Last post from Mississippi

The time has come. Thanks to my lovely wife our home is cleaned and ready to move out of. We have a U-Haul behind our car tomorrow (pray that our car makes it) and everybody onboard after a final garage sale. Love those American customs.

It's been very hard to live in Mississippi but we have made some friends for life and I have received a top-notch education. Who would have thought that of Misssissippi? We have learned to live in want and learned to give thanks when in abudance. God provided us with jobs (very evident), a son (super evident), a house (clearly), a Master's degree, and as I said lots of friends that we will miss dearly. That is always the hardest part of moving. We have been married over ten years now and we just realized that we have moved to nine different addresses! It is time to settle down.

Thus, we leave tomorrow (Friday) for Kentucky. Like Moses, our concern has been "is God with us?" For anyone familiar with our situation that may seem a ridiculous question with an obvious answer. But as the pressure mounts and I begin to realize what it means to be a pastor, the question becomes one of life and death. Without him I am merely window-dressing. Well, yesterday a huge prayer request got answered. I have a second job to supplement my part-time pastorate!!! It fits perfectly with what I was looking for (flexible hours, meet people, understanding about my job as a pastor). I am not sure how to process this joy, but it feels really good to know that the last "hurdle" to a smooth move has been swept away by God's grace.

So thank you for checking in on our life in Mississippi and since we will continue this blog even as we get to Sweden we hope that you will stay with us and pray as you read about us serving Jesus in post-Christian Sweden. It will be a challenge!!

With the love of Jesus in the fellowship of the Spirit by the power of the Father,

Andreas, for the whole family

Sam is 3!!!!!

Happy Birthday to Sam! It's hard to believe (but in some ways it isn't hard to believe) that Sam is three years old. His birthday was yesterday, and it wasn't that special in terms of gifts and cake and stuff. Our house is a disaster area and his gift is on the boat, but he will have one in Kentucky and one in Sweden so we figured he will be ok.

We are probably going to make it, and we will leave Friday with a loaded car full with stuff, a 90lbs dog, us three, and a trailer. Pray for safe travel, please.

We will try to stay updated as we travel, but if nothing else know that we love you all and keep you in our prayers. Next stop....Sweden!!!! (via Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York)

Andreas

What are the odds?

It hasn't rained in Mississippi for two months and I needed to take my crate to Memphis. It is built using non-water resistant wood and is not waterproof. But, no problem I thought. WRONG! It rained going 60 mph down the highway! Oh well, I hope our things stayed dry. That is more than can be said for the cat (!) that spent the trip under the crate on the trailer all the way! Lunacy.

But the crate is on its way, Laurie is doing well according to the doctor, and Samuel is loving sleeping on the floor (on a mattress). We are together and we are exciter, though tired, to do this new adventure. Moving on the other hand, is not something that we enjoy. We hope that this is the last time for a while.

Love to all,
Andreas

And more progress

This is the final stage of the crate. Now it just needs to be packed up and taken to the warehouse in Memphis. This will happen Saturday. In other news, Samuel is now fully potty-trained (by himself). As you can see further down, there was one casaulty during the build...

Progress

Here is the crate as it looks today. We're making slow progress...but it is progress.

Back together again

Dear friends,

Our family is back together again. I left Copenhagen early to take care of Laurie and Sam and though it's been rather hectic and chaotic recently it is very good to be together again. Laurie is getting better and better, and Sam is enjoying everybody being home again. I am feeling like a pair of pants of the spin cycle but doing ok considering. Thank you again for you prayers and your concern. We love you all and hope to hear from you, or see you, soon.

Andreas