banner2.jpg
 
Pastor's Blog
Sermon Podcast
Join us on Facebook

Sunday Schedule

9am Adult Equipping Classes, College Equipping, Youth Equipping (7th Grade - 12th Grade), Children's Equipping (Infants through 6th Grade)
10:30am Corporate Worship, Extended Care (Infants through 4-year-olds)
Wednesday, January 06, 2010

January Heeringa Family Update

Happy New Year (or C’est une nouvelle annee) from France!!  We hope you and your family enjoyed the holiday season together while also taking time to rest, relax, and focus on our Savior’s birth.  With all that was happening, we did not attempt any cards, so please accept this as our belated Christmas wish.  Terry, Darla, Rachel, and Lily (our dog) drove through rain, snow, sleet AND hail on December 17 to get here, and Emily flew in the following day, so we have all been “together in Paris” for a few weeks!!  Unfortunately, that time has now ended.  There will be more details further down - first we need to update you on ALL that has happened since the last letter.  We apologize for not writing sooner, but it has been especially crazy (even for us).

As mentioned before, we were really looking forward to our time in Germany with Emily.  Unfortunately during the SAT exam, she came down with swine flu; lots of the students got it and the school actually decided to shut down for a few days during our visit.  After some thought and consideration, we still made the trip, mainly because the plane tickets were non-refundable.  We were not able to attend classes, get into the dorm, or visit any of her friends, but did spend the entire time together at the guesthouse.  We were also able to venture into several of the nearby towns and villages.  Plus, the rest of us stayed healthy in spite of going into a community full of swine flu.

On November 18 (the day after we returned), Terry’s heart went out of rhythm again.  He had an EKG at our GP’s office to confirm and contacted the cardiologist.  With some difficulties, they were able to schedule the third ablation for Monday morning, November 30.  We began making all the necessary arrangements, including blood tests and twice a day shots in Terry’s stomach which Darla enjoyed giving.  However in typical “Heeringa fashion”, it actually went back into a normal rhythm on the Saturday before.  Because we were not able to contact the surgeon’s office over the weekend, we still traveled to London early Monday for the 7:00 am check-in.  The doctor attempted to make it “mess up” again, but the irregular rhythm which did occur was not maintained or consistent with what he had been seeing on all the previous reports.  He said he could actually be fixing the wrong problem or even making things worse, so he decided not to proceed any further.  Unfortunately the procedure he tried still had Terry in the hospital for most of that day and recovering at home for a few more.  Back to waiting for it to happen.

Then Thursday night of that same week, Terry and Darla flew to Glasgow, Scotland for our UK permanent residency appointment on Friday.  (This trip could have been quite interesting if the surgery had proceeded as planned.)  We were able to present all the required documentation and satisfactorily answer their questions!!  Therefore, we now can stay in the country indefinitely and without a work visa.  For those of you who are wondering, we will continue to be US citizens.

In the midst of all this, we celebrated Emily’s 18th birthday and Rachel’s 13th (wow – an adult and a teenager now), sorted through our belongings to determine what should go where, packed up and majorly cleaned our house, moved furniture over to Rachel’s new home, continued our work and church commitments, said our “goodbyes”, went to final doctor and dentist appointments, organized the Christmas presents, AND had a friend stay with us for two weeks while she completed her term with our company.  WHEW!!  Darla needed lists for her lists. J Needless to say, we arrived in Paris exhausted and simply collapsed for a few days.  Being “snowed in” gave us the added excuse.
While the girls were still here with us and the office was “officially” closed, we decided to become tourists.  We saw many of the major sights in Paris, managed their public transportation (with help), and enjoyed Disneyland on New Year’s Eve.  Unfortunately, there were freezing temperatures and rain drizzles all day, but we still had a magical time.  We have also tried to adapt and familiarize ourselves with our temporary culture.  Communication is definitely a problem, but we are trying.  We did manage to locate two nearby bakeries where we get our fresh-baked French bread and pastries!

Rachel headed back to the UK last Saturday morning with some friends from the office.  The day was especially long and difficult for all of us, with lots of tears, wanting to come back, and questioning the wisdom of this decision.  However, things do appear to have settled down now that she has returned to her friends and routine.  Skype and Facebook have helped tremendously also.  Even though we had been trying to take care of all the related details for months, we were notified by her school the week before we left that we needed to contact Social Services.  Apparently, we all had unknowingly agreed to a “Temporary Fostering Arrangement”.  Rachel’s “other” family required a home visit and extensive background checks from them; plus, she will soon have her own caseworker and weekly visits.  When we realize what these dear friends are willing to go through for us and the continuation of her education, we are constantly awed and humbled.  They have already done more than we could have asked or imagined.  Thank you Cox Family!

Emily will remain with us until Sunday before returning to Germany for her last semester of High School.  While she is here, we have been busy working on all the things related to graduation and filling out financial aid and scholarship forms.  She has been accepted to all the colleges where she applied.  Baylor University in Waco, TX remains her first choice, but it also happens to be the most expensive.  Therefore, we are continuing in the process with each of the three and waiting to see the “bottom line”.

On January 14, Terry also returns to England for ten days of training related to the new financial package the company is introducing.  Darla (and the dog) will be staying here.  After that, we must actually see what it looks like to have our family located in THREE different countries.  We will be “empty nesters” much too early while also adjusting to Terry working from home and being together 24/7.  Our relationship will definitely be tested in lots of ways throughout the next six months.  In addition, we must also begin working on all the related details (itinerary, medical, speaking opportunities, etc) for our Stateside Assignment this summer during July and August.

Obviously, our family desperately needs your continued thoughts and prayers during this extended period of time.  We are really trying to remain obedient to Him while following the laws of “man” in spite of the difficulties it is causing us.  We truly could not do this without your love and support!

Love, the Heeringa Family