Back from Prague.

We spent one last morning running around Prague, doing last minute things that needed to be done. We even visited our storage unit on the way to the airport to check on things and to stow away a few things we had brought from  home. It was strange to see those things again, the stuff we packed away so long ago in March. It was like proof that Belgium happened. That living in Europe happened. And amazingly, that we actually have ingredients for a life on that continent. 

It fueled some excitement. Some expectation. 

We've been home a few days, and after dealing with jetlag (and a stomach virus for me, hooray) we feel energized and excited. 

Ready to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Pumped to finally be home during this season having spent the last few years away.

Excited to enter this final stage of preparation. Sharing with others what we are about to embark on, raising that last bit of financial support (we're just over 90%!), enjoying time with precious friends and envisioning eachother towards lives spent for the Kingdom!

We are so thankful for this time. For our team we can't wait to be with in Prague, for the way God is strong when we are weak, and in that case, for our very WEAKNESS. Because goodness knows, we are weak! And oh how strong he is!

During our week in Prague God gave us a small glimpse of the wonders he is capable of. 

Sign me up.

We leave Prague tomorrow!

We are leaving for Texas tomorrow. It's strange to be packing up and deciding what to leave in our storage unit and what to take home. There's even some food that I'm leaving that will still be good by the time we get back- talk about a reality check! 

Yesterday was a good, restful day. We visited an international church and then went to lunch with some new friends.

After lunch the group all went their separate directions- some doing more housing research, some grabbing another church service, and me, I went shopping! I took the metro all by myself for the first time and headed back to the center of town to pick up some things I've had on my list. It felt really good to be able to navigate transportation by myself. Driving will be another story :)

We met the group for dinner and some more get-to-know-you time. We love this group and look forward to the day we're all together again in Prague.

In March I mentioned in this post about finding some fun graffiti in the city:

 

Well, yesterday while I was on my solo voyage I found this!

New game, friends. We find the whole team's names graffitied throughout Prague. It's an ambitious goal, and may take years, but there is going to be a mega-prize at the end when we accomplish it :) I'll keep you updated on our progress.

We pack our bags and head to sleep tonight, and my heart is both a little anxious and a little excited.

One side of me longs for our life here to begin. To have purpose and a specific task. To rally around a vision with this group of dear friends. To work together. To fall in love with this city and the people God puts in our lives.

The other side of me panics. Leave home again? Tell my family goodbye again? Learn a new language again? Make new friends? Again?

Jesus, please give us peace. We trust you to lead us.

The team that is heading to Prague to join us next year! 

And the 6 of us. Surveying Prague in the distance. And loving being together.

We walked around today, re-visiting some of the places we have already seen this week. It's exciting to further catch the vision for what these next few years could look like for us here.

We explored a neat park with a pubic basketball/soccer court, and had fun dreaming about getting to know the people of our new neighborhood.

After a few days of heavy discussion it was nice to take it easy.

Rachel spent a little quality time with a gnome :)

We found a farmer's market! There are several throughout the city on different days and I'm looking forward to trying them all!

Walking home after a long day of running around the city. We spent the rest of the evening eating pizza and sharing our hearts with the visiting team.

A great day!

A group from the US joined us today in Prague. These are the folks who are working towards joining us here in the city for 2 years. It's been a joy to finally meet them today in person, get to know them a little bit, and hear their hearts as they talk through this journey they are about to embark on with us.

We stuck to chatting and site-seeing today so we could get to know eachother and also take their jet-lag into account.

We visited Prague Castle, which is great because in our two trips to this city we have yet to check out one of its most common destinations.

The guys also made a new friend :)

We walked.

And talked.

Such incredible views of the city. It made my heart feel good to see it this way. I am going to fall in love with this city.

We ate dinner around 5pm (but it was dark by then so it felt later :) 

Tomorrow we'll spend some time in prayer all together, share more about what their 2 years with us could look like, and show them more of the city.

It's neat to see how God has worked the first part of our trip to flow so well into the second part. We're excited to share with the group what he's shown us this week so far!

We spent the entire day like this:

All day around a white board hashing out details. It was awesome. And something that this group needed after being spread across the country for the past year. So good to be able to have these conversations in the same room together!

We needed to get out of the apartment for dinner after being cooped up all day.

The city is so gorgeous at night.

Tomorrow is an exciting day! A group of 5 from the States is arriving to check out what God may have for them in Prague. We hope that many of them will end up returning to spend 2 years with us working in the city.

The week is going by so quickly and yet we feel like so much is being accomplished! We're so thankful to have been able to make this trip together. So many things are coming together.

It's been so great!