Amy and I spent the week before Christmas in Killington, Vermont with her family. It was a combined Christmas celebration and pre-celebration of her youngest brother’s high school graduation. We both agree, it was a sweet Christmas present and welcomed time with family to play and relax.
Here are some pictures from our time on Killington Mountain.
Amy and I head out for our holiday travels tomorrow morning. I’m not sure how much computer access we’ll have between now and then, so I thought I’d take a minute to wish you all a Merry Christmas now.
Merry Christmas!
Hello friends below you should find our update letter for December 2010.
Hello friends below you should find our update letter for November 2010.
Hello friends below you should find our update letter for October 2010.
Well folks, we are less than a week away from the Chicago Marathon. Amy and I have been training for nearly 18 weeks specifically for this race coming off the Illinois Marathon 1/2 marathon and Mattoon triathlon this summer.
I’m eager to beat on the streets of this great city after several years off of marathoning. This well run race has always been a favorite of mine.
This will be Amy’s first marathon, I hope you’ll join me in cheering her on and wishing her luck as she tackles this huge goal.
If you’re interested in following our progress in the race you can sign up for runner updates to your mobile device, follow the directions here.
Just Keep Running!
As I type today, I’m reminded that it’s just been 2 short weeks since I started my regular trips to the Chicago suburbs. Yet in just two weeks a rhythm has started, there is a flow of my week and time seems to pass quickly now. I miss being in Champaign, especially this week as classes get started at U of I and I-Life gets moving again. There are stories almost daily of new friendships being formed as our students, leaders and staff step into the dorms and initiate with other students.
Life-long friendships, mutual discipleship, Christ-centered relationships – all forming as the faithful pick up the phone or send a text message.
“Hey, this is Nick M. from Illini Life Christian Fellowship. Hoping to see you at the Fall Preview tonight @ Illini Union 8:00PM”
Faithfulness for me this year looks a little different. I’m not on campus meeting new students this fall – the first time in 9 years. For me faithfulness looks like dialing the phone for the 50th time this week, to see if I can connect with another person in an effort to share about my work as a campus missionary.
I miss campus, I miss my wife, I miss my friends and my own bed; but this is good. It’s The Land Between.
Just as Israel had the desert to cross between Egypt and the Promised land, so a missionary has support raising between the initial calling and released to assignment. It’s The Land Between where God chisels away at the rough edges, softens the hardened heart and strengthens His call. The Land Between is where God speaks softly and quietly, reminding of His goodness and provision.
In The Land Between I have the choice to embrace and trust a God who I know is good or run to quick fixes to numb the pain of rejection, boredom of idleness, and loneliness of isolation. If the story of Israel teaches me anything, I’ll take God over the quick fixes, they just leads to wandering for longer.
Amy and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary this past weekend. It was a time to look back and be reminded of the sweetness of our marriage and the good gift God has given me in a dear wife. Not to be all gushy and all – well actually yeah that’s what I had intended 😛
That set the stage for me leaving on the first support raising trip without her. Most of the next weeks and months will be this way. I’ll be in the Chicago suburbs raising support while she’s in Champaign working in the schools and seeing each other for a short weekend each week.
I can feel a sense of urgency to finish support raising as quick as possible, it is stronger, almost new. Certainly God provides in His time and I’ll be doing this until He tells me otherwise, but nonetheless my heart speeds and my pace quickens.
“Just drove away from Champaign without my wife, one of the hardest things I’ve had to do so far while raising support. 9:50 AM Aug 9th via Twitter”
The hard thing about leaving has less to do with separating from her – that’s tough for sure – it’s the not knowing for how long. How many weeks will we be following this routine, how many more times will I drive away from our house watching her eyes fight back tears as mine do the same?
As I prayed through all this, it became evident to me the urgency, the questions, the worrying were all rooted in the fear I was feeling. I haven’t had to be alone for the past year, I’ve had a companion. As I pull away for the week, I’m alone again: me, my thoughts and my work. Lucky for me I follow a God who meets us in that place of alone.
Thanks for all the prayers and help from all our dear friends and ministry partners. Just a few days ago we rolled into our driveway back in Champaign after being on the road for 1 month. God really provided over this past month, but we’re still hard at work in the support raising process.
The next couple weeks will have us in Champaign meeting with people in the area. We’re really asking God to continue to provide and give us rest as we go into the next season of support raising.
Amy’s job in the local schools starts back up in a few weeks and I’ll begin traveling back and forth between Champaign and the Chicago Suburbs weekly to continue raising support. The details of how that looks week to week are still being figured out, but it will definitely look in some way like us being apart the majority of the time. We’re hoping God provides our needed support quickly!
Well I sure haven’t posted here in a while! Allow me to offer a bit of an explanation for those of you faithful enough to return to a stale site:
You see, I have this whole wedding thing going on and I’ve been quite busy planning with Amy and in what time I can steal away from work, ministry, wedding planning, running, Amy and so on – I’ve spent building a website.
The majority of the content on the site is about the wedding, to provide an additional place for our guests to go when they can’t find the save-the-date or wedding invitation. More info will be added as I have time.
If you’d like to follow the blog devoted to our wedding click here, or if you’re not RSS savvy here.
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Greg Van Nada
VERY COOL Love you, Dad
On Mission in Haiti and Memphis / nicknamy.net
[...] some of you may have noticed in our last update letter Illini Life sent off two different missions teams
Desiree
Ahahah! Such a funny commercial!
Support Raising: By the numbers / nicknamy.net
[...] back I posted giving a brief rundown of the process of raising support most missionaries go through. It’s a
nick
Generousee seems a fitting word, surprised we made it this far without it. :-) Thanks for the prayers and kind words
