Průhonice, here we come (came)!

We now live in Prague! (Průhonice to be exact) I still can't believe that we are here. When driving, I still have a strong desire to pass our exit and continue down the highway to Vlašim. But I am glad to be home so soon.

We love living here. Our family travel has been cut down. We are closer to school, Prague City Team, growing ministry relationships (more to come in future blog entries), and many other things. And yet we are still close to Vlašim and continue to serve in the church and in Club Rachel Roma ministries.

There is no way to fully catch you up on our last 3 months, but I would like to try to help you see how quick and unexpected our move was. We thought it would take 6-12 months to sell our house in a small town with a depressed market. Therefore we had a very full summer even without a move. The buyers looked at our house 2 days after it was put on the market! Here is a brief look at our time line:

June 11 Meet with realtor, decide to put house on market so we can move in 6-12 months
June 14 Send pictures of house to realtor to put on internet
June 15 Tom gets on plane to America for two weeks of meetings
June 16 Dora calls Tom and says there are 5 appointments for people to look at the house
June 17 The future buyers look at our house
June 19 3 people have made offers on our house and a bidding war ensues
June 19-July 19 Potential buyers trying to get bank loans so they can make offers
June 28 Tom returns from America, family goes to Austria for 2 weeks (making calls and looking on internet for a place in Prague
July 14 The 5 Beckers who are still in town (Amy in England, Matt at camp) spend a 13 hour day looking at housing possibilities in Prague--After phone calls with Matt and Amy, are certain by the end of the day that the Průhonice house is the right one.
July 27,28 Moving day
July 30 English camp team arrives--camp from Aug 1-8
Aug 10 English camp team departs
Aug 12-18 All Europe RG Conference
Aug 18-24 Host the Lewises for a Church Health conference
Aug 25-Sept 1 Really move in and set up our house

5 Hard things about moving:

1) People in our church not understanding the speed of our move
2) Club Rachel leaders thinking we didn't want to continue working with them
3) Telling some friends that we had moved "after the fact"
4) Physically and Emotionally draining
5) Took our focus off a very busy ministry schedule

5 Good things about moving:

1) 3 kids can go to school in the right school for them
2) The church had to confront the fact that I wouldn't always be there. They have taken active steps to "replace" me in leadership
3) Club Rachel leaders saw our commitment to the ministry from "afar" and much trust has been built.
4) Closer to Prague City Team ministries and other Roma ministries
5) Hardware stores that are open until 10:00 PM!