Adjusting to life in the US is causing some of the same feelings and stresses that we felt when we first moved to Germany – just with a lot more sweat (it’s hot here in North Carolina).  We’re having the adventures of remembering how to drive here (Can we turn right on red? What’s this horn thing for? Will the person coming to the intersection on the right have the “right of way” – nope, they have stop sign.  Wait, what’s a stop sign?), remembering how to find things in the grocery store (how many different cereals can you choose from – all made of sugar?) and, in general, remembering just how things are done here.  We’ve been told that for every year you live overseas, it takes 2 months to readjust to being back in your home culture – so that means we’ll be good to go a few months before we return to Germany!!

As a side note – if you live in the US, we’d love to see ya.  Let us know how we can intersect and catch up with ya.

The second part of the trip was working with a family that lives it.  I blogged a little bit about The Anchorage Project yesterday but living around Joe, the director, was really expanding what I had discussed the week before.  This was taking things beyond book knowledge and I have to say, I loved it!! Now it wasn’t anything about the conditions – I’ve been in a lot worse places but we had a lot of cold, wet walks by the river, it was 12-15 hour days working on the computers, equipment was late arriving, and they had recently painted our B&B room which freaked my sinuses so I was having nose bleeds.  (However, we did get the Irish Breakfast every day that we worked there – not heart-healthy though – see the right side photo).  It was working at The Anchorage Project putting in an Internet Cafe and Wifi Hotspot that I got to see many of the principles we had talked about living.

One night Joe was running a time for some of the kids in the neighborhood but an older gentlemen stopped by and I spoke with him.  He spoke with such a thick Irish accent I wondered if we were speaking the same language (in case you’re wondering – we weren’t.  I think we might have better been off if we had been speaking German).  In the end, I caught that he wanted me to tell Joe that he had stopped by.  He said his name (which I had to ask him a couple of times to repeat because of the accent) and he finally said, “Just tell Joe – He knows me!” He said it in such a way as if he felt that he and Joe were best of friends.  When I talked to Joe about him later, I found out their relationship wasn’t that close but Joe makes everyone he meets and interacts with feel like he really knows them.  I think that’s the thing.  He takes the time so that people feel connected with him.  It’s not that Joe doesn’t have things to do; he’s actually extremely busy with The Anchorage Project and his family (small Irish family with 5 kids) but he still takes the time so that people know they are important.  I want this to be a part of my life.

Dear Lord,

We come to You today thanking You for all that You have done in Romania especially through groups like Hope for Romania that have planted 6 churches since 2006.  We pray that You would continue to move in the hearts of Romanians that they might come to a life changing understanding of You.  We pray that You will open the hearts of the many who are searching for meaning and that they would hear about You.  We pray for those that do know You, that they would have boldness in sharing about how You have changed their lives with their neighbors and friends.  Amen.

To know more about Romania, go to PrayEurope.com

While in Kenya, I was wearing a “North Carolina” t-shirt,  that a short-term mission team had brought me, and a family walked by and yelled, “North Carolina!  We’re from North Carolina too!”  Weirdly, I answered in German out of habit and they gave some really strange looks as they continued on past me.  The German man who I was talking with at the time (which is why I probably responded in German) just laughed and asked me, “When was the last time you were there?” (referring to North Carolina).  It’s been a year and a half – the only time we’ve been stateside in the last 3 years.

Things have really changed in so many ways.  We know that the town we used to live in is very different with new shopping centers, restaurants and stuff since we left.  Our home church has doubled or more in size since we left. Alex’s friends are 3 years older (which is a huge difference at their ages).  Our friend’s kids are 3 years older.  People have changed jobs, graduated from schools, gotten married, moved away, etc.  Friends have new friends who we don’t know.  People have changed.  We have changed.  Alex is 3 years older (now 9 years old).  He’s reading and has an awesome sense of humor.  Krista and I have grown in our relationship, in our spiritual lives, and in our perspectives of how to look at this world we live in.

Even my computer skills have expanded greatly with the different challenges before us.  Even technology is in a very different place than 3 years ago.  One shocker for me is to see my mom sending me emails and to hear that she has a Kindle (electronic book reader) now.  As technology expands and changes, people are trying to keep up.  Churches and ministries are trying to keep up with the people and that’s where we come in.  We keep up with the technology so that we can help churches and ministries keep up with the people they are trying to serve and reach. It’s all about using technology to connect people to people for the sake of making God known.

One of the people sent this video link to both Krista & I and here was Krista’s reply back to them:

I know!  That’s why God has called us to do what we do!  Courtney is creating virtual interactive prayer walking websites, programming systems to send out evangelistic video’s on mobile phones, putting together a video on how a girl in Germany accepted the Lord by looking at our Huntersville NC home church website (that he help create) and listening to their sermon podcasts, and helping M’s secure data, information and emails in N Africa. (just a glimpse of our life this week)

I use Twitter and Facebook to connect with my friends
I use RecipeZaar to figure out what to make for dinner
I use Sparkpeople to lose weight
I use LiveMocha to learn German
All of these are social networking sites that I am on daily!

So skype me
Krista

PS – If you have filled out our Communication Survey – please do soon!!

We want to make sure we are communicating what it is you want to know.  If we’re telling you about the technical details of an eDOT project and you want to know how Alex is doing – we’re not doing a good job of communicating.

On the other hand, if we are telling you about what it is you want to know but are using a communication method that you don’t use or use infrequently (like sending everyone faxes or telegrams), then you won’t receive the information and that’s not good communication either.

So would you help us out?  Take just a few minutes and fill out our Communication Survey .  It only take about 5-7 minutes (or if you want to, you can take longer) but knowing this information will really help us in making sure we are as effective in communicating as we can be.  Your info is greatly appreciated!!

Go to the Communication Survey here!

For the past two years, we’ve had a team come from Oregon (all related in one way or another to Corban College’s Computer Science program) to work on the missionaries computers literally putting in hundreds of manhours fixing, repairing, and cleaning up missionary laptops.  Additionally, we had a lady who is a computer trainer come in and help train missionaries on various topics of using excel better to mail merges to Outlook to Google Docs to Powerpoint to backing up th computer.

Below is a video of a missionary who gives a very compelling reason for doing these teams and a reason why we’ll continue to do them. (you may need to turn up the volumn to hear him)

(if you’d like to see about the tech team’s experience, check out their blog at http://gemac2009.markfive.org )

We started out the day American style by having pancakes with real maple syrup (we brought some back with us from the US this summer). Then we started decorating the house for Christmas although we will get our Christmas tree the week of Christmas as is the tradition for most Germans. Alex also participated in our town’s celebration of Saint Nicholas day where all the children in town go to our Blumenplatz and the various shops give out little gifts (fruit, peanuts, some chocolate & gummi bears). Then we had Alex’s favorite meal known as “Crackpot” (its actually pork tenderloin with potatoes made in a crockpot).

During the meal, Alex pulled out some traditional German cookies and he had learned about the history. He told us that a long time ago they weren’t made with any sugar but the people didn’t like them that way and so they went to their pastor (in reality, it was their priest) and asked if they were allowed to put sugar in the cookies and he said that they could. Krista then asked why they had to go pastor and ask him to put sugar in the cookies to which Alex replied – “Well, in the old days, pastors were like presidents!”. To my pastor friends out there, sorry, you were born during the wrong time.

After the meal, we asked Alex what he would like to do this evening. He asked back, “Why are you asking me?” We replied, “Because it’s your birthday.” Then Alex started doing a little dance and stated “Birthdays rock!!”.

As a little side note, we asked Alex to set up the manager scene in our house (see the picture above). I have to say I really like how he thinks. He didn’t set up all the wise men, angels, Mary, Joseph, shepherds and animals lined up so that you could see their faces. Instead, he has them completely encircling the baby Jesus with everyone gazing up the holy Child. Yep, I believe that’s how it really was.

[Edit Note: After I published this blog, I realized that my title talks about Alex's birthday and the first thing you see is a manager scene. No, we don't think that Alex is perfect nor the savior of the world. We think he's a pretty good kid but no, not Jesus.]

As promised, I’ve uploaded my pictures from my time in Boise, ID. Be sure to catch them in the Photo Album

Well, we are prepared to leave the US and return home today. I wish we could have seen all of our friends while we were back but now we have realized just how short 7 weeks really is. But 7 weeks also does feel like a long time since we have not been home. I miss my Germany. I miss my small town of Kandern. I miss walking everywhere (and my body shows it).

Please continue to pray for us – pray as we still need to continue to raise more support but also thank God with us for all those that have helped us minimize our deficit. Pray with us as we try to make sure that with all the opportunities there are in Europe for ministry, that we join those that God would have us be a part of. Pray with us as Alex transitions into 2nd Grade with some old but a lot of new faces. Pray with us that we will be a light for God in a spiritually dark part of the world. Thanks.

Another cool thing is next week, the latest member of the eDOT team arrives and we get to help her and her husband get settled in. On our team we have a policy that the last one in helps the next person as you (supposedly) remember more about what its like to be the newbie. Its been fun looking at apartments (and now understanding more of the German) and trying to remember all the things we did when we first showed up (impossible to remember it as you are going through jet-lag, culture shock and just overwhelmed by everything that you have to do in a language and culture that you don’t understand).

So with that being said, would you pray for our new missionaries. They still have some more support to raise in this last week (if you interested in maybe supporting them, check out their website here) and are going through their good-byes. Then they will have their transitions to do. Thanks.