beachcombing

Hi Everyone-

Jon and Devon here. Here to the left, Devon and three friends wrote their messages in their bottles, corked their bottles and I almost threw my arm out trying to throw the bottles out as far as I could. Pacifica pier, here we come. It was fun though. It was friend Alisa's idea and we tagged along last weekend after hoops practice.

Today, after church Devon and three friends and I took a walk along the bluffs. These three friends are part of our hoops team and Sunday (coffee hangout gang). They are affectionately known as the 'Road Warriors.' Why? Because the theme that we have now is called, "Glory Road." In fact, we are going to watch the movie at the Community Center this upcoming weekend.

We are sharing our stories with each other. Today, we shared prayer requests.
Some of them are: Keep my job, Get a job @ peets, Get a job at New Leaf, Big Wave go through, Keep walking, Mom's broken leg, Sick friends, that our families will come to the pancake breakfast and service on Easter Sunday. We wrote down the prayer requests and left the next page blank so that we can write down how the Father answered our prayers. Coach Jeff shared a joke about asking the Lord for his help.

He said that there was once a guy that said that he was going to win the lottery and was counting on the Lord to make him rich and started to complain as time went on that he wasn't winning the lottery. Then, one day, he heard a booming voice from the heavens say to him, 'Buy a lottery ticket.'

We don't have, because we do not ask.

Counseling update/Grief Process

Both Devon and I will continue the grief counseling through the one-year anniversary of Gail's passing. We are looking to transition into something else that will help us. There is an organization in Palo Alto, called KARA. Please pray for this to see if this is something that might be benefical. We are stretching out the period between sessions. Please pray for this transition.

The grief process is challenging still. We don't know what to expect. The Lord has been with us each step of the way. I am finding out how selfish that I am and how I get riled up over stupid stuff. Devon is good at pointing this out to me....in a loving way. This is good for me. The Lord is continuing to grow us up from the inside out. The battle is to self protect vs. God protect.

School/Math Update:

Devon is passing Algebra and his other classes. He has not been able to connect with Uncle Steve Yahata due to homework. Pray that we can find a good time to connect on this. Devon is starting to volunteer at the local hospital a few hours a week for community service. Coach Jeff did a mock interview with Devon and Devon did well. He still will have to work for free at home.

Dad's Work:

An exciting development is happening at Bay City. It is the development of a wellness program.

Also, Dad is being freed up to be with people at the different locations. He is enjoying it and is thankful. He is able to be used to build community at the marketplace.


Hoops

One thing occurred to me as I was yelling at my team from the sidelines to rebound......If you do not practice rebounding, don't expect to see it in the game.
Guess what we are practicing? We had a chalk talk this past week.

We are about:
1. Having fun.
2. Doing our best.
3. Never give up.


Community

• Dad went to Happy Taco with three friends from work.
• Coach Jeff, Devon and Benji and Dad went to Cameron's to watch UCLA vs. Stanford.
• Dad had an opportunity to connect with Lis' and Craig @ coffee co.
• Devon is continuing to go the guys group on Wednesday nights.
• Dad is meeting on Wednesday and Friday mornings with different guys.
• Dad is getting together with a friend periodically to talk and discuss 'The Essential Wooden'

Summer Plans

More about this next time.