A small view into my future life...

This post is not just an update on my life here.. its an update on my heart and the changes that God is making there as well. He has changed my ambitions, dreams, passions, loves, etc so many times and in such great ways I definitely don't have time to express it all here. However, lately it's something unexpected (not surprising for God though..). The things that I have stopped desiring are now becoming the things that he has put back into my life and allowed me to desire for different reasons. I'll explain through telling the story of the family that I stayed with in Germany.

Werner and Elizabeth Frerr are a beautiful German couple living in the countryside in an old farmhouse built by the grandparents of Werner. He is a carpenter by profession and now teaches this subject at a Christian High School one town over. Before this job, he moved his entire family to Singapore to be a missionary for 8 years where they had the role of caring for the missionary kids of other missionaries. They decided, while in Singapore, that God was calling them home to Germany, so he began to renovate the house in Germany from Singapore. When they got back, the family spent an entire year living in one room of the house, while Werner and others finished building the rest of the house by hand. Most of the furnishings in the house are made out of wood, completely designed and crafted by Werner himself.

Elizabeth, during this entire process, was a stay-at-home mom for her 4 children, where she would try to provide a German environment to grow up in while in Singapore. When they were all settled back into their German home, Werner and Elizabeth began to understand why God blessed them with so much room in their house. God wanted them to become foster parents. They currently have 4 boys living with them temporarily. (that makes 8 children now although 2 are grown and moved out) Elizabeth definitely has to continue being a stay-at-home mother since she needs to care for these young boys every day, which as I saw was exhausting, let alone her own 2 children. But even after all of this, Werner teaches sunday school at church for all the little children and Elizabeth usually helps him out with it as well. They are highly respected individuals in the church who many go to for advice and comfort.

Their oldest daughter is married and having a baby soon. Their second is flying missionary airplanes for MPA. Their third son wants to be a missionary in Hawaii for surfers with YWAM. And their youngest daughter is a very talented musician, who was just baptized the Sunday that we came to the church.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that Werner is remodeling a portion of their house so that his parents can live with them? They are getting too old to live on their own and because of this, they needed a place to stay. And due to the generosity of Werner and Elizabeth, they couldn't think of a better place for his parents to live then under his own roof.

I was completely astounded by the lives that Werner and Elizabeth have led. I also found myself completely drawn into this chaotic, frustrating, painful, difficult life as well. They have lived with more love, generosity, and servitude in a couple years than many people will ever experience in one lifetime. Staying at their house for one weekend impacted me.. I can't imagine those foster children not being affected by living with them for a few months or years. I hope to keep in contact with them and I hope they understand what volumes their lives have spoken.