Ft Myers – Mission 2 Complete.

Well, we went through our entire trip to Fort Myers without writing any posts. Mainly because it was a crazy whirlwind of busyness and there just wasn’t time. It was an amazing experience with many firsts for us. Our first hurricane dealt with a four-wheeler accident, surgeries, Sadies sweet 16 birthday, new friends, a gym, barbershops, e-bikes, and more. We also got clear insight from God on the specific tasks He had for us there. More on that below.

We love the Ft Myers area. It’s gorgeous, and our condo was right near the local hospital, so it was pretty quiet, which is a complete 180 from our experience at the last condo. The beaches are also amazing.

Hurrican Elsa came and went here without much to write home about. When stocking up on water we found Sadie very helpful in getting the last of the water jugs off the shelf! By the time it got to us, it was a ‘tropical storm.’ It just rained for two days and had periods of wind and storms. Still, for a Michgander, we’ve unlocked the ‘hurricane’ achievement 🙂

For those that don’t know, our daughter Miranda also had a first for her this week. While up north in Michigan for a brief visit, she was in a four-wheeler accident. She was riding while her friend was driving. At some point, they lost control, then crashed into a tree. Both kids flew off. Miranda broke her clavicle, and her friend, Joel, damaged his knee and shin. Miranda’s bone break was bad enough that it required surgery, plates, and screws.

As her father, I am glad that is all that was required. Many other ATV accidents don’t end so lucky. So praise God for His protection and care.

My family, mainly my sister, was quick to jump in and help take care of Miranda and the surgery details because we are still in Florida. We are very blessed and thankful for this. Being on the other end of the country when your child is hurt and headed to surgery is a first for us and not something I care to repeat. Again, we are thankful for God’s answer to our daily prayers for protection. I wrote more on this in a previous post. She’s recovering just fine and already hitting the gym.

We also celebrated Sadie’s sweet 16 birthday, which was a lot of fun. In fact, I think 16th birthdays are now my favorite ones to celebrate. We have been blessed by Sadie, too, while Miranda was away. She shouldered her absent sister’s responsibilities and did it with joy. And to add to the silver lining to Miranda’s accident and time out, we got to have extra ‘bonding’ time with Sadie!

We met some amazing people and families while at our stay. These families were incredibly welcoming and our kids instantly bonded to their kids. Garret and Kam invited us to the local 4th of July celebration, which was awesome! They also showed us around and where to find the best beaches! They moved back to California shortly before we left, but we would love to see them again!

While there, we discovered one of God’s tasks here for us. Connecting people and helping start relationships. We have heard quite a few times, from different people, that they don’t have any friends.

It breaks our hearts. And our natural response is to want to be ‘friends’ with these people. Unfortunately, we are not staying in Ft Myers very long. So, God tasked us with getting people who need friends, discipleship, and solid Christian influence in their lives connected to individuals in the body of believers who live here. People who can build long-lasting relationships and take people under their wings. So after befriending people God put in our path, we spent time scouting out believers at the local church who were willing to commit to building up these new relationships.

As always, we spoke the name of Jesus and brought Him and the gospel up in our everyday lives, but our priority there was more to intentionally connect people to local believers and help start friendships.

One family we especially love hit a hard place in life and needed a place to live for a time. So we moved them in with us in our little condo until they could find a place. This was a lot of chaos, noise, and fun 🙂

As sad as it may sound, Elijah and I experienced our first ‘barber shop’ instead of a beauty salon. I never knew getting a hair cut could be ‘manly’! We both enjoyed it and will never go back to a chic again 😉

One of the main things about our trip was the local gym we attended. We met some amazing people there who we built relationships with and learned much from. Even without our ‘gym rat’ Miranda there, our family still enjoyed getting and staying healthy!

What you can do:
Continue to pray for our family. Ask God for protection for us as we are traveling and living this nomadic life. Ask God for protection physically, mentally, and spiritually, and from the evil one and his schemes.

Also, ask God to give us greater discernment into the spiritual world and its effects on the places we go and the people we meet.

Would you please pray that God will raise believers who are ready and willing to intentionally pursue and come alongside the lonely and isolated people?

Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement. We’ll talk to you more later!