• Silly Cows Blocking The Way, Part 1
• Silly Cows Blocking The Way, Part 2

For those who don’t use Facebook here is a link to the two videos! Enjoy.

The Introduction

The Cows

Hello there folks. Well, according to my little desktop widget, we’ve been in Germany for 17 days. I can’t believe that. It doesn’t seem possible.

Thus far, our time in Kandern has been wonderful. We arrived two weeks before anything started, so we’ve had plenty of time to get over jetlag and settle in. We are incredibly blessed to be living in the home of a woman who’s in The States for a year. This means that from the moment we stepped into our little apartment, we had internet, phone, furniture and food. Many staff members arrive to completely empty apartments. I’m so, so, so glad that wasn’t our experience.

This is our building. The top two windows are ours. Our windows open all the way and there are no screens; it’s fabulous. Also, that’s our car in the driveway. We have purchased and registered the car, but have yet to drive it. All in good time, my friends.

So far, we’ve learned our way around Kandern, learned how to shop, officially registered in the town, registered for a trash can (which we have yet to receive), and figured out the basics of life.

Our new friend Anne, who we met at Orientation, came a few days earlier than she needed to and stayed with us. It was fabulous having her here. We had many a long talk on many a long walk. I think we went for a three hour walk each of the three days she was here. On our first walk, we were caught in a ridiculous thunderstorm. It was a complete downpour for about half an hour. We had no umbrellas or raincoats. It was marvelous, if a bit chilly.

Today we started the first of our three weeks of Orientation—Survival German. Every morning from 9:00 – 12:00, we meet at Black Forest Academy in order to learn a few German language basics, you know, so we can buy food at the grocery store and such.

All of these photos were taken on the walk to school this morning. It’s wonderful to finally begin the “real” BFA stuff. Next week, all of the new staff will learn about the school. The final week of Orientation is for all of the staff.

Israel has been able to do some preliminary work for his job. He’s had several meetings about the media needs of the school and has a better idea of what his job will entail. He even made a trip to Ikea to purchase some new office furniture for the office, which he’ll share with the school’s graphic designer. Israel, Anne and I spent Saturday putting together all of his new office furniture. He’s pretty excited.

Here’s a funny story. We had a few over-ripe bananas. So I thought I’d make banana bread. Fortunately, the home we’re living in is stocked with all of the baking supplies I needed. All went quite well, I thought. I’d even said, “I think my first German baking experience was a success.” And then Israel tried the bread. “Dani,” he said. “What did you put on top of this?”

“Brown sugar, and cinnamon and sugar.” What else would you put on banana bread?

“Are you sure it wasn’t brown sugar, and cinnamon and salt?”

“………….”

Yep. It was salt. All over the banana bread. So here’s a tip, if you ever move to a foreign country, or just into someone else’s home, always taste any unlabeled containers that you assume are sugar.

We are absolutely thrilled to finally be here. Over the past six months, it’s become more and more clear why this is God’s perfect timing for our arrival at BFA. More on that later. Here are a few photos of the school where we’ll spend at least the next two years (hopefully more) loving missionary kids. Yay!!

On the way home, we took a little video of Kandern, the town where we’re living. It’s absolutely beautiful here. Seriously, gorgeous. I think you’ll have to visit to really understand though.

Well, unless God has some seriously different plans, today is the day we move to Germany. Can you believe it?! We can’t. God has been so very faithful to us through this process. Praise him for making this dream a reality!

Here’s our itinerary for the day. All times are local.

• Depart from NW Arkansas at 13:15. Arrive at O’Hare (Chicago) Terminal 3 at 14:53.
• Depart from O’Hare (Chicago) Terminal 5  at 17:20. Arrive at Heathrow (London) Terminal 5 at 07:00.
• Depart from Heathrow (London) Terminal 5 at 08:30. Arrive at Basel (Basel), Switzerland at 11:05, July 17th.

Pray that all of our flights would be on time and easy. Pray that all of our bags arrive undamaged. Pray that God provides peace and excitement during this journey.

We have been so blessed over the past year. God has proven his provision, goodness and power so many times. Just think what the next year will hold!

We’ll try to update again once we arrive.

We have a date! We will be moving to Germany on Friday, July 16th at 1:15 PM. We will depart from Northwest Arkansas, make stops in Chicago and London, and arrive at our final destination of Basel Switzerland at 11:00 AM on Saturday. Yay! We’re so very excited.

Here’s a little overview of what the next 28 days look like for us.

Tomorrow, we leave for TeachBeyond’s Orientation in Minneapolis. I’m so very excited about this. Besides raising support, this is really the first thing we’ve had to do regarding BFA. I personally love training and class and that sort of thing, so I’m really looking forward to this time. We’ll get to meet all the other new BFA folks who are going through TeachBeyond. Today, we’re finishing up the mile long to-do list in order to be ready for Orientation.

On Saturday the 26th, we will fly into Ft. Smith, pick up a few things and then drive to Texas to see my family one last time. We’ll spend a few days there and then head up to Muskogee to see Israel’s family. A few days doesn’t seem like enough time.

After Orientation

We’ll return to Fayetteville on July 2nd, just in time for our four-year anniversary on the 3rd. Hopefully we’ll go on a date or something; it is our anniversary and all. Normally, we’d have fondue, but, this year, I think we can put that off, since in a few weeks we’ll be 20 minutes from where fondue was perfected. We’ll spend our last two weeks in Arkansas making final preparations to leave and hanging out with our friends. On July 10th, we’re having a going-away bash at the farm where we’re living. You’re all invited of course. More details on that later. Our last Sunday at The Grove Church will be July 11th. I’m sure it will be a rather emotional day for us. We’ve only been at this church for about two years, but we love it dearly.

After that, we’ve only got a few more days before we leave! I can’t believe it’s actually going to happen! When we found out about BFA on July 24th, 2009, I had no idea what the next year would hold. What a wonderful journey the past year has been.

Our Newsletter

You can download our latest newsletter if you haven’t read it yet. It has pictures and more details about what’s going to happen in the coming days.

Download the newsletter.

So I’m not sure if you are aware, but mine and Dani’s lives are changing. Our desires have changed. Our passions have changed. Our definition of love and truth have changed. Changed in a way that is better and more full. Full of wants and desires that pursue the seemingly unattainable – a life without failure, without a hurting world, without people in need.

Don’t get me wrong. We fail miserably at accomplishing this goal. Some would say we aren’t even going to make a difference in this life. That life is meaningless, and without merit or truth. I say those people have a sad definition of life. And I won’t be able to change their minds. So what can I do?

Well, I’ve decided it’s not my responsibility to change peoples minds. And since I can’t do that, I’ll just change the world. “Ha”, you say? Well that is pretty arrogant of me, but it’s what I wish could happen. In reality I can’t do that. I can’t—without other people. So yeah…I have to deal with the hard and tough. There is no easy life, no easy route. Easy isn’t an option anymore.

This is one of the things I’ve been struggling with. I’m called to change the world. I’m called to live radically. I’m called. But I’ve been struggling, hurting, frustrated and contemplating things I don’t understand. And I want to share some of what I’ve been trying to figure out. Openness and honesty are huge to me. So here is an excerpt from a journal entry.

April 24, 2010 – God what do you want from me?

God what do you want from me?
What would you have me do?
I don’t know what to do next
Is there something missing, something hindering you and me

I just want to be where I hear you calling me. And the stillness is deafening.

Open me up and help me to hear, help me to hear.
Take this yoke upon you. My next steps are hidden from me, please help me, help me to hear you leading me.

Lord what can I do to see?
Do I need to let go?
I thought I had let it all fall
Is there something missing, something hindering you and me

I just want to be where I hear you calling me. And the stillness is deafening.

Open me up and help me to hear, help me to hear.
Take this yoke upon you. My next steps are hidden from me, please help me, help me to hear you leading me.

Help Me To Hear

Written in the car while driving in Telephone, TX. Trying to figure out God and why I’m not hearing or seeing what the next step is. Or why we aren’t getting our support. Is my sin stopping us from going? Am I not doing enough? I just don’t know the next steps to take…

All my life I feel like I’ve struggled to figure out where I fit in, where I should go, and who I should be. From my earliest memories I remember struggling with realities of life. Like when I found out about slavery for the first time. I was devastated. I couldn’t focus the rest of the day. I just couldn’t believe people could do that to each other. Since then I feel like all I’ve been doing is building calluses to all the hurt and problems I’ve seen or learned about. And I don’t want any more calluses.

The Past Alters Perspectives

The next day after writing that journal entry I found out that someone wanted to give us about 30% of our monthly budget. What can I say to that? How do I mix such undeserved giving with such hurt and need? How do I keep from letting myself build calluses when things get tough and I don’t know what’s next? I don’t know the answer to that.

I do know that I’m sick and tired of my complacency. My inability to keep pursuing a life of complete giving of myself, without regard of the consequences or with need for any payment in return. I want to be able to love others without any presupposition or need for them to love me back. I want my life to be full of joy and peace so much that my first instinct is to help others.

My Hope and Prayer

I have been given the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children. To give them love and peace. I just pray and hope that it’s enough. I pray that their loves will be changed forever. That they will pursue truth and an unwavering love for other people. I know I won’t be 100% effective, nor will I be good at it. But that’s not an issue anymore. I don’t want any more calluses. I want to let myself go and be okay with hurt and pain so that others might be given peace and experience the love that I want to be able to share. My life and my heart are not my own, and so my pain and hurt are not my own.

I can’t wait to share my life with those in Germany. To help them conquer their lives and to love them unconditionally. I just hope that it doesn’t stop there. That I daily pursue a truth that revolves around hard people that cause hurt. I’m okay with that. I just want an opportunity to love them. No strings. Just unbridled giving of my life, my possessions, my time, my desires for the moment that they experience a greater love than I can give them. That is my hope and prayer.

Hannah Jernigan married Ashley Brown on April 3rd, 2010 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. It was a Hash-Brown Wedding. Get it? Get it?! Just in case you don’t, Hannah + Ash Brown = Hash Brown.

We spent several lovely days hanging out with the family in Oklahoma. There were quite a few Aussie’s there. Apparently in Australia, you spell it Auzzie, but in America you spell it Aussie. Anyway, we got to hang out with Ash, his parents, his best childhood friend Johnny and his wife Kareta, and Ash’s other groomsman Byron and his girlfriend Karina. In case you missed it, that was Kareta and Karina. Not at all confusing. Anyway, it was lovely getting to know these folks.

Here are a few interesting things we learned.

1. Aussies/Auzzies put beets on their hamburgers. They also butter the buns. Not sure if that was the inside or outside of the bun.
2. Even though we technically speak the same language, we have trouble communicating. Johnny in particular is rather difficult to understand. Apparently, Johnny’s Australian accent is rather like our Southern accent. So between our southern accents and his, I had to ask Johnny to repeat himself quite a bit. A few word translations from Auzzie to American. I must admit that some of these I looked up online, because I couldn’t remember them all…..er.
   • nappy – diaper
   • sheila – mom/woman
   • cuppa – cup of coffee
   • biscuit – cookies
   • arvo – afternoon
   • bonnet – hood of the car
   • boot – trunk of the car
   • chook – chicken
   • lolly – candy
   • lolly water – soda
   • jumper – sweater
   • have a yarn – talk to someone
   • Good Onya – good for you, yeah, etc
   • Oz – Australia
   • reckon – think
   • ring – phone
   • snag – sausage
3. A mud-map is a map that you draw on random pieces of paper, in the dirt, etc. Israel just told me this. Apparently I missed the mud-map. Israel is very excited about the mud-maps.
4. Everything is much more expensive in Australia. For example, apparently it costs at least $30 for one person to eat out at a restaurant. However, you also get paid a lot more, like $20 a hour, to start.
5. Things are much bigger and sweeter in the US than they are in Australia. That’s why we’re all fat. We went to P.F. Changs one night, and the dessert tray was displayed. The Aussies kept saying, “But you don’t really get all of that dessert do you?” Yes, you really get the whole Great Wall of Chocolate. For only $5. It’s only 1,883 calories. Come to America. Become obese with us.

Okay, enough of the America/Australia comparisons.

While we were in Muskogee we shot guns (a very Oklahoma thing to do), sat in the hot tub for far too long, had a hen and stag night (bachelor and bachelorette party), went to Tulsa far too many times, stayed up way too late, and drank too much coffee. We also took the Aussies to all of the great spots in Muskogee. Like Walmart. And the mall. Very exciting. One day, while we were in Tulsa, we even went to the Center of the Universe. Really. It’s on Google.

Unlike my wedding weekend, which was absolutely crazy because my sister and I decided to get married on the same weekend, two days apart, in two different cities, Hannah’s wedding weekend was wonderfully relaxed and enjoyable. We were able to take our time, enjoy each other’s company and really savor everything. I loved it.

The ceremony was beautiful and heartfelt. The reception was fun and flew by. And before we knew it, the newlyweds were off to their honeymoon in Colorado, where Ash saw snow for the first time!

Hannah and Ash headed back to Australia about a week after the wedding. We have no idea when we’ll see them again, hopefully soon. Maybe they’ll take a trip to Europe, or we can make it down under.

Congratulations Hash! We’re glad your 15 month engagement is finally over! We love you and were honored to be a part of your day.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the stair fiasco. Hannah and Ash got married in a lodge that’s right down the road from the Jernigan’s home. Everything happened in this lodge—the ceremony, food prep, reception, etc. So, before the wedding, I was running a few things back and forth to the groomsmen. I had just pinned Ash’s shirt and was heading back downstairs when I learned there was a back stairway. Since the main stairway was where the ceremony was happening, I went down the kitchen stairs instead. The six inch wide kitchen stairs that had gaping spaces. In my heels. While holding two hands worth of stuff. While wearing a dress. I’m sure you can imagine what happened. My heel slipped through the back of the stairs. I fell down quite a few steps and couldn’t stop myself since my hands were full. I dropped everything I was holding—wallet, iphone, water bottle, camera. I’m pretty sure the entire kitchen staff saw more of me than they ever intended to. As I was falling I thought, I’m going to break my ankle and have to go to the hospital, and I’ll ruin Hannah’s wedding.

Fortunately I didn’t break my ankle. But it did hurt quite a bit. And my pride was severely damaged. After I managed to hobble from the kitchen, I found Israel and told him that I fell down the stairs, to which he appropriately replied, “Noooo!” Then I cried. Because my ankle hurt, and my butt hurt, and everyone saw, and I didn’t plan to fall down the stairs! The next day I had a lovely dollar sized bruise on my butt that proceeded to go through several lovely shades of purple, black, blue and yellow. How exciting.

Well, it’s been another month since our last blog post. The five sentence post previous to this one doesn’t count, obviously. Usually, not posting for a month means that nothing exciting has happened, which is kind of the case here. Not much has happened on the support side of things.

Because I know you’re all dying to know, I’ll give you a brief overview of what’s been going on for us in April. Ready?

April 1st happened.

We knew it would eventually—the looming, self-imposed deadline. When April rolled around, we found ourselves not at 100% or even 80% of our monthly support, but at 53%. Well, it’s better than 25%. Moving on.

Hannah got married. Israel’s lovely sister Hannah married her beloved Australian beau on April 3rd. A wonderful time was had by all. Also, 20 minutes before the wedding, I fell down half a flight of stairs. More on that in a later post.

The Bride

We moved. From November through March, we were living with the wonderful Luke and Ashley. Here’s a bit of info about these two. First, they are pregnant with their first child. In case you didn’t know, that’s a big deal. They found out they were pregnant a few weeks before we moved in, but still graciously opened up their home to us. Second, they bought and moved into their first home while we were living with them. Also a big deal. Third, they have two relatively new dogs. For some, this may not be a life-changing occurrence, but when one of your dogs is a separation-anxiety prone Weimaraner who like to use knives as chew toys, break dishes and eat 100 pieces of chocolate at a time, it can be rather stressful. So, in order for let Luke and Ashley to properly settle into their new home and prepare for their upcoming baby, we moved in with some other friends.

We are currently living with Josh and Margo in a town about 30 minutes south of Fayetteville. They live on a small farm, which is why you may have heard us mention snakes and missing kid goats. That’s all I’m going to tell you about the farm until we post more later.

Am I annoying anyone with my blatant withholding of information? I don’t want to ruin our upcoming posts!

When we moved in with Josh and Margo, they went to Hawaii for two weeks. After four months of living with another couple and seven months of traveling and sleeping on air mattresses in other people’s living rooms, we got to be alone. Oh glorious solitude. I do need my alone time and when I don’t get it, I tend to seclude myself in my room, which feels a little anti-social when all the other people in our house are chatting in the living room. Anyway, our two weeks of alone time also coincided with two weeks of disappointment and discouragement about not being in Germany yet.

Last week, we traveled to Texas again to visit some of my family that was in town. We spent about a week hanging out with the fam, playing games, eating too much and hold Addy, my cousin’s miracle baby. More on this in another post.

Addy and Her Momma

There you go. That’s what’s happened since April 1st.

Our monthly support hasn’t really budged at all, partly due to our lack of effort. It’s been hard to get back up and press on with our support raising. I had a rather profound and encouraging thought earlier today about support raising and God’s plan and such, but I can’t remember it now…. I’ll let you know if I do.

We’re still at 53% of our monthly amount, but we’ve seen a lot of one-time gifts come in this month, about $5,000 worth. This puts us over our required start-up money. We’re still waiting to hear back from two churches regarding monthly support. This Sunday we’re also heading back down to Texas to speak in the evening service at the First Baptist Church of Bonham. Pray that God softens the hearts of the congregation there so that they connect with us (this is not a church either of us have attended), see the importance of loving missionary kids and want to give! We’re hoping to find a few new monthly supporters here.

I think we’ve both had a hard time not giving up. We’ve gone through most of the people on our list of potential supporters and don’t feel very optimistic about proceeding. After working so hard for the last few months, it’s hard to believe that we’ll actually make it to the point where we can leave. The past couple days, I’ve found myself in the same mental state I was in a year ago, questioning whether God answers pray and is good. But, I’ve been reminded that God isn’t a formula. I can’t do A and B and expect God to answer with C. I know there’s a plan within all of this, and I can see the benefit of our months of support raising. God not answering my prayers in my timing doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love me or have good things for me. Sigh. Shouldn’t I be past these things already?

And just in case you’re wondering what in the world the blog header has to do this post, not much. Those oranges were in the juice the morning of Hannah’s wedding. I always feel pressure, from some unnamed person who shares my last name, to use an image in the header, and usually I have no idea what to put there. Hence the oranges.

Yes, I know. Christmas was five weeks ago. Today is February. It’s a little late to be posting about the holidays, but at least we’re not posting this in May. So, here’s a little summary of our holiday travels.

On Friday, December 18th, we got up bright and early and headed to my sister’s apartment in Denton, TX. We got in shortly after lunch and met Jude, the epileptic Schnoodle. Jude was a pillow of curly goodness, who happened to twitch occasionally. Israel and I have realized that we’re not really dog people. We don’t like the drooling and shedding and stinking and poop picking-up. But Jude doesn’t stink, doesn’t shed, and doesn’t officially drool (although he does have a beard). Unfortunately, as all living creatures do, he poops. Anyway, we liked him. If we ever get a dog, I think it might need to be a schnoodle.

So, after meeting Jude, we headed to the University of North Texas to watch my younger sister, Amy, become officially Smart. She’s always been smart, but now she can make sure everyone knows how smart she is by telling them that she has a Masters Degree in Library Science. This not only lets them know that she’s smart, but also incredibly nerdy. I’m quite sure that she and her husband Luke will have the smartest children in my family. Israel and I will have the best looking. Just kidding. Although I do think Israel was the cutest little boy I’ve ever seen. Don’t you agree? I mean really, what little boy stands with his hand in his pocket like that? He’s the older one in the second photo.

So anyway, after the graduation festivities, we hung out at Amy and Luke’s house for several days. We mostly tested out a few new board games: Munchkin Fu (okay), Munchkin Quest (the worst game ever, unless you ask a boy), and Dominion (from the title, you would think I’d hate this game, but no, it’s great).  After days of playing games and teaching Jude new tricks, we headed to Telephone to see my family.

My mom had the family over for the first Christmas in her own home in over 10 years. We had a lovely table setting and ate Mexican food, because Christmas food is boring. My mom is also a master present wrapper. Not only does she make presents beautiful, but she makes them fun. When we were little, she’d wrap small presents in HUGE boxes and put rocks, or cans of food, or beans (dried, of course) in with the gift. That way, we’d have no idea what was actually in the gift when we shook it around and felt the edges and tried to peek under the paper. This year, Mom wrapped 20 gifts. 20. For four people. Who don’t really expect presents anymore. So, we each got to open five gifts. They each had a $20 bill stashed somewhere inside. So, $100 each! Woo hoo! After this Christmas, Israel has a better understanding of why it’s vitally important to me that gifts be pretty.

An amazing thing happened while we were in Telephone—Jude got groomed. But he didn’t just get groomed, he got shaved. All the way down. Until he looked like a plush little lamb. And that same day, he got a shot at the vet. And he got nicked while being groomed, nicked in a very uncomfortable place. Let me tell you, a shot, plus a shaving, plus a seriously painful injury that prevents one from sitting down, equals one insane schnoodle. Jude ran around like a dog on speed for about two hours. He was flipping and running in tiny circles and jumping all over things. And then he crashed. And his little head drooped all the way to the floor because he was so exhausted. Please enjoy these lovely before and after photos of Jude.

So, after Christmas, we headed to the Jernigan home where we basically played games the whole time (our favorite thing). By the way, the Jernigans have graciously taken on The Best Cat Ever, Felin. And let me tell you, after one month there, she is a different cat. I blame it on Cricket, the rat-dog. Shortly after Felin arrived, Cricket did too. And they do not get along. Poor Felin.

Cricket – The Instigator

Felin – The Victim

Look at that poor cat. Alas.

Moving on, after Muskogee we drove 12 hours to Colorado through the wasteland that is Kansas. Kansas is normally not the most exciting place to drive through, but on both the way there and back, Kansas was shrouded in fog. Cold, freezing, fog. It was like we were in a bubble of grey. The land was gray, the sky was gray and the mist-walls were gray. Kansas in December, the perfect setting for horror films. Anyway, we arrived at my Dad’s house in Colorado, after I nearly slid our car backwards off the driveway, which happens to be a cliff. We spent four lovely days there. My Dad’s house is awesome. It’s in this lovely little canyon with red-rock formations and mountains. The whole back wall of their house is windows. It’s great. I highly recommend visiting. While we were there, we got MORE Christmas/my-26th-birthday money, and what do you think we did with all of that cash?

Guess.

We bought Rosetta Stone. And it’s awesome. I recommend Rosetta Stone just as much as visiting my Dad’s house.

Then, after 17 days of being away, we returned to good ol’ Arkansas. Whew.

Oh yes, while we were gone, the couple we’re living with bought a house, packed up, moved all of their stuff and ours to the new house, and cleaned the old one. And we weren’t even there to help. We have good friends.

Now enjoy the myriad of photos that we felt needed to accompany this post.