7 Weeks!

We left Omaha 7 weeks ago today. Time has flown by on our end, I dunno about you? Of course, the summer always seems to fly by. And the winter lasts several lifetimes.

(Don’t think about the winter, yet! It’s too soon!)

I’ve learned you can “vacation” in a place for around 6 weeks. At around 6 weeks, it feels like either go home, or stay forever. In my mind, there’s not a lot of in between. lol (kidding, of course)

At around 6 weeks, you need a haircut/color, you need a doctor and/or chiropractor, you need a phone plan that isn’t going to cost more than rent… At around 6 weeks, you’ve found a couple of restaurants and cafés that feel predictable, a couple of stores where you know where things are, and a couple of hang out spots that feel familiar. But you still don’t have a real life rhythm yet. I hear that comes closer to 12 weeks, so we’ll just have to wait and see!

In my last post, we were in the “middle” between our Rock and Roll and English Camps. Now we’re past the middle and on the other side of English Camp!

English Camp was amazing. We had a little over 40 kids come join us for a week-long experience in the beautiful Salas Katai, in Mali Idjoš, about 45 minutes north of Novi Sad (where we live). We played games, taught English classes, ate amazing food, and made new friends, all while giving the kids an opportunity to interact with native English speakers. All of the kids study English in school, but mastery is difficult without conversation, so the time they spent with us and speaking to one another really does advance their skill level in significant ways.

English Camp lets us bring a little bit of the “Lifegate Summer Camp” culture to Serbia. It really is a unique experience for these students. We don’t have all of the same resourcing, but they definitely get a flavor for what it means to be a Lifegate Youth. Personally, it was such a challenging week for me in terms of my output and energy level, but of course, it’s so rewarding to work with these kids and this AMAZING team. You guys. The team here is AMAZING. I need you all to come and meet them. You will not be disappointed.

So now, somehow, it’s August! Our kids don’t start school for the fall until September, so this is our last month of summer. We have a couple of things on the horizon:

1. We should be able to move into our new apartment sometime this week! There are still little finishing touches that need to take place, but the majority is furnished and ready for us! We are signing the contracts today or tomorrow. We are so grateful – it’s been such a God process, even though we’ve had to be super patient.
2. Kurt, Emily, and Annabelle will start twice-a-week language classes this week. English Camp was really good for our Serbian, since we were around our Serbian team so much, but we’re really looking forward to diving further in and learning even more.
3. We have a short family vacation scheduled for the end of August in Split, Croatia. This will be a quick time away for us to enjoy each other, debrief, and sure ourselves up for the rhythms of fall. Really looking forward to some family time! 🙂

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support. We are so blessed to be part of such an amazing community. We could not do this without you. Wouldn’t want to!

I’ll keep trying to post bi-monthly updates here on this blog, but for play-by-play updates, follow us on Instagram or Facebook! I post several times a week on those platforms!

We love you all so much. Blessings from our family to yours! 🙂