At the beginning of the month Stephanie headed to the US with Grace and Hanna to help her sister with preparations for the wedding while Caleb and I stayed back for a week.
RUF Vision Trip: In between the Family Festival in the Arts weekend I thought it would be fun to squeeze in an extra activity...well no not really. This summer the director of RUF, several RUF pastors and some MTW employees were doing a Vision Trip through a couple European locations to see what university work looked like. With several prospective opportunities in Berlin, they thought it would be a good idea to come check it out, in which I also agreed, so therefore headed up the organization of their 2-3 day stay in Berlin. It was a very eye opening experience for us all. (Picture is NOT of vision trip, but of time while Stephanie was in Ohio)
Music & Arts Festival:What started off as an idea of my photo group to do a small exhibit in the Family Center grew to an event where 33 artists participated in 26 locations around our neighborhood. Our small exhibit in the Family Center turned into five photographers displaying 30 photos of our neighborhood, and around 100 people came to see it. The artists, galleries, and business owners kept expressing their gratitude to us for coordinating it, saying that something special happened in the neighborhood that weekend and they felt incredibly encouraged. They also said they no longer felt alone as artists, but part of a supportive community by those around them. To see the diversity of all that took place was such a true testament to how creative our God is and how He desires for us to be in community with one another just as He is in community within the Trinity. This newly formed art community in our neighborhood desires to meet once a month to support one another, grow together, and begin planning the next festival!
Trip to US for Stephanie's sisters wedding: As mentioned above Stephanie headed back earlier then me due to my work obligations with the Vision Trip and the Arts Weekend. For me it was a fly in, fly out situation. I was honored by Lindsey and Ryan when they asked if I would marry them, however since I am not ordained, it sort of complicated the matter. However I did have the privilege to preach at their wedding, which was still a first for me. I only messed up once, which granted was a pretty big mistake of calling Lindsey, Casey (the name of her twin) but everyone got a good laugh. Not to excuse myself but they both married Ryan's, not my fault. The wedding was a true joy to be a part of, of we are so happy for the both of them. Shortly after the wedding we had to fly back to Berlin, so for me and Caleb, we were there only a week. We were also able to visit our "home church" NPC, it was great to see so many of our friends while there, although it was quite short.
Grace Finishes Kindergarten: Although this might not be a big deal for those of you who do not have any children, for those of you who do I am sure you understand. It is just unbelievable having the graduation ceremony for your little one who will be entering school. Time just goes so fast and this was just another reminder of how our precious time with our first born is continuing to slip faster and faster away.(Picture is of Grace and her teacher looking at the gift the class gave her. We love her teacher and she will always have a very special place in our hearts!)
Summer Intern arrives to assist us with English Camp and August Group: This is the 4th year that we welcomed an intern into our household for the summer and this summer she would have an extended stay of 2 months, our longest staying intern yet. We even decided to go cross-cultural to welcome a gal from the deep south of Alabama :) into our household, in which we had some fun with. Bekah was a true joy to have in our house and she is definitely missed by all. She was an incredible help with all of my administrative/organizational stuff as well as with the kids. With Stephanie's unexpected illness, she jumped in whenever we needed her. THANKS BEKAH we love you!
Church Plant Day Trip: At the end of the month we headed to do some team building as a small church plant, in which around 40 or so were in attendance. We started off by having a Worship Service outside in an amphitheater. After the service we divided into four different teams in order to build rafts and then race them, assuming that they would float?!!? It was a great time in which were were able to see new personalities of those in our church, especially those that have competitive spirits. After the competition we had a cookout while watching Germany play in the World Cup.......Germany won the game!
Grace's Birthday: Our little girl moved from one hand of fingers to two...she turned 6! This year Grace decided to invite boys back to her party which meant that princess tea party was then ruled out and instead we had a big water gun battle on the playground, with daddy included, fun was had by all! For her birthday one of her gifts was her first school backpack, which here in Germany is a big ordeal and she loved it. It is amazing to see the our little baby turn into a little girl, God has truly gifted us with such a sweet loving heart! (Picture is some of the kids having fun during the water gun war)
Stephanie gets sick again: That is right, after going through about 8 weeks of sickness with the first round of GBS she fell into the 30% of patients who ended up with a relapse after only being well for about 2 weeks. It was about to get pretty rough......
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