In the late spring of 2017 Robert approached me with a wonderful idea. He said “I have an opportunity to apply for a Fulbright Grant and teach in Graz, Austria”. After hours of discussion and prayers we decided that it would be a once in a lifetime adventure for the family. In August 2017 he applied for the Fulbright Grant. Then the waiting began…

In early December we heard that he had made it through the first round of cuts. On the evening of 13 February 2018 the wait was over! Robert received an email from Washington D.C. stating that he had been awarded the Fulbright. Since the following day was Valentine’s Day, we slipped a simple note into the kids’ Valentine’s cards which simply read “We are going to Graz!”. Ah the squeals of delight rang throughout the living room!

Robert immediately applied for a sabbatical and contacted his fellow professors at Grand Valley State University. A few days later he received an email from a lady named Birgit who would become our liaison at FH Joanneum University in Graz. By the end of March we had an apartment and everything since then has fallen into place pretty smoothly.

We did have to travel to NYC to apply in person at the Austrian Consulate for our visas. We all have a Visa D which allows us to stay in the EU/Schengen area of Europe for 180 days. We drove to Manhattan and spent a long weekend exploring the city at Christmas time. We couldn’t apply any early than Dec. 1st. We were at the Consulate of Monday, December 3rd! It was fun getting to show the kids around NYC! Our visas arrived and we picked them up at FEDEX on 2 January 2019.

It was a lot of hard work and preparations, but we know that God has blessed us with this opportunity.