HOUSTON, HERE SHE COMES!

Yes, and her name is Sarah Beth whose eagle (actually Solara) is landing there in early September where she will begin her life as a nurse practitioner working at MD Anderson Hospital. Sarah Beth will be there for at least a year and likely longer as she focuses her energies on becoming an expert in pediatric oncology at one of the nation's top hospitals. Sarah has found it hard to leave central Florida and so many friends, but she is excited about what the big-city hospital, not to mention a new city church, holds for her and she is very glad that her friend, Catherine Gartzke, is only a few hours away in Big D. We continue to be amazed and thrilled with what God has wrought from Sarah's experiences in her own battle and win over leukemia, but this major change for her is only one of the big news items in what has proven to be yet another summer of change for our family.
Another major adjustment came on Father's Day when Beth's mother, Ginny Proctor (aka Nan), was hit by a stroke in the middle of the night. The stroke left her paralyzed on her left side and the tests that she underwent also revealed a mass on her kidney. As she sought recovery in hospitals in Melbourne, Orlando and Sarasota she has dealt with infections, bed sores, contagious diseases, and all the general slings and arrows of our medical system. But she has battled. She is mentally sharp, speaks well, and is rehabbing to regain use of her limbs. So many have joined us in prayer, and we continue to request of our heavenly Father that her recovery may allow her to return home someday to her condo in West Melbourne. But, between now and then, there is much more rehab and a possible surgery to remove a kidney. So, we pray and wait and cheer her on. Nan will begin discussions on Sept. 8 with a team of specialists from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, to determine the fate of the mass on her kidney. Beth and her siblings continue to cycle in for a week or two at a time to assist Nan in her recovery. It has been quite a summer of seeing God at work.
We have been praying for some time now that Hannah Ruth would be able to go from part-time to full-time in her position as Assistant Youth Director of Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Brandon, Mississippi. That prayer was answered with a "yes" just about a week ago; thus Hannah will be able to retire from her restaurant job and focus her energies on discipleship ministry with several young ladies in her youth group. Meanwhile, she has also relocated to a lovely home nearer her work place with another twenty-something gal who holds a similar position in a sister church. We are, with Hannah, thankful for this provision. Hannah continues to delight all of us with her photography expertise, especially filming our sweet grandbaby Lylah at every new and exciting development of her young life. Hannah has also recently been requested to handle all of the photography for her first wedding, that of a friend and fellow team missionary to Ireland.
Speaking of Lylah, our precious little girl has had her first birthday, complete with a ballerina theme, and is keeping her parents and grandparents, along with her aunties, proud and happy. At every turn with her, especially since she looks so much like our own "babies", we are reminded of the happy days that seem like yesterday, spent reveling in the joys and delights of parenting young children. Lylah's daddy, although he has preached several times at Faith Church Brookhaven, has been recorded for posterity, and we had the privilege of hearing his first sermon from the book of Colossians. That is a book that even his dad, in over 30 years of pastoral ministry, has not preached through yet; so the boy is opening up some new Hendley pathways through scripture. Lylah's mommy has not only proven to be a great mom, but is now also entering the realms of women's and youth ministry bible study leadership this fall. The Faith Church family continually reminds us on our visits how grateful they are to have Andrew, Meredith, and Lylah on board!
The Pennsylvania Hendleys continue to enjoy life at North Park Church, where we have the privilege of seeing God at work on a daily/weekly basis to show Himself strong on behalf of His people. It is such a joy to be in this place! We continue to see friends from Florida cycle up this way, most recently Art Wimer, and the Jonathan Ingrahams (30 min north at Geneva College) as well as Erin Middleton's family (her mom lives up here). Sharon has a very busy schedule of college courses and work at Loafers, but carved out time to help us speerhead some community gatherings in our little townhome area, that we hope may turn into a fall evangelistic bible study. She was also blessed to be able to spend a great week at Joni and Friends Family Retreat, south of Pittsburgh, along with her mom, seeing God do more than we could imagine at western PA's inaugural family retreat. Beth has become quite the traveler, spending much of the last few months in Florida with her Mom as well as excursions with Dan to Colorado (for the EPC General Assembly) and Lylassippi. She will be back down in Sarasota in mid September, not only to assist, but also to celebrate Nan's 75th birthday. The Lord has been so gracious to get us to this place after this eventful summer!
So, we are excited about the Fall, about our children's new adventures, about Nan's recovery, about what the Lord will do in our churches & in our country, and about what the Florida Gators will accomplish with a handsome young Ocala boy playing quarterback.

SPRING 2010

As we approach summer in Pittsburgh and the beginning of our second year here, we continue to experience many exciting transitions within our family. In early May, we were back in Florida to see Sarah Beth awarded her master's degree in nursing from the University of Central Florida. Sarah has worked long and hard for this honor and now faces a huge personal transition. Pending a successful board exam, she will be leaving Central Florida and heading to Houston in early September. There she will take up a year long fellowship at MD Anderson, where she will work and get further specialization training in her chosen field of pediatric oncology. By the time she is finished there, she is hopeful of being well prepared to take on her new role as a pediatric nurse practitioner. We are amazed at God's provision for Sarah and look forward to seeing how He will continue His faithful mercies to her in this next year.
Besides celebrating Sarah's achievement, we got to visit with Beth's mom and our Mississippi family, minus Andrew; so we thoroughly enjoyed having Hannah, Meredith and Lylah to help us celebrate. Our focus in that brief time was on our family, but we did get to reconnect with several friends in the Orlando and Brevard County areas--how sweet. While there, we received the news that Andrew had passed his ordination exams! - which takes us to our next trip. On June 13 we will be in Brookhaven, Mississippi for AW's ordination. Dan's mom, Granmimi, will be joining us for this special time of meeting her great granddaughter for the first time and watching her son help ordain her grandson to gospel ministry. Dan will be preaching for that service while both of us will marvel at what God has done with and for our son, his family, and Faith Church. We're also looking forward to reconnecting with our precious grandbaby and seeing all the new things she is doing to get ready to walk.
Hannah's summer will be dominated by her labors as a youth ministry assistant for Lakeside Pres in Brandon MS, where she will be spending lots of time at camps and missions trips, connecting with her students and assisting them in growing and building God's Kingdom together. We pray alot for Boo's passion for the ministries God has given her, as well as her safety in doing so, but mostly that she would glorify Jesus in all that she is for Him as she walks worthy of His high call upon her life.
When we are back home, we continue to enjoy life together and with our church family at North Park Church. Western PA has been gorgeous this Spring, so as Sharon maintains a busy workload of mathematics at the Community College of Allegheny County, she gets to study in the beautiful outdoor array of forest and flower that is our back yard. She has done quite well in her classes so far, even on her many tests, which has been one of her college concerns. The Lord provided Sharon a school break that "just happened" to coincide with Sarah's graduation. That same provision is occurring later this summer as she has a break between summer and fall terms, just in time to participate as a short term missionary at the first ever Joni and Friends Family Retreat in the Pittsburgh area. We praise God for Sharon's heart for outreach in our community!
In March we had a neat opportunity to visit Laguna Beach, Calif for a weeklong conference featuring Henry Cloud and John Townsend, two of our favorite Christian psychologists. The Ultimate Leadership week was a great time to further understand who we are at the core of our being and how that impacts our relationships and ministry. We thank the Lord and North Park church for the further equipping we received there and trust Him for what He will continue to do!

We Find Grace Again in 20 and 10

Our beautiful first granddaughter continues to bring great joy to our hearts and lives; in fact we had her and her parents and her sweet aunts all here in PA for Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed their visit. We are so grateful for how the Lord continues to lead and guide each one down that growth path in Christ.

Here are some early January 2010 highlights, for which to join us in thanking God:

Sharon Leigh begins her trek back to college life here at our excellent community college taking classes that will hopefully lead her down a career path in nutrution; we thank God for her patience in waiting to get here and get established. She is out ice skating w/a friend in our wintry wonderland as we write this. Sharon requests prayer that she would test well in her class

Hannah began her new position as a youth intern at Lakeside Church, an EPC congregation in the greater Jackson area. She found out in December about this happy provision and is very excited and prayerful about connecting w/middle and high school girls in discipling relationships. Would you pray that Hannah would love these young ladies well?
Sarah Beth completed her fourth 26.2 mile run this morning in the 30 degree Orlando weather, competing in the Disney Marathon there---we are amazed and excited for her, but prayerful as well as she thinks she sustained a stress fracture that needs healing. Sarah came home to her apartment and God's latest provision in her life is our good friend, the lovely Jessica Solid from Palm Bay, who is moving in to be Sarah's roommate and one of UCF's best college transfer students. So Sarah and Jessica will have each other to lean on as they both continue their studies. Sarah is set to graduate in May 2010 w/her masters in nursing as a pediatric nurse practitioner, specializing in pediatric oncology. She is asking God to provide a one year fellowship opportunity out in TX upon graduation, where she would get further training in the field of oncology.

Andrew and Meredith and baby Lylah continue to thrive in Brookhaven, MS about an hr south of Hannah. They are well loved and supported in their youth role there and are excited about God's provsion of a new senior pastor coming to join them in March. As so often happens on this side of glory though, some sadness accompanies Pastor Russ & Amanda's arrival, as they recently delivered their second baby, who slipped away and on into Heaven only a few days after her birth. We mourn the loss of little Viviana and pray for God's peace to attend her family at this time of tremendous transition in their lives.
Dan and Beth requested your prayers for God's help as we met with leaders at North Park Church this past weekend. God did some wonderful things in our time together, giving us precious unity in Him and speaking to us about His desire for mentoring and discipling w/in a major emphasis on small groups, while also reaching beyond our walls into our community for the sake of His gospel in many lives. Thank you for those prayers and for your constant support of His work thru clay pots like us. One of our next personal ministry concerns is that both of us will be travelling to an Ultimate Leadership Week (in CA) March 17-21 and gleaning from the leadership training insights of Henry Cloud and John Townsend. Would you pray for us as we prepare for this intense week, that God would empty us of self and plant within us fertile seeds of growth that would allow us to further take up the mantel of servant leadership in the precious
body of Christ at North Park Church and beyond. Thank you!