You’re back in Maine?!
Yep. It goes something like this.
We sold/donated/gave away most of our belongings, including Noa’s bunny, at the end of June. We then packed up a Uhaul trailer with the rest, and drove our 2007 Volvo from Maine to South Dakota to spend time with Josie’s Dad. In the midst of this we flew to Washington DC to apply for French student visas and two weeks later flew to North Carolina for Samaritan’s Purse orientation. We were back in SD for 3 days, saw Josie’s Mom, and then drove to Idaho to visit David’s family. We hiked and biked, swam in the pool and enjoyed the lovely setting of Sun Valley before driving to Boise to visit Josie’s sister and family, the zoo, and more hiking trails. During all this travel, we learned that we would not be going to France, or anywhere for that matter, before January, so we found a furnished seasonal home in Maine and drove back. Now the poor old Volvo has 238,000 miles on her engine, and has pulled a trailer of our luggage back and forth across the country. Our sweet Beau dog is staying in South Dakota with Grandpa Peter and his dog Spike, two horses, two chickens, a pond and lots of woods to play in, though we miss him and his big paw prints everywhere.
So, where does that put us now? Currently, we are applying for student visas for Switzerland. There is a language school in Neuchatel, Switzerland where Samaritan’s Purse usually sends single missionaries to stay with host families for French language training. I don’t think even the best Christian host would want our family of 6! Needless to say, other logistics would need to be worked out for childcare and elementary school if we went with this option. Another option would be the original school in Albertville, France if the French borders open to US travelers by January. While there are online and in person options for learning French here, the hospital in Africa really wants us to do an immersion program. So, we are living on the Maine coast, homeschooling the kids and trying to live in the tension between patiently waiting upon God and yet being pro-active about moving forward in what he has called us to.
In all of this we must remember shalom: the peace that God provides. We know that he is using these minor bumps in the road to create a deeper dependence upon him and also showing how richly he will provide in ways we would never think of. While things certainly don’t seem to be going our way this year, they are going God’s way and we are grateful for his provision. We would never have chosen to live by the beach for 3 months without one (or both) of us working full time. We would never have picked homeschool over the skilled educators our children had previously. We wouldn’t have taken the summer off just to visit family and play outside. Maybe we needed this time together and God was the only one who could see that. We know this time is a gift, that hard work and crazy schedules are going to return, but are trying to enjoy this without feeling guilty or lazy. We are thankful for all of your support and prayers and we pray that you all are staying healthy and doing well!
Here are some things you can be praying for specifically:
- Pray for peace as we navigate multiple options for language training in January
- Pray for patience as we homeschool our children
- Pray for wisdom as we seek to redeem the time God has given us
- Pray for David has he takes his American Board of Surgery board exams on October 19th
- Praise for the time we have together as a family
- Praise for work for David in November and December
- Praise for an incredibly encouraging and beneficial orientation with Samaritan’s Purse
With love,
David and Josie Skavdahl
