Yesterday a letter arrived at our colleagues' house in Austria. It was something that we have been waiting for and planning for for a very long time. A very official letter from the government of Austria. At the top in big bold black letters it said:
"Einladung"
which means "invitation." It said that we were invited to pick up our visas on Valentine's day in Vienna!
To be honest we were shocked! We were very hopeful that this day would come, but we were expecting this to happen in May, or even June. Not February. Our minds have been spinning for the last 24 hours as we have contacted family and team members. We have tried to figure out what this will means for our time here in the UK.
In short, we aren't sure yet. We have some tentative plans in place and we'll tell you more as things come together, but for now
Rejoice!
Your prayers have been answered by a great, powerful, and good God. One who loves to give us good gifts. A God that does not deal with us as our sin would demand, but delights to bring us into communion with himself!
What we do know, is this means is that the road is clear for us to live in Austria and continue our language learning. It also means we get to attend our spring team retreat in Grundelsee (we attended this retreat as appointees on a vision trip in 2011, we get to go back as full fledged team members!). And it means that we are one step closer to an apartment and a bit of stability. It means more stability than just guest bedrooms and vacation rental apartments anyway.
We are so blessed to see God move in this way and so thankful for all of your prayers and support.
Photo credit: dieraecherin from morguefile.com
