August ended with fun, and September started with disappointment and concern.

We spent the last weekend of August in Wisconsin, visiting Michael to celebrate his 25th birthday. We went to a zoo, a farmers’ market, the state capitol and a state park. (In the photo above, we stand on a bluff 500 feet above Devil’s Lake.)

We enjoyed seeing Michael in his place. He likes life there, and his job is going well. He works for a medical software company alongside technology workers in three hospitals.

Next, Michael visited Bethany in Nashville during Labor Day weekend. After that, we looked forward to Bethany visiting us in early September. However, her trip was interrupted.

Last week as she planned to drive to Florida, Hurricane Irma came up from the Caribbean Sea. We watched it on radar and prayed for the storm to dissipate or move over the uninhabited Atlantic Ocean. We kept an eye on the projected path, which changed daily.

Finally, Bethany and we agreed she should wait. We were sad not to see her, but as up to 1/3 of Floridians evacuated their homes, many leaving the state, it made no sense for her to come.

The hurricane passed between Orlando and Florida’s west coast, but near enough that we felt the effects. We had about 10 inches of rain over two days and faced winds of up to 85 miles per hour. We put plywood over our windows just in case. We lost electricity early Monday morning and now, as of September 13, are still waiting for it to return. We spent two days cleaning up a lot of yard debris and removing an avocado tree that was destroyed in our back yard.

As you think of us, would you pray for these three things:

• Pray for those still recovering from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and thank God with us for the people aiding recovery efforts in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean.
• Pray we’ll find a time when Bethany can travel to Orlando in the near future.
• I’ve taken on a new role at work. Along with being managing editor for the Cru^® Storylines newsletter, I now lead our writers and editors team. Pray that the tra
• nsition will be smooth.

Thanks for your prayers for us as we traveled, and as we focus on what God has called us to do in order to influence the world through communicating the gospel.