Heading West... 05/12/2011
 It has been a busy Spring! The semester at MNU has come to a close and with that, Regan's responsibilities as a resident educator have shifted to summer housing. It has been so much fun for our family to live and work among these wonderful college students this past year. Another highlight was Regan's opportunity to travel to Tucson, Arizona to visit her sister Robin. The girls spent time together having manicures, going to farmer's markets, and hiking in the desert.  Regan with her sister Robin hiking near Tucson, Arizona  Jason recently returned from a three and a half week trip to Büsingen, Germany where our family lived and worked last year. He was invited back to EuNC to teach a short term session on Christian Worship. He enjoyed having students from Portugal, Germany, Holland, and Ukraine! On that note, EuNC is currently making some significant changes in the near future so we invite you to pray for them as they seek to move forward. As you can see, Europe holds a very special place in our hearts!  Jason with worship students at the Cathedral in Freiburg, Germany  Carter with birthday cupcakes The biggest news in Carter's life is that he recently turned four years old! He is growing and changing every day and constantly surprises us with his desire to learn and make us laugh. His newest accomplishment is riding his new bike (complete with training wheels and a bell!).  Downtown Portland with Mount Hood Finally, our biggest family news to date is that we will soon be moving to Portland, Oregon! Jason recently accepted a pastoral/ missionary role in which he will help develop and lead a new ministry primarily among young adults. The new ministry is the result of several months of prayer and vision casting among the leadership of Portland First Church of the Nazarene. We are excited to see what God will do!  There are still many unknowns as to what shape this ministry will take so we invite you to join us in prayer as we embark on these next steps. It is our deepest desire that people will come to deeply know the love of God made known in Jesus, sense the warm embrace of His Church, and become lifelong followers of the Way. Now that we have decided to move, there are many details that will need to be worked out. We ask for your prayers as we try to decide what to do with our house in Olathe, seek new housing in Portland, and prepare for this big transition! At this point, we anticipate an early to mid-summer move. Grace and Peace, Jason, Regan, and Carter Veach 2 Comments Advent and Beyond... 12/22/2010
 Many blessings to you during the final days of this Advent season. Advent is a meaningful time in our household. We always find ourselves both challenged and renewed in hope as we ponder the implications of Christ's coming into our lives and into our world. It has been nearly three months since we last posted a family update. For those wondering what's happening in our lives, please forgive us! After a year of living and working abroad, we have been back in the United States now for about five months and while it has taken some readjustment, we have been blessed to surrounded by a vital community, good friends, and of course, family.  Regan has been able to reconnect with her college roommates  Regan with a group of students from campus As our last blog post mentioned, we moved in early September onto the campus of MidAmerica Nazarene University where Regan is currently employed as a resident educator. She oversees community life in three apartment-style dorms on campus which include about 150 girls. This job has proven to be a blessing for our family in so many ways. Apart from providing obvious income to meet our family's needs, we have found living among students to be exciting and rewarding. Living on a college campus has been a rich context for ministry and we have enjoyed opening up our home to share life with these wonderful students. Regan has worked very hard at learning the responsibilities that come with this position and has found her role to be personally fulfilling. We have rented our house in Olathe for another year and have good tenants which makes our living on campus right now the perfect solution. God has been so good to us and has provided for our needs in every way. We are so thankful.  Carter's first ride in a John Deere this Fall Carter has grown in many ways since our transition. He enjoys living among college students and the highlight of his week is when he gets to eat lunch at campus center. He seems to be quite popular among students and staff and loves to scan his official MNU ID card! While he has done very well considering the amount of transition he's already had in his three short years, the move has also brought some challenges for him. The year he spent in Europe included limited peer interaction due to the context in which we were working so understandably, he is learning how to interact with others his age. He attends a local pre-school program once a week and has participated in a soccer program, both of which have helped immensely.  Spindle family gathering for Thanksgiving  Carter with his camera In November, we were able to spend Thanksgiving with Regan's family which meant Carter got lots of play time with his cousins. We are constantly surprised by his love of learning. He is reading constantly, continues to love maps, taking photographs, and has even been learning some French with his grandma Spindle! He is a special guy and we are so proud of him. Living on campus has provided some avenues for Jason to continue to be engaged in ministry. He has been able to do some mentoring, speak in a couple of chapel services and substitute teach in the religion and philosophy department. Spring will bring additional opportunities at MNU and in late March, he will return to European Nazarene College to teach a class on Christian worship. He anticipates spending time with some previous students and reuniting with the faculty and staff at EuNC.  Plaza lights in Kansas City Jason's biggest challenge has been the continual search for full-time employment. His heart is to be in pastoral ministry again and while some potential possibilities have arisen over the past few months, nothing has materialized yet that seems to be the right fit. On the positive side, this has given Jason and Carter lots of time to spend together and strengthen their relationship. While the search continues, we continue to trust God's guidance in our lives. We thank you for your prayers on our behalf as our situation tends to make us feel as though we are in perpetual "transition."  In closing, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas! In a world that is marked by brokenness and conflict, it is our prayer that you will experience the presence of the One who brings wholeness and peace. Jason, Regan, and Carter Veach Transitions... 09/09/2010
We have now been back in the United States for a little over seven weeks and it's hard to believe that time can move so quickly. Moving back after a year away has brought both joys and challenges. On the one hand, we have been able to reconnect with many family and friends. On the other, we leave behind many new friends from our year of ministry in Europe. It seems we often feel a mixture of emotions from day to day. If there was one word to describe where we are right now, it would be "transition."  At the ancient forum in Rome  Carter greeted Jason's parents Two weeks before we returned home from Europe, Jason's parents flew into Zurich Airport to meet us for a vacation before taking the long journey back to the USA. We had an incredible time visiting the Swiss Alps, Italy, Turkey, and Greece. In the near future, we will be posting more pictures from that trip here. The trip was relaxing but it was also an opportunity for Jason's parents to share a bit from our life in Europe. Of course, the grandparents weren't complaining since they got to see their grandson after seven months without him!  In an ice palace at the Top of Europe  Carter with cousins and grandparents After our arrival to the USA on July 20, we spent a few days recuperating from the exhausting journey and promptly traveled some more! We made our way to Branson, Missouri where we were able to meet Regan's brother and family to spend time together. Activities included swimming, visits to Silver Dollar City, and eating BBQ. Carter was able to spend some quality time catching up with some of his aunt, uncle, cousins and of course, his Spindle grandparents. Following our time in Branson, we stopped through Springfield, Missouri to visit Jason's brother Josh and his wife Rashele along with some extended family. It was so good to see them all again!  Carter in SDD jail with the face to match  The kids sang 'Happy Birthday' to Grams In August, we made a trip to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where it was a blistering 105 degrees. But, we were able to see some more of Regan's extended family and celebrate together the 94th birthday of Regan's grandmother Lillian. What a wonderful occasion!  Regan and her grandmother Spindle  Fishing with papa We also took a quick trip to Jason's home town in Missouri where we again spent time with Jason's parents. This time, we got to hang out at their new house which has a great place to go fishing. It was Carter's first time and with the help of his great-grandfather, he caught a fish! Jason was invited to preach at the Nazarene church there during the weekend and the trip proved to be a relaxing few days.  Grandpa Veach giving casting lessons  Whew! So much has happened since we returned but the biggest news is Regan's new position as Resident Educator at MidAmerica Nazarene University. She will oversee three dorms on campus which means our family will be experiencing dorm life together again! While this was certainly not in our plans or even on our radar, it has proven to be a wonderful blessing for our family and we are excited for the opportunity to work with college students again. We have spent the last week packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, etc. and hope to get out of "transition" for at least a while and find some kind of normal again. Jason has continued the search for a place of pastoral ministry and though the process has been slow and even disappointing at times, we are confident that God is at work in our lives and we are fully committed to attempting to serve those around us, wherever we are...we pray that God will continue to grant you his grace and peace! The Veach Family The Road Goes Ever On and On 07/19/2010
 View from the summit of Mount Rigi, Switzerland Just over a year ago, we moved across the world to serve in a culture different than our own. We left the familiar to pursue an unknown path. We have seen amazing places from historical churches and ancient cities to river valleys and Alpine vistas. We have participated in new kinds of ministry. We have traveled the continent, eaten new and different foods, and tried to learn and speak new languages. This path has been full of new adventures and experiences for our family and we will, without a doubt, carry them with us for the rest of our lives.  Carter and his college friends, Keila and Johanna And yet we both agree. The greatest impact on our lives has been the relationships we have developed. We have been blessed to meet students, friends, and colleagues in ministry from around the world who have blessed us more than we could have imagined. In many ways, EuNC has become "home" for us this past year, not just because it’s the place we have lived, but because of the community we have experienced. We feel extremely honored to have been able to participate in the work of God's kingdom through European Nazarene College this past year. We continue to offer our deepest thanks to those of you who have prayed for us and supported our ministry financially. We simply could not have committed a year of volunteer ministry without you. Thank you!  Regan with a group of girls for a night out in Schaffhausen  Jason speaking in final chapel service Our last few weeks of ministry here included a flurry of activities. Regan focused much of her attention on some administrative tasks related to course evaluation while Jason gave leadership to the final chapel services of the year and finished teaching a course on worship. Carter hung out as much as possible with his college student friends and loved watching the World Cup! We participated in a week of faculty meetings focused on planning, an all-campus work day, end-of-the-year parties, and of course, graduation! It was an honor to hear the graduates express the ways God has been at work in their lives, transforming them throughout their college experience. We will be watching with expectation for the ways God will work through them in the future.  A few of the graduates after receiving their diplomas Following graduation, Jason's parents came to Europe to join us and we were able to spend several days relaxing and exploring parts of Europe with them. What a blessing it has been to have them come over and see first hand where we have been living and working!  On the road into Schaffhausen As this chapter comes to a close, we find ourselves in transition. In The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins sings a song as he leaves his home in The Shire that expresses where we are in our journey these days: "The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say." Tomorrow we will leave Büsingen and head to Kansas City. And whither then? We cannot say! At this point, we are pursuing job possibilities - Regan in education and Jason in pastoral ministry. In the meantime, we have decided to rent out our home in Olathe and God has again provided stable renters for the house. This "frees" us up to take the necessary time to find jobs that are a good fit for us. In the meantime, we will be based in the Olathe area as we transition into whatever God has in store for us next. While one chapter is closing, our journey is not over. With "eager feet," we anticipate the next steps of the journey as we attempt to walk faithfully into the future. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf during this time.  We will continue to use this blog to provide family updates. However, we will no longer send them through the Facebook Group "Veaches at EuNC." If you would like to continue to receive posts and updates, you can do so via email by simply entering your email address in the box on this page (top right) and click subscribe or just check back often. It is our intention to continue to use everythingveach.com as a site to share news, pictures, and information about our family. To our friends and family, thank you so much for your love and support. May God richly bless you now and in the future. Grace and Peace, The Veach Family CHANGE 08/04/2009
This past Sunday, we announced my resignation from Overland Park Church of the Nazarene where I have been serving as associate pastor. This is a wonderful community of faith where we have come to love so many people. Once we got home from church, we collapsed into an exhausted, emotional heap for about 2 hours and then got back up to go finish cleaning our house and prepping it for our renters who moved in yesterday. Change is hard... | Subscribe to receive blog posts via email
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