Numbers

The first weekend in March, Andy and I attended the wedding of my second Belcher nephew, Samuel, to his fiancé, Maddie. There are seven Belcher nieces and nephews (ten counting spouses and significant others) — five Texas Belchers and two Maine Belchers. (Eliza was unable to travel.) My mom, Barbara, had a full heart!

This is the number of weeks that Andy was in meetings during the month of March. The first week was with people who, like Andy, head up teams in Global Technology. The second week was with the people he leads, including all but one of the men and women who serve outside the U.S. All of these meetings took place in and around Orlando so we flew in from the Houston to stay with Cady, Kevin, Khloe, and Rylie (and Lady Summer). Andy stayed for the second week, I wasn’t supposed to . . . .

If all goes well, and we pray it does, this is the number of grandchildren Andy and I will be able to cuddle by the end of the summer. Becca and Zack are expecting their third child, a baby boy. Rachel and Preston are expecting their first child, a baby girl. It’ll be a full summer of babies and tiny diapers and serving moms and dads.

The number of communications to our front-line staff I had the privilege of proofreading last month. I worked through the news from our Executive Director, Shannon Compere, as well as a letter to our ministry directors, one to our team leaders, and one that contains useful ministry ideas. I read through the letter that goes out to all of our high school ministry staff. I edited a letter from the ministry, MuKappa which connects kids who grew up overseas (missionary kids) and are now back in the U.S. for college. I edited a letter about ministry in the 10/40 window*.

I am always amazed at how good it feels to be back in my own bed. As March ends we are looking back at 8 days of meetings, 7 hours in the airport on 3/16 before my flight from Orlando to Charlotte was canceled, 5 days of Andy’s brother Jeff visiting with Andy’s dad, Doug, while we were out of town. 3 extra days for me to hang with Cady, Kevin, Khloe, and Rylie. (The people whose flights were canceled earlier in the day took all the Tues. and Wed. flights.) Zero things we would be able to do without your partnership. Zip. Zilch. Nada!!

*10/40 window—a geographical region across North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia . . . home to approximately 2/3’s of the world’s population; area includes the highest number non-Christians, overwhelming poverty, and many groups of people who have never heard the name of Jesus.