2 Years..retrospective from July 2007

Hi Everyone-

We are thankful to the God for seeing us through to this point...He has made good on His promise to neve leave us nor forsake us.

Every call, card, E-Mail, prayer and just hanging out has made us keenly aware of the goodness of God in our lives. We are living proof. That does NOT mean that our life has been easy. It hasn't. There are ongoing disppointments, grief, anger and hurt to process. We are grateful that we do not have to go through this alone, but you have reached out to us. Even the 'unspoken' and 'quiet' ways, have meant the world to us. We thank God for you.

I wanted to share with you something that Devon wrote shortly after Gail passed away in June of 2007. We were on our morning walk and he asked me what I was concerned about and I told him that I was concerned that I could not be both his mother and father, and that I didn't know what I was going to do about that. I remember it was on a Sunday morning walk. I suggested that he think of eveything that he could of what was important to him at that point of his life and write it down. I told him that I would do the same thing and that we would compare notes and then order our lives around those things that were the most important.

I am sharing the list that Devon wrote as a testimony to how Father God has provided for our needs.

From Devon:

"For a successful year, I need to......

1. Do homework and turn it in on time.
2. Feed the cats
3. Clean their litter box
4. Fill up their water
5. Make my bed
6. Go to Bible Study Fellowship and do my lessons.
7. Get good grades
8. To maintain a good relationship wtih God and follow Him and his calling.
9. To organize my homework.
10. To make sure that either I have my lunch packed or have enough money for lunch.
11. To be able to have all my school supplies before school starts.
12. To be able to be a impact in people's lives.
13. To spend more time with things that are important
14. To be able to be open my heart to new ideas.
15. To be able to stay strong for my loved ones
16. To be able to honor my Dad.
17. To become cool tempered.
18. To go deeper in my faith.
19. to honor God and His commandments
20. To grow more closer with God.
21. To stay in shape.
22. to be an active member in the church
23. To be able to go from ground zero to ground 10


The Father has been faithful. Devon set his mind two years ago to graduate. In order to do that, he had to pass the Math and English exit exam. He persisted and did not give up, even though Math is tough for him.

Devon was able to attend Bible Study Fellowship this year and we studied the Life of Moses and how God made a new and living way for his people that were trapped in slavery. There were numerous stories of how God was faithful, patient and provided for his people that continually complained and grumbled. They were great life lessons for Devon and his Dad. We learned that Moses had a personal ongoing conversation/relationship with God and walked in the Lord's ways. We learned about the offerings and rituals listed in Leviticus and how the sin offering was the first in a series of offerings and why the sin offering was the first one offered. It is because no matter hard we try, there is no basis to come to God with anything that we have done, because we are all sinners, all the time, needing forgiveness.

Devon was able to participate in a guy's group on Wednesday night @ Mariners church in Half Moon Bay.

Devon will be attendng Foothill College starting June 29th-August 6th. He will be a one year program called 'Transition to Work' Foothill College is in Los Altos. It is a beautiful campus with buildings right out of 'Sunset' magazine. It has a homey feel to it. Please pray for this transition as most of his friends are attending College of San Mateo. In a few weeks Devon will be trained on how to use the local transportation system. He will be taking two busses and a train to get to and from school. He will be picking up an important life skill.

He will soon be testing to obtain his learner's permit and hopefully will be able to obtain his driver's license later this summer.

Shortly after he finishes his first quarter @ Foothill, we will be travelling to Connenicutt to visit brother Jeff and Susan Yoshimine who recently moved from Santa Barbara. We have never been back east before. Our parents will be going also. I would like to attend a Boston Red Sox baseball game @ Fenway and take the "Freedom Walk' in Boston. Other than that, we will be just hanging out.

We are still processing our grief and walk it out. We covet your prayers as we walk our future out together.

I will ask Devon to share soon about how he feels about graduating and his future.

Love,

Jon