As a child, I loved reading a book called “Meanwhile Back at the Ranch” by Trinka Hakes Noble. As I sat down to write this post, that book title came to mind. Many of you may not have known, but in the middle of March we were informed by the Department of Homeland Security via email if we wanted to fly into the US from another country, now was the time to do it or plan on staying indefinitely. We knew we wanted to be in the US for the summertime to reconnect and refresh, so John and Luke went to the travel office and changed our tickets to fly out the next day. The next 24 hours were a whirlwind, but by God’s grace, we were able to get on the flight we wanted and off we went.

After a flight cancellation in Seattle, we arrived in Texas to a much different Texas than we remembered two years ago. So here we are in Texas, rotating every two weeks between the Phifer’s house and the Rice’s house. It’s been a big adjustment for us. Luke is doing remote learning through Google Classroom and daily emails sent home by the wonderful Mrs. Stanley. Ashley is teaching remotely through video recordings, live Zooms at night (morning in Cambodia) and daily emails with the listed assignments. We are thankful for the time with our family even though some times we are a little antsy to get out and do things we miss.

We don’t know what the future holds. Our plan is to return to Cambodia mid-July if we are allowed to return, currently the border is closed to Americans.  Please be in prayer with us. We would love to meet with all of you while we are here so we can share with you the good work the Lord is doing in Cambodia but it may not be possible… but we do know this, God is not done with us. So meanwhile, back in Texas, we wait…