Moving On

We knew it was coming, we just didn't know when.

The time has come.

We are moving!

During the next two months we are going to be remodeling our house in Mishawaka and vacating our house in Syracuse. There's about an hour's drive between the two locations, but a world of difference.

Katie and I started our marriage living in a city. It was a small city (Niles) but a city nonetheless. Then we moved to the country. We live on a 6.5-acre piece of property with 300 feet of frontage on Dewart Lake and the nearest neighbor is at least 100 yards away. We've been there for the past four and a half years (incredibly formative years for our kids who are now 5 and 7). Now we are moving back to the city.

While we will greatly miss the beauty, peace and privacy of our current location, we are incredibly excited about our new location too. It will mean a lot less driving and more choices of grocery stores, restaurants, entertainment, etc. We are going to be much, much closer to our extended families and no farther away from Nappanee Missionary Church, where I work and our family worships.

We are incredibly thankful for the past four and a half years at the Bethel College Retreat Center. Bethel was very, very good to us and the current state of things absolutely demanded that they cut costs and, unfortunately, our position was one of the casualties. I don't want anybody to think Bethel left us high and dry because they were generous to us, even in the decision to cut much of our compensation. So, this decision was ours and ours alone. Bethel did not fire us or even ask us to leave. We decided to move on.

Our time at the Retreat Center was amazing. We met so many people who we hope will be lifelong friends. We experienced things that never could have happened if we had stayed in Niles. Our kids developed a love of the outdoors and a respect and awe of God's creation. When we moved to the lake, neither of our kids would go outside without shoes on. Now, in the summer, we can't keep clothes on them. Both would rather wear a bathing suit and nothing else. They love to play in the dirt, dig for worms, pick flowers, explore their surroundings, go fishing, swim in the lake, go for walks, watch birds, climb trees, sit by campfires, play until dark, eat at picnic tables, play in sprinklers, ride bikes and roll in the grass. I'll always be grateful for our time at the lake, especially because of the way it changed our kids.

Now, as much as I enjoyed being at the lake, I am just as excited to move to Mishawaka. We are going to remodel much of the home we're moving into, which was built by my wife's great-grandfather in the early 1900s. It's always been in her family and we are honored to be the next ones to keep it there.

We will have more living space than we've ever had and we hope it can be a blessing to many people. We want to be generous with what God has blessed us with. We want our kids to want friends to come over to our house. We want our friends to want to spend time at our house. We want it to be so much more than a house. We want it to be a home - and not just to us. We want everyone who steps inside to feel at home. Most of all, we want our Heavenly Father to be clearly evident in our home. We want to serve Him and honor Him with our new home.

So, over the next couple months we may not be able to spend a lot of time on things other than remodeling and moving, but we'd love for you to stop by our new home. Give us a call!