We’re at Starbucks and “Our House” starts to play. Time stands still right now as Perze works on his laptop and the girls drink their fraps, playing games on the iPhones and teasing each other.  Emma is face-timing her friend from her old school.  I’m the only one that stops, or should I say, try to stop time, because it’s going way too fast.  We just moved into our new house this month, and my view of things are so new.  For example, every day, the girls strap on their blades and skate up and down our long driveway, without me having to watch their every move.  They navigate their small radius around our house, in and out, making playtime decisions without me.  They bring food outside to the deck and read books, contain themselves inside the peapod hammock, water the plants that seem to be grasping for life…all without asking me for permission on their every move.  Because this is their house.  They aren’t contained inside, and I love that they are all of age to enjoy this small step of freedom, without me right in front of them. Our house is slowly becoming home. It’s slowly becoming us.  […]

Dedication of our godson, Eli. Really proud of these two.  They gave their testimonies before God and guests of their challenges and thankfulness.  We are more than honored to be godparents to Eli. To God be the glory.

Friends, Three weeks ago, our family traveled to the Philippines to witness and celebrate the wedding of Perze’s youngest brother, Joshua. We didn’t expect that at our arrival, we also got the news that Tatay Perl, Perze’s dad, had suffered 2 heart attacks just prior his arrival to Tagum. He immediately was admitted to the ICU of the city’s hospital. For two weeks, under doctor’s orders, he stayed to regain strength so they can transfer him to another hospital in Davao which dealt with cardiac surgery. Tatay and Nanay unfortunately were not able to attend Joshua’s wedding, an event ambivalently filled with joy and sadness. We had to leave the Philippines filled with such uncertainty, leaving Tatay to the medical team, and the rest of the family to pull together in unity to help each other through this tough time. Since then, we’ve been praying for God’s provision and help, clinging to hope, and trusting that God loves Tatay, and His love covers our fear. So far, we’ve seen people act as such amazing blessings in this story. I wish I could name them all, but thinking about them really moves my heart as I write this. People have been […]