Dear Family and Friends,

We’ve had such a great last couple weeks traveling for Christmas and New Year’s. It was a special time in Ravine for Christmas with Melissa’s cousins. And then we were down in Arusha after that for the big Mount Meru climb! Wow, what an experience, there were some seriously grueling parts, but an amazing journey for both Josh and me. I’m hoping soon to write down some of my reflections on the climb to post to our blog. We thank the Lord that we both made it to the summit (4,566 meters/14,976 feet), and didn’t have any injuries or problems with the altitude. This was one of Josh’s Twelve Tasks of manhood, and I’m so proud of how well he did (and proud of my near-40 year old legs for getting me up there!). As you can imagine, it took Josh about one day to recover and myself about a week before my legs stopped aching!

The second mountain mentioned in the subject refers to my recent sitting for the Family Medicine Board Re-Certification Exam. I took the test (which is every ten years) in November, and found out right before Christmas that I passed! Phew! It was a bit of a nail-biter, and it feels very good to have successfully ‘climbed’ that mountain as well! So I’m Board Certified again for the next ten years, thank you Lord!

Josh and I read Psalm 121 multiple times on our way up the mountain, it brought strength to our hearts. I’d encourage you read this Psalm for this new year.

Happy New Year to you all,

In Christ,

Jon

Pics:

1- The Tanzanian flag at the summit of Meru
2- At the summit sign on Meru with sun rising and Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background
3- Josh receiving his ‘Mt. Meru Summit Certificate’ from the Park Ranger after the climb