Cleared for Departure!

Photo credit: hotblack from morguefile.com

It is official... we have been approved to depart for Austria! This last week has really been a whirlwind, as we witnessed God answering prayer and bringing in support from many unexpected places. Yesterday, we reached 100% in verbal commitments of support and the last few supporters are slowly becoming "official" with WorldVenture. And within hours of reaching our goal, we were given clearance to purchase tickets!

Today has been a flurry of calling travel agencies, talking to the shipping company, and jumping up and down with giddiness. We're very excited to be at this stage. We're also a little freaked out, but I assume that is normal.

Thank you! So many of you have walked with us along this journey, praying for us, committing financial support, encouraging us, helping to meet our needs, and so many other things. You are all an amazing support, and we couldn't be where we are right now without you. THANK YOU!

We praise God for providing for us in such abundant ways and for bringing us from 0% support in February of 2011 to 100% in August of 2012. It is all God's doing...we are just along for the ride.

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26

Video Blog: The Countdown Begins...

Adventures at Goethe

My German flash card collection is just beginning...

We are now 2 weeks into our German class at the Goethe Institut of Chicago...and I'm loving it! Learning a foreign language can be very intimidating, and we were both a bit nervous about getting started. However, we've been pleasantly surprised by our progress in the class and the fun we are having as we begin this new adventure.

Our class is small, made up of only 7 students and an enthusiastic teacher. What has made it so effective, I believe, is the teacher's enthusiasm and willingness to answer questions, going at our pace. There is no stupid question in her book, and she's very patient. Plus, she's fun and quite funny! Having a safe environment for learning makes a world of difference, and I hope that our language school experience in Austria is at least somewhat similar to what we're experiencing here.

I took 5 years of Spanish in middle school/high school and then tested out of it in college. So it has been 11 years since I studied a foreign language! In those 11 years, I forgot how much I enjoyed and excelled in the foreign language classroom. But this German class has reignited my excitement and built my confidence. I'm so thankful we have the chance to take our first class here in the States, in a familiar city, so we can ease into German before entering a completely foreign culture.

Lord willing, this is the beginning of a lifetime of learning. May we have many fruitful years of learning and speaking German in our future!

Favorite German Phrase of the Week
Du bist seltsam.  You are strange/weird.