Little life update

HarriEd is sleeping on my other arm so I'm attempting to give typing with one hand a shot.  This may be the shortest post with the longest typing time in the history of blogging.  Oh...there, I got my other hand extracted.  Now we're at full typing speed again.

So we landed in IL on Tuesday afternoon.  We were planning to make the trip all in one day (it's about a ten hour drive on an easy going route) but after getting a later-than-desired start on the road (thanks to a 45 minute foray into the realm of Rear View Mirror Attachment) and driving into some nasty fog-turned-into-ice in the evening, we decided to pull off for the night.  If you ever need to stop in Macon, MO, I highly recommend the Comfort Inn.  It's reasonably priced, super nice, and has a swell hot tub. (I'm sure that the availability of said hot tub was accentuated by the fact that I had been riding for about six hours in a cross legged position in the back seat of the Bronco, thanks to the gigantor laser printer being packed under my feet and HarriEd's need to be entertained/fed.)  All that to say that our trip went very smoothly.  Steve did an excellent job driving with the Uhaul trailer.  HarriEd did an excellent job being herself and staying mostly calm.  I did an excellent job keeping various and sundry packed items from falling on my head.  God is so very good to us and we're glad to be here.  Thank you so much for your prayers!  I can honestly say that I never felt tense about the weather or about driving decisions or even about having to spend money unexpectedly.  Me, not worrying?  That is an answer to prayer!

We are renting a house from an older couple in the church here.  It was built in the 50s and hasn't seen a whole lot of updating since then, so the couple and their son are spending quite a bit of time and effort fixing it up.  So far the floors have been sanded and sealed (yay for hardwood floors!) and some painting has been done on the walls.  We can't officially move in until the fixing up is done (boo for noxious fumes), but we were able to unpack onto the enclosed front porch.  The house is quite large compared to our first little place (even most apartments are larger than 512 square feet) and my mind is starting to cook up decorating ideas.  Any room can be spruced up with some retro curtains, right?

(I'll try to post pictures soon.  Steve is over there now helping with the floors...I should have sent the camera with him....)

We're staying with the Gs in the meantime and I'm grateful for their hospitality.  While I'm ready to stop living out of a suitcase for a little while, I'm so glad to be able to stay in comfortable places with comfortable people.  There's a Wal-Mart here (I know, Amelia goes to the Big City) and a wellness center that I'm planning on getting a membership to, thanks to the generous gift from ma famille.   Steve will begin his part time studies with Covenant Seminary on Monday.  He is taking one class through their extension program (Reformation and Modern Church History) but it's exciting to start progress in that area of life, too.

While dealing with the practical aspects of a major life change, it's hard to keep in mind why we felt led to make the life change in the first place.  Last night I attempted to summarize all of our reasons for moving into a concise thought.  Basically, God is leading our hearts into a vocation of ministry, either as a pastor and pastor's family, or as teachers in the church or in a Christian education environment.  We're seizing the God-given opportunity to receive both formal education from seminary as well as practical application in the G's church to discover how we fit into the ministry of the local church and the body of believers as a whole.  And that's pretty much it.

That's an update on us.  I need to get a HarriEd update going....