We're almost on our way! :)

Well the countdown continues - 2 days, 12 hours to go until we begin our drive to Schönau, Germany - our new home. I guess I would say I am regularly a busy person. I like doing things. I don't like just sitting around. That being said, I have been borderline swamped, overwhelmed and just plain exhausted these last six months. Ever since we became appointees with Pioneers and started to plan our move Alan and I haven't stopped. Fortunately we're almost there.

Alan spent today in Liverpool working on the trailer that a friend from our church is letting us borrow for our drive to Germany. He's also loaning us his van so that we can take everything we own down. Both of us discuss regularly just how much God has blessed us in the past year. He helped to rent our home in Georgia at the 11th hour, provided the support we needed for year one through friends and family, reducing our budget in a couple of key areas (rent) and allowing the EURO to fall rather than rise against the dollar. He also helped rent our house in England to sweet friends, find a great apartment for us in Germany and so much more it's hard to not go on forever.

I spent the day tying up one thousand loose ends - packing and repacking, going to the library, bank and post office to send tons of documentation to our insurance broker in Germany and another set to the Revenue and Customs department in Newcastle. I worked on our budget, sent final necessary paperwork to Pioneers, looked into internet providers in Germany and talked to our landlord about last minute details.

Tonight I have to get our stuff together for going to Bawtry in Yorkshire tomorrow and write thank you notes to our supporters in England. That was supposed to be Alans job but he's been so busy I told him I would do it for him this once. Alan just got home a few minutes ago and he's heading out again to put some fuel cleaner in the car and top it up as well as go to Tesco to buy cling film so that we can wrap our mattress so it won't get dirty.

Tomorrow night we'll have chinese here with Linda and Richard and Alans parents then on Saturday we'll go to our friends to pick up the van and trailer then to Arrowe Park to get our paperwork before we meet the youth at the church that will help us pack our things at Mihai and Simona's and then bring them to Chester to pack everything here. On Sunday it's church, lunch at Pizza Express with the youth group and then we're off. Our ferry in Dover is at 9:20 and we hope to stay in a hotel in France that night before finalizing the rest of our trek on Monday.

The last week here has been good. We especially enjoyed going to church and seeing everyone there, visiting Alans sister and nieces and their kids in Wrexham yesterday and I enjoyed teaching my last Influence at the church last night. During my quiet times this last week I really felt as if God wanted me to speak on his second coming and on the tribulation. I also really wanted to encourage the youth in our church to get back in church and be strong witnesses for Christ in Birkenhead. I told them I know it's very difficult to be a christian in England. It's much, much easier to be a christian in Athens, Georgia but still, they can do it - especially if they stick together and encourage and hold eachother accountable. I have really grown to love this group of students. They aren't the easiest group, they have at times proven themselves to be undisciplined, lazy and too willing to compromise but for the most part they are hungry to learn, eager to serve, struggling to find their individual identities and wrestling with God. Alan said to me, I don't see how you get away with yelling at them like you do but they don't seem to mind it. I said - they love adults to challenge them, to treat them like they have brains and to not accept lackadaisical behavior. They are really talented and can change the world if they set their minds to it. I'm going to miss them - big time.

Well is blogging any different from blabbing? I feel like they are one in the same with this latest blog so please forgive my rambling. Alan and I can't tell you how much we appreciate all of you in our lives. Thank you for the encouragement, the support, the prayers. One of the things I have enjoyed the most these last few months is pouring over the prayer requests from our supporters. For those of you that have sent prayer requests to us, know that we are praying for you and we would LOVE to hear any updates when you have them. We especially like to see God answer prayers and we're keeping track so we can remember how faithful and good He really is. He is faithful and really good, isn't He?