Lewyn is putting everything in his mouth these days – even his cousin Juniper!
Can’t tell you how proud of these guys I am. Aaron and Silas both live in Tennessee. Both work for the same company. Both had babies born to their families last fall (a month and a day apart in Oct/Nov). Both got their great hair from mom’s side of the family! Cheryl and I are just dying – having to watch these grandkids grow up 14 hours away. Here’s a brief catch-you-up on them.
Aaron, Savannah, Poppy and Juniper
Aaron and his family live in Franklin – Nashville is where one of Whisper Aero’s facilities is located.
Poppy just finished first grade, went on a short trip with her family that included a hike in the Smoky Mountains with lamas! She’s a fabulous big sister and can’t wait to hit the swimming pool this summer.
Savannah is a terrific mom of two, loves planning get-aways like an A-frame air BnB in the mountains with nearby lama hikes!
That’s Aaron showing off a concept model at an experimental aircraft expo. That’s also the whole family on stage – child dedication Sunday at their church.
Whisper Aero is a really cool high-tech aerospace start up Aaron has worked for since 2021. Here are a few interesting links if you’re curious about electric aircraft!
Haleigh and Silas live in Cookeville, 90 minutes east of Nashville.
Silas wrapped up his undergrad in Computer Engineering here in Nebraska last May.
After an internship at Whisper and working remotely during his senior year, Whisper hired their second Perry! Silas works in imbedded computer systems at their facility in Crossville.
Lewyn is Haleigh and Silas’ first kiddo – they are doing great learning the ropes of parenthood.
Silas just came back to Omaha for a retirement party for one of his CE professors. While here Silas picked up his classmate Edoe and took him back to Tennessee for an internship with Whisper Aero!
In one of those pics below, Silas and Edoe are meeting up with Dr. Chen who is giving us all a tour of a net-zero granny-pod. Dr. Chen is another one of Silas’ professors we saw that day. Silas is incredibly loved back in his CE department. “Give me a thousand students like Silas!” Dr. Chen told Cheryl and I.
Hope you’ve had a great weekend. Thanks for your prayers and donations to my work. Thanks for how you help keep me and my family encouraged and enjoying life!
I hope you are poised for a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend. Here are a few things that instantly come to mind when I think of Memorial Day weekend during my growing up years:
We had TONS of peony flowers growing all over our farm when I was kid. They were always in full-bloom by Memorial Day weekend.
We would take large coffee cans, for some reason wrapped with aluminum foil, pack them with all three colors of peony flowers (white, pink, red) then take them to our grand-parents’ graves at the cemetery and leave them by the headstone.
The Indy 500 (which I actually got to watch one year in person – Rick Mears, 1984).
With 5 older brothers, for quite a few years in the 70s and 80s someone was always graduating from high-school in late May.
How’s the Fam – Part 1
How about I catch you up with the Perry girls today. I’ll get the guys in the next post before the weekend is up! Cheryl has been working this spring at a new job with Good Will. She serves in an education group called Youth Build. Her role is teaching and coaching adult learners wanting to pass the GED test. It’s a part time job at the moment. She hopes her group will add another program she used to teach at her former job. It would become a full-time gig if things move in that direction.
Other things keeping Cheryl busy these days?
Grand kids! More on them in the next post, but being Cher-Bear to Poppy, Juniper and Lewyn is Cheryl’s real dream-job. The commute at the moment is JUST TOO LONG! All the grand-kids are a 14 hour drive way in Tennessee.
Gardening! Her latest creation: wild-flower tree-stump with bird-bath. She’s also helping her Good Will students plant a tiny garden in the back of the building.
Hamilton! A wonderful mothers day gift from Phoebe. They were seated nearly on the top row in the theatre, but it was magical nonetheless!
Phoebe: a wellness and arts entrepreneur!
Phoebe and Ryan moved back to Omaha about 2 years ago. She officially retired from ballet performance after reaching company soloist for the San Diego Ballet. Returning to your hometown after dancing professionally for 5 years actually makes you rock-star with your former ballet school. She was immediately scooped up by Omaha Academy of Ballet and began teaching. Now and then she gets to be in a show, now and then she gets to choreograph pieces. Recently I’ve just been in awe of her ability to create movement with multiple dancers with all the technicality of composing music for multiple instruments! She brings movement to life on a stage like an artist painting on a canvas (only somehow better). Here’s a few other things she’s got going these days:
She is the sole proprietor of Allonge Massage and Wellness. She has a studio in her basement as well as offering mobile massage!
Recently she was “hired” by Gallup here in Omaha – she spends a day a week at their offices doing 15 minute massages for their employees. Her sign up list is never NOT packed full!
She’s certified in pilates and teaches at a local studio. She also bought a reformer (contraption you can do various pilates exercises on).
Her and Ryan bought a home here in Omaha last August – a few needed upgrades in progress with a little help from Perry Painting and Decorating (c’est moi).
A very precocious and adorable halloween cat named Otto!
Everybody knows that many animals have an incredible ability to return to their home after migrating in some cases hundreds of miles and up to several years! I had no idea how sophisticated their GPS wiring must be! Here are excerpts from Wikipedia on Natal Homing:
“Natal homing is the process by which some adult animals that have migrated away from their juvenile habitats return to their birthplace…. This process is primarily used by aquatic animals such as sea turtles and salmon, although some migratory birds and mammals also practice similar behavior. Scientists believe that the main cues used by the animals are geomagnetic imprinting and olfactory cues. The benefits of returning to the precise location of an animal’s birth may be largely associated with its safety and suitability as a breeding ground. When seabirds like the Atlantic puffin return to their natal breeding colony, which are mostly on islands, they are assured of a suitable climate and a sufficient lack of land-based predators.”
SPAPH students are like… salmon (or puffins)!
Third-year SPAHP (School of Pharmacy and Health Professions) students set off on a sort of migratory journey. They are doing their field work assignments in places like Minneapolis, Rochester, Chicago or Kansas City. Here in the last month of their final year their “geomagnetic imprinting and olfactory cues” kick-in and back to Omaha they come! Graduating Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Pharmacy students make the trek about a week before commencement to present their Capstone project, welcome parents and other family members to campus and complete their academic life-cycle with that last walk to the podium collecting their diplomas. This year there are 7 special SPAPH-salmon I’m eager to see end their long journey. Mara Juffer (OT), Emma Wright (OT), Hannah Wright (OT), Grant Solley (PT), Karis Choy (Pharmacy), Abby Knutson (OT), and Katlyn Sims. These seven and other graduates from past classes are scattered throughout the pic galleries below.
Mind the GAP!
I’ve really enjoyed this year’s graduating class. When I first met them all in August 2022, I was thrilled with the energy they gave our group! In addition to these seven, we also started attracting students from other programs as well as grad students from other schools. They have been a solid community for one another as they’ve done their training. The constant aim on InterVarsity’s part has been to coach and mentor them in the connection between their love for Jesus and their passion for their discipline. “Mind the gap” for lovers of things British is a saying similar to “watch your step” in the American dialect. Those of us with graduating students in InterVarsity talk about GAPS differently.
GAPS stands for GIVE, ADVOCATE, PRAY and SERVE. These are four invitations we give every graduating grad and professional student in GFM. These incredible “SPAHP-Puffins” won’t be in Omaha very long before they head out again (maybe NEVER to return?) to the birthplace of their training. They’re off to career jobs sometimes back in their home state, sometimes to far away places in other countries! Our invitation for them is to:
Consider GIVING to the work at their alma-mater once they get situated with their new job and location.
Be open to ADVOCATING for GFM ministry in their new setting. Things like connecting with other InterVarsity Alumni or helping GFM network its ministry in new places.
PRAY for the Grad Student Fellowship they have just left and the staff members remaining in that community.
SERVE a local InterVarsity staff member or student chapter by volunteering to help with events or speaking to active student groups.
Pray for graduating students everywhere in GFM. Pray for their job search and transition to new living situations. Pray for them as they figure out the complexity of working, paying off school debt, relationships and family, and on top of all that, MORE testing and exams related to their professional certifications! Pray for me as I hope to welcome all seven of these students and more for a simple reception at our home on May 15th. It’s a chaotic few days with events on campus for the graduates, family visiting in town, etc. It will be hard to see all of them at the same time, but I do want to make a connection with each one. They have each been a real treasure to have in GFM. InterVarsity and I want to bless them as they move on.
Fourth Quarter Finances.
May and June wrap up our fiscal year in InterVarsity. As I conclude this post I want to you know I could use your prayers for finishing out the year in good shape. Quite a few of my ministry partners are fiscal 4th Quarter givers. I’ll be reaching out to see about their support in the next few weeks. At this point I’m watching for about $18K in annual gifts to arrive before June 30 (on top of what my monthly givers are doing).
Ask the Lord to help me connect. Ask the Lord to help my entire budget to come in full. If you happen to be one of those May/June givers, here’s a link to my donation page at InterVarsity. Email me or reply this post if you have any questions about giving to my account.
PBR 