John 15:12,13

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

I was minding my own business in Starbucks last night, innocently reading my Bible (because I'm an amazing Christian like that), when I was rudely interrupted by these two verses. Don't you hate it when that happens? All I wanted was to pound through a few chapters so that I could catch up in my "Bible-in-a-year" reading plan (a hopeless prospect)...but no.

I think that I'll let the verses speak for themselves. I was about to unpack why I felt like the Lord highlighted them to me, but I won't bore you - suffice it to say that they are now a part of a growing library of verses that God has used to speak directly to me in preparation for Amsterdam.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus, for loving me...

More memories

On Sunday Amanda and I had a support raising "dessert" with some old friends from Otterbein College. It was a special time for us, getting to share our Amsterdam vision with these particular people, for many reasons. Here are a few:

• The Otterbein kinship was my first taste of church Vineyard style
• It was at Otterbein that the Lord really started teaching both me and Amanda to be (and how to be) missional
• We learned the joy of passionate worship with these people
• We learned how to fail with these people
• We learned how to be bold with these people
  
• We learned how to pray with these people
• They were around when Amanda and I started our relationship (and rooted us on the whole way)
• They have remained close and faithful friends for nearly a decade
  
• The Otterbein kinship was the best community I've ever experienced (even though we had our issues!)

I think that Amanda and I both realized, as we were sharing our story and vision with them, that these friends of ours are as significant a reason of why we are going to Amsterdam that I can think of. They are so much a part of our story, so much a part of our calling, that it fills me to overflowing with joy to know that they will be loving on us and praying for us from across the ocean.

I pray - with all sincerity - that God's grace will be on Vineyard Amsterdam as abundantly as it was on the old Otterbein kinship. He was so good to us!

Plane Tickets

Our flight has just been booked! I think that means we are officially leaving. We depart Columbus at 3pm October 1st and arrive in Amsterdam 7am October 2nd. For those of you keeping track at home, that is only 84 days away (or a little over 2.5 months). CRAZY.

Third Culture Kids

Last Wednesday the Amsterdam team had the opportunity to spend the entire day with Dr. Jerry Reddix - a psychologist who has dedicated his life to working with and building up cross-cultural teams. It was a great day as we learned a lot about each other: how we deal with stress, how we problem solve, what our needs will be when we're oversees, what our favorite Starbucks drink is (useless info in the Netherlands), etc. I believe that our time with the good doctor will genuinely bare fruit when we're in Amsterdam.

The most enlightening part of the day for Amanda and I, though, was in the evening when we had a more casual conversation with Dr. Reddix in our home. We began talking about the impact that moving to another country/culture has on children. The term that has been coined for children in this circumstance is "third culture kids." (TCKs) I wondered, "why 'third', why not 'second'?" Grayson will be American and Dutch...that's two! But the concept is that Grayson won't be quite fully American and he won't be quite fully Dutch; he will be a blend of the two...a third culture that is unique to him. It is said that third culture kids have more in common with other TCKs than they do with kids from whatever country they've lived in. Amazing.

There are a couple interesting aspects of TCKs that Dr. Reddix shared with us (and our very own Adult third culture kid, Brooke, confirmed). TCKs often have a hard time answering the question: "where are you from?" It isn't as simple as merely responding, "I'm from Columbus," or "I'm from Amsterdam." There is a whole story behind where they are from. Do you want to know the 20 second version or the 20 minute version? Do you even really care? Those are questions that will go through every TCKs head when asked where they are from. That can be tough for kids, something that only someone who has had a similar experience can understand.

Another aspect of TCKs is that when they grow up there is a high likelihood that the will move internationally (again, I would refer you to Brooke who grew up in Morocco). So basically Amanda and I have sealed our fate - Grayson will probably move away - far away - from us someday. We're only now beginning to understand how difficult it is for our families to lose us across the Atlantic.

So please pray for Connor, Lucas, Gloria and Grayson. Pray that their time spent in Amsterdam would draw them close to Jesus. That they would catch a glimpse of what living on the edge of the Kingdom is all about. That they could develop deep and long lasting relationships with kids there, and that they could feel connected to family here in the states. That they would develop healthy and mature adaptation and relational skills. Pray also that they would from their young ages hear the voice of God calling them into his mission in this world - even if that means leaving their families some day and moving to all corners of the world!

Pray also for us as parents that we would always be aware of our kids' needs; that they would never take second place to the business of ministry; that we could develop deep and long-lasting family traditions that provide our children with comfort and continuity in these years of transition; that we would be faithful to pray for them.

Happy Fourth

This morning I was doing a little online research on the Declaration of Independence, inspired by its 232nd anniversary today, and learned some interesting facts relating Holland with the States. Apparently the "Act of Abjuration" - which was Holland's declaration of independence from Spain in 1581 - is eerily similar to our very own Declaration. (You can read it here)

There is no apparent historical evidence that Jefferson used the Act of Abjuration as a model, but John Adams had this to say: “the originals of the two Republics are so much alike that the history of one seems but a transcript from that of the other.”

I also learned that the seven arrows in the lion's left claw in the Republic of the United Provinces' (i.e. Holland's) coat of arms which represented the seven united provinces, was a model for the thirteen arrows in the eagle's left claw in the US Great Seal. (At least, that's what wikipedia tells me)

So be thankful for our Dutch brethren for paving the way as you're stuffing yourself silly and enjoying fireworks tonight...

A QUICK TEAM UPDATE: The Pickerills and Brooke have their plane tickets! Eric and Connor are flying out on July 30th (only 26 days from now!), and Julia, Lucas and Gloria will by leaving a few days later on August 2nd. Brooke's flight is on August 18th. Crazy to think that we'll be in the air less than a month and a half after that. Please be praying for the Pickerill family and Brooke as they finish their last few days State-side...finalizing details and saying goodbyes.

Cheers for now,
John