WOW WEEEEEEE

is this really my life???

in the last month i have been to florida, california, florida again, st. joe mo and kentucky. it has been really busy with work and home

celebrating

cool people

i was blown away during my visit to st. joe at the people i met from the church where michael will work. they were awesome, helpful, friendly and just cool. i was kind of expecting superficial niceness because we are the "new people" and probably lots of geeky christians. they were just good people who love jesus and truly want us to love it there.

just some examples: people dropped what they were doing when they found out i would be in town to have breakfast, lunch, coffee, someone called the cable company to find out how i could get internet access for my work in the temporary house, one family is cleaning out the house we will be staying in, a team of people are meeting michael when he gets there to help him unload, one woman searched all the houses for sale by owner in the area and made print outs for me, someone from the school administration is helping me with the best teachers for my kids; someone came in on her day off to meet us about preschool. They are just genuinely excited for us to get there and work with them.

housing

my, oh, my--challenges and opportunities. that is the way we will look at this. we will be in temporary housing for a while until our house sells. we did find a great house and they have accepted our offer contingent on our house selling here so PRAY, PRAY, PRAY our house in NC sells quick.

timing

michael will head out first for a leadership meeting next week and the kids and i will follow and all join up together there by august 11th.

praises and prayers

missio dei, our church here, is up to regular attendance of 40+ people. our first meeting was 8 people 8 mos ago and now there is a larger group of people journeying together towards jesus; caring for each other and reaching out to serve this community. that is some exciting stuff! please continue to pray for them and that kurt and shannon will be strengthened for their increased service. we are super sad to leave them in such an exciting time but are sure they are well positioned to further the kingdom.

wyatt park christian church, where we are going, is doing a series on connecting to self, others and god in the next 4 weeks. this will perfectly set up our ministry philosophy of community. please pray that hearts are opened to our ministry and small groups as we arrive and get going in mid-august.

our kids are really excited about the move and that is making the transition fun to anticipate. pray that they remain that way in the chaos of the coming weeks.

michael also is excited and what god has planned but also is nervous. please pray for him that he will maintain his enthusiasm and continue to manage the great family balance we have found.

as always, a move is hardest on me. i have the adjustment of everyone else on my mind, the move itself and the grief of leaving friends and my family. i am a little exhausted at change. i am excited about this change and fully believe it is the perfect timing and position for our family but i am weary of starting over. will i find fun friends? will my kids like school? will my husband finally love his job? will i be able to keep up with my job? i know these are times to draw close to the prince of peace. pray that i will rest in that.

contact info

cell phones and email at this time?! we are going to pray expectantly that this really is temporary housing situation and we will be announcing a new address soon.