Mixing old and new

I've been silent for a week due mostly to lethargy than anything else.

But I got a boost of new energy yesterday with the arrival of our stuff from Germany and the news that we had gotten the apartment we were praying for just 3 blocks from Wash-U!

I quickly unwrapped my mattress and Lattenrost (wooden slats the mattress rest on) and replaced the mattress I had been sleeping on at Bethany's parents' house. I can't even express how happy I am to be sleeping on my own mattress and I'll not even start with how happy I'll be when I can rebuild my awesome metal king size bed frame and have our own bedding again in our brand new bedroom!

We shipped our bed; mattresses and a handmade bookshelf along with 39 boxes of personal items (a third of which seem to be books!)

The new apartment is the second floor of a beautifully restored old duplex in Clayton with 1,500 sq ft of aesthetically pleasing 1930/40's architecture, wooden floors, stain-glass windows, subway tiles, modern kitchen and bathroom. All in all the perfect place!!!!

We sign the contract tomorrow evening and move in (DV) on the 10th September.

Now while I've been working on bringing the Old world of Europe to the New world of America I've also been working on bringing traditional Christianity and modern Christianity together in what I hope will be as harmonious a marriage as my furniture and housing clearly are. Matthew 13: 52 talks about the teacher who is influenced by the old and new bringing a double blessing from the storehouse. I feel like my friends and I are working on the same ambition of being both old fashioned and cutting edge simultaneously. I belong to the LCMS (Lutherans) and we're known as rather old fashioned yet among our number are some rather progressive Christians. I also work for Young Life which is often considered cutting edge in how we communicate Christianity to those outside the Church. I belong to a growing movement of traditional Christians who believe we need to bring "The Old, Old Story" to a new generation in a way they can comprehend it.

Mixing old with new is always a risky business. It will take time for our German things to become comfortable and natural in their new American setting. I think it will also take time for old Christian ways to become comfortable in a new world setting.

Sorry for the lapse in communication...... but old and new can often mean silent blogs!!!!