Our heads are spinning from the whirlwind trip to Colorado Springs to pick Taylor up from her YWAM base. Taylor returned to the states a week ago, but spent the past week debriefing. Wendy and I left Wednesday night after I returned from a speaking gig in Miami. We left Des Moines for Colorado about 10:30 p.m. and made it as far as Grand Island before I couldn't keep my peepers open any longer. We finished the drive on Thursday morning and arrived at Taylor's base mid-afternoon.

It was so good to see Taylor. Wendy and I took Taylor to Starbucks to see her pictures and do a little debriefing of our own. Taylor had a challenging, character building trip –   but I'll leave it to her to share more about that. On Thursday night there was graduation dinner for all the teams that YWAM sent out this term. It was great to meet all of the members of Taylor's team and to actually put a face with the names we've been hearing about for months.

Taylor was selected to share a bit about her team's trip during the graduation ceremony. She did a great job. It was interesting to hear stories from the teams that went to other countries, as well. Wendy and I were really tired by the time the graduation ceremony was over, so we headed to bed and let Taylor spend her final night on base with her friends.

On Friday morning the three of us had breakfast with our friends, the Straits, and then hit the long road for home. We ran into snow around Grand Island and drove in a snowstorm through the rest of Nebraska and Iowa. We finally got ahead of it just west of Des Moines. We arrived home just before 11 p.m. and found Taylor's friends, Emily & Sophie, getting out of their car to post a "Welcome Home Taylor" sign on the house. Madison was anxiously waiting her sister's return, as well.

Taylor heads for Haiti on Tuesday to spend a few weeks with her fiance', Clayton.

Our heads are spinning from the whirlwind trip to Colorado Springs to pick Taylor up from her YWAM base. Taylor returned to the states a week ago, but spent the past week debriefing. Wendy and I left Wednesday night after I returned from a speaking gig in Miami. We left Des Moines for Colorado about 10:30 p.m. and made it as far as Grand Island before I couldn't keep my peepers open any longer. We finished the drive on Thursday morning and arrived at Taylor's base mid-afternoon.

It was so good to see Taylor. Wendy and I took Taylor to Starbucks to see her pictures and do a little debriefing of our own. Taylor had a challenging, character building trip –   but I'll leave it to her to share more about that. On Thursday night there was graduation dinner for all the teams that YWAM sent out this term. It was great to meet all of the members of Taylor's team and to actually put a face with the names we've been hearing about for months.

Taylor was selected to share a bit about her team's trip during the graduation ceremony. She did a great job. It was interesting to hear stories from the teams that went to other countries, as well. Wendy and I were really tired by the time the graduation ceremony was over, so we headed to bed and let Taylor spend her final night on base with her friends.

On Friday morning the three of us had breakfast with our friends, the Straits, and then hit the long road for home. We ran into snow around Grand Island and drove in a snowstorm through the rest of Nebraska and Iowa. We finally got ahead of it just west of Des Moines. We arrived home just before 11 p.m. and found Taylor's friends, Emily & Sophie, getting out of their car to post a "Welcome Home Taylor" sign on the house. Madison was anxiously waiting her sister's return, as well.

Taylor heads for Haiti on Tuesday to spend a few weeks with her fiance', Clayton.

I'm on a whirlwind turn-around trip to Miami. I was up at 3:30 a.m. yesterday to catch a 6 a.m. plane and arrived yesterday mid-day. I'm doing a four-hour workshop this morning on "Building an Effective QA Program" and then jumping a flight home. When I get back to Des Moines, I'm jumping in the car with Wendy and we're heading to Colorado Springs to pick Taylor up. She has a graduation dinner Thursday night and then we're driving back home on Friday.

I'm not getting much sleep this week.

It felt like a strange weekend. Much of it because Wendy was gone most of the day on Saturday. She volunteered at the Pella High Show Choir invitational about a year ago. She had to be at the school at 6:30 a.m. Everyone who knows Wendy knows that she absolutely loooooooved that (not). Madison was working at the Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) weekend retreat, so she wasn't around. I ended up working around the house by myself on Saturday.

Sunday morning, Madison gave a talk to her peers at the retreat. Wendy and I picked up her friend, Meredith, and headed over to First Reformed to pray with Madison and listen to her talk. It brought back memories, as Taylor did a talk like this a year or two ago. Madison did a great job sharing what God had done in her life. We were really proud of her.

Wendy and I worked on the couch last night and watched the Academy Awards, which we enjoyed – though we haven't seen one of the movies nominated for best picture. Oh well.

Getting ready for a long week ahead. I speak at a call center conference in Miami on Wednesday. Wendy and I drive out to Colorado to pick up Taylor late in the week.

A quick update for those who are wondering. I received a call from Taylor this evening. She was at the Denver airport and happy to be back in the U.S. She said she was looking forward to making a Target run and then to Chipotle'. The entire team had decided they were going to Village Inn tomorrow morning for a good, old fashioned, American breakfast.

Taylor will spend the week debriefing at the YWAM base in Colorado Springs. Wendy and I are headed west next week for her graduation and to bring her home.