Why we’re here

Getting caught up in all the details of a major overseas move can cause us to lose focus of WHY we made the move in the first place. The first several days after our arrival in Belgium were spent house hunting, with us signing a lease in record-breaking time. Since then, we’ve been cleaning, painting, emptying our storage unit (what a joyful day that was! – see photo above), unpacking boxes and seeing friends.

Our first Sunday service was a pleasant surprise as we were able to participate in the baby dedication of an SFC couple’s first born son. We have known this couple for a long time and led them through their pre-marital sessions so it was a joy to have our first Sunday back timed so well. We’ve been able to share meals and/or visit with several others who have warmly welcomed us back to Belgium.

We’ve also had the joy of having Claire with us for a time after her 2-month internship in Egypt. Thanks to all of you who prayed for her during that time. She has some great stories to tell if you would like to be added to her mailing list. Just let us know. She has been a great help with the move, and we will miss her & her piano playing when she flies back to the US in a couple of weeks.

While we are content to be back, we must admit that there have been many little things to cause us to feel battered: almost every appliance that we have purchased or that was already in the house has had a problem, including our freezer, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, washer & dryer. Each has either stopped working completely or had to be exchanged or repaired. We have also had a few issues with the house that seem to have occurred “all of a sudden.” Thankfully, none of these have been extremely costly – yet – and we’ve been able to work around them.

At the same time, we know that NONE of this is a coincidence. Our enemy would like nothing better than to distract us from our ultimate purpose in coming so far, which is to be a witness for Jesus, especially among university students.

And as if on cue, we are leaving today for our annual student conference and would ask you to pray for us. Connect ’15 begins on Saturday with over 150 meeting together for training, mutual encouragement, times of prayer and worship, and lots of fun! Please pray that our family will be able to serve joyfully and not get distracted from the purpose at hand. Blair will be teaching a 12-hr course on leadership and I will be leading a workshop on parenting and helping in the office. We really need God’s grace to step in as we both feel like our preparation time has been lessened because of having to google “how to repair your [insert random appliance name] for free in 3 easy steps” almost every day.

Thanks for your prayer! We will be posting pictures of our new place and the conference when we get back from Germany.

~For the Kingdom

You haven't really moved until you have to haul something through the upstairs window!
You haven’t really moved until you have to haul something through the upstairs window!