Nathan, Rada, Anya & Aleksa's move to Munich...

Tag: Montenegro

“Last Times” and “Goodbyes”

Nathan’s reflections on the leaving process.

We are entering a season in our journey to Munich that is full of things that we are doing for the last time, and lots of goodbyes to special people.

Some are trivial but mark the ticking clock to our departure.  For example, next Monday will be the last time I put out a ‘Garden Waste Bin’ in England!  Others are extremely poignant, such as saying goodbye to my brother yesterday morning.

Some just make you think about how different the detail of life will be…I realised Euro 2016 will be the last major football championship where I enjoy the banter and coverage provided by British broadcasters.  I have no idea what German punditry is like!?  And enjoying talking politics and making jokes around the table at a work meeting makes me wonder how long it will be till I can fully take part in a conversation where I understand the nuance of language and implication of local culture.

Our plan is to move out of our house on 31st July as we go and visit Montenegro for a couple of weeks.  Exactly what will happen after that is a little uncertain but we will be in temporary accommodation for a period – we’re just not sure if this will be in England or in Munich.

But till then the “Last Times” and “Goodbyes” will continue.  Please pray for Anya and Aleksa as they leave their respective schools.  And please pray for all of us as we make the adjustments we need in order to leave well and move on to the next part of the adventure that God has called us to.

No place like home

Anyone who has moved away from home will know that whenever you return it feels like home has changed.  Stay away for long enough and it doesn’t feel like home anymore.

I can definitely vouch for that with Sheffield.  I’ve spent time living in London, Coventry, Solihull, the Black Country and Montenegro but none of them have ever truly felt like home.  And every time I go back to Sheffield I feel more like I don’t have a right to be there.  Sheffield has moved on.  For Rada the feelings of loss regarding ‘home’ are even greater having spent the last 14 years away from Montenegro.

When we move to Munich we recognise that it is going to be a city where we are strangers and there will be a quick sense of detachment from the places we have previously called home.  The sense of loss of not having anywhere to call home can be incredibly intense and painful.

However, there is a place I have been to recently where I felt more at home than I have for years.  It was at the Catalyst Festival – the gathering of churches that are part of the movement we belong to.  The place is saturated with people we feel like we belong with and once the first meeting started I just really felt like I had come home.

I was pondering on this and came to the conclusion that it is like this because Catalyst Festival is like a glimpse of heaven, and heaven will finally be the place where we are totally and utterly at home.  We will be with God and his people without any of the barriers that we find on earth.  It will be amazing!

In the meantime, we follow God, we do things like move to Munich because we desire others to also follow God, to trust him and to ultimately find themselves absolutely and completely at home in the presence of God.

Catalyst Festival 2016 Video Review

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