move out of house - haviland #1, haviland #2, Wichita, Missouri, Charlotte, Ocean Isle, Wilmington, Kill Devil Hills, Mechanicsville, Greensboro, and, finally, JAARS! The past few weeks have been an amazing experience for the whole family as we have seen so many places and spent time with so many people, new friends and old. In every place we laid our heads, we felt loved, at peace, and blessed to be there. The van held up well, even pulling the trailer, and the kids waited to get sick until we moved into our apartment. (How accommodating of them ;-) The first night here, Patrick and I were nearly comatose on the couch, and Hannah commented on our lack of energy. I said, you know why we're so tired? It might seem like it took 2 1/2 weeks to get here. But really, its been 2 1/2 years. Still a bit surreal. My kids are probably too young to remember the last few weeks, so the pictures are for them :-)
Alas, our pictures are backwards. So this is from the end of our trip, at a brief but special stop to see Brett, Jess, and Isaac in Greensboro. We had lots of fun at the children's museum!
At the beautiful Maymont Park in downtown Richmond.
the equally beautiful boardwalk in the town of Duck, NC
trying the famous Duck Donuts. Which really are worth the hype!
The end of a long. long. long. day. We had left Ocean Isle in the morning, drove to Wilmington and toured downtown, then the battleship, then went to spend the night with new friends, some fellow AIMers. The next morning we got up early and drove 3 hours to catch the ferry at Cedar Island, to Ocracoke, then spent a few hours on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Then drove another little while, caught another ferry, and stopped to eat supper (below) at the Mad Crabber, drove another little while and pulled into Kill Devil Hills. And, thats what happens when you open the trunk. Our car was pretty interesting, after a few days of beachiness, with wet swimsuits, beach toys, water shoes, and shells shoved in every available nook and cranny. I tell you what, you do not want to leave wet sea shells in your closed up car for too long. It does not smell good!
I have to confess, I didn't really eat much of this, I just wanted to have the experience.
Cape Hatteras
waiting for the ferry
The battleship North Carolina
thankful that this is not how we will be getting to Africa!
a little downward dog, anyone?
Really good times at the beach with my family
the very definition of ornery
I'd like to pretend goodbyes didn't happen because I don't like to think about it again, as if that makes it any easier. I doubt I'll forget, but the kids need to know.
we had a very special time participating in VBS at FSBC Pratt. I shared alot on FB, so I won't repeat. It was a really crazy week, as we were in the process of moving out of our house and then staying with family, but I am really glad we were able to share so much with those kids, it was a special experience. There we are, in the middle. It was a bit third world actually, when we took the picture. Everybody sort of mobbed the middle, and Caroline got trampled!
at our commissioning service, with Pastor Steve, members of Patrick's family, and the missions committee all up there with us.
Thank you for taking the time to check on us and share in our adventures. Many many thanks to all the wonderful people we shared a meal, a home, a prayer with, over the last little while. More than ever, we know we we are not going alone; we are so grateful for our team, and for the Body of Christ. Patrick starts orientation on Tuesday, and we start school, my first year with 2 kids in school.
ps. Aug 30, the day I posted this, the Joshua project people group of the day, in the upper right hand corner, was a Swahili speaking Islamic tribe in Kenya. Helps me remember why the goodbyes, why the traveling, why the "sacrifice." So all may know, and praise His great name!
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