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Family Matters
Helping Get Mom & Dad's Place Rent Ready
Mom and Dad Velasquez own a beautiful house in a gated community in Oceanside, in North County San Diego. It's where we have had the privilege of staying on previous visits to Southern California, and this trip was no exception. This time, however, they weren't there and we single-handedly moved all their furniture out of storage and into an empty house that had been recently vacated by a terrible tenant. As if this weren't enough craziness for our globe-trotting family, we did so knowing that two months later, we'd be doing it all over again. Yet how could we complain when we had this gorgeous, 3,000 sq. ft. house at our disposal?
To throw another monkey wrench into the mix, less than two weeks before our departure for Chicago, Mom Velasquez was able to make a much-needed visit to SoCal to complete the paperwork related to her late sister's estate in Ventura County. Providentially, we were scheduled to be staying in Ventura County with friends in order for Dan to attend The Shepherd's Conference at Grace Community Church. As a result, while Dan basked in the blessing of this spiritual Disneyland for pastors, Angie and the girls enjoyed quality time with Abuela (grandma in Spanish) taking care of her business matters. Then, we all headed down to San Diego together. That's when things really got busy. :)
In the four days that remained before Abuela was to fly back to Colombia, we needed to decide on a property management company, choose a contractor to do any necessary repairs, dispose of all furniture and household items and decide what to do with the few remaining personal items, and have the house completely empty and as close to rent-ready as possible. Oh, and we also needed to say our goodbyes and pack our eight pieces of checked luggage plus eight carry-ons (we don't travel light, to say the least!).
Friday, March 17, we breathed a deep sigh of relief as we hopped onto that plane for Chicago O'Hare. We got it done and heading for our next assignment: Ministry at The Moody Church.
The girls with Abuela, the day we picked her up at LAX.
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Health Update
More Challenges for Dan
When Dan had his thyroid removed twenty years ago due to papillary carcinoma (a form of thyroid cancer), he began taking medication daily to replace the normal functioning of his thyroid. For the first twelve years, he faced no challenges balancing his meds. They did their job and went unnoticed. Then, a couple years after we arrived in Senegal, the problems began.
Whether it was poor preservation in our home, questionable storage and shelf-life in the pharmacy before we purchased it, or an actual country-wide shortage of his meds, Dan has battled thyroid imbalance and extreme bouts of fatigue as a result. This is no ordinary tiredness that can be fixed with a nap or a day of rest. This is a crippling exhaustion so severe that Dan has trouble lifting his arm to bring food to his mouth. His usual sweet temperament is replaced with a grouchy, morose, depressed shell of the man he normally is - and it's all because of hormones out of wack, not unconfessed sin! We are praying about and brainstorming how to preserve highly sensitive medication in a hot, humid environment. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Clockwise from top left: Isabella celebrating her birthday at Souplantation; Evangeline the day she learned to ride her bike w/o training wheels; with the Garlands, the world's best neighbours, on a fun day trip to Tijuana; the Thorntons on the tail end of a long road trip;
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