Merry Christmas from Konrad & Lucinda

In some ways this past year was like so many others. I'm still working at Moody and Lucinda's still working at the Christian Working Woman. Once again she went on a teaching ministry trip to Kenya and Uganda last summer. However, there were some things that were different this year.

Last Christmas Lucinda, Gabe and I went to France to spend the holidays with Shaelagh, Jeremiah and Annalise. That was great fun. Annalise is a wonderfully precocious child and this, together with the wonder of Christmas, led to many delightful and silly interactions with her.

This year, not only are Shaelagh, Jeremiah and Annalise here on a 5 month home assignment, but they've been joined by Miriam Rosalie who was born November 11. It will be super to have them, as well as Gabe, here for Christmas. They plan to return to their mission work in France at the end of January. You can read more about them at http://blog.martinsinfrance.com/ .
Use the name "friend" and the password "enter" to access this site.

Gabe made a big change this year by moving to Baltimore. She auditioned for and was awarded the position of Associate Principal Horn in the Baltimore Symphony. She really likes playing in the BSO and is learning to feel at home in Baltimore. You can read more about her at the BSO's website at http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=4,4,1,1&id=GabrielleFinck&bioType=professional

A kitty adopted her this summer so there's a pet in her house again.

A sadder change was the loss of my dad in the spring. After a period of declining health he passed into the presence of his Savior. Mom is doing as well as can be expected. She's living next door to my youngest brother, so she has good care.

As we remember Jesus' coming to earth during this Christmas season, may you know the peace and goodwill that only Jesus can give.

Konrad & Lucinda

Christmas in France

We had a lovely time in France with Shaelagh, Jeremiah, Annalise and Gabe. We ate lots of delicious food and enjoyed a lot of family time, but mostly we played with Annalise. We hated to leave, but that's the way life goes. Here are some pictures from our trip.

WARNING: Grandparentness ahead! Enter at your own risk!

Merry Christmas 2007

Greetings,

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of a season of celebration. How do we plan to celebrate?

We began the holidays with a visit to Gabe’s in Washington
DC. There’s a very festive mood at her house since she is soon to re-locate to a new job after working nearly five years in the National Symphony Orchestra. She won the audition for Associate Principal Horn of the Baltimore Symphony and will be moving there this spring.


Next the three of us will travel to France for two weeks of holiday celebration with Shaelagh, Jeremiah and Annalise (now two years old). They are doing well in their second year of missionary life in France. We have been keeping in touch with them through weekly video chats, but that does not compare to actual hugs, enjoying French meals together, sharing their life, and seeing the amazing animated Christmas decorations in Paris.


The real celebration, though, is because Jesus, the gift of Christmas, brought us forgiveness of sin and eternal life. That message is what gives our jobs meaning as we continue to enjoy our work at the Moody Bible Institute and The Christian Working Woman. It provides purpose to our lives and direction in our life’s journey.

Now we want to join you in celebrating the season, and so we send you our Merry Christmas and wishes for a Happy 2008!

With joy,
Konrad and Lucinda

2007 Vacation in France

We arrived in France on May 10. Shaelagh and Annalise met us at the airport, and Annalise warmed Grandma Finck's heart by letting Grandma (pronounced Comma) carry her right away. She is, of course, the most beautiful and well behaved child on earth!



While we did do some sightseeing and travel (more on that later) I spent a lot of time in Shaelagh & Jeremiah's new home, getting ready for them to move in. Their former rental home was temporary, (the home of missionaries on home assignment) so they needed to move to their own place. This involved the installation of flooring, wallpaper, paint, and a lot of Ikea furniture assembly. Annalise helped out!



We got to attend church with Shaelagh & Jeremiah and see a few of the "pretty places" near their home. They live in a nice area with lots of trees and green space, even though it is city and is pretty densely populated. We ate lots of good French bread and quite a few pastries. It was a good thing that there was physical labor to do, or I might have gained a lot of weight.



We took a long weekend to go to Greater Europe Mission's Camp of the Peaks in the French Alps. Our good friends, Lynn and Rose Lindquist work there, and have worked there for years. It was good to see them again and to introduce Jeremiah and Annalise to the French Alps. They were both impressed.



Annalise especially liked the tunnels.


It was nice to get away from the work for a while. Shaelagh and Jeremiah hadn't really had any opportunity to travel away from the Paris area for more than a day since their arrival in September.

All in all, we had a very nice time and weren't ready to leave when the time came. We're already saving up for our next trip!

Christmas 2006

As I look back, a lot of things happened this year, so I guess it is good to stop, reflect and realize how much is contained in a year that flies by.

Some notable milestones:

In late spring I accepted a different position at Moody Bible Institute. I became facilities manager, which means that instead of grappling with educational ideas and technology, I’m grappling with buildings, landscaping, worker safety, campus police, heating and cooling technology. It’s a larger group of people than I managed previously, so that means more personnel issues to be solved.

Lucinda also shifted job duties. She became Director of Operations at the Christian Working Woman, the same place she has worked for the past three years, but now doing all of the day-to-day management of the ministry. In addition, she returned to east Africa with her boss for three weeks of ministry there.

In August, while Lucinda was in Africa, Gabe and I met up and spent a week in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. We did an overnight hike into the high peaks and canoed the lakes and had a great time.

We said goodbye to Shaelagh, Jeremiah and Annalise in September as they left for mission service in France. They’re involved in full time language study now. You can read all about their experiences at http://www.missionpages.org/. We miss them, but especially Annalise, who’s growing up quickly without us. We hope to go visit them next spring.

Gabe continues to play with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. She’s had some great opportunities to play for some interesting free-lance projects as well, including a Christian outreach CD with a friend and doing background music for a PBS “Nature” show called “Christmas in Yellowstone”. You can see a preview of the program and hear Gabe’s horn at :
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/yellowstone/video3.html

We’re thankful for those of you who stay in touch. May you have the peace of Christ this Christmas.