Monday, December 22, 2008

The 80s?

Why does this give me the feeling that I'm reliving the 80s?

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Dollar Is Falling.

I don't want to sound like Chicken Little, especially because this time its true. The Euro peaked in its value against the dollar this summer while I was in Germany - I was paying about $1.60 to get 1 Euro. Then over the past few months the Euro began to slowly, but surely, fall in value. Up to a week ago... then over the past few days it spiked up again. Although its not as high as it used to be, it does skew my support estimates (which were based off of the value of the Euro about a month ago - somewhere in the $1.28 range). Hopefully the market will stabilize somewhat so that I'm not bartering off various articles of Americana to pay my rent next year :-).

Seriously though - Its crazy how much even a 10 cent shift in currency value can make. Last summer I was talking to some missionaries who were explaining how people in America couldn't understand how they had effectively lost about a third of their pay because of the way the market fluctuated. As support is coming in form America (In USD) by the time it is converted into European local currency (which for most countries is now the Euro, or EUR), it takes a few hits in value - between the bank taking an exchange fee, and being converted into the local currency. So a family over in Germany who started off when the Euro was about equal with the Dollar saw their support, without having done anything wrong, continually loose its value over a six year (or so) span to the point where every dollar that they had raised was worth only about $.66. And the buying power of the Euro is no better than the dollar.

This all goes to say though - there is a God who is in control over the world's financial markets, but we don't always know why He allows the markets to fluctuate... or his plan for what we ought to do with our finances.  I'll be honest, I'm hoping and praying that the market will stabilize (if not go down) for pretty self serving reasons (I don't want to have to raise more money than I already do... and I don't want to get to Europe and have my support collapse...), and at the same time those its the same money that goes to allow me to serve the Lord in Germany - so its kind of a strange, very human, mix of emotions that I feel while watching the money market. Its actually quite humbling - it is completely out of my control, and yet it will dictate a lot of what I can/will do in the next year...

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Theres never enough...


... Time. We're moving from early to mid December, and Christmas is right around the corner. This time of year always feels rushed to me. One minute its thanksgiving and before you know it you're heralding the new year. And then everything slows down and sleeps until spring. Its crazy though - this year January may actually be as frantic as December usually is. Right now I'm still raising funds to go to Germany, and I kind of expect to keep doing that right up until the deadline -- Worried isn't the right word to use for whether or not I'll be able to raise the support, concerned probably is. If God does want me in Germany, and I diligently do my part to try and raise funds, I am confident that I will get there in His time. So even though I'm not worried, I am concerned as I watch the days tick away, and mid January is coming ever-closer.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Almost There

I think I'm almost done with the letters. And that's good news.