I'm in Florida with Greg!

Dear friends,

We are sitting in Northside Church in Orlando, Florida betting ready for the Call2All Congress to begin in an hour. Greg's boss, Jon Lewis, sent him here to network for Partners International. This circle of folks are those Greg knows from his years working at Caleb Project. Already we have met several we know as we have been registering. It is good for Greg to be here with his Partners International "hat" on.

Why am I here? Well, Greg had some frequent flyer miles stored up from days gone by, and we thought it would be good for me to come to the conference with him to help him network, and also Allison goes to college 1 hour from here. So, on Sunday we got on a plane and waited 2 hours for it to be de-iced and the runway plowed, so that we could take off from snowy Spokane. We flew through O'Hare and earned 2 tickets by volunteering to be bumped to a later flight. So we arrived in Orlando at 10 p.m., picked up our rental car and headed to the north side of the city to stay with the parents of one of Allison's college friends- the Gingerich's.

We had lunch with Rhonda and Phil Gingerich yesterday and talked as fast as we could for 3 hours and kept finding new points of contact. One of the last questions Phil asked Greg was,"Have you ever heard of Bobby Clinton?" If you have any history with us you know that Greg has been mentored by Bobby and got his doctorate under Bobby at Fuller Seminary. Anyway, we felt like before even coming to this conference, we had already made a profound connection with the Gingerich's that I am sure will lead to further contact. It is so exciting when God does these amazing divine appointments between His people!

We left Jesse in Spokane with one of his youth group leaders who is a Whitworth Univ. student. Then we got word that there continued to be so much snow that both Jesse's school and Whitworth were closed on Monday. Spokane is expecting another 18 inches this week. I am thinking that as I sit in sunny Florida, I made the right move in leaving Spokane this week! Everyone is telling us that the snow this year is more than it has been for a decade. I do enjoy wearing sandles and a sweater rather than dressing for sub-freezing temperatures. Thank you Lord!

Yesterday we got a chance to see Allison after she got done with student teaching and took her and her roommates to dinner. She showed us her apartment and the updated campus at Southeastern. In a few months she will be a graduate! And Allison gives fantastic hugs to her Mama, which I enjoyed totally! At the end of the evening, we swung by and visited my Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary. It was nice to say hello and share a few hugs with them as well. We plan to be with Allison Friday and Saturday when we visit with Fred and Beth Baker.

Greg is better from the flu he had with only a little cough and a persistant problem with his eyes. It held on a long time. His pink eye seems to be lingering in both eyes, so after more than 2 weeks we are wondering if he needs to keep using the drops or not. He helped me build shelves in the basement last weekend which really excites me. I have been able to set up my sewing area at long last! We also got the basement future family room area set up with couches and our movie viewing equipment. Before leaving for college, Jenni helped me staple fabric to the wall framing that was already there, so it looks like a room with walls. So nice to have that done! Jesse had friends over for the first time, and I think they will be back now that they know they can come over for movies.

Healthwise, I appreciate your continued prayers. I am 10 days into my 2-week test of not using Femara (a Tamoxifen type of med for those of you who know what that is) to see if it is what is causing my body aches and pains. If I am still hurting at the end of two weeks I will resume the medication, and we will do some tests to find out why. If I do feel better, we will switch the medication to another and hope for fewer side effects. I have a few constant aches in bones and muscles that could be something serious. My posture is still to not borrow tomorrow's trouble. But my mind does wonder about my mortality at times like this. Will I be here a year from now, and if not, how should I be using these days? I might be fine, but I might have to start another battle with cancer. I know all too well what that means. I'm sure you can imagine what I am thinking and can pray accordingly. I appreciate your prayers for my Heavenly Father's most perfect plan for my life. He is the author of the book of all of our lives, right? Thanks.


So I need to wait and see. I have a few appointments when I get home next Monday that should help me figure it out. I am very sore where my rectocele repair was done, and I am hoping that nothing is going wrong with that. I'm sure I have lifted more than I was supposed to at some point, although I have been trying to be good. I will see that surgeon on Monday when I get back. My shoulder is doing very well, and doesn't even hurt enough for me to remember I had it fixed most of the time. I am faithful with my exercises and am getting great reports from the surgeon and PT.

Greg and I have been talking finances a lot since we have the tenants so far behind on their rent. We have decided to either rent it to someone else, or to sell it. They are moving out Feb 14th and will still owe us the back rent. If we sell it, or rent to own it, that would be the best for us. Otherwise, I probably need to get at least a part time job to make ends meet. Honestly I feel too tired to do that now, but I am trusting that it will all work out. We would appreciate your prayers for this. If you know anyone who would want to rent or buy the house next to the one we lived in, let Greg know. 509-990-8479. It is 785 Nothridge Rd. Highlands Ranch, CO 80126.

Meanwhile, this conference is beginning to happen around me. I am hearing accents from around the world, and am starting to see people even I know! 3000 people attending from all over the world. A taste of heaven! And all here share a heart for world evangelization and pray. May the Lord do amazing things through this gathering! I'll sign off for now. Thank you so very much for your love and prayers. It is surreal for me to think about anyone reading what I write on these blog entries, but some of you tell me that you read them faithfully, so I will keep thm coming.
Blessings on your day! Nancy Fritz