What exactly is Furlough?

And can it really be our turn to experience it? Furlough- that once every couple of years phenomena that conjurs up spectaularly contradicting emotions and confilicting priorities. This event which will be on top of us before we can say pumpkin pie could not come with a greater paradox.

In two short months we will board an airplane and temporarily say goodbye to the life we have known for the last three years. Lord-willing, in ten months we will have traveled extensively in  a 10 state region of the extended midwest and high plains. We hope to visit the many people who love and care about our lives and the ministry of the gospel in South Brazil, share with those individuals and churches about our vision and plans for seeing a church planting movement in our region, and try to keep our two children sane in the miles in between.

Some of you have experienced this phenomenon personally, we're about ready to dive in.

It couldn't come at a worse time for us concerning our development in language and ministry. We are on the doorstep of special things in Estância Velha concerning a church plant. We have seen God bless in establishing relationships with our neighbors and friends (neighbors in the broad sense of the word). There are many important steps that will be taken while we are in the United States. We will be sad to miss out on them. We have reached a level of relationship with several people that allow us to really begin to invest in their lives. Those relationships will have to be rebuilt when we return. Our family is breaking into a good routine for the first time in a year (since Carter joined the family last October). That´s going to be only slightly disrupted.

It couldn´t come at a better time for us and our extended family. We are thrilled to be able to participate in a number of important events in the lives of our brothers and sisters, including weddings, babies, graduations, family reunions, and the holidays. We are excited to reinvest in the lives of those who have given so much to us over the last three years: to be a part of church life, to get to know the body of Christ in a special way, to be reaquainted with friends and family, etc. And many other things.

Needless to say, a lot of pieces need to fall into place in the next two months. Pray for us as we continue to pursue options regarding our household items that we will need to store in Brazil, the selling of our car or the wise investment of it in another area, transportation needs in the USA for ten months, housing needs in three different regions, scheduling of churches, and new contacts to be able to increase our support level. These things we are hashing out and thinking about almost on a daily basis now.

Thanks for praying for us. It looks like we have survived the harshest cold weather of the year and we are looking forward to a couple of months of warm spring weather in September and October.