Greetings!

We pray this letter finds you and yours well.  We have had a full year in the Patchin family.  In May, Kelly and I had the privilege of going to Kauai for 5 days to celebrate our 19^th wedding anniversary.  It was absolutely beautiful and a much appreciated break.  Then in June we jumped into life at full speed.  Kelly headed off to Africa where he spent an entire month in Malawi, Uganda and Southern Sudan.  He was there to help train pastors and church planters.  This was his second trip.  Our church is involved in an ongoing effort to support church planting in Northern Uganda and its surrounding countries.  It is an amazing and humbling privilege.  New Harbor Church has been such a generous and supportive family.  After Kelly’s joyous return home we were able to spend some time as a family vacationing.  But within the month of his return home I rushed him to the ER when he had sudden and severe abdominal pain.  He was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and spent 4 days in the hospital.  Within 2 days of returning home his beloved father went home to be with Jesus after much illness.  We spent the next week in Santa Maria with our family, Kelly was still recovering but by God’s grace was able to perform his dad’s service.  Unfortunately this was not the end of his pancreatitis.  We were headed back to the ER within 5 weeks of the first attack where he spent another 3 days in the hospital.  This time, thinking they knew what was causing the attacks, the doctor sent him to a specialist to do a surgical procedure.  However while there we discovered that was not the cause, but he does still have an inflamed pancreas.  So Kelly is now on a pretty limited diet for the next several months while hopefully his pancreas is healing, and we pray that he will not have any more attacks.  We are making necessary dietary changes and praying that God will bring complete healing.  God has taught us a lot through the trials we face, just as he promises, and we are so thankful for his provisions.  Kelly has been the pastor at New Harbor Church for 14 years now.  We are so thankful for our church family, for the additional staff that he has blessed us with, for the ways that he is working in the lives and hearts of his people.  He is also involved in an evangelistic movement in the Bay Area, part of a world wide church planting team, as well as part of a local team to encourage and equip church planters.

I am homeschooling again this year.  I really love the concentrated time with our children and the opportunity to focus on heart issues.  It has been a good fit for our family and has helped us prioritize our time.  It is a lot of work and very time consuming and I am always praying for the right balance with time and priorities.  I have had my share of health issues since I turned the big 40 last year.  So I too am in the midst of making some life changes with eating and exercise, things that I should have been doing long before.  Being a wife and a mom of our four beautiful children is fulfilling and such a blessing. I try to be available to the Lord as he sees fit to use me each day.  My heart is to encourage women in their relationship with the Lord, with their husbands and with their children.

Victoria graduated high school this year. She has been homeschooling the last 2 years and taking classes at the local Community College. So this year she is hoping to finish up her general education requirements and transfer next year to George Fox University in Oregon to get a Bachelors of Science in Nursing.  Her desire as of now is to pursue nursing on the mission field. This school has a strong mission emphasis and a great nursing program. She had the privilege of going to Cancun this summer with her grandparents and cousin Chalce as their graduation gift to the two girls.  The day she got home I put her back on a plane to Africa.  She was able to join her dad and a team in Uganda, where they traveled each day to different villages teaching, playing with the kids and ministering with the churches.  She was also involved in a medical clinic for two days.  She loved these opportunities and it really helped to confirm her calling to the mission field.  She is a busy young lady with classes every day, work and ministry.  She is a wonderful young woman who loves the Lord, loves people, and is full of life and a fun spirit.

Blake is a big almost 12 year old young man.  His big sister calls him “The Man Child”.  He has almost passed her in height.  He is enjoying being a middle schooler and loves being in the youth group.  He just finished the soccer season and really enjoys the game.  He had the privilege of going to Florida this summer with his Uncle Chris.  Uncle Chris took him to a 5 day Space Camp Program that is part of the Kennedy Space Center.  It was an amazing experience and he had a marvelous time.  They also spent a couple days at Disney World, went on a Swamp boat with alligators, go-cart racing, laser tag and the beach.  He is very spoiled and won’t easily forget this special time away from home with his uncle.

Isabel is nine years old and is full of life and energy.  She is an amazing pianist and is mastering her pieces every week.  She loves playing the piano, reading and music. She is a great student and loves to help her mommy.  While everyone else was gone this summer she and I got some special time at home with friends and doing girl stuff.

Micah is now seven years old.  It is hard for us to believe.  Our little miracle boy that we were told would not live to be 1 year old has now celebrated 7 birthdays.  He is still very much disabled in every way but we have also seen some progress and change over the year.  He smiles and laughs and really tries to communicate with vocalization.  His vision seems to be improved even though he is considered legally blind.  He goes to a small special education class that he really enjoys.  Micah has stayed healthy and we have not dealt with any of the things that threaten to take his life.  The most significant change for Micah this year is that the scoliosis in his spine is increasing rapidly.  So far this is only impacting him as it relates to posture.  However the concern is that at this rate we may need to consider spine surgery in the next couple years as it can start to impact his lungs, respiration and organs.  We also have recently learned that his left hip is dislocated and is not able to be fixed surgically at this point.  It does cause him discomfort at times and overall we see more pain related to his tight muscles, back and hip.  We always pray for wisdom and discernment when it comes to his care.  We have become the experts on Micah by the doctors own admission yet only God knows what is best for him.  We pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal God’s wisdom to us. We are making some other big changes, regarding lifting and transportation, as we allow ourselves to think about Micah’s long term care and how we can be the best care providers and balance ministry, family and our health. Micah is a complete joy and we continue to learn much from him as he impacts everyone around him.

I know this is a very long letter.  Thank you for sticking with it if you made it this far.  We are so thankful for all the Lord Jesus has done for us and continues to do in our lives to make us more in his image.

Humbly rejoicing,
The Patchin Family

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