| Get Me a Ticket for an Aeroplane!
We have loads of great news to share in this update.
A few weeks ago we received the official OK from ReachGlobal to start planning a June departure to Slovakia. That decision comes as a result of increases in our support level. We've been encouraged by the faithfulness and enthusiasm of our supporters.
In the end, the final decision to depart in June came only after I received feedback on the first half of my dissertation. I'm now ready to share my first progress update.
Jana also has another Music Together milestone and our big prayer request for the next few months will be the transitions we face as a family during our move to Slovakia.
Thank You!
 The last seven months have been incredible. We've gone from about 67% of our monthly support (and me wondering if I should find a different career) to about 95%.
We want to say thank you to our new supporters who are helping us return to Slovakia, but we also want to say thanks to all those who have stood faithfully by us in prayer and financial support over the past few years.
Thank you!
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Departure Date
 We are at this moment in the process of purchasing tickets that will have us leaving Chicago on June 9 and arriving in Slovakia on June 10.
By the way, Jana's birthday is June 9 and Elisabeth's is June 10. So it will be Jana's birthday when we take off but Elisabeth's birthday when we land. But at the time we take off it will be Elisabeth's birthday in Slovak time and when we land it will be Jana's birthday in US time. So the way I figure, at the time of takeoff we will enter a liminal state of reality during which it is both June 9 and 10 and so it will be both Jana's and Elisabeth's birthday at the same time.
Sweet!
Photo credit: David Sanz
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Family Transitions
People ask us all the time if Elisabeth and Max are excited about the move to Slovakia. I don't feel very qualified to answer that question so I did a little interview with them. Here's an excerpt:
T: Do you ever think about what it will be like to leave the United States and move to Slovakia?
M: No.
T: Really? You don't ever think about it?
M: No.
Elisabeth had much more to say. Something tells me she's more prepared for this transition than Max.
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Dissertation Progress
 At the beginning of March I turned a first draft of chapters 1-4 of my dissertation in to my advisor. Last Friday (April 29) I met with him to go through what he'd read so far. The results were very encouraging to me and while I do have some revisions to make, they are minor. Best of all, he seems to think I'm doing quality work at a relatively quick pace.
Check the blog for a more in depth progress report.
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Music Together
Sunday through Tuesday of this week Jana was at a Music Together workshop that also serves as a sort of test for reaching the next level of teacher certification. Leading up to the conference she was working hard reading articles on musical development in children and preparing sample lesson plans. As a part of the assessment process she guest taught one Music Together class in Chicago.
She won't find out for a while whether or not she passed, but during the workshop she was getting good vibes from the director.
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The Latest on the Blog
You may have noticed I've had to take a break from my series on the Story of Acts. It's all hands on dissertation deck right now. I have added a few family and ministry updates, though.
If you haven't seen the old clip of Elisabeth (3) and Max (2) talking about Dora the Explorer, you'll want to check that out, it's very funny.
We've added a new gallery for the spring of 2011. Elisabeth took all of the photos in which she does not appear. Pretty good composition, I think.
I also wrote a short post about the Kafkaesque process of applying for a visa. If you don't know what I mean by "Kafkaesque" you'll have a better idea after you watch the video clip from Orson Welles' "The Trial" that's embedded in the post.
Earlier in the newsletter I mentioned the interview with Elisabeth and Max and also my dissertation progress report.
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