We are up in the mountains of North Carolina at Mary Ellen's parents cabin taking a much needed break from the frenetic activity of the past six months. We arrived to about eight inches of snow and icy roads so we have pretty much stayed put in front of the fireplace, reading books on the Kindles that Dick's kids got us for Christmas and enjoying the company of Mary Ellen's parents, daughters Sarah and Amanda, and granddaughter Nadia. Mary Ellen and the girls took in a couple hours of sledding one day - that was fun!
As we approach 2011 in just a few short hours, we find ourselves reflecting back on this past year and all the changes that have taken place. If you had told us last year at this time that we would be preparing to move to the Dominican Republic, I'm not sure we would have believed you! We are still in the process of digesting all that this move will entail. We have spent the last six months clearing out the house, preparing it to sell, and spending as much time as possible with family and friends - that time has been precious to us. One of our biggest challenges will be to separate ourselves from them!
While the changes will be challenging, we are looking forward to all that is to come. Life is about to get a little crazy and full of uncertainty. Our plans at this point are to go to Guatemala in February for two months of language school. The program we will be enrolled in is an immersion program; we will spend four hours a day with a private tutor and will live with a Guatemalan family. In April, we will return to the States to attend Missionary Training International (MTI) in Colorado Springs. The program we will be doing is called SPLICE and is a three week program. This program is "designed to help [us] develop practical skills and attitudes that will take [us] through the challenging and rewarding process of being interwoven with another culture" - that's straight from their website. We'll let you know how it works!
Our only plans for May are to wrap things up in Florida, finish packing, and visit with family and friends before leaving for the DR to be there the first of June. We will also need to be certain that our fundraising is completed as we will need to be at least 90% funded in order to go on the field. As of today we are 25% funded for our monthly support and 17% funded for our one-time needs! We are so encouraged by this response! We are also so thankful for the many who have indicated that they would like to partner with us in prayer. On that note, here are our prayer requests:
Sale of our home
Easy transition to Guatemala
Quick learning of Spanish
Openness to what we need to learn through training at MTI
That all our funds come in
God bless you and your family in 2011 - may it be a year of blessing to you!
