As I woke up this morning, while my home country went to sleep, I was shocked to see the likely results of the US election. I first felt shock, but then turned to what it would mean for my life and felt embarrassment.
I'm not loking forward to the next month of questions that will come. "What do you think about Trump?" "Could you believe the results?" I'm not looking forward to trying to explain in broken German my thoughts on the matter. I'm not looking forward to this stupid feeling of needing to defend Americans for making a decision that everyone in my life is flabbergasted by. My next thought was about my real citizenship. (Philippians 3:20), and my true identity. I may be an American in a strange land, but I'm also a Christian in a stranger world. We will see what will happen in the coming months, perhaps Trump will prove himself a liar and not attempt to do that which he campaigned for. But perhaps he will attempt to do exactly what he campaigned for. If he attempts to deny Syrian refugees entry, or shows hate to the Muslim, or defiles women, may I turn to what the Scriptures say (Matthew 25:35-46). It is borderless, its love is boundless, its care for the least is unprecidented, and its call is for all to come. Despite the 80% of American evangelicals that voted for Trump, I pray so hard they have not destroyed their voice with their vote. This statistic is already being reported here. Before I had even had breakfast, someone mentioned American evangelicals to me. You are a loud and complicated group and your voice gets heard around the world. I fear you just destroyed it. I hope you prove my fears to naught by standing by the fearful and marginalized when push comes to shove (if we haven't already been shoved). Matthew 5:46-47 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? If Trump turns to hate, may we be the first to join the protest and speak, cry, act in love; it is our second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). Despite what happened yesterday,God is still on his throne. Psalm 47:8 says, "God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne." I praise him today for that.
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Sorry that I haven't written anything in awhile. My husband tried to get me to write something, but I didn't feel like I had lived here long enough to write about this place confidently. And I struggle with laziness.
However, life has added a lot of changes in the last few months, weeks even, and people deserve an update. Firstly, we are expecting baby #2 in October, but most of you should already know that. We are beyond excited and my stomach is already huge. Secondly, Jonas turned in his resignation letter at his job today. We are taking a big step of change and of faith and entering into full time ministry. Jonas is the one primarily taking the step, but of course as a family we go right along with him. His job description is rather complex. For around 20 hours each week, he will be managing our church's thrift store in our town. We will also join the church leadership team, take over the youth group leadership, and handle a lot of the details in the church, such as bookkeeping. Along with this, he will slowly work his way through a bachelor's degree in theology and ministry at a school here in Europe. He will be a busy man, but we are excited for the opportunity and are amazed by God's timing and direction to the community here. We moved to Austria for the purpose of reaching the people; and God is continually pushing us beyond our comfort zones and our plans to achieve His purposes here. As I see Him orchestrating, I am both excited and nervous for what He has in store. We know next to nothing of what is to come for us, except that Jonas will start his new positions at the end of July. This is a completely new and likely lifechanging journey we are about to begin and we covet your prayers. Life has been busy since my last blog post. We moved into our own place right before Christmas, the holidays happened, and then we bought all those things one needs day to day. I am currently sitting in our bright orange Ikea chair we bought today, and it feels good to know this is one of the last items on our list. In the meantime, I have visited many, many stores and bought many, many things to make our home feel like a home. Every store and cashier and purchase seems to teach me a bit more of German and a bit more about Austrians. I often wonder how my perspective will change the longer I am here. I see something now and form an opinion about it, without even trying to. I can see how that opinion is different than it was two years ago, and recognize it will likely be different in another two years. We are so narrow in our perspective no matter how open-minded we may think we are. Our life can only be so wide. And so life begins, that is really how it feels as we start living on our own here. German classes will start twice a week at the end of this month, Noah and I joined two baby groups, and Jonas is already attending church meetings regarding youth group. We really enjoy our new apartment. It is a small two bedroom with a roof terrace on the fourth floor with no elevator. Noah and I go on a walk everyday into the town center, to the library, or a grocery store. And then we slowly walk up the stairs as his little feet guide the way. Jonas works 15 minutes away and either comes home from first shift at 2:30pm or leaves for second shift at 1:30pm. He enjoys his work and is especially happy with his coworkers. We are slowly joining church and are excited about all they have going on and look forward to knowing the people there. Although we aren't so fond of moving, there is something lovely about entering into a new city and exploring all it has to offer. And Enns has a lot to offer, both Jonas and I feel this is a good place for us to start. . As I feel us settling in here, I feel homesickness flooding in as well. America looks so much nicer from afar than it ever did when I was there; and Austria looks so much less appealing than it did before. Culure shock. Boom! However, Jonas and I have already been there and done that, so I know time often does heal some wounds, culture shock being one of them. But really, I miss the darnedest things. English, Wal-mart, Friendliness, opinions, craft stores...and just the general experience of not having to try and knowing what to do and where to go and how to speak. I am excited for life to move forward from this point, for the shock to slighten and the familiarity to begin. I am excited to really begin why we came here and try to be intentional with the decisions we make for our home and activities. For now, I will be happy with a bright orange Ikea chair that for some reason is the perfect thing today to make this small apartment feel homey. Seeing as Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday, I set myself to tackeling it here in Austria. Although it will never be quite the same as at home, namely because of the people missing, it should prove to be an enjoyable and interesting experience. Everyone was overwhelmed by the size of the turkey that we had to store outside in the cold. It was too big for the fridge (way too big). At 7 kilos I didn't want to mention that it was even a bit smaller than I'm used to. Everything here is a bit smaller than I'm used to, except carseats and strollers, which are for small people. Whatever. My mother-in-law found a lady that comes to town every Thursday to sell turkeys. The pumpkins in the basement will do for my first completely homemade Pumpkin Pie. I managed to find cheddar cheese for my Grandma's delicious cheesy potatoes. And, really, the best part is that my Austrian family has no idea what it should taste like, so as long as everything tastes good, we're golden, as is the turkey. It's not only a challenge to make everything taste decent, but to show Austrians that Americans do cook from scratch, and even do so often. Think about what comes out of America: McDonalds, Potato chips, microwaves, TV dinners. (also known as fake, fatty, junk.) As I sat down at the Thanksgiving table and my husband's 100% Austrian Omali said, "du bist eine gute Köchin", I thought of all the people around thinking Americans cook obesity into the world and felt I had done a little something for my homeland (we don't need to mention the 2000 calory meal we then consumed,) But really, the food and the day were great. Thank you everyone that participated and thank you Pilgrims for starting such a fine day. It was even more fitting that everyone wore shirts from Lakeshirts In Detroit Lakes, MN and therefore we didn't only eat like Americans, but we also looked American. And I do have a lot to be thankful for this year. In the first month of arriving here in Austria, Jonas found work, we all have health insurance, we bought a car, we found an apartment, we found a church, and I received my visa to stay here another year. God is blowing us away with his faithfulness. A small update: We will be moving into our own apartment this week. After 6 months of living with family, we are so excited and relieved to soon be on our own again. It is a town of about 11,000 people in the state of Upper Austria, 20 minutes from Linz, the third largest city in Austria. Enns is a beautiful old city, the oldest in Austria, founded in 1212. I will post more about it when we are actually living there. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as I did and can look forward this advent to the coming of the King. We arrived in Austria last Sunday. This is the view from our (Jonas' parents) backyard, where we will be staying until we find our own apartment. Life here has started interestingly. It seems that when one moves, instead of visiting, another country, everything becomes difficult. Elevators, doors, signs, faucets, toilets: they're all against me. Things like this did not happen when I only visited! It's like all the inanimate objects want to remind me, "Hey! You're new here!" I don't need reminding, thank you very much. I do need reminding to be patient, content, and calm. Moving to a new country comes with a lot of challenges, and it's only the second week. But it also comes with a lot of joys. Wow, that place is so pretty, we could live there? Wow, that language is so fascinating, I get to learn it? Wow, this life is so new, I get to be curious in it? Or that's how I try to look at things, life is so influenced by one's perspective, isn't it? So, we're taking it one day at a time. Overcoming Noah's jet lag as I rock him late into the night, learning how to drive the curves and hills of these (perspective:) insane!! roads. filling out paperwork for this and that and everything in between, and praying that we began to feel a bit like were home. Hey! I've got a subscribe button at the top right: fill it in and get an email every time I write an update! Please be praying: Jonas got a job at a printing company in Linz. Praise the Lord! He will start Monday. Rachel started German classes, three hours each Thursday night. . Rachel has applied for her visa, pray it gets approved soon! Noah is struggling to adjust to the new time zone, food, and faces, but each day improves. We're starting to look for a place to live, pray we choose strategically and wisely. Jonas and I have been talking about it for years, and now we're finally doing it. At the end of the summer were moving to Austria! We've already sold our stuff and moved out of our rental, finishing off the summer living with family. Our heart's desire is to impact the Austrian church, refugees, and Austrians with the gospel: igniting a passion in ourselves and in Austrian believers to reach a largely Catholic and non-religious society. The number of Christians in this country is a definite minority. It is a traditional and religious society, depending on Catholic tradition for salvation, while the younger generations grow increasingly agnostic in belief. We do not go into this thinking the country is an easy place to penetrate, but we do hope we can offer a unique, humble, missional approach, mainly due to Jonas' experiences both in Austria and in the States. For now, we go as tentmakers, I will continue staying at home, but will add Geman classes to my life, and Jonas will work - though he still needs a job, please pray for this!
We are incredibly, ridiculously sad to leave my family, I get choked up even writing it; as well as the community in Detroit Lakes we've come to enjoy so much. We are, at the same time, excited for the adventure before us. Although Jonas is Austrian, he has spent all of his independent life in the States, and moving back feels almost as overwhelming to him as moving there does to me. We hope to find work in Linz (about half way between Salzburg and Vienna), and live somewhere outside it, but are content with anywhere in the country that we can find a church home and job. Please pray for us! -pray Noah's passport comes soon! -pray my visa paperwork comes together! -pray Jonas finds work! -pray we adjust well in the beginning months! -pray we have a wonderful last few months in the states, enjoying family and the beautiful MN summer! Oh! And, yeah, I've started a blog - like every other 20-something girl. It seems like the best way to keep y'all updated on things and give you a taste of the day to day life that comes with adjusting to a new culture, language, and home. |
Stay updated!About me:
My name is Rachel. My husband, son, and I recently uprooted our lives and moved to Austria. Join me in all things new: language, cooking, church, child-rearing. We're doing the same things, but oh so differently. Archives
June 2016
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