Big changes in sight

We have now lived and worked at the Fänglihof in Zweisimmen for more than seven years. This period of our live is coming to an end and we will be leaving our home on July 1st.

We have run the farm together with Christoph's brother Thomas and his wife Nadine. Unfortunately, we saw many things differently in terms of management, structure and vision. Last December, we took up coaching and in the end we realized that the situation - at least on an emotional level - was more messed up than we thought. What had been brewing under the surface for a long time came to the surface. And at some point in the new year, it became clear that it wasn't possible to find a common path. One family would continue to run the farm alone.

At first, we couldn't imagine leaving this place at all. After all, it was our home, a place where many people found a temporary home, where we had built up a lot, dreamed and had many visions for. But the more we prayed about the situation, the more we realized that we should leave the decision to Thomas and Nadine. If they wanted to continue running the farm, we would leave - if they wanted to reorient themselves, we would continue here. At the beginning of April, Thomas and Nadine's decision was final: they wanted to take over the farm. And we will set out to find out what our path is. As Thomas is going to restructure the farm quite a bit and the farm's finances are tight, it hardly makes sense to stay here for much longer.

So we have less than three months to decide where and how to continue. At the moment, we are assuming that we will leave the Simmental. In this process of change, we are relying on a lot of miracles, including God clearly showing us what the right steps are. And we are praying that our boys' hearts will be well on this journey, that a healthy farewell process can take place and that we as parents can accompany them properly.

Yes, and in some way we have to get our farm household from A to B, or at least store it somewhere temporarily. I (Marlen) would be lying if I said that I didn't respect this undertaking...

Now we are reaching out for something new. Here you can read more about the things that are central to our lives and what our hearts beat for. If you have an idea of a job, a place to live, a task where we might fit in, we are open to hearing about it - even the unconventional!

And last but not least, we pray that when we leave here, there will be enough distance between us and Thomas & Nadine to allow true reconciliation to happen.