" which the surgeon attributed primarily to climate. This led to the surgeon's strong recommendation that we relocate.

After a couple of months of discussion the decision was made for us to relocate to Macedonia. In a future post I will go into more detail regarding the position in Macedonia. During this time we were planning to return to the States to participate in the wedding of Kathy's niece. Because we were going to the States it was decided that we should go ahead and transition directly from the States to the new assignment. This part of the decision was communicated to us just 2 weeks before we were scheduled to leave for Phoenix. We suddenly went from packing for a vacation to packing for a move. Our belongings in Latvia (most of our personal goods have remained in storage in the USA pending a permanent address, but that's another story) are now in storage in Riga and a friend will arrange shipping for us when the time comes.

We traveled to the States and had the opportunity to spend a few days in Southern California before the wedding in Phoenix. While is Highland, CA, I took the opportunity to visit my previous family doctor to get his opinion and some anti-inflammatory medication. My doctor was very concerned about my level of pain this far post operative. While he thinks much of my pain may still be related to climate he recommended that we remain in the States for three months to have physical therapy, remain on the anti-inflammatory medication and see in the climate does allow for significant improvement in my condition. If there is not significant improvement then he would want to do further diagnostics and perhaps refer me to another ortho/spine specialist. We sent these recommendations on to our medical department and heard on Friday that they agree with the recommendations.

The bottom line of this that we are going to be staying in the Highland/Redlands area for the time being. When we have further contact information I will post it. Please continue to pray for us as we seek God's clear direction and timing in our lives. We are thankful for an agency that puts such a high priority on our health and well being. We also hope to have opportunity to see many of you during this unexpected extension of our time in the States.