Jones Update - 24 September

Jones Clips - September - While We Wait

Marcie and school update and possible travel plans!

Thank you all for your prayers! Marcie's surgery went very well and she has recovered quite quickly! She still needs pain medication and rest, but she has been far more active than we expected. 

David and the other kids were eager to comfort Marcie when she got home!

The day after our last post, we were notified that the kids were all accepted to the school that we had wanted to put them in when we first came back. (Isaac went there in second grade when the quints were born.)  There was no availability, but now there were space for all of them! They were so excited today to be able to go to school in person and it went very well. We and Marcie thought she was ready to go to school, but she had a bit of a tough day. We will probably keep her home for a few more days to recover, but they all had fun and did well. We are so thankful for this provision!

Also, we have just heard about a  flight next month with the World Food Program from Kuala Lumpur to Papua New Guinea. The people who just made it into PNG with our mission were on a similar charter flight. Please pray that our family could get on this coming flight! There are a lot of other details and issues to work on in preparation for the departure, should it happen.  

Thank you for your love and prayers!

Gavin +7

Prayers for school and Marcie and return to PNG

We are right where God wants us to be, that is clear to us.  There have good opportunities for growth in us as parents, in all of our kids, and in us as a family.  God has us learning more and more about himself and his goodness in trying times and it is good.  

It is hard, though, and we don't like a lot of what is happening.  Yet, learning to live with the joy of the Lord as our strength is what we are called to and are striving for.  

I'm sure many of you can resonate with us and the challenges we are facing with online schooling!  It is beyond frustrating for both of us.  Neither of us are natural elementary level teachers, yet that is what we are doing right now.  We're trying to wade through the mess of online services, logins, connections, meetings, submitting homework digitally, trying to keep six kids focused in the middle of all the distractions of home, etc., etc.

We are at the end of our online-home-schooling rope and we only have a week behind us!  Please pray we find a better option for all!

Also, Marcie is going in early tomorrow morning to have her tonsils and adenoids removed.  We've suspected they were causing problems in various ways for a while, but just recently found that she has sleep apnea, so they recommended the procedure right away.  Please pray for a smooth procedure and good recovery for her!

We continue to plan to return to PNG as soon as we can.  Unfortunately, little has changed as far as international flight options.  The only path is currently through Brisbane and each of those flights is apparently limited by the Australian government to 30 passengers, most of whom end up being first class, since the airlines can make the most money that way.  We pray those limitations will change or that some other international port will open up soon.  

In the meantime, I (Gavin) continue to work for the PNG aviation program remotely, doing some of the tasks on the computer that often get sidelined during the normal work schedule.  

We are all eager to return to our lives in PNG, but know we need to be joyful and open to where God has us now.  Thank you to all for your prayers and support!

With Gavin's parents and brother and family in the California mountains.  This cabin was built in the
1930's by his grandfather and just last week only just missed being burned down.  The origin of the huge "Creek Fire" was only half a mile from where this picture was taken.

Fun with the boys throwing rocks during a hike.

Sibling fun at "The Potholes", one of my favorite spots as a child.  It is all burned now.  I'm so
thankful that I was able to show my kids what it was like before it got scorched!