A Photo Update

We have been back in Austria now for a few weeks, and we've settled back into a rhythm and routine. We have a great summer in the US, but we are also very thankful to be back home. Here are a few photos from our first few weeks back:

Ellie started a ballet class last week

Getting lots of work done at our fall team meeting :)

Nate purchased a new guitar and used it at small group last week

At a local amusement park with Ellie for a fun afternoon

A trip to the zoo with our new teammates, Brian and Melissa

Ellie's first day back to kindergarten

A walk on a rainy day

We missed Mozzy so much this summer! He got a haircut right when we returned.

Riding in the combine in a friend's rice field

Happy to be back home!!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

A wintery fall has come to Vienna, like many parts of the US, as well. Leaves are changing and falling from trees and the air is crisp. I personally love this season. As a warm-blooded person, it is nice to move out of the dog days of summer and be able to put on sweaters and long pants. I also love making tea and feeling cozy warm instead of sweltering hot. I am getting carried away here, but you understand where I am coming from.

Another part about fall here in Vienna is that it  brings back all kinds of memories for us. We arrived last October and began getting used to life here. Since then, a lot has changed. We have learned and experience so much. It is amazing how God has provided for us. We are so thankful for all the people who have welcomed us with open arms and helped us to understand this new and different world and for those that continue to lift us up back home in so many ways.

Thinking back to those first weeks and months here in Austria, I don't think I could have possibly imagined what it would be like to be where we are today. To be honest, I had a lot of doubts and fears that went along with this. Most of these spanned the unknown between imagination and reality. By that, I mean that we had spent a great deal of time preparing for this transition. We had attended hours and hours of training, read books, and talked to so many different people that had been through the language learning and cultural adjustment process. It is one thing to talk to others or imagine what it will be like, but it is an entirely different thing to strap on your big-boy-boots and get to work. As I think back on that person and that time, I really believe we had no idea what this was going to be like. This is the reality in most areas of life, but after a year in the middle of this transition, I have seen this sharply. My perspective has changed, and yet I am still me. My marriage doesn't feel completely different, but the miles behind us have driven us closer together as we have shared defeats and victories together.

The key phrase here is, "I couldn't have imagined." I couldn't have imagined what the last 12 months would hold for us. And now we stand on the edge of another big step: finishing up "formal" language Formal here is in quotes, because with a second language you never really stop learning.  But we will move out of the phase of ministry where our primary goal is learning language and culture and move into the next phase. We'll be talking more about this in the coming months, and we covet your prayers about this, but I (Nate) will hopefully be starting an internship in an existing church here in Austria.

This will be a chance for us to work within the existing church and get some valuable ministry experience before we join up with a church planting team in the future. We'll also have the chance to learn from those that have been in fruitful ministry for a long time here. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to this next stage! But I also know that there is no way I can truly know or imagine what lies ahead.

In the face of all of this, we can finally "see the light at the end of the tunnel." It is both very exciting and a bit odd. It feels like so long ago that we left the States, and even longer still that we began this process. God has been so good and faithful to us. Join us in celebrating what he has done in the past and the wonderful future he has for us! To HIM be the glory!

Photo credit: nazka2002 from morguefile.com

Kürbis Fest

Last Sunday, some missionary friends here took us to a pumpkin festival just outside the city. It was a cold day, but we fixed that by having hot wine and warm pumpkin donuts! Harvest time is definitely celebrated here and it was fun to explore this cultural tradition.

Nate eating fried dough with pumpkin, garlic sauce...bigger than his head!

I decided to help him eat it...delicious.

An entertaining pair - the festival announcer and a quirky musician.

Our friend Eric and his two boys, dressed like pumpkins! (Sadly, his wife was sick and couldn't come.)

A man shaping iron into small horseshoe-shaped pieces. Very cool to watch.

The view from Kahlenberg, a nearby town overlooking Vienna.

Posing at Kahlenberg

Another great view!

One Month from Today

One month from today, fall will be in full swing. Pumpkin lattes will be everywhere. We will be thinking about apple picking, bonfires, and getting winter clothes out of storage. The fall air will be crisp and clean. We will be able to wear sweatshirts with out feeling uncomfortable and sticky. In a month, the school year will be well underway, with students collecting leaves for biology assignments and writing essays about great works of literature. The dog days of summer will be gone.

One month from today, something else will be happening. We will get on a plane and move to Austria. This is honestly a pretty surreal thought. This is something we have prayed about and looked forward to for a very long time. This month will be a season of lasts as we say goodbye to dear people and look forward into a great unknown. It feels like we are standing close to the edge of something great and marvelous, but at this same time, it feels like a normal Friday.

The last year and a half has been a lot of fun, but it has also been very hard. We have been back and forth across the country, staying in guest rooms and our friends' basements. To think that we are only a month away from leaving is a heavy feeling. We continue to face into the things that we are giving up as we move across the ocean. We know that He has a plan, but it is hard to say goodbye.

So when you are picking pumpkins up at the grocery store or baking an apple pie, remember us in prayer. And thank you to everyone that has walked with us through all of this. You are truly dear to us and we cherish the time we have with each of you as we prepare to go. On October 7th, we will be able to say, "look what God did working through his people."