Gone in the morning

Don't tell them we're leaving. I'm not sure they can handle it.

In the mean time, we covet your prayers. Tomorrow we board our plane to the Dominican Republic where we will be for a month. Pray for our safety and health. Pray for the 12 high school and college students who will be joining us as we serve the weekly teams from the US. Pray for opportunities to be lights in a dim place. Pray for our hearts to be changed, so that we grow up just a little bit more and somehow become more like the Savior.

I leave you with this one thought from God himself:

"Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days-- You would not believe if you were told" Habakkuk 1:5

It is this thought which keeps us humble in these days... that we are not the One doing anything. God has been strategizing and planning. Preparing our team for a month of service, preparing Dominicans to minister to us, preparing our passions. You see -- He's been doing this among "the nations" for thousands of years and yet it still holds a majestic, overwhelming reality, as if He just started today. God's heart is for the nations. May His heart be found in us.

the new look

Thanks to all of you who voted. He successfully kept the lumberjack look for weeks growing the longest beard he's ever had. Alas, it had to go in light of the coming month in 90+ degree weather. Farmer's tans are never good, especially on your face.

Since we left...

After a fun dinner with new friends, the Thompsons, on Friday (5/18), we packed up the car the next day and headed south. 14 hours later we arrived at my mom's house in Trinity at 1am on Sunday. Then, it was a week of visiting family and friends.

Here are just a few of the things we've been up to:
-Our first time in the new worship center at First Pres
-Dinner with my sis and her fam
-Shopping with mom
-NC BBQ and sweet tea!
-A quick visit to BBBS
-High school reunion planning (my 10 year)
-Mexican with dad and judy
-Visiting the grandparents
-Meeting with part of our summer staff team
-Renewing our lease with the folks renting our house
-Playing with Jason, Carla and the boys (twice)




-Seeing Pirates 3 with friends
-Chauncy playing with a frog (and no, she didn't kill it)


-Lunch with the Strattons (who are expecting their first!)

Then, we packed up the car again and drove west to Marion to see the rest of the fam. We've seen G-ma, parents, sisters, nephews, and a niece so far. We taught Eisley to go down a slide. And we took an afternoon to play in downtown Asheville.


Today will mostly be spent packing. Tomorrow morning, we'll head out early to catch our flight in Charlotte. Adios!

You're it.

It seems that someone invented a geeked out version of freeze tag for bloggers. Our friend, Nathan, "tagged" us. The game seems pretty harmless. Nerdy. But harmless. I’ll explain more below…

First, these are the rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts or habits about him or herself.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the beginning of your blog, mention the person who tagged you. At the end of your post, choose eight people to tag, listing their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Okay… Eight random things about us:

Since moving to Massachusetts....

1. Because I work at home and Justin's class schedule is so spread out, we spend anywhere from 21 to 23 hours a day together (in one room). And we still like each other.

2. Because the seminary is so close, Justin only spends about 6 minutes in the car a day. In the winter, he spent more time trying to get into the car (b/c of snow, ice, etc.) than actually driving it. I drive alot more...grocery, pharmacy, gas station, bank, library.

3. Everytime it rains, we run to our door afraid of finding an impending flash flood. See previous post.

4 One of our favorite lunchtime meals is a Mr. P's "little pizza." And it only costs $0.79. If you want a funny story...ask Justin about his Mr. P's diet.

5. Since the season started, we've watched baseball almost every night. Maybe not the whole game, but at least the synopsis. You could literally watch something about the Red Sox 24 hours a day. I'm not exaggerating.

6. We watched the first five seasons of 24. We're waiting for season 6 to finish before we start to watch it. We have a marathon planned with some new friends when we get back from the DR.

7. We've both been asked, "(You're from North Carolina) So where's your accent?"

8. Additionally, we've both been told, "You must be from the South."

I tag: Kevin, Mary, Jason & Lauren, Will & Christy, Joe & Anne, Brad & Rebecca , Theresa & Andy, and Chris & Melissa.

Goodbye Lorelais

Yes, I AM blogging about a tv show. Gilmore Girls has long existed in our Tivo lineup. After giving up on many a WB/CW show, the snappy, witty Gilmores lived on. As with most shows about teenagers, moving on to the college years is usually a mistake (Dawson's Creek anyone?). So I commend the writers/actors/producers for ending it before I would choose to delete it from my season pass list. But I will miss the weekly ramblings of Lorelai and Rory's pro-con lists. Good thing there's such a thing as dvds.