Life Changes

We have been packing and planning like crazy. With the visas, everything is falling into place quickly. Sadly, our dog passed away after we returned from Chicago. We had planned to take him with us and have shed many tears over losing our furry companion. This is just one of the life changes hitting us right now.

This weekend, we packed all our belongings into a 20 foot metal container. Tomorrow it will be towed away to be put on a boat and shipped to Spain. We won't see it for 30 days and then it will be to move everything into storage while we are in language school.

It has been a hectic week. Good friends came and helped us load. Major kudos to Kerry's dad and brother, and friends - Roger, Mark, and Drew. Kerry and company spent many calories moving in the heat. Major thanks!

We will wrap up lots of details this week, changing mail addresses, turning off utilities, clean our house up for the renters who are moving in soon. Details! God has brought so much together all at once. We knew God had everything taken care of but still it is amazing to see it all.

We don't know what all awaits us in the coming weeks, but the time has come to launch into this next phase of life. Ready for take off!

Thankfulness runs deep

We have passed an incredible week. We met new friends -- some of the IMM crew -- at a meeting in Texas. It was so good to see the projects that are on going and to begin to see how we will blend in with the team. It got us excited to leave. Wednesday night special prayer asked for visas to be released.

The next morning we got word that our visas were approved and ready for pick up in Chicago at the consulate! It was a miracle -- my visa was not expected to come in for some time! So we are rejoicing that God worked around/through/or in spite of bureaucracy. Finally the flood gates have opened and everything is falling into place.

Tonight, our home church said good-bye to us. It was great to be able to share our vision with dear friends from church and the special friends who came just for the occasion. A very moving evening. It was wonderful to feel the love, prayers and support of people who know us so well. They know our warts and love us anyway!

We have incredible friendships and they were demonstrated tonight. We have so much to be thankful for in our lives.

It's a count the cost kind of day. It's the people that make the leaving hard. The work is getting us excited; it's time to go. None of that is in question but leaving our people - that's hard especially when they are so terrific. I know we'll still have the friends, we just won't get to hang out eating cake and popcorn like we did tonight.