6 Months

It is hard to believe that it has already been over 6 months that we have been living here in Austria. In so many ways it still feels like we are still adapting and adjusting to a new culture, job and environment. But at the same time it feels like we have been here for a long time already. Part of that I think is because we believe that this is where God has called us to be and through that we find peace and rest in him, even in the adjustments. So it is not so much about the changes that we experience or how much we like the language or anything like that. It’s being excited for where God has us. It is us going through the learning curve for where we are at so that we can better know how and where God wants to use us.

In the past few months we have seen various people come to serve here in Austria for a short term. This has ranged from a 3-month term to 3 weeks. It has been encouraging to see the enthusiasm and energy that people have when they come. To hear how God has worked in their lives during their time here and even what they believe God is calling them to do in response.  Seeing God work in many of these people’s lives as well as many of our youth and kids at English camp has made me reflect a lot on our life and where God is leading us.

I cannot say that God revealed everything to me about our future or even how he is working in our life now but it has caused me to think and pray a lot more especially of things yet to come. A big part of that is thinking about if God is calling us to come back to Austria after our 2 year commitment is completed, back to the states (and if so, where) or even to somewhere else entirely. Some days we can really see how God is using us here in Innsbruck and really feel as though we want to stay here longer but there are also other days where we feel discouraged. At this point we still have a year before we would need to make a commitment to pursue longer term through ReachGlobal (although that does not mean we would be accepted, there would still be an application process). At this point we have no idea but we also want to be using this time wisely and praying about where God is calling us. I hope also that you all will be praying for us concerning this as well.

That is all on a larger scale but also we are continually wanting to be in prayer over the day to day activities that we have hear. There is a lot of flexibility with what we do here and many different opportunities that we could chose to be a part of that would be glorifying God. It is hard to always know what God is calling us to which we do need to be praying more about. There are a few things that are very clear that God is calling us to be a part of including sports ministry (mostly Seth), me meeting with youth girls, and continuing to develop relationships with those that we have met through German class. Even knowing that we still need to lean so much on the guiding of the Holy Spirit. Guiding in how to do these things as well as who specifically to pursue relationships with.

I think there will always be many questions that we have. Please be in prayer with us that we will constantly be looking to God to guide us in the various ministries that we are involved with and not just simply get in a routine and potentially miss opportunities that God is prompting us to. Pray also that we are always willing to be flexible and to meet people where they are.