Facetime Family 🤳

Been a bit of a FaceTime Husband/Dad for the last month

This stage of the journey has been the toughest, and has definitely made Sarah and I more “stern” in a resilient sense. We’re now at our halfway-point of the grand academic endeavor at Oxford.

We knew going into this that the timing of baby Gloria’s birth would determine how long I’d have to be away from my family in Oxford during the Hilary Term, while Sarah recovered from Pregnancy. The later birth would also delay the process of getting Gloria’s Dependent Visa which would created further complications as the child dependents policy changed on Jan 1. Welp, Gloria came as late as possible and now we’ve had to be an ocean apart for over a month.

Good news I arrived back in Portland Mar 10, and this leg of the marathon—me being apart from my family—has come to a close.

We now wait for Gloria’s UK Dependent Visa, which needs to arrive before March 28ish, or else we’ll have to wait another month before finally returning to Oxford as a family. It’s complicated. At worst this would mean I’d have to go ahead of my family and be separated again during the Trinity Term. Like I said, this part of the errand is making us real stern and resilient, maybe for future challenges in leading a church or something great. Lord knows!

Good news is God has continued to provide Daily Bread (it’s totally a thing!) which has included the blessing of a real comfortable flat just a five-minute walk from my college. This one came from a couple we met last year who is allowing us to watch over their home in Oxford for the duration of my degree— graduation in June of ‘25.

Requesting prayer as I continue to fundraise our living expenses, and of course as I bear down on these essay questions that I’m sure are empowering me to equip a community for Gospel ministry in a changing world. Real deal!