routine and more

Feels like it’s time for an update on how and what we are doing over here. Two words, “routine” and “more,” pretty much sum it up for you. We have settled into a good routine. A busy one. And busy is good - for me especially. Busy about what we are called to do here, and too busy to stop and think homesick thoughts. It has taken language school for me to form a decent morning routine for the first time since Caleb was born - decent enough to get up, get presentable, drink coffee, read my Bible, and eat a good breakfast every morning before 8:30. First time in five years that my life has ever been so orderly in those morning pre-kids-awake hours. That’s been really, really great. 

 
And then I’m off to school and it’s all Daniel back at home. Daniel is one incredible father. When we meet again in the afternoon, I love seeing the perfectly-explainably-coordinating shirt, pants, and hair bow he had put on Lucy that morning, and hearing all about the healthy lunch Papa had fixed and the cut-out project he had printed out for them to work on. And there has not yet been one afternoon when the dishwasher wasn’t up to the minute when I got home from school. We’ve gotten the household tag-team thing down pretty well. It’s more like a bargain than a team sometimes. "You start the wash, and I’ll hang it out to dry." "If you vacuum, I will mop." 

Language school is unbelievably fun. I feel guilty about having this much fun as a missionary! That’s the honest truth. My classmates and teacher are simply fascinating people that I look forward to seeing every day. We laugh way too much in class. And I wonder how many 31 year old mothers would love an opportunity to get out of the house every morning and apply their minds to a challenging skill like learning a new language if they had the chance. 

Then we make the The Trade in the train station downtown Nuremberg. It’s Daniel’s turn to go to school, and I am happy to get back to my country nest and make every little minute count with these kids before it’s already time for them to go to bed. 

We have more blessed routine with the regular church activities - mostly for Daniel. For me it’s remembering which days he only has 15 minutes for supper before he heads out the door again! And speaking of church, are we ever thankful for our church! The loving, forbearing fellowship and the bond in Christ we share make up a precious haven for worship and growth and giving. Our love and respect for our coworkers grow every week. If God uses us to reproduce something like this again here in Germany, we would jump for joy and praise Him for it all! 

And the “more” part? 

No heaven-rending events to report home about.

No monumental beginnings. 
No grand completions.

Just simply more. 

More German, more words. 

More people, more needs. 

More friends, more giving and receiving. 

More experiences, more home. 

More questions, more answers. 

More seeking, more finding.

More testing, more steadfastness.

More dying, more living!

More sin, more grace!

And, oh how much I pray, less me and more Christ! 

3&5

Arnold family celebration month has come and gone! A few pictures of the kids today...

We are loving having a five-year-old. Caleb is a thinker, listener, builder, reader, imaginer. At the moment he is talking to his lego guys in German. That's a first. He surprises me with German words I don't even know yet. Words like tied-up, thief, and jail. Caleb's best friend is his sister. Caleb loves to hear the gospel told again and again. Caleb doesn't talk a lot, but when he does it comes from down deep inside and you know it's for real.

And then there is my little Lucy Mae. Our talker, singer, question-asker, announcement-maker, get-all-muddy, let's-go-faster, all-or-nothing girl. Lucy never misses a party. Every day we laugh at the outrageously random stuff she comes up with. Caleb just shakes his head. Lucy adores her Papa and brother. She's my student in the school of godly womanhood, and best friend in the making. Right now she's sticking Dora stickers over the key hole on her bedroom door.

It was birthday bike year!