Welcoming the New Year

We just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year and to thank you for being a part of our journey this past year.  Your prayers, friendship and financial support have been a blessing to us.  Our vacation in Europe has been good for us.  We have had family bonding through skiing, catching trains, and navigating new places.  We have walked many miles, ate lots of good food and enjoyed seeing the sites.  Most of all, we have had time to regroup, refresh and just rest.

You don’t realize how much a culture affects you until you are not in it in anymore.  For example, we were on a train at the beginning of our trip and had the opportunity to engage in conversation with two different gentlemen.  When it was time for them to go, they shook hands with each of us upon leaving the train.  At first, I hesitated to shake their hands because in Kabul you just don’t do that.  It would be improper for a woman to shake hands with a man. In the Western culture, it would be improper not to shake hands with someone who extends their hand to you.  To me, it was a good reminder to not to take offense easily when interacting with someone from another culture.

In a few days we will be back in Kabul.  The kids and I will have some time to get the house in order and for me to do lesson plans for the coming week.  Pray for me as I interact with my students this semester that I will be a light to them and help them to get the education they need.  In some ways, I was in survival mode the first semester and would like to be more creative this semester with my lessons.  Pray for Winter and David to balance their school and other activities.  Pray for them to hear God’s voice in their lives.   Noel will be back at work and is still wearing many hats- flying, maintenance and booking.  Pray especially for his time in booking.  He is trying to implement an online booking system this year.  Pray for guidance and balance for Noel as he takes the lead on this for our team.

Blessings to you all.