Goings and comings

Changes are afoot here in Santa Cruz. For one, good people are leaving our immediate lives. Two families with whom we were in MCC orientation and arrived in Bolivia together - the Longeneckers and the Heppners - as well as another couple, end their terms this month and return home to North America. They will be missed, not least of all by Jonathan. No longer will he screech with sheer joy when Joel (or Asha or Keziah) comes out of his house to play on the yard...

and no longer will Maria and Jesse (and Nathan) be around to patiently walk around with him, read to him, and generally love him tangibly.

Secondly, we are coming home to the U.S. for the months of July and August! (One of the benefits of extending an MCC term is a two-month home leave.) Our plan is to be based in Mtn. Lake, Minnesota from 29 June through 24 July. During the week of 25 July we'll be traveling east, with stops in Goshen and Bluffton. Then we will be in Harrisonburg, Virginia until the 24th of August. Let us know if you will be in any of those places at the same time and would like to get together. We're looking forward to seeing and visiting with folks, scoping out our future life, and just living in our home culture for awhile.

We'll also be introducing Jonathan to many of you for the first time. Good thing, because he will be the hot new item for only a short while longer. The third - perhaps most major - change coming up is that we're expecting a second little Harder Schrockling in mid-October.

Here s/he is, halfway to reality (20 weeks pregnant).

We are indeed grateful to God for the many blessings we experience!