Times They are A Changin'

A lot has happened since our last update. As we mentioned, Meg is pregnant! Woohoo! On Christmas Day we found out the sex of the baby and it's a…… BOY! Yippie!! We are so excited to be first-time parents and the due date is coming fast! April 10th! More on that in a moment, but first:

Ministry Update:

We continue to partner with the Garmisch US military base and have been going to the youth group meetings that they have for the teenagers on base. This has been a good opportunity to meet some kids that live on base but also go to Munich International School. Although very different from Young Life Club we still have had some good conversations about life and faith with these kids. It’s also been a good opportunity for Chase to drink some American Root Beer! And pregnant Meg was really into the Cheetos last week...

Meg was asked to lead all the European Young Life Staff in a 45 minute time of guided prayer. This included over 80 different people from all corners of Europe. Meg is gifted at creating sacred spaces and did a fantastic job. She received several emails and compliments and it was a great opportunity for her to practice the type of work that she loves and makes her come alive. Find her in the top middle of the Zoom Screen!

We have also started preparing for summer camp while our brains still fully function! Our roles will shift this year, Meg will take a step back and be a general helper while attending to Baby, and Chase gets to take on a role he’s been waiting for–coordinating the Program Team (aka the funny characters and activity leaders)! Creating cross-cultural humor will be a fun challenge!

The Visa situation has been our bane ever since we’ve arrived here. We have been able to live in Germany just fine but the temporary visa that they have given us is very specific that Chase can only work for Young Life, meaning he cannot work or even volunteer at the school. Finally, however, we have our final interview on March 15th! We've been told they will approve it, but we are praying the final Visa will change Chase’s status. We hope this to be true although we have learned to be prepared for anything when it comes to German bureaucracy…

Please join us in prayer that our Visa will give Chase access to the school!!!

What happens when Baby comes!?

So many things of course! Chase will take a few weeks of paternity leave, but we are fortunate to have the Guchee’s coming to help us out for a while! As of now, the plan is for Meg to take three months of maternity leave and then assess what feels feasible for the fall. We are so grateful to have jobs that can be flexible and to live in a place that literally pays you to have children (it’s called Kindergeld).

We will give birth at our local hospital and Chase is excited to reverse roles and play music therapist/DJ for Meg. Everything has been progressing smoothly and Meg & Baby are both well--although signs are pointing that he will be a big boy!

If you love a good home tour or are just curious about how we are preparing for baby, check out our apartment tour video!

Lastly, we are looking forward to getting to know this kid and spending time together as a family at our local lake this summer!

Thank you so much for being a part of OUR family. It’s a little scary to have a baby on the other side of the world (although Germans would say that it's even more scarier to have a baby in the US lol), but we are so grateful 1) to have enough community here to feel confident that we can navigate this and 2) to know you are behind us cheering us on!

If you are at all interested in helping us create space for Baby, we welcome gifts of all kinds! They really help!

- Check out our Amazon.de Registry which makes it easy! You will need to make a separate account as it doesn’t link with USA Amazon, but a Prime subscription is not necessary to order!

- You can also send cash via check (ask for our address) or Venmo (@harmoney) which helps us buy things second-hand and pool towards larger items!

- If you’d like to send us a special or handmade present, we recommend avoiding international fees and instead shipping to Kelle Guchee who is bringing an extra suitcase along (ask for address).

We really are so grateful for you all and can't wait to let you know when Baby Harmon enters the world!!!

A few other snapshots of the past few months featuring our small group, Chase skiing, Meg in a Munich museum, and Meg's birthday tea party!