Ready? Break!

And so it begins: this morning at breakfast was the last time all four of us will be together until December.

Our older daughter graduated last night and in a few days she’ll be off to spend the summer working at a camp she loves near Mt. Rainier. And that’s only the beginning for her. She’ll be attending Hawaii Pacific University—but not until January. Before that, she’ll spend the fall semester at sea, sailing from Nice, France, across the Atlantic Ocean, and finally to the British Virgin Islands. Her ship will be the Argo, a 112-ft two-masted staystail schooner. She and about twenty other students will learn to sail and scuba dive and participate in various aspects of running the ship as well as take courses in marine biology. What an adventure!

Our younger daughter will also be departing on her own adventure this coming year when she goes to spend her sophomore year at the Black Forest Academy in Germany.

And I’ll be leaving in a week to spend the next six months in Paris—the city that changed everything for us. This time I’ll be preaching week in and week out at Trinity International Church as their interim pastor. Be sure to visit if you’re passing through Paris! (And no, I don’t speak well enough to preach in French. It’s all English all the way for me. I’m happy when I manage to order lunch correctly in French!)

Clearly I need to up my beard game.

Merideth will have her hands full getting the girls to where they need to be as well spending some of her time with me in Paris. And she has some adventures of her own planned… like an upcoming Spartan race in Iceland!

 

It’s only a 400-pound tire.

 

How did this happen? I can honestly say I never imagined our family would end up being spread across France, Germany, the Atlantic, and the U.S. I blame it on that year in Paris! No doubt about it, travel changes you, and it changes what you imagine to be possible. Undoubtedly, spending a year in France has made all of us want to spend more time overseas.

So, here we go, ready for new things in new places. It’ll be exciting. It’ll be a stretch. But before we know it, we’ll all be back together for Christmas… until the adventures continue.