Dear Elliot,

Now, as we celebrate your 10th birthday, we're getting ready to move back to Ohio. This automatically means that the coming year of life is going to be a pretty significant year for you. I remember moving when I was 10 years old -- from Wisconsin to Ohio -- and that felt like a big transition. With an international move, though -- from Holland to Ohio -- it's likely going be a bigger transition still. Fortunately, I have a lot of confidence in the person you've become and the strength of character that will see you through the transition. Even so, I've been praying for you a lot in the midst of this transition. I'm praying that you'll be able to lean on God when times are hard. I'm praying that we'll all be able to maintain good communication with each other. I'm praying that you'll find favorable conditions in Kent -- good schools, good friends, good basketball leagues. But I'm also praying that your character will be refined through the process of adaptation, even if conditions end up being less-than-favorable. Most of all, I'm praying that you will be filled with strength and courage.

This theme of strength and courage is one of the stronger recurring themes that God has brought to my mind as I've prayed for you throughout your whole life. (It also happens to be a significant theme that I've prayed for myself!). I think God wants you to hear the same thing that He wanted Joshua to hear, right as he was about to move into a different country: "No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:5 - 1:9 NLT)."

Do you believe this, Elliot? Will you hold fast to God's Word? Will you let God help you confront your fears and your discouragement with strength and courage? Trust me when I say that you can do it! For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

I love you, Elliot. I'm proud of the way you play basketball... the way you play with little kids like Cor and Carter... the way you set reading records at your school... and the way that you strive for emotional and spiritual honesty. I see tremendous leadership potential in you. After witnessing the first 10 years of your life, I really look forward to watching how you will grow and develop in the next 10 years! It's hard to guess exactly where you might be at age 20 (maybe playing basketball for Ohio State on their way to another national championship?!?) -- but wherever you end up, whatever you end up doing, and whomever you're doing it with, I want you to know that I will always love you. I will continue to pray for you (especially for strength and courage). You're my son, and I am, lovingly...

Your Dad

I've opened a Twitter account. If you're into that kind of thing at all, I'd encourage you to look me up: @FalconFlash.

I still haven't figured out the whole protocol for this brand of social media -- nor have I fully decided what I think about it, personally -- but I have decided that I want to give it a try. Several of my friends here in Amsterdam have gotten into Twitter, and I also notice the same among several of the people from the h2o network back in Ohio, which I will soon be rejoining. [Suffice to say, my Twitter-savvy friends, please help me out: show me the ropes, teach me the tricks of the trade, and welcome me into your world!]. I realize that I'm not exactly what my old Telecommunications professors would call an "early adopter" of new technologies -- but I'm not a laggard either. Now that I've decided to make the leap, I'm ready to really figure it out and get with the flow.

At any rate, I decided to adopt the name FalconFlash because (1) all of the most obvious Twitter handles based on versions of my real name were already taken, (2) I just think the name FalconFlash sounds kind of cool and memorable, and (3) I like the way that the name FalconFlash reflects my cultural identity and the range of transitions that I've experienced over the last several years.

From 1995 to 2002, a lot of my life and ministry took place in the context of Bowling Green State University, whose sports teams are known as the Falcons... The last nine-and-a-half years, of course, have been here in Amsterdam --- but now, starting in the middle of 2012, I'll be teaming up with familiar friends and familiar ministry conditions in an unfamiliar place: Kent State University, whose sports teams are known as the Golden Flashes (which is apparently some sort of eagle). So the FalconFlash identity covers my life as a Falcon, my life as a Flash, and everything in between. As I say in my newly-minted Twitter profile, "After a decade of sojourn in Europe, I'm flying back to Ohio." And if you want to come along for the ride, come find me @FalconFlash.

As a sports fan, I appreciate the symbolism of an introductory press conference. The newly-acquired player appears and shakes hands with the owner of the new club. The player dons a ball-cap featuring the new team's logo and holds up a jersey from the new team which is already emblazoned with his name and number. Cameras flash. Reporters ask questions. And then the real transition begins: playbooks, practices, and (eventually) playing in the games.

This past week in Amsterdam, we've had visitors from Kent, Ohio -- the city to which we'll be moving in July -- and it's felt similar to an introductory press conference. They even gave me a new T-shirt and ball cap (see the photo above)! The whole week has been an exercise in establishing good will, addressing key questions for the coming season of transition, and just allowing ourselves to adapt to one another... And I've really like what I've seen! God has used this week to help build enthusiasm both within our family and within the broader team from h2o Kent.

We realize, of course, that we're still very much in transition. The truth of the matter is that I'm going to be "playing for two teams" over the coming months (and even years). Even so, it feels good to have hit this next stage in our transition process.

At long last, I feel free to publicly share the news that our family has decided to move back to Ohio in July of 2012. After nine and a half years of working to establish the ministry here in Amsterdam, we feel that it's time to make a change... and I wanted to make sure that you heard it from us.

Explanation of our Family's Decision

Our decision to move from Amsterdam to Ohio wasn't an easy one. Although we've had our challenges in Amsterdam, we've found happiness and fulfillment here. It's become home for us (the only home, in fact, that our kids have ever really known!). There are no immediate crises or concerns, causing us to leave Amsterdam. As a matter of fact, we are deeply saddened and (to be honest) a little bit scared when we think about leaving our home, our neighborhood, our kids' school, my job with Amsterdam50, and (most of all) our church community. At the same time, we have faith and confidence from God that this is the right move at the right time for our family.

Even back in 2002, when we were first preparing to move to the Netherlands, we viewed 2012 as a potentially decisive year for our family because of the age of our children (specifically considering transitions related to adolescence and the beginning of secondary education). As Marci and I further considered our situation through the course of 2011, it became increasingly clear that we've always really considered our immigration to the Netherlands to be temporary. We didn't come to establish an American church in the Netherlands; we came to help establish an Amsterdamse kerk that would ultimately be maintained and multiplied by Amsterdammers.

Implications for the Ministry of Amsterdam50

Together with the developing team of European leaders in our church, we talked and prayed extensively about issues of sustainability, spiritual oversight, pastoral care, and support. We sought counsel from trusted advisors. We each spent significant time in solitude, earnestly seeking God's guidance... And throughout the whole process, we have been reassured that God is in control. Amsterdam50 has been through a lot of challenges in its nine years of existence, but through it all we have forged our identity on being a Church of New Beginnings. As long as everyone can depend on God and band together as a team, I have great confidence that our departure will simply pave the way for another New Beginning. In many ways, you could say that this New Beginning is exactly what we've been working towards all these years: a New Beginning with European leadership for this European church! We've got a good team here in Amsterdam, and I'm particularly enthusiastic about the ways that God is working in the lives of our two Dutch pastors-in-training. They're still growing and developing, but I have faith that God's Spirit is at work in their lives. And I'm praying this upcoming leadership transition may be exactly what they need for leaping to the next level in their spiritual development.

Already, we've started to experience some of the turbulence and chaos that comes with a transition such as this -- and we all recognize that the next few months are going to continue to be turbulent and chaotic for Amsterdam50; however, through the whole process I've drawn a lot of peace and reassurance from the words of Psalm 31:14-15a: "But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands." These words are our theme for for 2012.

Expectations for the Future

Since the times are in God's hands, we cannot possibly know everything that's going to happen in the coming year; however, I did also want to share a little bit about our hopes for how the future might play out. So here's how we feel God’s been leading us: We want to keep working for Great Commission Ministries, even as we move back to Ohio.

In part, this seems wise because it will allow me to maintain a coaching relationship with the developing leaders of Amsterdam50 (both through periodic video conferencing and through visiting Amsterdam a couple of times per year to provide support). But in addition to that, I'm genuinely excited to get back to ministry in Ohio! God has been working there in amazing ways over the past decade. The church that we left in Bowling Green ten years ago (h2o) has now grown and multiplied to become a network of five different churches on five different campuses across the state! Thousands of college students are now involved with h2o at Bowling Green State University, Kent State University, the Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, and soon at the University of Toledo. In particular, we feel led to band together with old friends who are working at Kent State, where a new campus ministry was established three years ago.

In addition to diving back into campus ministry at KSU—with all its innovative public events, small groups, and life-on-life discipleship—I'm also really excited to develop a broader role within the h2o network, working to mobilize the next generation of missionaries and church planters. In this sense, you might say that we're hoping to keep one foot in Europe and one foot in Ohio—bridging the gap and broadening the experience that our family has had over the last decade of ministry in Amsterdam. In the same way that our hearts were moved back in our early-20s, allowing us to trust God for big things like trans-Atlantic church-planting, we pray that we might be used to help replicate that experience several times over with today's generation of twenty-somethings in Ohio and throughout the Midwest. College students are just idealistic enough—and just crazy enough—that they are uniquely positioned for missions mobilization. Now with almost ten years of international ministry experience under our belts, we feel like we have a unique opportunity to go back among these twenty-something, faith-filled, idealistic "missionaries-in-waiting" and season their zeal with some degree of wisdom and experience... so that they can be even better-equipped and prepared than we were, when we moved to Amsterdam. In so doing, we ultimately pray that our family moving back to Ohio could help to advance the Great Commission exponentially.

Experiencing the Transition

This transition has been working itself out, on various different levels, for well over a year now. Our decision was finalized at the very end of 2011, and we shared with the church about our intention to move in the first week of 2012. It's taken longer to share our news with other circles of friends and family -- but we reached a watershed moment yesterday when our kids finally broke the news to their school friends. Consequently, we now feel emboldened to talk about things here on the internet.

I'm looking forward to using this space to further process our transition and keep everyone up-to-speed on what's happening. For now, however, I'll just say that it's been a very complicated process! We experience a whole range of emotions on a daily (if not hourly!) basis, but overall I'd say we're doing well with the transition. Our family is communicating well about things. The logistics of our move seem to be on the right track. Our house is up on the market (Let us know if you want to buy a beautiful house in Amsterdam Oost!). We're on our way. Ready or not, here we come!

The name Jay means "lively and quick" -- and indeed this is an apt description for my brother. He's spontaneous and spirited in a way that I can often envy. Yet as brothers separated by less than two years in age, we get along famously. He's been one of my closest companions for a large percentage of my life... So it only felt appropriate that he could finally come and experience Europe together with me.

Last week we got to enjoy Amsterdam together. We toured museums together and perused the little shops of curiosities in the Jordaan (most notably the Hieronymous Bosch Antique Bookshop, specializing in Medieval art books and named after one of my brother's favorite artists). We rode bicycles together through the city streets, shooting video footage and photographs as we went. And perhaps most meaningfully for me personally, we experienced "normal life" together: church, school, basketball courts, and such.

This week we got to travel together to the Highlands of northern Scotland. We rented a sporty yellow Citroën and buzzed around craggy hills, rugged seashores, and spectacular lochs. It was epic and magnificent.

We were hosted by beloved friends who had previously lived in Amsterdam -- and I can hardly think of a better way to have experienced the Highlands. Neil and Kate (and Cameron and Jacob) were remarkably hospitable, and the little village in which they've settled was remarkably situated right between the mountains and the sea. During the day, we hiked through springy meadows of heather, rocky coastal caves, and the snow-covered summits of An Teallach. At night we enjoyed lavish meals prepared by our hosts and warm conversation beside a roaring fire. And through it all, I was able to enjoy the experiences together with my brother!

Words and photographs could never do justice to the last couple of weeks. Still, it would also seem like an injustice to say nothing. So I share these brief reflections and inadequate images... And I treasure the rest in my memory.

Out-of-town guests are a breath of fresh air. I appreciate my own surroundings more fully when afforded the opportunity to see them through the eyes of my loved ones: skating on the ice of the Keizersgracht with my hockey-fanatic friends from Florida... taking in Rembrandts and Vermeers with my brother, who also happens to be a painter and high-school art teacher... sitting in a cafe and talking through strategic ministry questions for Amsterdam50, together with experienced pastors from other contexts... I'm so thankful for friends and family who are willing to spend the time and money to experience my world together with me.

Even while bringing a certain sort of energy into life, out-of-town guests simultaneously take a certain sort of energy (especially for an introverted, routinized person such as myself). So I'm still trying to figure out how to pace myself in the midst of what's turned out to be something of a "GuestFest" this spring (and particularly this week).

I notice, for instance, that I haven't had so much time for blogging / journaling / writing -- yet these activities also happen to be some of the best, most time-tested tools I've picked up along the way for bringing order to my life's chaos and bringing clarity to my life's confusion. So I'm learning that taking time to blog or journal could be construed as anti-social and narcissistic (which is how I'm typically tempted to think about myself) -- or it could be viewed as recharging the emotional batteries that make times with friends more enjoyable and more meaningful... Similarly, maintaining patterns for exercise seem to be important in the midst of such seasons of visitation (and also particularly useful for working off the extra calories that tend to be ingested in these seasons as well!)... Thirdly, I'm discovering that it can be surprisingly meaningful -- both for myself and my out-of-town guests -- to simply bring them along and let them experience the mundane minutia of everyday life here in Amsterdam: picking up kids from school, making trips to the grocery store, keeping up with regular appointments and letting my out-of-town guests interact with my everyday friends, and so on... Perhaps these types of practices seem obvious to others, but they've felt like revelations to me.

Are there any other tips out there for pacing oneself and making the most of a "GuestFest?" I'd be glad for any other wisdom that might be brought to bear on such circumstances.

I've posted all of the pictures from my "Birthday Party Booth" on-line! Facebook seemed to be the most convenient forum for doing this; and my understanding is that the images should be viewable for anyone, regardless if they have a Facebook account or not (please let me know if you cannot access the Facebook album for some reason)... In any event, I think they all turned out  beautifully!

Just for the fun of it, I decided to try and pick my personal favorites from the bunch. It was extremely hard to narrow things down to the Top Ten, and then to the Top Three -- but these three images are the ones that I eventually decided were the best of the best. Their creativity was just delightful. In case you're interested in seeing the other "finalists" that captured my fancy, you can find my Top Ten in the Family Pictures section of the website (posted in no particular order).

I could hardly be happier with the way that the Party Booth photos turned out. It's exactly what I wanted for my birthday. Some of the best gifts in life are fun friends.

One of the best parts of my birthday celebrations this year involved a professional camera, a blank green wall, a handful of "American President" and other assorted props (because this year was my 35th birthday, thus qualifying me for candidacy according to the Constitution of the United States of America), and a few dozen of my closest friends here in Amsterdam. Just yesterday, I received the previews of the "Party Booth" pictures from this past weekend (compliments of Marco Pauws Photography) -- and they are awesome!

Unfortunately, I haven't had a good opportunity to post them all on-line yet (which will probably eventually happen by way of Facebook). But hopefully, that should be coming in the next 24 hours or so. I felt like just had to post this quick collage as a sneak-peak preview, since the pictures feel like they're "burning a hole" in my hard-drive. :-) More to come soon...