4 (or 5?) month update
Hello friends and family! Kate here.
It's been a couple of months, sorry! I’ve written 2.5 update letters since December and they were so boring and uneventful that I didn’t even want to read them…and they were all about me! That's about how it’s been going: pretty boring and uneventful.
Winter in Berlin is just as rough as everyone said it would be. I thought they were being dramatic. I thought, “It is way colder in Nebraska, so Berlin should be nothing for us, right?” Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. We are out in the weather so much more here. So much so, that my mom sent money for long underwear because we were not prepared to spend that much time outside. In Berlin, you do two things outside a lot: walking and waiting. Every day is a series of walks to tram/train/bus stops, waiting for trams/trains/buses, and then walking some more.
Repeat for-ev-er…
And Berlin doesn’t normally allow salt to be used in Winter due to multiple negative impacts it has on water and infrastructure…which means we’ve had about an inch of very smooth ice on every outdoor surface for weeks. Look up recent videos of Berliners ice skating down the sidewalks. It's been wild. Walking the dogs, walking to the bus (because the trams were down for 4 days - again due to ice) has worn us out in so many ways. We’ve had many chances to say to one another: “I’m not mad at you, I’m cranky about the weather, I’m sorry I took it out on you.” I don’t know if either of us has ever had to apologize so much for our poor attitudes.
And yet…Spring is coming! The 10-day forecast shows above-freezing temps every day. Praise. Yes and Amen. Holy moly, we’ve almost made it through.
Joel and I just finished our “A Level” language courses and will start “B-1” lessons on Monday! We adore our two teachers, Heidi and Gudrun (extra points for their super Deutsch names). They are patient and encouraging and they are truly gifted educators. Joel is obviously the class clown and teacher's pet. I’ve become the class “mom” that always has extra pens, paper, snacks, tissues, etc for anyone that needs it. It also helps that I’m older than most of the students that come through.
Our team at Envision Berlin had a staff retreat last week. We spent 4 days in Northern England with the amazing people of the Northumbria Community. Our colleague, Mike, became a “companion” (think “official member”) of the Northumbria Community and it was an honor to be there for his induction.
I don’t feel like I am exaggerating when I say I found some of “my people” while I was there. We prayed for trees and animals. We prayed for the well-being of the local community. Our hosts’ hospitality was inspiring, not just their provision of a place to stay and delicious home-cooked meals, but with how welcoming every single person was. I felt like I made 5 new, lifelong friends.
We flew into Edinburgh and it was instantly so green, clean, and beautiful. I was worried I would be dissatisfied with Berlin when we returned home. The way the hills, flowers, and open spaces called out to me was concerning at first. Oh, and the customer service…oh my! I had no idea how much I missed friendly service in restaurants and general small talk on the street. I don’t know how to say this better, I THRIVE when “BS-ing” with people. I think I could get an honorary PHD in it. But I can’t do that in Berlin, because that is not a common thing to do, and when the chance does arise, I do not speak German fluently enough…yet. But I digress, I was worried that I would no longer love Berlin, the city that I am just starting to feel comfortable in. I asked God if I was supposed to go to Northern England instead. I can speak the language in England and it was so spacious and smelled of green earth and all the good things. Simply put, it would be easier.
Put another way, it would be easier to live where people are like me.
My internal struggle came to a head one day when four of us hiked across the sea bed at low tide to Holy Island off the Northeastern English coast. The trek was no more than 1.75 miles but it was very windy, very wet, very muddy, and very cold. It was also very, very beautiful. And by the end of this journey I knew I was supposed to be in Berlin.
That short hike felt like an image of my relationship with Berlin. I started off excited and ready. Then the wind really picked up and the water got deeper and the possibility of quick sand became a bit more real. I would look over at the road near the horizon and think, “I could bail…I’d still get to the island and it would be drier and easier than this.”
That happened twice, I wanted to take the easier, cleaner route. I’m happy to say that none of us bailed and by the end I wanted our walk through the sands to last a little longer. It wasn’t peaceful or easy, but it was worth every step. Joel and I are longtime fans of “Type 2” fun, look that up too if you’re not familiar. Also, before anyone else tells you, I wore boots and Joel, Mike, and Elissa went barefoot. I wasn’t in a mood to suffer, I guess. But isn’t God sweet to remind me where I’m supposed to be?
During our time, I felt spiritually and soulfully rejuvenated. We wandered around the English countryside. We played on the shore of the North Sea. We had sword fights with kelp - which stings when you get whacked by your opponent! We explored inside centuries-old lime kilns. We skipped stones. We laughed until we cried. We had a shared experience of acting quite a bit like children together. Even our colleagues' teenage boys expressed joy at playing like kids again.
We don’t allow that for ourselves often enough, do we? We put so much energy into worrying about what is acceptable and what people think. That trip was the rest we needed.
On another topic, it’s not easy to be here and watch everything that is going on in the States. The news feels increasingly untrustworthy, so we are relying on direct contact with a handful of people we trust back home for updates. We are grieving over the loss of lives and the fear that humans are living in, in our home country. It is so hard to just sit and watch from the other side of the Earth. It makes one feel hopeless.
This instability back home has also affected our lives in unexpected ways. The chaos in America and around the globe has caused the dollar to lose value. We now only get 84 percent of every dollar (on a good day). That really stinks. You are all so generous and it doesn’t go as far as it should. Similarly, our new art space, Galerie Nachtigall (Nightingale Gallery) needs funding but donations have slowed down as the world has become less stable. It’s unsettling, the reality that we don’t know what will happen next. But God. We have faith in him and the work that he has already done in Berlin and continues to do. With us and without us.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers! Please still support what God is doing in Berlin. We love getting your emails and texts. It feels like my head is above water 90% of the time so expect to hear from me much more often, BS and all. ;)
Love, Love, Love, & Peace,
Kate and Joel - Sam and Joonie too.