One big blessing

According to Der Spiegel Online, this past winter in Germany was the darkest winter in 40 years.

They wrote in February:

Winter in Germany is typically a grim affair, dark and steeped in the kind of chilly damp that goes straight to the bones -- and, unhappily, to the psyche. But many residents feel that this winter has been particularly hard to bear. 

Meteorologists say that's because it has been the darkest winter in more than four decades. Less than an average of 100 hours of sunshine have been recorded so far over the course of the meteorological winter, which runs from December through February, said National Meteorological Service (DWD) spokesman Gerhard Lux on Monday. The winter average is an already measly 160 hours of sun. 

That makes it the gloomiest winter in at least 43 years. The winter of 1970, with an average of just 104 hours of sunshine, was the bleakest since records began in 1951. But if the sun fails to show itself much more this year, the winter of 2012-2013, will "probably reach a new all-time low," Lux told news agency AFP. 
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-weathers-darkest-winter-in-43-years-a-885608.html

We certainly felt it this winter. I am subject to seasonal depression when I don't get enough sunlight, so I was particularly miserable. Even Andrew was feeling it, as were numerous locals who complained as much as we did about the lack of sunlight. I even had to order a sunlight simulator to put on my desk at work to try to trick my body into thinking it was getting sunlight.

That meant we desperately needed the shift in March to Colorado, where the sun shines every day, at least part of the day, and then the month in Hawaii where again it was sunny and even warm most days (although I was cold there a significant part of the time).

I am hearing from friends in Buesingen that it is STILL cold and rainy and dreary. I just saw a forecast for our area there which includes snow AGAIN this evening, and highs only in the 50s.

I feel so blessed that while I LOVE Germany and Switzerland so much, God allowed us to leave during the last few months of that kind of weather so that we could climb out of the emotional murkiness we were experiencing. We are looking forward to beautiful weather, brilliant sunshine and all the rainbow of colors from blooming flowers and trees when we get back in July. At least, our fingers are crossed. In the meantime, I am praying for the emotional health of my friends in Buesingen who are still suffering from winter weather at the end of May.

Here's another article about Germany's snow in May, with the headline "Just Kill Us Now": http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/winter-weather-plagues-germany-as-spring-begins-a-890166.html

"No, this year, Germany has not only been treated to the darkest winter on record, sending wretched residents to the brink of despair. To top it off, the official beginning of spring has also been marked with record snowfall -- though of course not always where winter sports enthusiasts could make any use of it."

This American Life

Andrew and I have been home in Colorado Springs now for about two months. We are learning firsthand what "deputation" or "furlough" is like for missionaries.

To put it shortly: Traveling, speaking, chatting, doctor appointments, and working on our work wherever we can find a wifi signal.

We spent the first three weeks working on our work here in the Springs, interspersed with family time on both sides of our family. We also had an ordination interview. I went to the dentist for a cleaning.

Then we spent the majority of April traveling around the Hawaii Pacific District -- all four main islands -- speaking in seven churches, sometimes multiple times in one day. We had a blast getting to see the everyday-life side of Hawaii instead of the tourist side of things. We spent time in people's homes, or out seeing their favorite parts of their islands, again interspersed with the work we still had to get done on Andrew's class he's teaching in July, and for me on Eurasia Region communications and Engage.

We returned to Colorado Springs on May 7 and hit the ground running with multiple doctor's appointments. Andrew and I both have plantar fasciitis that we had to have looked at. I returned to the dentist for two fillings to be replaced and found out that I needed to see a periodontist for a severe recession on a front tooth. So then I went to the periodontist to find out I needed to have gum surgery on all four front lower teeth.

I started to develop constant back pain from all the travel and changing beds every few nights, so I needed to go to a chiropractor and that includes a number of follow-up visits. And I hadn't had a vision checkup in 3 years and knew that my prescription had changed, so I went to the eye doctor twice to get fitted for contacts and new glasses. In the process they broke my existing pair of glasses, so they had to order me a new backup pair.

There are a few more doctor's appointments we both have, including a dental cleaning for Andrew. It feels like all we do is try to find a coffee shop with reliable internet so we can get work done in between numerous doctor's appointments. I counted that I had 12 different doctor's appointments in May alone. Andrew has had three.

The gum surgery on Monday went very well and I'm recovering with hardly any pain, which is a welcome surprise, as I was told by the doctor and several friends that it is very painful. I am told I will be able to continue public speaking with no problem.

We had a very good time speaking at Lakewood Church in Denver, Eastborough in Colorado Springs and Lamar in southeast Colorado this month. This weekend we will be heading to Cortez church. Soon we will also share with Paonia and Monte Vista, in Colorado, and Mustang church in Oklahoma.

On June 4, one of my best friends, Julia, will be visiting me for a few days from Oregon, and Andrew will be ordained on June 7 at our state's district assembly.

In the middle of all this, my dad, Gene Grate, announced his retirement after 37 years of pastoral ministry, 19 of those years as lead pastor of Springs First Church of the Nazarene. We are so proud of all the ways God has used and blessed him and my mom, Ronoyce, over the years. We are also excited that we will be here for my dad's last day as pastor on June 30, so we can celebrate with them.

It is also full of meaningful symbolism that my dad will be recognized in retirement at the district assembly just as Andrew is ordained, making us feel like there is a "passing of the torch" of ministry from father-in-law to son-in-law.

We are also proud and excited that Andrew's dad has recovered so well from a serious heart attack in December and that he started a new job since we've been home, in his field of kitchen cabinet installation and carpentry. Andrew's mom also started back to school last month, studying for a bachelor's and master's degree in counseling.

There have been lots of big developments since we've been home, and we feel incredibly blessed to be present to share in the excitement with our families.

At the same time, we are starting to miss aspects of our life in Buesingen, and increasingly missing our friends there. We expect that as we continue to soak up all that we love about home throughout our last two months in the States, we will continue to transition mentally and emotionally to being ready to return to our other home in Germany/Switzerland, or as we affectionately call it "Germitzerland."

We are so thankful for all the prayers for us as we travel and speak. We are continually affirmed and assured that God is speaking through us, and we are getting to meet a large number of young people who are sensing some kind of ministry call from God, to carry on God's mission through the next generation.