Gearing Up and Winding Down

We find ourselves in the midst of a transitional stage, where it feels like we’re winding down on one hand and gearing up on the other. We give thanks for our past two years serving the UMC in the western part of the US, and we look forward with hope to the next season of working with the Methodist Church in Ireland (still waiting for approval of visa applications).

To list a few things about “Gearing Up”:

We sent our applications for visas to the Irish government and await their processing and - hopefully - approval;

We registered the kids for their fifth school in five years this coming Fall;

We purchased multiple 27-gallon totes for to pack our kitchen items and LEGO for their transatlantic adventure;

Congregations and Annual Conferences have prayed for our family as we embark on this new direction in life and ministry.

(A final hike around Red Rocks)

To list a few things about “Winding Down”:

We’ve enlisted the help of a property management company to rent our condo once we depart the US;

We completed our last hikes at Red Rocks, Lair O’ the Bear, and “Star Wars” Park (not it’s official name, yet we call it that because it look like a Star Wars movie could film here);

We have attended Annual Conferences (United Methodist speak for annual church meetings) in Oregon/Idaho, Pacific Northwest, and Mountain Sky, which means we have met with UM leaders - both clergy and laity - from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado;

We worshipped with many congregations in the Denver area for “the last time” - for this season - over the past couple of months;

And we sold the much loved “Artemis” (our 2003 Volvo) and “Paldi”  (our 2012 Dodge).

(Mountain Sky Annual Conference sending us with a blessing)

If walking the Camino has taught me (Dan)

anything, it’s that I/we cannot control events or others, and we must remain flexible. Back in December we thought we might be in Ireland at the beginning of July; and then plans shifted a bit as plans for a new manse (parsonage) in Ireland took shape; and now, plans have shifted a bit again as we wait for approval for our visa applications.

We hope to arrive before the kids’ schooling begins the last week of August.

Prayers in this time of waiting:

We give thanks for all the friends and family we’ve visited, and who have encouraged us on this journey.

Please pray for our applications to be processed in a timely manner (i know what my timing is, yet we must remain patient on God’s timing;

Please pray for the finding of a tenant for our condo;

Please pray that we remain patient, hopeful, and filled with joy and grace while we wait in this time.