Kde domov můj? // Where is my home?

The Czech national anthem has a fitting name, both for the Czech people throughout their tumultuous history and for those of us who choose to live as ex-pats in this beautiful country. As we have lived here the last two years, invested in people and places, bought furniture, & figured out our European shoe sizes, this has become a question we have asked more and more frequently: "where is my home?" And as it came to decision making time this year, we had a tough choice in front of us.

A video of the Czech anthem (with Czech, English, and German lyrics):

In the end it came down to two things for us: personal growth & God's plan.
We know that no matter our location or occupation, God will use us how He needs us, and so we actually felt very little pressure to make the "right" choice in this regard. While we clearly felt God calling us to live overseas, we did not hear such a clear call for this decision. What we did feel was a peace that whatever we chose, God would use. And we really do believe that either choice, in this regard, would have been the "right" one.

But personally we have felt like these last two years we have been living in a very transitory state, consistently in transition, waiting to return to a life we put on hold. And that is exhausting. So we said either we fully commit: sell our things in the US, rent our own flat in Prague, stay for at least 5 more years, or we go "home."
And neither choice seemed easy.
But in the end we have decided to return to America at the end of this school year. We plan to leave Prague in July and move back to Illinois in August 2016.

After first making this decision, we were really excited looking forward to all the things we've been missing from our home culture these past two years. But now as the months are speeding past us, and leaving becomes both more real and more imminent, we are greiving the many things we will leave behind in our adopted culture. There are people and places that I look at and think, "How can I leave this?"
And so we would very much appreciate your prayers.
If we are returning home to you, we are so looking forward to it. We are excited about it, and hope you are, too. But please don't be offended if it takes us awhile to really seem happy once we return. Yes, we made this choice. Yes, we think it's the right choice. But it is not easy, and at the moment, it does not make me happy.
And if we are leaving you, we are so sad. We have been embraced by many Czech people who we have come to truly love, and if we could take you all with us back to Illinois, we would in a heartbeat. Please know we will miss you. And you are always, always welcome to visit us. And we fully intend to come back and visit you.

We have heard it said that once you live in another culture, you never really go home again. And so, maybe we, like our Czech people, will continue to ask, "Kde domov můj?" As it is, we will continue to praise God for this opportunity. For the many people we have met and who have loved us during these two years. For the friendships and relationships we'll continue to build even after we leave. And for the Home we can look forward to with Him.

Praha // Prague

Prayer Requests:
- For our transition time over the next few months as we prepare to return to life in the US.
- Also, once we're back in the States, we will need jobs, a place to live, health insurance, a car, etc.
- The English Drama Club performance is this week!! We perform Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday evenings. So prayers for the students and ourselves as we finally put it all together!

Praises:
- We had an intern with us through Teach Beyond this past week, and she was amazing.
- Spring weather is here! We had 5 straight days of sunshine this week!
- Brittany's mom is coming to visit in 11 days!

Easter in Amsterdam!

We were lucky enough to spend our Easter vacation (March 23-27) in the Netherlands this year, mostly in Amsterdam but also spending short amounts of time in four surrounding Dutch towns.

Our route: Prague to Amsterdam

The two main days we spent in Amsterdam (Thursday & Saturday), we spent with Rick Steves and his walking tours. [Side note: If you ever travel to Europe, you MUST consult Rick. He has books, websites, & a free app with walking tours - which is what we use the most. It really improves just wandering around a city.]
We really enjoyed Amsterdam because, unlike a lot of other tourist destination cities, there weren't a ton of "must see" places that we just *had* to visit to really get the feel of the place. We didn't stand in a single line & only paid for one admission ticket for a canal cruise tour. Because of this, we were able to enjoy a more relaxed time wandering the city, stopping in places we thought looked interesting, and eating snacks we thought looked delicious.
All in all, it was a great way to spend our final school vacation.

A Dutch favorite: Fries with fritessaus

On the canal cruise

One of the many beautiful canal, bridge, & bike scenes - with a bonus of sunshine & blue skies!

On Friday, we went on a tour that took us to four different Dutch towns: Zaandam, famous for its old wooden, and still working, windmills; Edam, famous for its cheese and 17th century wealth; Volendaam, an old dutch port town; and Marken, a harbor town on a small island. The tour was fantastic and really gave us an impression about what life in the Netherlands is actually like, more than just life in the international city of Amsterdam.

Two of the eight windmills in Zaandam

Marken's Harbor

Inside the wooden shoe factory & store!

One thing that really impressed us was how many languages most people could speak, at least the tourist-prone people we interacted with. Everyone spoke Dutch (obviously), English, and Spanish(!) fluently. The tour we took was in both Spanish & English, and it was fun seeing how much (not very) we remembered from our high school & university classes.

A favorite part of our trip was attending the services at the English Reformed Church for Good Friday & Easter Sunday. We have rarely, if ever, been to a church that is both so traditional but also exudes so much life and joy. The location of the church was also gorgeous. Located in the Begijnhof in central Amsterdam, it is a peaceful space inside a busy city. This church is also thought to be one of the places the Pilgrims stopped to pray before traveling to America!

Beautiful church in the Begijnhof

Inside the church, stained glass featuring the Pilgrims.

To see the rest of our pictures from Amsterdam, click here!

Prayer Requests:
- English Drama Club! We perform in 11 days!!! So prayers for the actors (and their directors) as we get everything all put together - that it's fun as well as stressful!
- We had some American high school students (ages 15-17), part of a CRU group, in our classrooms this past week. Pray that they made connections & that their conversations can lead to something deeper for themselves and for our students. 

Praises:
- Spring is here! We have had crazy rainy/cold/windy/sunny/warm/maybe it'll snow weather all in one day, which means spring has finally sprung! The time change and the warmer weather have given us such a positive boost, and we are ready to shake off all the dark winter moods! 
- We have 3 people planning to come visit us in Prague over the next 3 months, and we are so excited!! We miss our friends and family, and having people visit really makes us feel cared for and missed, and like people actually want to know and understand where we live and what our lives are like. This means a lot to us, and we are so grateful for the 3 who are coming! (And would love to have more!)