Getting Ready

Well it's Memorial Day weekend, 2011, and we just got home from our last Sunday at church before heading to Switzerland for the summer!! I can't believe we are taking off in just 4 days...It's no secret we have spent months pondering, praying, and conversing about whether going to Zurich was the right choice for our family. God knows the last year and a half of our life has been trying, and yet here we were, renewed and revived and faced with this opportunity. For us, this time away for the three of us is sacred, in many ways making up for what was lost. And so, for all that we have recently so blessedly found, and for everything between us which will continue to be redeemed, we found ourselves feeling inclined to embrace this adventure being offered to us. I am a planner to the very end, who must constantly practice flexibility, and I'm graciously learning to lean into God's call when I feel he is steering me somewhere off the path I was charting for myself. Proverbs 16:9 always reminds me of that; "A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." In following where God leads my heart and staying true to myself, I have taken roads not as commonly traveled by most, and I don't regret a single one. So, nerves aside about traveling so far with a rambunctious two year old, I am trusting that the Lord will bless our time in Zurich and shape our hearts in ways we may not even expect...

Everyone who knows us knows that we have always been a baseball family, way before Jake came along and began following in his Daddy's footsteps as a true champion of the game. Michael and I practically spent our entire 6 year dating relationship in and out of baseball parks across the nation! I have baseballs from Michael with love letters scribbled on them that Jake can't understand why he's not allowed to play with! I even have one from our first trip to Zurich, it was the team's first win of the season, and Michael wrote: "Thank you for being here with me.Where ever we are, as long as you are there, I am home." This love between us, with baseball woven into its foundation, began at TCU and then trickled into the minor leagues for a few years before it took us all the way to Switzerland in 2006. Michael was recruited by the Zurich Barracudas to play and coach for the league's top team, and in that 6 months we made a family of wonderfully fun and loyal Swiss friends that we never lost touch with over the years. Our close friends, Ueli and Julia, even visited us while we were living in Chicago in 2007.

Now, all this time later, the Barracudas have invited Michael back to play and coach for the summer while he is out of school, and the three of us are headed for what should be an awesome family get-a-way! Having just taken Jake to his first TCU baseball game a few weeks ago, I'm sure he will be in absolute Heaven watching his Daddy play, and no doubt he'll be begging to get out on the field himself! Zurich in the summertime is absolutely ideal-- the city is on a lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and the clear, sunny weather stays around 88 degrees. I can't wait for creamy gelato and the delicious pizza, or to take Jake to our favorite hiking trail in a beautiful hilltop forest. I'm imagining lazy days lounging by the lake while Jake chases the ducks and throws rocks in the water. And of course, cheering on the Barracudas at games each week! Needless to say, we are excited to see our Swiss friends and escape the torturous Texas heat, but mostly to share this part of our family's history with our son. I hope Zurich is ready for Jacob Knox!!

I also hope those of you family and friends who choose to follow us this summer will feel joy and laughter from reading about the precious memories we'll be making. Many of our friends have amazing blogs that are such incredible tributes to their families or their particular cause, and I was inspired by them to do this for Jake, especially since he's only two and may not remember a lot of it. But it's also for Michael and me, to show how far we've come and to celebrate our new beginning...and I think Zurich is a pretty sensational place to start. I feel very blessed. God is great, and that never changes, even though everything else does. We will arrive in Zurich on June 3rd and I plan to do one post each week, so stay tuned and please pray for us to have safe, smooth travels!!! And, as they say in one of my favorite movies, the Sound of Music, Auf Wiedersehen everyone!! (This is German for "goodbye" or "until we meet again"!!)