We Get a Few More Answers

Well, we mailed off our package of information, including our agreement, to Global Mission yesterday. Not that it was all that easy, mind you. To get our visa and work permit, Slovakia wants copies of our diplomas, not copies of transcripts. We should have remembered this from when Paula got her work permit in Spain. We found those copies, but didn't put the two together. We had our "terminal" degrees framed, so we knew where they were, but what about Westmar? St. Olaf? UMSL? Iowa State? UNM? The kids coming right out of college have THAT advantage, anyway. We finally found them, squirreled away in a box in the attic, when all three girls were home going through their stuff. THAT was a trip down memory lane--or maybe many lanes.

We also had to have copies of our birth certificates. No problem for Jim, but according to Logan County, Colorado, Paula was never born. Fortunately, the State of Colorado came through. Oh, and a copy of our marriage certificate. Glad we got a lot of those in 1973, since writing off to Gibraltar would have been a pain. "On Her Majesty's Service...."

The supervising teacher at the Lyceum also answered some questions, but as you might expect, more have occurred to us. Some answers surprised at least one of us--teachers dress informally! Jeans! Some answers we suspected, but are comforting--there is an Ikea!

Things continue to go well in closing out our lives here. Workmen were here painting trim. and there are a few more things to do both inside and out. It's not easy after more than 27 years in the same house. Who'd a thunk it? J&P

Getting Closer...

We got our package, including our agreement, from ELCA Global Mission this week. Next we'll be assembling all of the documents we need--birth certificates, marriage certificate, and so on--and sending them off to Chicago. We're beginning the process of severing our ties here with The Lutheran Council, Rehab Associates, the Virginia Synod, and even starting to get the house ready for the big transition. We've set up our commissioning at St. Paul's on the Sunday after Power in the Spirit, July 11. Assistant to the Bishop Bozeman will preach and participate--followed by a pot luck!

All three of the girls will be here this weekend; a good chance to talk and socialize. Then we'd really better get busy, because as the title to this post says....