2019... Badow!

(aka, An ol' Fashioned, Straight Forward Update)

Usually things are intense or they are relaxing. But, for us, this last holiday season was a fairly impressive blend of both. Let me share a bullet point break down of some of the highlights:

• We got our visas! Our new friends at the immigration office gave our family TWO-year-residency visas with permission to work and access to social benefits! The interview process was shockingly uneventful. We sat down and barely got guten morgen our of our mouths before the very nice lady started putting official stickers in our our passports. All in all, this is a tremendous answer to prayer - in fact, we got even more than we asked for.
  

• We finally have an EU driver's license en route which means we can at the very least join a car share service in the next month or so. This clears a huge logistical hurdle. Plus, there's no speed limit on the autobahn, so... ;).
  

• I finished a huge ghost-writing assignment - a 45k word (more than 150-page) book that will see mainstream publication in early 2019. Barreling through this work was, of course, the "intense" part of our post-Thanksgiving lives. Ashley edited the work. Each night for about a month, I'd submit pages to her and she'd make'm pretty while I moved on to the next section. It was a great (and surprisingly fun) collaboration and we can't wait for you to read it. We had to sign an NDA, so we can't tell you what it is or when it is out, but we're sure you'd love it nonetheless. Let us know all the 2019-published books you read and love, and we'll grin in secret if you stumble across ours!
  

• In the midst of the intensity, we managed to have a great time with our kids during their holiday break from school. Enjoying their company was, of course, the "relaxing" part of our post-Thanksgiving lives. They are each thriving in their own way and we're super-proud of the incredible work they've done over the first half of their school year. They field change like true champs. I want to give a special shout out to our son, Remi. This is his first year in a "2nd language" environment. He's learning both French AND German in class everyday and, as you can imagine, the process was a bit daunting at first. But, he truly turned a corner and now runs into his classroom with a huge smile everyday and comes home ready to instruct Ashley and I in the new languages!
  

• Finally, NewLife Church here in Frankfurt continues to grow and enjoy a culture of genuine discipleship, friendship and spaceships. We can't say thank you enough for your prayers - we truly feel them on the work here. And, we are incredibly grateful for your generosity. We saw a timely outpouring of financial support over the last two months and those gifts allowed us to support the ministry in key ways during the holiday season.

As we head deeper into 2019, I'll be taking a new leadership role with the Praise & Worship team and we will both begin a special emphasis on finding and training new LifeGroup leaders. Both endeavors will establish systems that will help NewLife Frankfurt to maintain care and growth over the next "season." It's an exciting time to be involved, and again, we can't say thank you enough for your prayers and support.