Showing posts with label The Journey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Journey. Show all posts

7.20.2011

Wow!!!





Wow!
With the best of intentions, I began a blog.  Then.We.Moved!
To briefly recap, the move went well.  With some “educational” hiccups along the way!
 Walkin’ in Memphis- ya know like the 80’s country song??  Not nearly so fun in reality!
The moving truck’s water pump went out.  Thankfully, we were able to pull into an industrial complex where there was a large lawn and we weren’t in danger as we waited 4+ hours to get a plan into place!
After our delay, we got back on the road and were able to pull into Atlanta midday on Friday.  Since our beds and household items were in the moving truck (which was at the repair shop in Memphis) we stayed with family for our first several days here.  On Tuesday at 10pm our truck arrived with all of our stuff, and with help from Generations church, we were moved in by midday Wednesday!
The conspicuously ‘extra’ member of the move-in crew is LeRoy the Choirboy.  He welcomed us to our new home on Tuesday night late, and had us wondering what these city folks are up to by putting out Christmas lawn ornaments in July…thankfully we learned that he was the Welcome-wagon representative from the church.  He pops up at the most unlikely places and has been known to frequent Chick-Fil-A.  We look forward to paying back someone by placing LeRoy in an unexpected spot!
We have finally begun moving our books into bookshelves which makes our house a home!  We are comfortable and happy to be settling in.  The neighborhood is very nice and neighbor kids have come to the door most days to ask Jesse to come out to play.  Jesse has enjoyed having boys to play with, and since this is the first neighborhood we’ve lived in, it is meeting all of his expectations- he’s still waiting for the ice cream truck to drive by!
Southern Hospitality is just like they say- neighbors have welcomed us with pineapple, (a sign of hospitality) gift cards to grocery stores, and home baked bread.  They have made us feel very welcome.
The weather is…WOW!  On our move-in day the temperature was record setting, with a heat index of 105!  We consider it an accomplishment that we all lived through it!  It cooled off the next few days and the weekend was actually pleasant!  It is soooo different, but we are acclimating well- Praise God, he has given us healthy bodies to adjust with, and we are enjoying the accompanying ‘GLOW’ that we never before understood!
Since our arrival, we’ve been able to go to an Ethiopian restaurant, which we loved!  We’ve been to a men’s league hockey game, which was nice and chilly! Went to a pizza buffet called Stevie B’s which left us reminiscing over the 80’s singer of the same name…Aaron even found a clip of a music video for Spring Love- It wasn’t pretty, but we rocked steady!  The International Farmers market is a grocery store that we went to yesterday- food items are organized by continent.  It has a meat department that sells EVERY part of the animal.   Again, I say, WOW!  We bought some Korean Sweet Potatoes, which were a big hit, and fresh made corn tortillas were excellent.  I was able to attend a Ladies Night Out with church ladies, and I navigated the big city driving successfully- Yahoo!  And the biggest blessing so far has to be…Wildlife in our yard!!  A mama duck and 6 ducklings cruised by last Wednesday, and a deer was in the backyard on Thursday- We were delighted!
Thank you so much for praying for us.  In the craziness of the move, family devotions and personal quiet times are difficult to get in- which obviously leaves us feeling ‘off’ and like something is missing- So prayer support is sooo appreciated!  We are thankfully back in the swing now and are getting back to feeling like ourselves more.   I will begin brewing up some recipes for natural mosquito repellants next week, and I’m very open to any tips or suggestions you may have. 3 of the 5 of us are yummy to mosquitoes, so we will need to ward them off daily, and I’d like to avoid the chemicals if at all possible!
We are happy, healthy and thankful to have arrived safely.  Whenever people ask where we moved from, they follow up with asking what the weather is like there- All I can think to say is that it is “Perfect!”  We sure miss the people, the ‘feel’ of being at home, and all of the beauty there- but we are already seeing opportunities to share and serve, we can see God’s divine appointments daily!   

Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it. Psalms 37:4-5

6.26.2011

Baby Steps


We are first and foremost Christians.  We are grateful that God is our
Lord and Creator, that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and
that the Holy Spirit is our Helper and Constant Guide.  A personal
relationship with God and the presence of the Lord in our daily life
has moved us to step out in faith to enter into a new lifestyle, a new
context and a more fully surrendered life!



We are leaving the small town in Montana that is our Home-Sweet-Home,
and relocating in order to seek and serve the Lord with our whole
heart.  We have so enjoyed the beauty that God created in this part of
our country!  We’ve lived our life in a mountain vacation setting with
wildlife all around us…This community has the “small-town” feel that
we thought only existed in the movies!  We are so thankful to have
enjoyed this way of life and our relationships here and we are
savoring our last 8 days in this beautiful valley!



The next stop on our adventure will be a much warmer and distinctly
stickier climate- Atlanta, Georgia!  For the next 12 months Aaron will
be a missions intern at a small church in Norcross Georgia, receiving
training from the pastors as he works alongside them to love the
congregation, grow in scriptural knowledge and application, and serve
our new community.  As David Platt termed it in his book Radical, we
are seeking to “leave our context”.  Our goal is to be used
by God long-term, so this training is in preparation for that.  It is
such a blessing that the Lord has provided this in-between season to
ease our family out of our current norms, and help us adapt to a new
way of living.  God has led us to this point and we are trusting in
Him to prepare us to take the step that follows, into a foreign
context.  This year will allow us to transition from our small town
life to one that is so very different in so many ways!  Climate,
population density, surroundings and culture will be dramatically
different.   It will be a big adjustment for the five of us, yet He is
dealing with us in such a gentle way.  He has done this many times
before in our life, and we are so grateful for His loving ways.  We
know that this year in Atlanta will teach us a lot and be vital in
preparing us for service overseas.  We are so thankful for baby steps!