It's Good to be Home!

Pool party and cookout with some friends and family just a few days after arriving home.

We've been home for two weeks and it has been a pleasure reconnecting with many friends and family members. There are still many people we haven't seen or talked to, but it will happen eventually.

So far, the transition home has been fairly smooth. We're missing our friends back in the Dominican Republic, but we're starting to feel at home again here in Indiana. We haven't dealt with too much culture shock after a year away from the United States. A few things have taken some getting used to, but mostly we're happy to be home and we're settling in pretty well.

We want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported us throughout the year. Many of you were supporting us even before we left for the Dominican Republic last August. We are still amazed at your generosity, kindness and love. We never doubted that we had a faithful army of supporters back home while we were away. You made it easy for us to serve the Dominican people without worrying about the details of life and the prayer support needed to meet all the challenges we faced.

This is probably true for many missionaries, but we honestly feel like we learned far more from our time in the DR than we taught. The people we lived and worked with there are so kind, generous, compassionate and selfless. Most of all, though, they have a real passion for serving God and telling others about Him.

The biggest lessons we learned from our time in the Dominican Republic are:

1. Always, always say YES to God. No matter what He calls you to do, say YES! You can trust His plan for your life.

2. Live for eternity. Our lives here on earth are short and one day we will all stand before God in heaven to give an account of what we did or didn't do. Let's make the most of every day we have and spend all we have on things that make an eternal difference.

As we continue in this time of transition, we're also preparing for the next steps. Katie and the kids will start the next year of homeschooling in a few weeks. Dan will start working full-time with Transformation Ministries after Labor Day. We're excited to live out the callings of God in our lives and to put into practice the lessons we learned from our year in the Dominican Republic.

We pray that you will also be learning from God how He wants to use you to make an eternal impact. We pray that you'll be ready and willing to say YES, no matter where or what He calls you to!