A New Beginning

Welcome to the first "official" post of our new blog site. Please subscribe by submitting your email in the "Follow by Email" form on the right.

We apologize for our lack of updates the past few months. Life has kept up busy as of late.

When we last posted, Dad was on hospice expecting the infection in his foot to spread to his body, ultimately sending him to his heavenly home. Jeanine was by his side all the time, helping him function while he waited. Plagued by intense pain, he began to question his decision to let this happen to his body. Regardless, he was afraid of the solution to his problem: amputating the other leg. He feared his ability to function and knew his upper body strength to move himself around was limited.

About a month ago, he was having severe pain in his arm. We took him to the hospital for x-rays. The arm ended up being fine. While he was there, he overcame his fears and went forward with the amputation. The procedure was done soon enough that there were no signs of infection anywhere else in his body. We praise God that Dad is going to be around much longer now!

He is currently in rehab where he is getting stronger every day. We anticipate that he will be able to come home in another week. He has had bouts of sickness that has slowed his progress, but Dad is a fighter. On his bedside calendar, he put a thumb-tack on the day he has targeted to be able to go home. He is determined.

As a double amputee, Dad is now realizing that his days of living independently may be over. He is discouraged about that, but is excited about the possibility of living with us. We have decided we want him to come into our home where we can take better care of him. We are currently looking for a home that will accommodate him as far as his handicap needs and still provide him with some independence. We know God already has a home picked out for us. Please pray that we will find a place we can afford on just one salary.

As for us, Jeanine spends a lot of her time with Dad at rehab and looking for homes. She occasionally finds time to work on curriculums for our partners in South Africa. Mike’s old boss from Staples in Colorado sought him out and got him a job at the corporate office in Massachusetts. He is much happier with the work environment. We both like the occasional Skype call with Ryan, Nikki and the grandkids in Cambodia. Jeanine spent Memorial Day weekend in Virginia with Timmy, Lynsi & Xander. We are happy to report that this past week, they gave birth to the lovely Violet Kristina Coressel. She is a beautiful baby that has a full head of hair. When we are little more settled with the situation with Dad, we hope to go and meet her soon.

Prayer requests: Dads rehab and strength, finding a home to accommodate our needs, our friends in Africa (there are some situations going on we will share later), and for our beloved family in Cambodia.

With love,
Mike and Jeanine

The beautiful Violet Kristina Coressel born July 6th - 6 lbs 8oz

Skying to Cambodia

Idiom fun: "Giving Dad a leg up!"