2006 has indeed been a pivotal year for our family. Not only did we incorporate a new member into our family, our son Kerrigan, but I also underwent a somewhat dramatic career change, coupled with moving from Southern California to a far-flung location in Eastern Europe. What the heck is going on here?

For the most part, I think this whole thing has mainly been driven by the need for me to spend more time with my wife and toddler son. Back in the days when I worked for Disney, adding in commute time (about an hour each way), I would spend 11-12 hours a day, five days a week, away from home. Many evenings and weekends would be spent with our church group or staying current with advances in my profession. Living in Kosice, Slovakia – at about a fourth the cost of living in California – enables me to work from home most of the time, preparing for my next teach, which should only require me to travel away from home for one week every other month or so.

Aside from the more relaxed pace of life, taking some time out of the rat race enables me to focus on what’s truly important in life, in particular, marriage and family. In addition, it gives me a chance to stop, catch my breath, and figure out what to do next. A big part of my life back in the States involved helping establish our church group, Koinonia John the Baptist, in America, specifically in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. That endeavor consumed a great deal of energy, especially because of the challenges inherent in bringing a group of foreigners to the United States and trying to pave the way for them to integrate into our culture (which at times felt like an Quixotic goal). I now want to take some time to discern the best way for me to contribute to the KJB mission and at the same time leave a lasting legacy – which is the sort of thing someone my age starts to think about. 