October 24, 2007

Dear Friends,

As I write this letter, the situation in San Diego County with the wildfires seems to be getting a little better.  The area where I live has not been evacuated and is not likely to be evacuated at this point, but the fires came close to MCAS Miramar and I will not be able to visit my brothers in the Brig this evening.  We are in a state of emergency here, and I would like to be able to offer some comfort to the men, but it seems unlikely at this point.

In addition, two of my men on the outside have been affected by the fires.  A friend of my roommate Jason's home burned down and everything was lost—at least, that's the current assumption.  Josh called me Monday afternoon to say that he was taking his family to stay with his cousin, who lives closer to the ocean.  As I write, I haven't spoken with Josh.  Their home is not in an evacuation area, but the fires in 2003 came close to them and he just wanted to get out.

In the midst of the crisis here, my father in Indianapolis was taken to the emergency room last Friday night and has been diagnosed with necrotic pancreatitis.  As of this writing, he is in ICU with a number of complications and the prognosis is not good.  To complicate matters, my mother is in poor health and needs someone to help her out around the house.  My sister, who is a nurse, doesn't think my mom is healthy enough to visit my dad in the hospital, although they plan to try this weekend.  There are lots of family members around to help with my mom, but my mom for some reason has been reluctant to ask for help.

Please pray for me as I make decisions about how to help out.  With the state of emergency here in San Diego, it is difficult to leave.  Financially, I really cannot afford to be away at all.  My consulting business has been slow recently, and although I am able to get substitute teaching assignments pretty easily at this time of year, I have to be in town to work and I don't get paid if I don't work. God will supply all my needs, but I want to make wise decisions along the way.

By the time some of you read this, many things will undoubtedly have changed.  But I had the time to get this letter out, and thought it would be good to have more people in prayer for these situations.