The process of packing, purging and saying goodbyes has begun again.
We leave on Thursday to return to our home, team, friends and ministry in Vienna. All of us are ready. Ready for our own space (not that my mom hasn't been extremely gracious!), our own routine, our own beds...you get the point.
It has been a crazy 6 months of sadness and joy, traveling and transitioning, stress and fun. At times, it has felt uncertain, exhausting and emotionally draining. Other times we have been refreshed and very much encouraged.
God's grace and mercy have been evident in tangible ways through this season of mourning the loss of Brad's mom. A season that I am sure is not yet finished, but will just feel less painful as time heals.
We ask for your prayers as we say our goodbyes here in the States and transition back to life in Austria. We are excited that our team and church has grown while we have been away, and we look forward to investing in those new relationships, but we are also not naive to the fact that things WILL be different when we return.
Luke will attend his 4th school in 4 years, Abby will be in the same school, but have a new teacher, Levi will begin "real" school in German and entering mid-year certainly will add unique challenges.
Brad will once again start juggling the demands of planting a church, leading a growing team and being a Doctoral student, along with shepherding his family. I will return to more German language learning and balancing life at home, that will include grocery shopping on an almost daily basis again. :)
We really are grateful for the time we have had in the States. My mom is settled in her new place and we all feel really good about that. Our schedule allowed us to meet up with a lot of friends that we had not seen in a long time! We also had some very sweet times with our family in the mountains at Christmas. All of these memories are precious to us.
And so, the journey of our life overseas begins again in just a few short days. Stay tuned to see what God has in store for us in 2011!
6 comments:
Praying for you guys! Love and appreciate you!
The Tolle House
Our prayers are with you as your return. We look forward to your updates and what God is going to be doing in & through you in the coming year. We love you guys!
Don & Susan Smith
Praying for you as you transition again. May the Lord grant you peace, always:). Love you, and so glad that we got to see you guys!!
Love you guys and we're praying for you!!
we'll have to get a girls' get together planned soon to catch up! Hope that the packing and purging goes smoothly, and that you don't have to send so many extra boxes. :) Safe travels!
Brad, Stacey, Luke, Abby, & Levi,
It was great seeing you all and having Brad preach here. I still can't believe Stacey's amazing 192 score in bowling. Maybe she should start that bowling league as an outreach. I hope to come see you this year in Vienna.
Praying for you, Kevin Collins
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