An intro

Well, this is my first foray into the world of blogging. So far, so good, I guess.

As the title of the blog mentions, I am preparing to move to Bremen, Germany, for a 2-year commitment to mission work. I'll be working with Jim and Elsa Springer, who have been missionaries there for over 30 years. Also there are Mark and Karen Abercrombie, a couple I have gotten to know while at Harding University. They arrived in Bremen on August 24th and are currently hunting for an apartment and trying to get settled. Mark was supposed to start language school on Monday of this week, so I look forward to hearing from him how that's going! Mark is the only one in the group who has never studied German, so I know language school will be a new adventure for him.

My main goal is for this blog to do just what it says: serve as a chronicle of my time working and living in Bremen. I want it to be a meeting place for my family, friends, supporters, and fellow Christians where they can receive updates on my life overseas. I don't leave for Germany until October 19th, so the next month and a half or so will be my final preparation time, and I want to share that as well.

I have one more week of work in Searcy, Arkansas, and on September 10th I plan to drive to northern Kentucky to visit my family for the last few weeks before heading "across the pond." Tomorrow my parents will arive in Arkansas to help pack up the rest of my non-essential belongings as well as the things my siblings left in storage in town over the summer. Next weekend, then, I'll only have to worry about fitting my clothes from the week and a few other small things in my car when I leave town.

The arrival of my mom and dad signals another milestone in my last days in Searcy. Earlier in the summer I moved out of my apartment and began house-sitting for a couple here in town, so most of the moving is already out of the way; this will just be the final "relocation." I have to say, I'm glad I already got the "moving out" thing out of the way. I don't know how I'd be able to handle that along with everything else right here at the end.

Well, I suppose that's enough for now. Please let me know what you think about my posts and if you have any questions about my preparations or my expected work in Germany. Gott mit Euch! (God be with you!)