It's Unofficially Official!!!

WE ARE MOVING TO JAPAN!!!

I received an email just as I was getting ready to head out the door this morning.  The subject line simply stated: An Offer.   I knew what it was, and couldn't wait to read it.  Mark and I were both excited, but not necessarily surprised.  It has been so clear that God was leading us in this process.  If you had asked me 3 months ago where we would be next year, I would not have thought Japan!  I thought Japan would be a few years into the future.  God's plan is always better!

Kloe cried when she heard the news.  Please pray for her.  The good news is, that her class at school surrounded her and they all prayed for her, and she said she feels so much better now!  The other kids seem pretty excited.  I did tell the girls they could get their ears pierced if we were going to Japan.

While we are so excited to move, there is sadness too.  We leave behind our two biggest kids in college.  We will go from seeing them several times a year, to once every year or two.  We have also formed some special relationships with some of our elderly neighbors.  The thought of leaving them makes us sad.  Even when you know God is calling you to something, even when you are excited about it, there are parts that are hard.  There are sacrifices that will be made.  

I expect we will move sometime in July of next year.  I'd like to move before the airline tickets go up significantly around the middle of July, when Japanese schools let out for summer.  When you have 6 tickets to buy, a couple hundred dollar difference in price adds up!

We will be selling our house and just about everything else we own too.  We will only take our clothes and a few bare necessitates to Japan.  Shipping is expensive so it just makes sense to start fresh when we get there.   Please pray as we decide on the best timing for putting our house on the market, for selling our vehicles, and for all the stress that is involved in moving a family of 6 half way around the world.

Those who serve at Christian Academy in Japan are considered missionaries.  We do receive a small salary, and that plus Mark's retirement will nearly support all of our regular monthly needs.  We will be trying to raise a small amount of support for things like our moving expenses, and annual or bi-annual trips home to connect with family, and possibly language school for Mark.  (It just won't be in the budget otherwise).  In the future we will have information on how to make tax deductible donations to our mission fund.