The Year 2011

A year ago, on January 1^st, 2011, we wondered what the year would hold for us never dreaming that we would end up in Niamey, Niger, West Africa. 

Being that it is now December 31, 2011 we are looking back over our year and we find that it has been one of the richest years in our lives, yet a hard one too. Hard in the fact that many of our friends have found it to be a very challenging year; hard to be feeling the effects of growing older; and hard in that we would find ourselves so far away from family and friends.

So as we reflect back on 2011, we do so with truly mixed emotions, yet grateful for a year that deepened our relationship with God, family, friends, and each other.

2011 started when we returned from a family ski vacation. We had had a wonderful family time – a rich time of relationship and activity. We were feeling very blessed. So that was a very good way to begin 2011.

We had lots of snow and we stayed in Minnesota for most of it. But toward the end of February we packed our van and headed south for several weeks of van camping in State Parks – mostly in Florida. 

That was a great time for us as a couple. We used that time to plan for the year ahead. Actually we talked about it in one of our first blogs – 2012 would be the year of 50 years of marriage. How did we want to mark that special date? So an email comes about a mission opportunity in Niamey (we think from God) and here we are – some of it in 2011 and some in 2012, but for us, this is the celebration of our 50 years of marriage.

The summer of 2011 found us preparing for this “adventure”. Preparing is a rich experience in and of itself; there is always something very exciting when we are planning for something.

Our family wasn’t especially thrilled with our decision to be so far away and to be gone for so long. But good came out of that. We think the summer time at the cabin was very special in that we used that time to celebrate being a family. We used it as a time to express our appreciation for each other.

Our Cousin Camp – which we had decided upon on our van trip, before we knew we were coming to Niger – was on Egypt and King Tut. We wanted to take advantage of the King Tut exhibit – and we did and the kids really got into it. It was a good time for us with our grandchildren.

Time with friends in Bayfield was especially nice and relaxing. Memories and shared experiences with friends are so valuable and we have been so blessed to have so many of them. We marvel at the ease in which old friendships can be renewed so quickly. 

And then September arrived and we packed up and moved across the world for 6 months, just the two of us on the trip, along with well wishes from our family and friends. We feel good about this decision because we think, for reasons we don’t understand, this is where God wants us. He has made our life far more exciting than we could ever do on our own. We feel very blessed and grateful. 

So as 2012 begins we are wondering what God has in store for us. We pray that we can stay alert to His calling. That we stay tuned into God so that we will not be afraid if that calling takes us to places we would rather not go.

Our wish for you 2012 is that you would be filled with God surprises that enrich your life and bring you closer to Him.