Seasons...

The end of Season Two. The beginning of Season Three. Dennis and I have found it helpful to break down this first year in Europe in seasons.

If you've read my blog post or heard me speak on Life Rhythms (thanks to Dave Drury) you'll know that I consider myself a Seasonal person. Seasonal living comes naturally for me. I tend to look at life in three-month blocks, which works well with the four calendar seasons. This topic was one of the seminars I shared at our recent annual conference in Germany.

What do 135 people gathering from all parts of Europe and the Turkic-Arabic world have in common?

• need for rest and replenishment
• family time without the pressures unique to the field
• encouragement
• laughter
• spiritual and personal growth through the Word and teaching
• voices gathered in songs of worship
• a heart and vision to touch the world for Christ

What a way to finish out Season Two! We stayed in a beautiful spot and facility that bordered the edge of a forest with lots of hiking paths, plenty of play areas for the kids, and grown-ups, too. Meals were served with fresh produce from nearby gardens surrounded with beautiful flower gardens.

Vegetable garden on the premises

Lots of sunflowers!

We ate our meals in this building.

The forest paths.

Outdoor activities for all.

Our friends, Wayne and Jan Schmidt, joined us for the conference and ministered to us as they taught and shared from their passions and giftings. This being their first time in Europe, we took them by way of Vienna on the trip back to Budapest. What fun to have them as our first overnight guests in our home. Thirty-two years ago this month we stood in each others weddings. We found ourselves saying several times, "Who would have thought 32 years ago that we would be... " and we would complete the sentence in a variety of ways. So thankful for our time together!

Spending time seeing the sights of Vienna. 

Season Two was a great one! Now onto Season Three as we continue life in Budapest, ministering to our M's who so faithfully give of themselves in Europe.

To everything there is a season,

and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Not leaving on a jet plane, although I just returned home on a jet plane from the states on Monday afternoon, and it's so good to be home.

Nothing like getting home and having a three-day turn around before packing bags again. Dennis and I head out via rental car in the morning for Germany for our annual conference with all our Europe M's, plus those from the Turkic-Arabic world. I know it will be a great time of connection and encouragement.

On a side-note: Today Dennis and I celebrated 32 years of marriage. So glad I married this man. I love sharing life with him and partnering with him in ministry.

I Love You a Bushel & a Peck...

It's an old song from 1950. Something Dennis' mom taught us when our kids were young. We've been singing it to Evee ever since she was born. So much so that Evee has most of the words down. We often end skype and phone calls with this little song. One morning while Evee and I were still in our pajamas and letting Daddy and Mommy get some extra sleep we did some recording. Check out the final photo to hear Evee live :).

I love you a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck,
and a hug around the neck,a hug around the neck,
and a barrel and a heap, a barrel and a heap,
and I'm talking in my sleep about you.

Final days here in Princeton with Clint, Jamie, Evee, and baby Iris. I have mixed emotions. Ready to go home after 10 weeks of being here, there, and everywhere, living out of a suitcase, sleeping on umpteen different beds/couches, and travels that took us from east coast to west coast and north to MI. . . but sad to leave family.

Sometimes I wish we all lived in the same town. I could help out when needed; take the grandkids out for special times. We could call each other and say, "Hey, you guys want to come over for dinner tonight?" Or, "Why don't we keep the kids so you can have a date night." But, I've resigned myself to the fact that it is highly unlikely that we will ever be in close proximity. So thankful for today's technology - skype, email, and the Vonage phone service - that keeps us connected across miles and an ocean.

Fun times with Evee and Iris

Silly girl!