BIG Changes

My apologies as I feel we have missed a step in introduction and explanation.

So let me explain.

For any of you we have not had a chance to tell yet,  Nate and I are moving to Guam....a small island in the Pacific that is a US territory.  There are two Church of God churches on that island that is about 30 miles long and 6 miles wide (for those of you who know the exact measurements, forgive any errors in this post!) and 232 square miles of surface area!  

Nate lived there for 5 years prior to moving to Indiana to complete his seminary education.  He worked with the youth and by the end, was pastoring the church we will be returning to.  Through his experiences of working with the church, he realized that he did feel a call on his life to pastor that he didn't necessarily feel before but didn't have the education he felt he needed. 

This lead to his decision to come to Indiana to complete his master's degree.  4 years later he is just over one week away from graduating.  As our time here was nearing it's end, the church on Guam contacted Nate and asked if he might come pastor them.  A missionary couple, has been there for the last 26 years working with and building the church.  However, Guam has recently been moved off the "missions" list as it was decided that since it is a US territory it doesn't really fit the criteria they have for missions.  So the couple who has been pastoring and ministering will now be moving to another small island called Yap, also in the Pacific and will be opening up a Christian school.  And the church on Guam is hiring a pastor.  

So after careful consideration and prayer, we have accepted the position for Nate and will be moving to Guam this summer.

We are so excited for this, but also very sad to be leaving all our family and friends we have been blessed with in Anderson, Indiana, and beyond!  This is actually the closest Nate has been to his parents since he was in high school, so we have also enjoyed being able to have regular visits to and from Canada as well.

So this summer is full of adventure even before we leave for Guam. 

We decided to capitalize on the fact Nate will be doing a 3 week urban ministry class in Berlin, Germany to finish up his second master's degree right after graduation.  His airfare over there is part of the class cost so we have just arranged his return ticket to be different from the rest of the classmates and I will be flying over to Europe at the end of his class and then we will do a once in a lifetime tour of Europe.  We start in Prague, then travel to Vienna, Venice, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and then will be traveling in a rental car all along Germany's western and southern border to explore towns as we go.  

Again we are incredibly excited.

Once we return to the US from our Europe travels we will be spending good time with family and friends near our hometowns, starting with mine in northern Indiana, and then Nate's near Hamilton, Ontario.

We will savor our time together before making our last journey for the summer to our new home: Guam.

We plan to fly out around August 20th.

So this is what is coming up in life.  And we decided to transform the blog from mine to ours, so we could both use this space to process and share what is going on in life.

We are thankful for the technology of today that will enable us to be better connected with our friends and family, no matter where we are in the world.

Sales...

On Saturday we had a multi-family seminary community yard sale.  Leslie and I had the most stuff to sell before our move to Guam, but there were 4 others who set up around the front of the courtyard too.  We were at it from about 6:45am until 3pm.  It was one of those days when the sun did not want to come out and the wind blew consistently so that if you weren't moving, you were cold.  One couple provided a portable fireplace, which was great to warm up around, and the customers love the campfire/fall fest smell, but I got a headache from a slow overdose of smoke inhalation.  We sold all the big stuff we had and packed up a carload at the end of the day in order to support the local Goodwill store with a hefty donation.

On Sunday I preached at South Meridian for the last time.  I have preached there about twice a year over the last 3 years and it's been a good experience overall.  Ed was out of town and wanted me to have one last chance.  Afterwards we drove up to Kokomo for lunch with the gift certificate from the Young Adult small group this semester.  We enjoyed each of the 5 groups we hosted through the years.  We could've eaten at Applebees in Anderson, but there was a man who saw my car stereo equipment on Craigslist and was very interested.  I sold the Rockford Fosgate sub and amp I bought off of Amanda Daniels when I first arrived in Anderson 4 years ago.  I bought it for $75 and sold it for $170.  I also brought along some other speakers that the guy might want and sure enough, for $30, he was willing to buy those too.

Leslie posted the car for sale on Craigslist on Saturday night and today (Monday) we have had a serious inquiry.  We may even sell it as soon as tomorrow.  Now that the sale of the car is imminent, I'm noticing some emotions that are a bit of a surprise.  This Jetta has been a great car for us and the only car I've known Leslie to drive.  After the wedding we sold my Honda and have been getting by superbly with Jenna the Jetta.  We've made trips to Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, Tennessee and have taken it camping around Indiana.  We wouldn't get rid of her if we didn't have to, but alas, there are no VW's on Guam, or if there are, there are no parts for VW's on Guam.  In the next few days we'll be forced to say goodbye to Jenna...

New Member!

Hey hey, I (Nate) am joining the blogosphere with my lovely wife Leslie. Look for updates as we travel through Europe this June.