Guten Tag!

Guten Tag! (Good day—a common German greeting)

We have arrived back in Germany after a week of Alpine vacation that helped our body clocks adjust to the seven-hour time difference. Tonight I’m sitting at a table in our bedroom in Neuenburg am Rhein, in the same large house hosted by the same kind couple as last fall—just a different apartment. This one is spacious and full of tall windows, and from the 3rd floor the view is beautiful! From different sides we can see the village, the edge of the Black Forest, and the first line of matching French mountains on the other side of the Rhein.

They generously offered us this apartment for a greatly reduced price and furnished it down to the towels and dishes. The tradeoff is that it isn’t fully finished yet—we walk on a concrete subfloor and choose to overlook the extra wires and pipes hanging from the ceiling in spots. The family does much of their own construction work evenings and weekends, so expanding the house into more apartments has become a multi-year project.

These first days in Germany feel so much different than they did last year.

Last year, we were following our GPS carefully to find the town we would live in; this year we drove right to the house without looking at the map. Last year, we were all strangers exchanging cordial greetings; this year we were welcomed with hugs and smiles. Last year, the learning curve to navigate the local grocery stores and the complex trash and recycling process felt a bit overwhelming; this year, it’s a routine we just slipped right into.

This morning we attended church at Calvary Chapel in Freiburg. Last year, we were the new and slightly odd strangers from America. This year, we felt welcomed back like old friends who had been away for too long. Joining together in worship where half the songs are in English and half are in German nearly brought tears to my eyes, for reasons I can’t fully explain.

Tomorrow, we begin to establish a daily routine for the rest of our three-month stay. We sensed a lot of spiritual resistance leading up to our trip, so it’s not likely to be all smooth sailing from here. Please pray for wisdom as we seek to draw strength and direction from God in order to carry out whatever work he gives us to do here day to day. We want to pay attention not only to the marriage events already on the schedule but also to the ordinary everyday encounters and conversations that come our way.

Auf wiedersehen!