Empty Nesters for Six Days

Slowly by slowly, they have left us...young adults living at our home.  In less than a year, four young adults moved out. It all started April 2018 when David Palmer moved out (having lived a significant amount of time here) into his own place here in Elkhart. 

July was when Anina married Tyler and became Mrs. Mounsithiraj...but that meant she moved out, too. Fortunately, she is relatively close as she is still in nursing school at Bethel.

Fall brought a job opportunity to David, and he moved to Taylorville, Illinois for a full-time job in his field.  Four and a half hours away, David works at MarkNet Alliance, a technical company that has found a niche to serve auction companies. He is doing well, working well with the other programmers and has been called "Super Dave".  

So far, each time one moved away, they have moved farther than the last one that moved out.  Not to be outdone, JR moved 1000 miles away (at least 14 hours drive) to Garden City, Kansas. This was the second weekend in March. John's first day at the Lee Richardson Zoo was Monday, March 11, and he is the animal keeper for the ambassador and quarantine animals. 

The ambassador animals are reserved for interaction with the public and includes the herpetological animals that JR loves.  The quarantine animals are not the sick ones but the new animals that need a period of quarantine when they arrive.  He is able to share an apartment with a friend who is also an animal keeper at the zoo. 

While on that moving trip, we were asked to host our first 2019 SonSet Solutions summer intern.  We spent our six empty nesting days getting a room ready for hosting. I guess we'll have to wait until June to see what empty nesting is all about!

Merry Christmas!

Counting down to Advent…as of December 1

1. This household gained 1 new career job, 1 new son-in-law, and 1 trip to the ER this year.
2. We have 2 grandchildren and 2 sons-in-law. Eleanor turned 2 this year.
3. Three people moved out this year, leaving 3 still in our house.
4. Four little legs running around bring great joy to our house. Micah turned 4 this year.
5. It takes 5 hours to drive to David’s new place (4.5 in good traffic).
6. We started this year with 6 people living in this house.
7.  Anina and Tyler’s wedding happened in the 7th month of this year. This year is also the 7th anniversary for Elizabeth and Peter. This is the number of years that Jean’s sister, Sue, has been in heaven.
8. Our tarantula (with 8 legs) is still going strong!  Jean’s birthday is 8-8, which means her birthday buddy is Anthony Rizzo.  It has been 8 years since we moved to Elkhart.
9. Peter, Elizabeth, and Eleanor all have their birthdays in the 9th month of the year. 
10. JR was on a 10-hour work days most of the year at Potawatomi Zoo. David moved out in the 10th month of the year. 10 of us spent a week at EdenRidge, a vacation spot for missionaries in Tennessee.
11. In the 11th month of this year, we got a Christmas tree -- we have never done that before!  It  has been 11 years since David’s surgery and all is well.
12. 12 is a dozen, and we have received and are grateful for dozens of fresh farm eggs from a coworker at SonSet Solutions.  
13. It has been 13 years since Jean’s mom went to be with the Lord.
14. The 14th of February is JR’s birthday.
15. Our Dodge Durango is 15 years old.
16. It has been 16 years since we purchased the green Honda Civic.
17. The first time our family used a digital camera, which was a 1.3 megapixel camera, was 17 years ago.
18. Jean served as camp nurse at Checkpoint Bible Camp 18 weeks ago.
19. Anina married Tyler at age 19 and it’s been 19 weeks since their wedding.
20. 20 is the number of weeks at which we obtained verbal commitment for our full support. 20 is also the total number of legs of our pets in our home.
21. Tyler married Anina at age 21.
22. There were 22 pairs of hands that made and/or ate dumplings for Hom Chinese New Year.
23. John and Jean have been back serving full time at SonSet Solutions for 23 weeks.
24. David turned 24 this year.

25 – Merry Christmas!

Ministry Spotlight

You all know how much we enjoy math and numbers, and we particularly enjoyed the following numbers for just a taste of how SonSet Solutions has been true to its name.  We are most definitely providing technology solutions to advance the Gospel worldwide:

· During the first three quarters of 2018, SonSet Solutions assisted 166 ministries in 61 countries via equipment, service, consultation, and training.

· We shipped 141 SonSetLink™ water monitors between January 1 and November 27.

· We received GPS transmissions from SonSetLink™ monitors in 20 countries.

· Over the last 5 years, 235 units have reported GPS coordinates outside of the United States.

· SonSetLink™ water monitoring units measured 11.5 million gallons of water. 

· Since 2005, we have shipped 61,044 SonSet® radios.

· Power protection devices were provided for ministries in Papua New Guinea, Peru, Honduras and Liberia.​

We praise the Lord that needs are filled, and as those needs are being met, they provide inroads for sharing the gospel so that a spiritual need can be met as well.