Nothing to write home about?

A dear fellow who was one of my co-workers back in Dallas wrote to me – some time ago now – that it had been a while since I had written anything. He was right. And he was very kind to put it so mildly.

I like to distinguish between the terms reason and excuse. To use myself as an example, there are reasons why I haven’t written, but there are no excuses for the absence of communication. I hope that makes it clear.

Why am I sad? Because I've been a bad boy.The newsletter that we sent out last fall summarized our first two years here. I just read it again, and I think it was a fair description. What’s not fair is for you who care about our lives and our work to hear from us every two years, or nine months, or whatever gap causes you to ask, “I wonder whatever became of the Liddles?” or “I wonder how the Liddles are doing?”

I’m not going to try to use this space to give yet another belated summary of a long gap in time. Over the next week, though, I’m going to – I’m really, really going to – alternate between writing about our work and describing our DSC00137
home life to give you the insight into our Wycliffe ministry that you deserve.

For those of you who pray to the Lord our God for us – you patient, forbearing souls – please pray for the fortitude I need to set aside time to write as I should for people who care.

Newsletter, September 2013

“With your help, the next newsletter will be written from Germany!”

Yes, I wrote that more than two years ago – the last time I wrote and sent a newsletter.

“When I return from this conference, I will work on writing a newsletter to highlight what has happened in our family life and in my work over the past year.”

And, yes, I wrote that more than a year ago, promising to rectify the error. Ugh.

Among those reading these words now – or the words in the newsletter, if they’ve skipped over this drivel – are people who have faithfully kept us living and working in Germany despite our unfaithfulness in keeping in touch. And within that group are folks who began supporting our ministry two years ago so that we could come here in the first place. The actions and prayers of our brothers and sisters are a powerful testimony to their love, and we are indeed grateful. We have not been in want.

So here is our newsletter, a summary of life and work for the Liddles as we serve Wycliffe Bible Translators from central Germany.

September 2013: A Liddle Good News (for viewing on-screen)

September 2013: A Liddle Good News (for printing)

Thank you for reading – and for being patient with us!

Getting some time away

The school system here gives students two weeks’ vacation in the spring, normally straddling Easter weekend. The long break gives families plenty of time to go away together on vacation. We decided to join the throng — despite the cold weather — and go to the south of Germany. Katherine booked us into a vacation apartment built on a fruit farm and vineyard that’s just a short drive away from Lake Constance, which is called the Bodensee here.

Here are some of the pictures that I took during that time. Click any of the galleries to see the individual photos in it. Use your Back button to get back to the page that shows all of the photo galleries.

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I’ll be adding descriptions to most of the photos, but write to me if you want to know more about any of them.

We’re thankful for the chance to go away and rest for a few days, and we also like the opportunity to go somewhere we haven’t been before. Given the beauty of the area around the lake — especially Mainau — we definitely think that we’ll make another trip there someday when it’s warmer.