Friday, November 13, 2009

Thoughts on actually moving to a foreign country

For the past year, Annette and I have worked, trained, planned, and prayed with a single purpose in mind: get to the Czech Republic! Over the past few weeks, we have become increasingly aware that the departure we have hoped for in April 2010 is shifting from a nebulous idea into more of a solid reality. This has brought about two distinct responses, panic and excitement.


Panic arises internally from lack of faith, and externally from the daily, nagging reminders of all the stuff that needs to be done before we can leave. There are things to give away, cars to sell, decisions about what stuff to take and what stuff to leave, a Dave Ramsey video class to take, a month of cross-cultural training to attend, licensure exams to study for, ….. the list seems endless – hence, the panic. Although I suspect that each of these things can and will get done over the course of the next five months, every time we look at it, the to-do list looks like that 100 foot tall wave from The Perfect Storm - we fully expect that it will crush us under its overwhelming mass.

The excitement comes from seeing God at work. We have been incredibly blessed by God’s provision for our work through the generosity and encouragement of our fellow believers. Every time we extend ourselves even a little, God answers with such blessings that we gain fresh assurance of his calling and taste with anticipation what he wants to do in the Czech Republic. We see that part of what he wants to do involves change in us; this too is scary and exciting. Annette and I have been regularly amazed, humbled, and overwhelmed by God’s work in us and in others as we walk toward that not-so-fuzzy departure date.

Thank you for praying and giving.