Second Annual Soulation Retreat

Estes Park gave us a wonderful chance to see how God strengthened us despite some sleep-deprived nights.

We thank God for everything we asked for. The Q and A time was so fruitful, Finn slept well both ways and slept during two of our talks. Here's a fun picture of him and Jonalyn the last night. We felt very creative as we tried to juggle everything. The hardest thing was for Jonalyn to get enough sleep. She's learning to do less and relax more, even while on the road.

This week we're about to welcome nine friends for five days of retreating. We'll be sharing ideas, discussing things from spiritual abuse, body image and sacred space.

Would you pray for us this week:

1. for each person (including us) to find ways to love and listen and learn from one another
2. for each person to feel loved from the wonderful food Ellyn will be preparing, to the movies we watch, to the conversations they enjoy
3. for us to have proper boundaries to get sleep and for Finn to get sleep. We ask God that Finn would continue his habit of sleeping 6-7 hours each night. We could really use that!

Would you be willing to take one of these and pray it for us this week?

Ready to retreat with others!
Dale and Jonalyn Fincher

Estes Park Week with College Students

Since writing, Finn has turned 3 months old and now we have plans to go back on the road.

Using the insight we gained from our Biola experience, this time Jessica, Jonalyn's sister, will accompany us to help watch Finn, enabling us to speak and interact with college-age leaders at Estes Park.

We leave Tuesday and speak until Friday. Our topics include, The Gender Myths, Be Saavy: Bring Your Questions, and Misquoting Jesus: How to Read Your Bible.

We'd love prayer for

1. Finn to be able to have some good sleep time as we drive the 4 hours to this event.
2. God to give us grace and creativity with ourselves and each other as we learn how to speak for a longer event with Finn (babywearing, babysitting, etc)
3. Realistic expectations to interact with the college students while also watching Finn
4. Open-hearted vulnerability on the part of these college students (many of them attending Colorado State University, Boulder) so they can begin to share their questions during our Q and A time).
5. For Jessica to have a wonderful time engaging with Finn.

Thank you for praying for us.
The Finchers

Biola Speaking with Finn

We're so thankful we made it.

Finn traveled beautifully, and received lots of compliments for his laid back travel style. We even got an empty seat next to us on the way out, so he got to really snooze between us.

Our crazy busy Monday was made more difficult because Finn had a horrible night's rest, which meant we did, too.

Though we got up 2 hours too early for the 1st radio interview it went so well that the DJ wants to interview us more regularly. Details on that will be forthcoming. We're so excited she felt we had more to share!

Our chapel talk while Jonalyn carried Finn in the baby carrier went beautifully, even though Jonalyn said her head felt a little muddy. Finn began to cry for food in the last 5 minutes so Jonalyn announced he was going to go see grandma and serenely handed him over. It was amazingly smooth and Grandma was a big help.

Our 2nd radio interview went well, though it felt very short.
In the evening Finn surprised us by sleeping for 3 hours (probably because he needed the rest so badly) during our entire Gender Justice talk.

As this was the talk we were originally invited out for (the chapel was tagged on just 1 week ago), we were thrilled when the room packed out, with people standing in the back. We stayed until 11pm signing books and chatting with the Biola students. To read how they liked it check out their campus newsletter's article, "Mind the Stereotypes". We felt blown away by their enthusiasm and excellent questions.

Thank you so much for praying. This week we're headed to Moab for a real vacation. As we learn to integrate Finn into our lives on the road, we ask for continued wisdom.

Would you pray that for us this week?

Gratefully,
Dale and Jonalyn Fincher

First Speaking Trip with Finn

We praise God because Jonalyn came through surgery beautifully. No complications and no excess bleeding during her procedure. Finn and Dad did great, as well. Thank you for praying as her good health makes it possible to go into this upcoming busy week with strength.

This week we look ahead to our time in Los Angeles. It will be Finn's inaugural speaking trip with us. Would you please pray for us, ESPECIALLY on Monday as we have a

6 am radio interview for our book,

a 9 am speaking event for Biola's entire student body (audience around 2000),

a 1 pm radio interview again for our book and

a 9 pm speaking event for a smaller audience at Biola (around 100+).

We ask for:

1. Health, as we travel with Finn on a plane for the first time. We want to be sensitive to his needs as we travel and speak, we really want him to stay healthy. We've been asking God for wisdom as to how to incorporate Finn into our Soulation work. It would be wonderful if he could sleep during our talks as we will be baby-carrying him during both events. Grandma will be in the audience to help if there is a breakdown. However, Jonalyn specifically asks for peace and joy as she models another way to include your child in your work.
2. We ask for tender hearts at Biola, that the students and faculty would be sensitive to hearing us speak about sharing your faith and gender myths.
   

We look forward to reporting back next week on how God answered our prayers.

Sleep, Surgery, Speaking

Your prayers have made a difference!
This week Finn has impressed us all by sleeping for up to 6 hours at a stretch at night. AMAZINGLY wonderful. Please continue to pray for Finn the amazing Sleeping Champion to continue to wow us, as we need as much sleep as we can get.

Jonalyn needs your prayers tonight and tomorrow morning. After multiple sonograms the doctors have determined that she needs a D and C. She goes in at 6am tomorrow for a 7:30am surgery.

Would you pray for her specifically that

1. She will not lose much blood, a potential given a retained placenta. We have a speaking event (our first since Finn's birth) in Los Angeles in 2 weeks so she needs all her strength.
2. The fast from food and drink from midnight until surgery will not be too arduous given her need to nurse.
3. That Finn will be able to have a special time with Dad who will watch him during the surgery.

Finally, we are preparing for our first speaking event at BIola on May 3rd. Would you pray our work on this talk would be a joy and not a burden as we learn to prepare with Finn in our lives?

Rentals, Finn and Surgery

We are excited to tell you that we found a wonderful spot for our Soulation Retreats. It's an ideal location and the rate is affordable for us. HOORAY!

In other news, Finn is adjusting beautifully to life outside the womb. We've found a schedule that has worked to give us about 7 hours of sleep (though mine is in chunks!) Would you pray for Finn to begin to sleep consistently from 10-2am? This would help us be more alert for business during the day.

Jonalyn could use some extra prayer this weekend. She has an infection which needs to fully clear by Monday or she will have to undergo surgery (D and C). Would you pray that God would naturally heal her body? She does not relish the idea of going under for this procedure. Please pray for her to lean on God for courage during this time.

Thank you so much,
The Finchers

We ask for God's healing.

Days and Nights with Finn and Soulation Retreat

We've had baby Finn home with us for 2 weeks now, after his 2 week hospital stay. We're realizing the one month anniversary can be more challenging than we thought.

Would you pray for us as we brainstorm ways to get a little more sleep. Jonalyn's body has been particularly worn down, something she realized this weekend with her 100 degree temperature. We ask that we'd have creativity and sensitivity about letting each other sleep and teaming up (especially in the wee hours of the night).

Dale is working hard to find a place to host our two Soulation retreats this summer. Would you pray for us to find a lodging that would fit all our guests and would be miraculously more affordable than the going rate at Steamboat? We have many details to get together and we need good prioritizing to make these happen in a timely manner... and with a new born around!

We need strength this week to persevere in caring for Finn and in our own Soulation responsibilities.

Grateful for you,
Jonalyn and Dale