Willeke Update

Life in the US is definitely a different pace than life in Europe.  There are things that I like about it better, and things that I miss terribly about our life in Europe.  But, we are confident that we are where God wants us to be. 

Here is a bit about what is going on in our lives:

Jill -- Works at Target Headquarters in Minneaoplis, MN.  Spends about 10 hours a week in her car and 45 hours a week working.  In her spare time, she cooks, cleans, goes to baseball games, takes a few photographs, and helps out Chris with office stuff for CleanShield. 

Christian -- Graduates from the 8th grade tonight!  He is enjoying playing baseball for the first time since he was 5.  Math was a bit of a struggle for him in school, but he has done well in his other classes.  Adjustment to public school in the US was HUGE for him.  He excelled in art and was Music Student of the Year (or month -- not sure, but he got a nice certificate and more importantly an ice cream cone!). 

Chris -- Works extrememly hard taking care of business with Clean Shield.  He usually puts in 10 hour days with a mix of delivering washer fluid and office work.  He has made great strides in getting the books in order, making sales calls, and managing cash flow.  There have been some difficult decisions that he has had to make over the last several weeks and the stress and pressure have been high.  Things seem to be leveling off now. He is also working on developing a new unit that will dispense washer fluid via a pay at the pump situation -- so while you fill up with gas, you can fill up with washer fluid as well. 

We have found a wonderful church to attend and have an awesome small group to fellowship with.  God has truly blessed us with good friends that have welcomed us into their lives. 

How can you pray for us? 

• Pray for wisdom for Chris as he is researching technical aspects of the pay at the pump system.  God has opened many doors, we are still looking for an engineering firm that will work with us to connect the parts.
• Pray that we will stay focused on what God has called us here to do with Clean Shield.  Spiritual warfare is definitely upon us. 
• Pray for Christian as he has a busy summer of travel with grandparents and preparation for High School!  (Need to review some Algebra skills)
• Pray for safe travels for Jill as she travels back and forth to Minneapolis, and that she will also be a light to those she works with. 

Have a great summer!