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!