Good friends of ours have taken Woody, our much loved Golden Retriever, to live with them. They have 10 acres and lots of room to run which he craves. They have two boys who just love having Woody be their dog. He is a boy's dog! And yes he has already eaten chocolate chip cookies off her counter top just like he did at my house so he must feel right at home!
We had given our little dachsund to my mom in February. She had been a bit sick before we made the handoff, but just last week, she went down hill fast and had to be put to sleep. We found out that it was kidney failure. We are sad for all of us. Miley/Mindy was a cheerful, fun, sweet, mischievous little thing that was hard not to love.
We still have a lovely snowshoe cat that needs a home. She is 4 years old and is very snuggly and cuddly. If you know of anyone, please let us know! We would love to give her to a good home.
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Flight news!
After trying for a few days to find a good deal on airline tickets for July 31st, we heard of a travel agent who can book missionary prices. We were able to find one way tickets on British Airways for only 570.00 for the four of us and only 460.00 for Andrew. We are thankful for the deal we were able to land on those!
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House news!
A family working with Vienna Christian School is leaving for a year and we will be renting their home while they are in the States. They have three children as well. Their home will be great for us to use and it works out perfect for them not to have to pack up their things for one year and move. We are thankful for their generosity letting us use their home and things. I don't have to pack my kitchen up and I will leave most things here for the guys to use who are renting from us.
The Vienna home has three bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen, dining room and living room. There is also a garage and another small two room "cottage" on the grounds. It will be great for hosting students and guests. We actually will have a fenced in yard! Room to throw a football and kick a soccer ball! I think that the boys will love that and so will I when it is time to shoo them out of the house and they can play safely in the yard.
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School news
Vienna Christian School administrators are meeting with the Austrian Department of Labor on June 3rd to determine how to proceed with the Visa issue. We will know more tomorrow and the days to come. So we will update more soon.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Finally.... an Update
I have been thinking for days that I need to update what has been going on. I keep waiting for definitive turning points before I update and now that we have some, here goes!
So many people have been wondering how Andrew and I are feeling. We can happily say that we are feeling better than we have in months. We are seeing a homeopathic practitioner who has helped us so very much. We also took Andrew down to the U of M Specialty clinic for blood tests. We thankfully found nothing! (I think it should be free if you don't find anything:) but the clinic doesn't agree). The homeopath prescribed a powerful remedy that has kicked the mono and jump started our immune systems. We did have to pull Andrew out of school the last quarter, but the extra sleep and rest and good food and lots of water has made such a difference!
We are gathering boxes and have begun sorting through our things. We have to decide what will stay and be stored, what needs to ship now and what can be packed in suitcases. If that sounds like a big job to you, believe me it is for me to. I feel like I have to be some kind of prophet to know what to do in all these categories. And I have been told to buy some Christmas gifts here and also to buy clothing here, too. The clothes I purchased for Andrew to wear in Vienna he is already needing now since he just grew two inches. So now I need to get more and ship those over in boxes. Too bad they aren't on clearance now though....
Tom met with a young guy who is interested in renting our home while we are gone. We have decided to try to find three guys who could rent together since it is a big house. Our bedroom is not being rented out and we will use it for storage. We know of a few other guys who are looking to move in, too. So we are thankful this is working out. The rent won't cover all the expenses though. It seems that we will need to cover some things. But at least the majority will be taken care of and the house will be in good hands.
Today is the kids' last day of school and they are happy and relieved to be done with the work end of school, but they are sad to not see their dear friends everyday. Already there have been permanent goodbyes as they won't see their Korean and Ethiopian foreign exchange friends anymore. I know the heart may be sad tho there are smiles on their faces. Sarah and Laura are very brave to trust us as we haul them out of high school across the ocean and to another school. Please pray for them to do well and to make new friends. We also will need help as parents to understand how they may feel as they transition from one group of friends to another. Loyalties don't just switch because location has changed. It takes time for the heart to catch up.
In the midst of all this Tom continues to pastor at Kost Church full time as well as to work on building a prayer and financial team. We are truly convinced that this is the right thing to do in spite of the times of financial hardship. The Lord is blessing the steps of obedience we have taken. We have been blessed to hear words of encouragement and to see who the Lord has raised up to stand with us as we reach out to the international community in Vienna, Austria. Some people have said they feel privileged to join with us. Well, we feel the privilege is ours to have them on our team!
Some days we panic and wonder how everything will get done. And other days we just enjoy the love of God and family and friends. Support raising has been great because we have been able to reconnect with people who have meant so much to us over the years. We know some wonderful people!!!!
Please know that we would love to hear from you and spend time with you. The time is getting short and we are facing deadlines for paperwork and financial matters. But we still feel that getting together is a priority. We are hosting two couples this next weekend coming up from Iowa on their motorcycles. Let us know if you are in the area or have some free time. We will do what we can to get together!
So many people have been wondering how Andrew and I are feeling. We can happily say that we are feeling better than we have in months. We are seeing a homeopathic practitioner who has helped us so very much. We also took Andrew down to the U of M Specialty clinic for blood tests. We thankfully found nothing! (I think it should be free if you don't find anything:) but the clinic doesn't agree). The homeopath prescribed a powerful remedy that has kicked the mono and jump started our immune systems. We did have to pull Andrew out of school the last quarter, but the extra sleep and rest and good food and lots of water has made such a difference!
We are gathering boxes and have begun sorting through our things. We have to decide what will stay and be stored, what needs to ship now and what can be packed in suitcases. If that sounds like a big job to you, believe me it is for me to. I feel like I have to be some kind of prophet to know what to do in all these categories. And I have been told to buy some Christmas gifts here and also to buy clothing here, too. The clothes I purchased for Andrew to wear in Vienna he is already needing now since he just grew two inches. So now I need to get more and ship those over in boxes. Too bad they aren't on clearance now though....
Tom met with a young guy who is interested in renting our home while we are gone. We have decided to try to find three guys who could rent together since it is a big house. Our bedroom is not being rented out and we will use it for storage. We know of a few other guys who are looking to move in, too. So we are thankful this is working out. The rent won't cover all the expenses though. It seems that we will need to cover some things. But at least the majority will be taken care of and the house will be in good hands.
Today is the kids' last day of school and they are happy and relieved to be done with the work end of school, but they are sad to not see their dear friends everyday. Already there have been permanent goodbyes as they won't see their Korean and Ethiopian foreign exchange friends anymore. I know the heart may be sad tho there are smiles on their faces. Sarah and Laura are very brave to trust us as we haul them out of high school across the ocean and to another school. Please pray for them to do well and to make new friends. We also will need help as parents to understand how they may feel as they transition from one group of friends to another. Loyalties don't just switch because location has changed. It takes time for the heart to catch up.
In the midst of all this Tom continues to pastor at Kost Church full time as well as to work on building a prayer and financial team. We are truly convinced that this is the right thing to do in spite of the times of financial hardship. The Lord is blessing the steps of obedience we have taken. We have been blessed to hear words of encouragement and to see who the Lord has raised up to stand with us as we reach out to the international community in Vienna, Austria. Some people have said they feel privileged to join with us. Well, we feel the privilege is ours to have them on our team!
Some days we panic and wonder how everything will get done. And other days we just enjoy the love of God and family and friends. Support raising has been great because we have been able to reconnect with people who have meant so much to us over the years. We know some wonderful people!!!!
Please know that we would love to hear from you and spend time with you. The time is getting short and we are facing deadlines for paperwork and financial matters. But we still feel that getting together is a priority. We are hosting two couples this next weekend coming up from Iowa on their motorcycles. Let us know if you are in the area or have some free time. We will do what we can to get together!
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