From the Midwest USA to the Middle East: UAE

In the words of Bennett, our 8-year-old:

Why we are going to the U.A.E.

by Bennett

There are a couple reasons. Dad got a job offer, and he accepted it. Another reason is time together as a family. Dad will be flying to the U.A.E. later this week. Things will be different, and I'm ready.

It's true, we're putting our life in Iowa on hold for a while and starting a new adventure.  Jason has accepted a position with Rockwell Collins in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This is a great career opportunity and chance to put his MBA to work in a position he is really enjoying. So on March 31st we are leaving Cedar Rapids. We will visit our families for a few weeks and just after Easter we are flying to the Eastern side of the Arabian peninsula.

(Jason already had a current passport)

We are excited for the opportunity for our family. This is, in fact, one aspect to homeschooling that we've always enjoyed: the chance to give our kids these type of out-of-the-box experiences. (Oh boy is this out of the box and out of everyone's comfort zones.) And now is the perfect time to do this . Our kids are all at the right age to learn from and remember this experience, yet not old enough that we have to be thinking of jobs and college. We hope, through the up-close experience in another culture, that we all gain a better understanding and a bigger view of our world and a better understanding and love for the people in it. We are praying that this family adventure will help knit us together as we explore and adjust together. One big adventure before these little Kautzes are all grown up!

It's a big undertaking. SO much paperwork! SO much packing! But also, it is such a blessing. This opportunity has forced us to reevaluate our priorities, helped us to identify the things we find most important, and reorganized our family time.  In many ways we are simplifying, not just in the decluttering that moving forces, but also in a respite from the crazy busy tyranny of four kids in four different schooling options. We are hoping for a type of rest in these next two years.

We're all, to various degrees, excited and anxious and curious and worried. There are just so many unknowns. We have researched as best we can, and so far we know that the UAE is a very modern and wealthy nation with English as their second main language after Arabic. Shariah law is in place so modesty is encouraged. The Persian (Arab) Gulf is gorgeous. The summers are oppressively hot. The winter weather is beautiful. The nation has less than 1% arable land. The world's largest building (the Burj Khalifa) is in Dubai, as is the world's largest shopping mall. This is also the place with the palm-tree-shaped artificial islands and gold-dispensing ATMs. The Louvre and Guggenheim art museums are opening branches there. Formula One racing and camel racing are both popular. Farrari World amusement park has the world's fastest roller coaster. The Dubai police fleet includes Lambourghinis, Ferraris, and Bentleys. This is a nation of superlatives. Facts are easy to come by. Understanding will only come through experiencing the culture.

We are already missing  people here as we wind down school and spend all our time packing. So we hope to keep in touch with people through this blog and social media.

Yesterday was hard and beautiful. We said goodbye to our brothers and sisters in our church family. Or, rather, "See you later" because we hope to return to exactly this place when our Arabian Adventure is complete.

What a blessing to be sent out, as ambassadors of our church family, knowing that God is at work through these brothers and sisters and we are going, in many ways, because of them and through them.  The elders prayed for us after the service yesterday. We sang "By Faith" and "Let the Nations Be Glad" together. And we were sent out, knowing and believing we can confidently say,

The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear