A Shadow of What's To Come

I knew that getting a puppy would be hard work. But what has been a bit of a surprise to me is how similar caring for a puppy is to having a baby. Here are a few similarities we've noticed...

• We get up at all hours of the night to clean up after the puppy when he goes to the bathroom (on his puppy potty) or take him outside
• We are attempting to train the puppy to go to the bathroom outside. This involves taking him out constantly and wondering whether or not he understands what is happening. Potty training is a big part of our life
• When Mozzy takes a nap, I wonder to myself, "hey, what can get done while he's sleeping?"
• We bought him a bunch of cute toys, but all he really wants to play with are paper towel rolls and milk cartons
• We plan our outings around the dog, since we can only be out for a certain amount of hours
• He goes through regular waking, eating and sleeping cycles throughout the day. When he's awake, he often needs attention and to be entertained
• When we take him for walks, we get stopped by many people oo-ing and ahhing about how cute he is
• We speak to him in the same voice we use for most small children
• He's absolutely adorable. But I suppose everyone thinks that of their own "children"

More than one person has commented on how having a puppy is good practice for us as we prepare for our baby girl to arrive in January. And yes, it's a bit like a warm up. But honestly, we know this stage is only a shadow of what's to come. We may be practicing now, but anyone with kids knows that you can't really know what it's like to have a baby until it happens to you. It is much more intense than anything we've experienced before. Mozzy is a wonderful part of our family, but we will love our child more deeply than we can now imagine. And we know that having a baby will be much more work and much less sleep.

This is perhaps a stretch, but thinking about this comparison led me to think about the difference between talking about eternity with God and actually experiencing it. During our physical life on earth, we catch glimpses of eternity - we experience God's grace and mercy, we reflect God's love in our actions towards others, and we read about eternity in scriptures. But we know that our experience here and the words we read are only a glimpse of the magnificence of what's to come. Our imagination cannot even fathom what God has planned for us. As it says in I Corinthians 13:12:

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Our perspective of parenthood now is dim. But soon we will know fully. Our experience of eternity with God is dim, but soon we will know the blessing fully!

Our Temporary Home

Our dining area in the kitchen

We are excited to post that we have found an apartment in Vienna! We spent a few weeks scouring websites with apartment listings and then got feedback from team members on neighborhoods, location and apartment features. We are excited about our choice and eager to move in a few weeks from now!

The kitchen - so excited to cook here and entertain guests!

This apartment will be our "temporary home" for the next 3 months, from October 7 - January 5. We are excited to move into a fully furnished place for our first stay in Vienna, since we can focus on getting settled in the culture without worrying about buying all of the items we'll need for a home. We can focus on getting cell phones, exploring the city, learning to shop and finding a language school. (We are only renting it for 3 months because we have to leave the country for 90 days in early January due to via reasons.)

Bedroom and wardrobe

We have been without an apartment for over a year now, and it's definitely weighing on us. It's hard to live out of a suitcase for so long and to feel "scattered" all the time. I keep losing things because I forget where I put them! And we are so excited to cook our own food together again. Cooking is a really fun and special hobby for us that we love to do together, so we've really missed it this last year.

Living room

Thinking about this "temporary home" in Vienna made me think of our "temporary home" while we're here on earth. Like our new apartment, we know as Christians that this is not our permanent residence here on earth, but that God can use us here and do great things before we move on to eternity. Even though it's not the end goal, we can be blessed here and see purpose in being here. But ultimately, our hearts long for the permanence of our long-term home where we can be at peace.