We have arrived...

Well, we are finally in Krackovia (as the Polish call it). Let me first say how grateful I am for those of you that have been praying for us. I wanted to write a quick note to let everyone know that we made it and the kids did extremely well on all the flights over here and we had virtually no problems. Before we even left, we were concerned about the weight of our luggage as we thought it might be over a few pounds. We got to the airport early and so I was able to weigh it on the scales before anyone was there. Sure enough, just about every piece was overweight, but we just put it in the Lord's hands. There was the possibility of the airlines charging us an extreme amount if we exceeded the limit or I was going to have to unpack a few items out of some boxes that I had spent hours wrapping with duct-tape. Well the time came and we had a super-friendly airline employee helping us. Next thing I know he is calling for help to load all of our luggage without even weighing it. The flight was long but all kids slept and noone got sick. We made all of our connections and when we finally got to Krakow, there was all of our luggage together and in one piece. God is Great!!! We were so relieved as we arrived in our new home and we were greeted by almost our entire team. What a group! They took us to straight to our beautiful apartment and helped us get settled in. Our new family has been very hospitable...providing us meals and taking us all over town to buy what we need. Traffic here is nuts. We do have several vehicles for our team to use and I have been fortunate enough to get out in the traffic and learn. My first day driving I was greeted by a local...waving his "hand", "speaking loudly", and with a wonderful "expression" on his face teaching me some of the basics of the language. Only a few days here and there is already a great fellowship with our new family here and we feel so incredibly blessed to be here with our fellow workers. We had our first team meeting last night discussing some of the schedules for the next year and it is so exciting to see how God is leading us. I will be giving more details in the future and inviting many of you on short-term trips. Our internet connection is temporary and will not be hooked up for a couple of weeks. We will be leaving for Lithuania on Wednesday for our Baltic Field meeting and be gone through the first of next week. There is so much more I want to tell with all that is swirling around in my head, but I simply have to go to bed...alas, I am finally tired...it is 12:00 A.M. my time. I will add a few pictures this time and will add some more in the near future. I also wanted to talk a little about our last few weeks in Richmond...anyways, God Bless you all and thanks again for your prayers!

on the airplane

Erin & Seba with the kids at the airport

me and my boy, George Mureson (an ex NBA'er who was on our flight) (also the largest man I have ever seen!!)

the kids found their first playground not far from our apt.