July Update

I think I am just about finished unpacking and organizing and putting together furniture. I put my last box into my storage room downstairs this week. I think we will all be glad when this phase is behind us and we can focus on other things. It has been a bit challenging at times to figure out where to put things. In the States, you take for granted that you will have closets and cabinets and a place for your washer and dryer. Here in Spain, closets are not always standard "equipment" and all of your appliances usually go in the kitchen, which means you have to decide between a dishwasher and a clothes dryer because there are normally two spaces and one has to be for your washing machine.

We just finished two days of meetings for the coordinators and professors of the EET (our online theology school). It's always good to be together. We're working on setting up a small office for me at FIEIDE headquarters. I already have an office at Jon and Kathy´s house, so I'll be splitting my time between the two places. We have a lot of projects to complete before the end of the summer. We would appreciate your prayers.

This month's quote:

"Exhaustion sets in when we are too accessible too much of the time. A soul-numbing sadness comes when we realize that a certain quality of life and quality of presence is slipping away as a result of too much 'convenience.' Breaks in the day that used to be small windows of replenishment for body and soul...are now filled with noise, interruption and multi-tasking. What feels like being available and accessible is really a boundaryless existence that offers no protection for those things that are most precious to us."

Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms

Praises:

1. Safety on our cross-country trips, driving a moving van and truck. There were several trips made from Cuéllar to Barcelona last month.
   
2. Several of you have given over and above to help cover moving expenses and my computer upgrade. Thank you for your generosity.
   
3. A warm welcome from the church we are attending in Granollers (a town about 10 minutes away).
   
4. My daughter is coming to visit for a few days at the end of the month!
   

Prayer Requests:

1. Continue to pray that God will supply the additional funds needed for my monthly support.
   
2. Continue to pray for additional funding for moving expenses.
   
3. Pray for a smooth transition into my new work responsibilities and for good relationships with our new teammates.
   

¿Quién ha dicho que la "felicidad" no se compra?

I received an advertising brochure in my mailbox the other day with this question on the front. (Who said you can't buy happiness?) It was a brochure from a company that installs air conditioning units. It's interesting to me how similar the tactics used in advertising are to the ones we use in the States. (Of course, their use of sex to advertise products goes much further than ours, usually including a lot of nudity.) It's just another reminder of how much people are the same, wherever you might be in the world.

3 Rosemans in Europe

It's kind of fun to realize my kids are on the same side of the ocean as I am. My son is in Poland with a team of high school students and leaders, ministering at an evangelistic English camp. You can follow their story at http://180inpoland.blogspot.com

My daughter and a friend started out in London, are now in Greece and they will visit Italy and Spain before heading back to London and then Colorado. You can follow their journey at http://jenandstacy.blogspot.com

Join me in praying for their safety and that they will have a great time. Thanks!

Settling In

Moving is hard work and most of you can probably attest to that. One of the good things about moving is that it helps you get rid of unnecessary "stuff." And since I've moved into a very small apartment, I've been having to make a lot of decisions about what is necessary and what isn't. It's a very good thing that I have a storage unit downstairs and I hope to eventually get some shelving in there to help with organization. This picture is a "before" shot and I hope to show you some "after" shots very soon. I still have a few boxes that need to be moved into storage and pictures to hang, but otherwise I'm getting very close to being done.

June Update

New Address

I found an apartment. It is located in the pueblo (town) next door to L’Ametlla where the FIEIDE office is. It is a small two-bedroom apartment but has a very large patio and air conditioning, which will be very nice in the summer, an assigned parking space in the garage, and large storage room off the garage. I am in the process now of deciding whether or not to hire a moving company or do the moving myself. I hope to be moved by June 15.

This month’s quote:

“God is in the business of blowing the dim coals of faith to life...and he does so in unexpected ways. The very banality of the closing words of Genesis 18 after the Lord and Abraham have concluded their conversation remind us of this mundane mystery. The original Hebrew reads, ‘Abraham returned to his place.’ After all Abraham and Sarah have experienced, how do they ‘return to their place’--to bleating flocks, disgruntled servants, tents needing repair?...Perhaps it was not as banal and anticlimactic as we might suppose, for it was not in mystical transport, or in an out-of-body experience, or on a mountain top that God had revealed himself to them, but ‘in their place’--as Abraham sat in the doorway of his tent pondering his perplexing sojourn in the outer reaches of Canaan, as Sarah hovered between hope and despair behind a tent flap. Within a very ordinary place, something very extraordinary happened. God broke into their resignation and disillusionment with an unsolicited overture of promise and hope.”

James R. Edwards, The Divine Intruder

Praises:

1. I found an apartment and the owner was open to negotiating the price and payment options.
2. Thanks again to those of you who have increased your giving to help with my monthly support.
3. Many of you have also given special gifts to help with other expenses (upgrading my computer, buying new software, moving costs and expenses for setting up the apartment including buying appliances). Bless you!

Prayer Requests:

1. Continue to pray for my monthly support needs. Pray for new supporters to join my team.
2. Continue to pray for the additional funds needed for special expenses related to the move.
3. Pray that Jon and Kathy find just the right house for their needs very soon and that we can both arrange for the actual moving itself.