The Final Chapter

The last 2 months have been a whirlwind of emotions, plans, and prayer. As many of you already know, our time in Germany has come to a close. We felt the Lord preparing our hearts for this, but never expected it to go as quick as it did. I am writing this with tear-filled eyes and adjusting to life Stateside....I can't believe how fast it went, and I can't believe this season is over. As we used to pinch ourselves and say, is this really our life, we are pinching ourselves and saying, has it really been 4 years...

In May, Chris received a phone call from a ministry, Men At The Cross. Chris was preparing for a trip to the States and decided to meet with them in route to find out more. We felt unsure, as we did before coming to Germany, but knew we needed to explore this open door. Chris called me from the states several nights after the initial meeting. He said he had been praying about this ministry, he believed God had prepared him for this task, but there was really no job offer. So, we continued on with life as normal. On May 25 at 11pm we received a phone call from Men At The Cross, they wanted to offer him a job, and they asked if he could be in Cape Girardeau, Missouri by June 8th; that gave us 15 days. We made very many decisions over the next couple of days, including the decision for Hunter and I to remain in Germany almost 2 weeks beyond Chris to tie up our loose ends and coordinate our move. Chris did as much as he could from across the ocean and with a 7 hour difference and starting a new job. Life really became a blur over those weeks.

We announced our news to our military community. This seemed to be a natural transition for us and most of our key families, volunteers and teens were also moving on. We had already said many goodbyes before having to announce ours. Military families just accept it as part of life and we are still keeping up with many of them now.

The hard part was to tell our German neighbors and friends. They are not used to friends leaving, as many of them will live on our street for their whole lives. So with many tears, I began to tell Hunter's Kindergarten and our neighborhood. This made my heart hurt. I knew this day would have to come, but I never imagined we would only have one month notice. We spent lots of time over the next several days making memories and taking pictures. Tears were a normal part of our days. The Kindergarten even had a Fest or party for Hunter. They showered us with gifts that would remind us of our friendships and life in Germany. They all joked that all our vacations would have to be to Seubersdorf, Germany. Our neighbors told us how it would not be the same without us, and this made us feel very loved. I do not think any of them ever intended to let us into their hearts, but they did.

We serve a big God! Life is never boring if we surrender to HIS plan; it may not be easy either, but it will be an adventure, and your life will be richer for the people you will meet along the way. We feel so blessed and will never forget our time serving in Germany and loving on people. Thank you for being apart of our story and helping us to touch so many lives.

*Look for Howard family updates to return this fall, with a new look from our new home.