After many months — too many months! — I write with wonderful news: Mike and I have moved back to California! Today, Christmas day, we celebrate seven months here and 67 months since Mike's injury. It’s been quite a year, apart from the pandemic and all it has wrought. Our visit to Berkeley in summer …
Allow me (Maria) to introduce our friend Dru Fridsma, who wrote this post. Dru and her husband Dan are among the unsung heroes of our story. Not long after Mike was hospitalized in 2015, Dru texted me to say that, while she couldn't bring a casserole or clean our house, she could give me a …
Continue reading Guest Blogger Dru Fridsma | Thanking God in Spite of Mike’s Heart Attack
October 6, 2019 Mike was eager to meet and thank the man who found him on the road during his heart attack. Barry saved Mike's life. Here is his description of events that morning.
Berkeley, California holds a special place in our hearts. Mike and I (Maria) were students, met, and married there. It’s also the place where Mike became a Christian. You'll find a whole gallery of Berkeley pictures from our trip at the end of the post. While vacationing in Berkeley recently, we took a walk on campus, intending …
We come two by two each month to the Orlando Museum of Art, are warmly greeted, and don our nametags—blue for the “diagnosed,” brown for the companion. I’m getting to know the group and they to know us, and it’s become a happy and comfortable place for Mike. We come for “Art’s the Spark,” the …
No loss of oxygen robbed Mike Francis of his love for the Bible and his unshakeable belief in the imperative of every Christian spending time in God's Word to hear the Shepherd's voice, learn the precepts, and store it in his heart (Psalm 119:11). The last sermon of the year was always devoted to this …
You can take the man out of the pulpit, but you can't take the pulpit out of the man! Anyone who has been around Mike knows his deep and abiding desire to minister again, in particular to preach. At the invitation of his dear friend Dr. David Harding, along with the elders of St. Petersburg …
What a joy it was to be part of Lafayette Federated Church's "Thriving With Disabilities" conference this past September. The church has a marvelous and extensive ministry to people with disabilities called "One Body Many Parts," and we were excited to be invited to share our story. We traveled with our friends Dan and …
Grateful greetings from the Francis family! One of the things we have asked you to pray about for most of the past year is the fundraising for our future, so I write this update “so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted through the prayers of many” (2 Cor. 1:11). …
Beloved friends and family of God, We’ve passed another bittersweet anniversary and begun our fourth year of enjoying “new Mike” while missing “old Mike”—the journey we call Mike Marathon. God is still hearing and answering your prayers, and I write to thank you! In my last update, I asked you particularly to pray for Mike’s transition …
Continue reading We get by with a little help from our friends!