dear home.

Today marks the beginning of the final week of the semester; it also marks the the beginning of my final week at Bible College.

I knew someday this day would come, when I would move on to other things; and finally it's here. It is exciting, but it's also sad to say good-bye. I will so dearly miss the people I've come to know over the past 4+ years. My year in Murrieta seems like it happened ages ago, and it feels as though Germany is my second home. I've made such dear friends here, and been so blessed being involved with the Bible College and Calvary Chapel Siegen for over 3 years. I never would have dreamed that I'd live in Germany for 3 years, or be on staff at a Bible College, or lead worship all over Europe! I am so thankful for the work that the Lord has done in my life, and the things He has already enabled me to do.

My future plans are in His hands too! I leave Siegen next Wednesday, the 16th of December, and head home to lovely Minnesota just in time for Christmas. I am so excited to see my family and my home and to enjoy a cozy snowy Christmas with lots of relatives. After that, I'm going to spend a season at home, working at the restaurant and helping out at the church. I'm looking forward to spending longer than 6 or 8 weeks at a time at home!! I'm going to enjoy being home and being with my family, and also be praying about some different options. I've received a few offers to come out to different churches, and I want to consider them well and see if maybe I can head any of those directions. Or, maybe the Lord will send me in an entirely different direction. I'm excited to see what's ahead, and I'll enjoy every day I get.

So for now, I'm finishing up things here at the school. I taught my last class on Friday, which went really well. We spent the majority of our times split up into three songwriting teams! It was great, and I think the students really enjoyed and benefited from it.

I'm sad to say goodbye to my friends here, but I've got 9 more days to spend with them! There will be lots of coffee dates and get-togethers, as each semester ending always has, but these will be especially treasured. On top of those, there's the normal weekly tasks to attend to, as well as packing and cleaning up all my stuff- the accumulation of 2 years on staff! It'll be nice to clean out the old things I haven't been using.

I have some pictures [piles of them from this semester] that I'd like to share- yet I never have sufficient patience to edit, upload, and reorder them online. So, here's a really big present I found at IKEA the other night; the rest will have to come later.

Love love love, and happy Christmas! God is so very good to us all, especially in sending His only Son to save us!