Valentine's Day

I've (Keri) always been a proponent of celebrating Valentine's Day as a family and this year was no exception. We planned a special lunch for after church including steak, twice baked potatoes, grilled asparagus and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.




Valentine's place settings.

Lots of candles and hearts.

Everyone was given a Bible verse to read aloud about God's faithfulness and unending love towards us.

Fun times!

I'm homesick. Can I be honest? I'm (Keri) tired of living in transition. I've (we) have been living in transition since spring of 2007, when we first decided to move to Spain. For most of 2007 and 2008 we were mentally transitioning out of Chattanooga, and physically packing and moving from one house to another to another to another and finally landing here. I remember thinking how glad I was to be settled when we finally got here. And on the one hand, I am settled and our lives do have a pretty stable routine and I try to make the best of it. But on the other hand, I have subconsciously continued to live in a temporary mindset - knowing that we weren't going to stay here forever so why bother putting down any sort of roots? That is probably not a good thing. Looking at staying for a third year makes me a little weary emotionally. I'm not sure I can pinpoint what it is that would make me feel settled. I still long for freedom and familiarity. I long to stock up my pantry and craft closet and start projects without thinking I am going to have to pack it all up or leave it in another year. I long for date nights with David and for worship in English. I expect that these feelings will come and go. I suppose it is the case for everyone who has had to leave their home. We are hoping to come home again this summer, and as much as I am looking forward to that - I am also dreading it a bit because I know it will also be temporary. Transition is really hard...

We haven't been blogging much on here lately, but Keri has been blogging on her blog, www.my12stones.blogspot.com if you want to keep up with us.

A third year

Excerpt from our last newsletter:

When we were first interviewed by ECA for this position, they asked us for a two year minimum commitment, which we agreed to. As we approach the end of our second year, we have been wrestling with the decision of whether to go back to the U.S. after this school year or whether to stay and continue serving here. It has been a difficult decision, but as we prayed and waited and prayed and waited some more, we came to an agreement that we should leave the door open and commit at least through the next school year (2010-2011), and continue until the Lord shows us differently. One of the trademark characteristics of third-culture kids is a life full of constant change and transition and part of our ministry, we believe, is to provide a sense of stability and security for them. Staying here for an additional year will help them that much more. Because we are entirely supported financially through the sacrificial giving of friends, family and churches, we would ask that you please prayerfully consider giving us one time financial gift or making a monthly commitment to enable us in our work here.

And speaking of next year, ECA is in desperate need of teachers for next year, particularly middle and high school in almost all subjects. If you know anyone who might be interested in serving here for part of a year or more, please let us know or consult the website for more details. www.ecaspain.com We would add that we have been amazed at the diversity of qualified staff God has brought to ECA. There are several retired couples who have come for 6 months or a year (because they have retirement income they don’t have to raise financial support) and have worked as teachers, janitors, librarian, in the office, counselors, teachers aides, etc. You don’t have to be a certified teacher to help (although those are needed as well!) and it would be a great opportunity to serve the missionary community in and around Spain.

Merry Christmas from Spain

Christmas decorations

As is our tradition, we pulled out the Christmas decorations the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This year the kids were so excited to get to help. I (Keri) admit it is a bit hard for me to let them help, but I did my best to let the control-freak in me not get in the way. They had a blast!

This is our Jesse Tree. It is made of green felt and is about 6 feet tall. Last year, this was our only tree. Each ornament correlates to an Old Testament story that points toward the coming of Christ. We have a book that goes with it and read one story every night at the dinner table.

I am also a big fan of St. Nicholas Day. We celebrated St. Nicholas day this past Sunday (Dec 6) by having the kids put their shoes outside their bedroom doors when they went to bed and they awoke to candy and treats inside. More pictures to come on that. But anyway - here is our St. Nicholas with the gold pinecones and leaves Grandma made while she was here.

Here is the table inside our front door. The little penguins sing a song and wag their jingle-bell tails at the push of a button. Mathis loves to make them sing and has been heard singing to himself "Rockin' around the Christmas tree at the penguin party hop..." It's so funny.

And this year we were given an artificial tree. I wasn't going to put it up because we didn't have any of our personal ornaments here and I didn't really want a meaningless tree. However, while my mom was here visiting last week, she insisted that I could have the kids make ornaments and still make it meaningful. And she was so right! She worked with them all week to make jar-lid ornaments with the nativity characters, she taught Rachel to sew and made stuffed felt stars, balls and miniature christmas trees. I made some homemade cinnamon shape ornaments and a paper chain. And I really do love it. (I'm not sure why it looks crooked in the picture.)

So thanks, mom!

You just never know...

For several months now we have been battling a problem with one of the walls in our bedroom/closet. We think the shower is leaking and because our walls are concrete, the water is wicking up into the concrete and because our closet stays dark, there has been mold and mildew growing. We were finally able to contact the landlord about it today, through a friend whose Spanish is much better than ours, and said they would be sending out a repairman soon.

So in the discussion with the landlord, he said to our friend how he doesn't get over to his parents' (who live behind us) house very often but that they are always commenting on how nice it is that we leave our curtains open all day and live an open life and that they have noted that our home seems full of life and love. He said it in a very complimentary way. Apparently, most Spaniards, if they know someone is close enough to see in their home would keep things closed and maintain a high level of privacy. It hadn't occurred to us to keep our shades drawn for that reason.

It just struck me as such a nice yet strange compliment and is a good reminder that we never really know who is watching us or what kind of witness our day-to-day activities and the way we run our home is to those around us. It was a nice thing for him to say.