Finally IN Amsterdam

Amanda, Grayson and I arrived to Amsterdam Thursday morning, October 2nd at 6:50 local time (that would be 12:50am eastern standard time). It was a moment of joy after a teary goodbye in the airport the day before and a somewhat stressful plane flight with tons of luggage and a screaming baby! Well, ok, Grayson didn't scream the whole way, but he did for a while which was stressful enough.

As we were waiting for our luggage at customs, we saw our first friendly faces in Amsterdam: Julia & Gigi Pickerill waving to us from behind a glass wall. After three trips through the customs gate with our 11 checked bags and a cartfull of carry-ons, we could finally give big hugs to all of our friends who were waiting to pick us up.

So now we've been in the city for almost three full days, and it has been a surreal experience in many ways. The first thing that we did after we arrived (after taking a nap, of course!) was to go out with a broker to look at two apartments. One of them is a possibility, but we are going to look at a few more next week.

Later that evening we had a little party with all of us Americans who are here so far: the Pickerills, Brooke, Allie Klein (who is attending University of Amsterdam), and Rachel Baransi (who will be the Pickerill's nanny for the next six months). It was great to talk, eat and laugh together.

The last couple days have been a joy as well. I have had the privilige of attending a conference in Utrecht for the Benelux Vineyards, at which one of my favorite preachers, Don Williams, was teaching. I've had the great opportunity at the conference to reconnect with my Dutch friends, as well as meet so many wonderful people from all over Netherlands and Belguim, as well as a few from the UK, Sweden and the Baltic states (look it up on wikipedia). It is just an awesome feeling already being a part of this little slice of the Vineyard family in the world.

Amanda has also had a great time these last couple days. She has stayed back with Grayson to help him continue to adjust to the time difference, and they have just been exploring all over the neighborhood where we are staying. She's been able to walk along a canal and go into shops and hang out with Julia. This weekend has genuinely been such a blessing from the Lord.

We can hardly begin to express how much we are thankful for you who have made it possible for us to be here. It just seems like an overwhelming gift from God. No doubt, though, we will continually miss all of you - so stay in touch! We need our family back home as much as we need our family here.

Only one thing left to say for now: GO CATS! BEAT THE TIDE!

Saying Goodbye

Well, the time has finally come. Everything we own is either stored away or packed in a suitcase. Saying goodbye is a funny thing...we've said goodbye to our dearest friends and family and now are ready to leave. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of God shown us by everyone. We are blessed with incredible parents who are sending us off with love even though they are so sad to see us go; and we are blessed by our siblings who have served us so well. We have had so much prayer and encourgement from people at VCC. We have had treasued last moments with our dearest friends who are 100% behind us as we leave. We could not ask for more. Thanks to each and every one of you. We love you more than we can say.

Garage Sale

We had a pretty successful garage sale today, trying to get rid of all the odds & ends that we've collected over the years. It is just amazing the amount of junk that finds its way into our lives! Of course, we couldn't get rid of everything (would have had to pay people to take some of the stuff off of our hands!), but what wasn't sold found a good home at a nearby goodwill.

What was more incredible than people actually buying some of the things they did was how much our friends chipped in to help. We could have never pulled this thing off without people like Andrea Tiballi, who coordinated the whole deal, and countless others who helped by dropping off their stuff to sell, pricing items, baking brownies, organizing tables, answering questions, hauling away the leftovers, cleaning up, etc.

We are unbelievably blessed to be a part of such a giving community. While our heads are spinning with all the details that need to be taken care of before we leave, our friends are faithfully walking beside us actually making sure those things get done.

So thanks to EVERYONE who helped out today. We are one step closer to Amsterdam because of you!

The Calm Before the Storm

20 days until we move across the Atlantic.

Our last 14 days will be insane.

But for now we get to hang out in sunny Florida with family. Throwing kids around in a warm pool. Playing wii (guitar hero, mario cart, etc.). Taking naps. Eating amazing meals. Staying up late with my sister & brother-in-law talking politics and messing with our facebook pages together.

I'm incredibly grateful not only that we get a week to relax and have fun, but also that I got a chance to see my sister & her fam before we leave. We usually only get to see each other twice a year, which isn't a lot, but I can't imagine being apart from them for at least the next two years.

So until Tuesday when we fly home to Columbus, I'm just going to pretend that we don't have to say our goodbyes...

We're going to soak this up, because we have a load to do when we get home.

The Final Weeks

We are starting to feel the crunch now. (As if we weren't before!) We have had several of you asking what you can do to help, so we wanted to post some of our needs for these last weeks. If you feel you can help, just email us at NashAmsterdam@gmail.com. Here are some of our needs:

• Someone to detail the inside of our car that we're selling to our dear friend Sara Carlisle! We want it in sweet condition for her.
• People to help with our garage sale, sorting, pricing, selling on the day and hauling the stuff we don't sell to Goodwill. (Sorting and pricing on Friday the 19th and the garage sale on Saturday the 20th.)
• Someone to pick up books to sell at Half-Price Books
• Someone to pick up nice clothes to sell at a resale shop
• People to help us clean the house on Friday the 26th and finish moving stuff to storage. Someone with a truck would rock!
• We need someone to help install baseboard heating in our two back rooms and update the electric box to handle it.
  

Our prayer sendoff is Sunday September 28th at 4pm. Come out to the church to pray for us. We need all your prayers now as we rush to our launch!