We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season. We enjoyed a very relaxing
Christmas just the three of us here in PA. Jonas had a speaking engagement at a
church just south of Chicago the weekend after thanksgiving, so we were fortunate to
get to stay with my parents for a few days and enjoy seeing them around the holidays.
Emma has developed a real love of all things Christmas this year, and it is so sweet to
see her particular love of Angels, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.
Jonas has been leading the men’s small group at the Tuesday night Bible study.
He is also training others in the group to be able to lead small groups as well. Jonas is
also continuously building more ministry partnerships in the area, and we are starting to
look towards more traveling to continue partnership development in other States.
Naturally, that depends a lot on Covid, but hopefully things will start to open up again
soon with hopes of the vaccine. In the meantime though, we are doing what we can
where we are at. Jonas also starts his final semester of his master’s degree in a few
weeks. Hooray!
We are now at 49% of our monthly support! Thank you all for making this possible.
We need to reach 100% of our monthly support in order to move to Germany as full
time Missionaries, so it is really exciting to be almost half way there.
One lesson God has been teaching us this year, is that He is not in a rush. This
season of support raising, the in betweenness of preparing to move and be immersed in
another culture, language, and home is just as good as what the next season will bring.
This is Holy Ground. This is where life is now. Those who know us well, know that we
(mostly me) 🙂 have struggled with holding the balance of being in a place that is
temporarily our home, but knowing that it won’t be for long. I just wanted to rush through
this difficult season because it is easier to live always focusing on what is to come and
dissociate from the present because it is hard. But is that really living?
It is in the wilderness seasons that God meets us here, that miracles happen. God has
met us here in our wilderness, and showed us a new way to live. An invitation to rest, to
trust, and to be present here and now. That this season is good, and not to be rushed
through, but savored and enjoyed. And I am finding that I am overflowing with
thankfulness for all of the quiet, beautiful things that I normally would miss; the different
birds that come to our bird feeders and cheerfully sing in the morning, or just how
magical it is to wake up to a fresh coat of snow that blankets one side of the trees. Or
the moments of pure joy when I hold my sleeping little one in my arms. How much more
precious that moment is after a long struggle with postpartum depression!
2020 has been a year for everyone; A year full of disappointment, heartache, and
pain. I wanted to write to encourage you. Friends, let us not shy away from the painful,
difficult times believing that God has abandoned us. It is in this wilderness that Christ
meets us. It is in this wilderness that hope springs out of the ground, where Jesus
extends an invitation to a life of abounding joy. The connection between joy and
suffering is so complex, but I know that the hard seasons have made the joyful
moments in life so much sweeter. I hope this newsletter can bring you hope and joy as
we enter into a new year together. Please feel free to respond with what God has been
teaching you this year. We all can use a little encouragement!