Dear praying friends,

Our team got back late last night from a Saturday-Wednesday team retreat in Northern England. We have had a wonderful and growing connection with the Northumbria Community, a dispersed monastic community in Northumberland. Our time there was restorative and playful, spiritually rich and deeply joyful.

One day our team visited Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, a place with Christian roots dating back to the 6th and 7th centuries AD. This island was a center of British Christianity until the 9th century, when invading Vikings temporarily shut down the monastery there.

It is a tidal island - and you can only travel to (or away) when the tide is out. Several of us walked the sands, following way posts in the sand to reach the island and spend the day there (others drove on the causeway, which made it much easier for us to get home later!)

What an adventure, a day on the beach, in the ruins, in the village, exploring, eating, and resting - in a rhythm governed by the schedule of the tides.

As we were preparing to leave England, I also felt that our time there had been a "Tide In" moment of us being restored, and that the tide was going out again and it was time for us to return to Berlin. I was not expecting the several inches of snow that was awaiting me this morning - but that is part of the adventure!!

Prayer requests for the week:

1. Elissa is spending several extra days in England visiting good friends. Please pray for safe travel and sweet times.
2. I am attending a publishing conference with one of our teammates today (who is much more experienced in this realm!) Pray that we learn what we need to learn (the conference will be in German, so pray that we also catch what we need to catch!
3. Pray for our remodel project to finish! There seem to be regular unwanted delays.
4. I have been asked to support a local church this Sunday by playing guitar (their normal guitar player injured her hand.) Pray for good connections!

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Blessings,

mike