December is one of my favorite times of the year! The gentle snowfalls, Christmas gift-giving, gathering with friends and family… it’s just so perfect!

But its days like today that are the cherry on top of the sundae. With a severe winter storm due any time, I’ve gotten two calls from co-workers letting me know they’re closing the office today and to not come in. So… what to do?

I love days at home when it’s snowing outside and you can stay cozy inside. To start with, I’ve already exercised (trying in vain to make up for those Christmas cookies yesterday), and now I’m checking up on people’s blogs (some of which need desperately to be updated ). (I also mailed my quarterly income tax payment this morning, but I’m trying to forget that. ) Later I’ll make a cup of hot chocolate in my favorite Life is Good mug, to sip while I either read a great book or watch a great movie. Since I went through five books over Thanksgiving break, I’ll probably go for the movie, but I really don’t know yet. There might be some FreeCell added to the afternoon activities, or I might opt to bake my favorite Pumpkin Spice Muffins.

Regardless of what I do, everything must be done slowly. I mean, that’s almost the whole point of the day anyway! No rushing around, just a slow enjoyment of whatever fancies you at the moment.

So, let it snow! I’m ready!

News flash – I’m headed to Mexico in 2010! Yay!

As with my other trips, I’ll be traveling with Global Encounters. But this time we’ll be doing something completely new – attending Spanish language school! Even though I took two years of Spanish class in high school, I still lack the skills to communicate well in a more than surface-level conversation.  I have a good foundation, but since I’ve lacked opportunity to really immerse myself in intensive study, I just haven’t crossed that line into effective, fluent communication.

So, that’s why I and six others have decided to attend language school in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico.  We’ll be there for four weeks learning Spanish and doing ministry projects on the side that will allow us opportunity to use our new training on a daily basis.  Though I don’t expect to come home perfectly fluent, my goal is to become a competent Spanish speaker, able to converse on a personal level with those I encounter, and to accurately share the Gospel and answer related questions.  Attending language school is that next big step towards going full-time on the mission field, something I’ve known God was calling me to since my early teens.

The trip dates are January 23 – February 23, 2010. Some specific prayer requests include:

• Efficient preparations for departure
• Profitable pre-trip studying
• Finances
• A productive time in language school
• Safety in traveling and living in Chiapas for a month
• That God would be glorified through myself and the team

The entire language school team can be met here. Many of you will probably recognize several of the faces, as I’ve had opportunity to travel with all but one of the team members on at least one or more past trips, and we’ve gotten to be good friends. I’m so excited to be a part of this team!

Wow… I still can’t believe it’s happening…! Every time I think of the trip, I get so excited I get the all-over jitters!

Moving perplexity #84 - how is it that you can do your first hamper load of laundry in your new house and still come out with an odd number of socks?  And this isn’t a hypothetical question.

Wow, it finally happened – moving day!  Actually, it was moving out day, as we’re house-sitting for some friends until we get possession of our new house.  Anyway, several friends from church came over to help, and here are some pics of the fun…

Wow, that’s one huge truck!

Everyone agreed these must be the world’s heaviest washer and dryer

Always a quandary how to get things down the stairs…

Piece by piece…

Sometimes it’s more fun not to use the hydraulic lift

And how’s this supposed to fit?

All in!

Our neighbor Dan Harris, a professional semi-truck driver, helped by doing the driving.  Sure made Dad feel better!  Somehow backing into our driveway was all the adventure Dad wanted.

Last week I had the opportunity of attending the 2009 Passion4Christ Summit in Perrysville, Ohio.  What an awesome experience!  My sister came again this year as well, and we brought a couple of friends with us, Jessica and Emily Kromminga.  The sessions were powerful, the fellowship encouraging, the theme dinners fun, and throughout the whole 5-day conference we saw the hand of God.  The theme this year was “Approving the Excellent” and we walked through the book of Philippians exploring several different topics including the excellent motive, serving with grace, the mind of Christ, Christian unity, piercing the darkness, choosing suffering, pursuing purpose, and Biblical thinking.  This conference is an encouragement I don’t get elsewhere, so I’m grateful to the Cavanaugh family for running it as part of their family ministry, Vision4Living.

Our cabin

Ready for the “Night Before Pearl Harbor” theme dinner – Elizabeth, me, Emily, Jessica

Pearl Harbor Dinner

The waiters and waitresses of Buckingham Palace

A partial Team Colombia ‘09 reunion – Micah, Steven, Elizabeth, me, Daniel

Speaker Dewey Novotny

Speaker David Sunday

2010 PCS dates are October 27-31, and any qualifying individuals are welcome to come! 

It’s amazing how fast life can change!  Just two weeks ago we were getting ready to pull our house off the market after unsuccessfully trying to sell for about two years.  Then…

Well, we’re moving!  Yep, that’s right!

It’s been awesome living here in the country on the seven most beautiful acres in all of Iowa (IMHO ).  But, it’s a long drive to work, church, shopping, etc., and we needed a change.  So, we’re downsizing to a ranch house, closer to town, and with a smaller yard (still big enough for a garden though).  The Lord provided a nice sized, newer house for us to purchase (we just placed an accepted offer this weekend), and so the packing has begun!  (On that topic, it’s amazing how much STUFF accumulates when you’ve lived over 11 years in one house!)

Another detail the Lord worked out is a house-sitting arrangement for some friends over the winter.  So, during the month gap between closings, and during the painting/moving in process of our new house, we’ll have a nice place to stay.

I don’t have pictures yet, but those will come in time.  Just wanted to let everyone know the breaking news!