After much discussion, conversations with supporting churches and prayer we have decided that it is time to return to the US. While we first thought that we would make this step in early 2027, everything has been moving much more quickly. Our house sold within 2 weeks and we will be out of the house at the end of November this year. The shippers come on or around November 17 and we purchased our tickets to return to the US already.
So on December 7 we will fly to Indiana where we will for the first time ever be able to spend Christmas with our son’s family. We will also immediately start looking for houses in the Indianapolis area so that we can get set up as quickly as possible. Our things may show up some time around Christmas, or later. We would like to be in place already, although things may not move quite that quickly.
In getting ready for the shippers and turning over our house, we have been cleaning pout - discovering what we have had in the cellar and attic for many many years. The bedrooms and living room already look quite different, since we have passed on a good bit of our furniture. But what do you do with all of the memories? They remain, firmly locked into some things, some pictures and mostly in our minds.
And while all of this is happening, we continue trying to keep up with our various activities with the church. We have our weekly Bible studies, singings and are planning on helping with a marriage workshop near the end of November. Soon we will be looking at how we can continue some of these activities online as well as pick up new ways to serve wherever we end up in Indiana.
We know that we will have a good bit of culture shock to work through. We know that we will miss the people we have been with for more than 30 years here in Belgium and the Netherlands. But we also know that God will bless us with new relationships where we are going. We know that we will be in a position to build even more on our relationship with our boys and their families.
But it sure is moving quickly!
(Photo of our living room with just one couch and 2 chairs from the other room - so that we have somewhere to sit).
