The long awaited day finally arrived. School came to a close on June 3rd, well, at least for the students. We both had a teacher in-service day to close things out and then Don had two days of classes. What a way to start the summer! We have waited a long time for us to be able to spend a summer without having to report to a job every day, so we are definitely looking forward to this. Our first full week of summer vacation we had friends in for a visit. Jesse and Stacy flew down for six days and we sure had a blast with them. We had fun going out during the day and then staying up to the wee hours of the morning playing games. We sure miss that. We went to Universal Studios, Cypress Gardens and Daytona Beach. We spent some time at the pool and Downtown Disney and just enjoyed our time together (We did anyway, We hope Jesse and Stacy did as well). Daytona Beach was awesome, except for Jesse getting sun-burned. The weather was awesome and the water was perfect.
We have other visits scheduled for the summer and are excited about seeing friends. We love to have friends visit and catch up on old times, so we welcome any friends any time. Tara is off at camp this week with our church's (http://www.northridgehc.com) youth group, so we are praying that good things will happen for these few days. Don is still preparing for his missions trip to Honduras and we are looking for God's leading. Don is still in need of almost half of his funds and is having a little difficulty with his immunizations. A missions update will be posted shortly, so keep an eye out.
We hope the summer doesn't go as quickly as it seems to be going, but we all know that time flies when you're having fun.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Year of Many Moves
As I sit back and look at the past 11 months, I feel like we could have been football players running intricate routes down the sideline and through the middle of the field. Or maybe basketball players doing the shake-n-bake in the lane to avoid defenders and get an open shot. However I look at it, I get exhausted to think about how many moves we have made. At the end of June, 2007 we moved from Danvers, IL to Fairbury, IL in preparation for an eventual move to Florida. It had been our dream to be able to move our family to a warm spot where we could enjoy the outdoors and avoid the harsh winters. With three small children, winters were just a miserable time of the year in our household.
Our move to Fairbury brought many changes. We moved into a 3 bedroom house with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law and his family. What were we thinking? 10 people under the same roof, what insanity! We had no clue how long this living arrangement would last because we had no leads on jobs in Florida. As we prepared for the big move from Danvers, we were sending out resumes like mad, I should say that Tara was sending out resumes for both of us. We were looking for anything and waiting for God to open up doors for us. There is something about waiting on God, when he opens doors, he opens doors. Can you believe, that right after our move to Fairbury, we started getting calls about teaching jobs in Florida schools. Lots of calls were coming in, we were lining up interviews that would end up filling our July Vacation. It was an exciting time.
In July, the same 10 people under the same roof, started out on a vacation under an even smaller roof, an RV. Yes! An RV! What were we thinking? An 18 hour trip in an RV, no problem. The movie had nothing on this. At every gas station we looked like the clown car at a circus. How many people are going to get out of that thing? Well, we made the trip there and back with no fatalities and I think we are even on speaking terms. While in Florida, God provided both Tara and me with teaching positions at Ridge Community High School. And then he even threw in some neat living arrangements on a golf course. Again, isn't waiting on God pretty cool?
So, at the beginning of August, we loaded up the truck and moved to Haines City, Florida that is (to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies!)! If you are counting, this is two moves in two months, plus a career move for both of us. With God, our lead blocker, we were out in the open and running to daylight. The trip went well after we got two flat tires on our UHaul fixed. We made it and immediately began training for our new jobs. We also began looking for a home church as this is an important piece of our lives. Our first church visit was rather uneventful, but two weeks later we visited Northridge Church which we now call home. After two visits to Northridge, their auditorium burned down. We began to wonder if this was a sign. After that, we decided just to watch how the congregation would handle this adversity and we were very pleased by what we saw. That very next Wednesday, we attended a prayer meeting and they were talking about how we should thank God for burning down the auditorium and that they were excited to see how God would use it. We knew we had found our home and joined the church shortly thereafter.
In May 2008, we had the opportunity to move from our two bedroom upstairs condo to a three bedroom ground floor condo and couldn't pass it up. For those of you who are counting, that is the third move in less than a year. While my back still hurts, we are thankful for the extra space so that we have a place for our friends to stay when they visit. Tara and I have also finished our first year of teaching in the Florida public school system. While we are not impressed with the IQ's of our clientele, we do believe that God has given us a mission field and we are happy to serve.
In case you are wondering, we are tired from all the moving, but we are happy that God has led us to Haines City. We understand that not all things will go smoothly, but God will never give us more than we (or our backs) can handle.
I pray that you continue in good health and that you will think of us often. We do miss our friends, and that was the hardest part about the move, but we understand that God works on his timing, not ours. Friends are more than welcome to visit, so don't be shy!! Mickey awaits!
Our move to Fairbury brought many changes. We moved into a 3 bedroom house with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law and his family. What were we thinking? 10 people under the same roof, what insanity! We had no clue how long this living arrangement would last because we had no leads on jobs in Florida. As we prepared for the big move from Danvers, we were sending out resumes like mad, I should say that Tara was sending out resumes for both of us. We were looking for anything and waiting for God to open up doors for us. There is something about waiting on God, when he opens doors, he opens doors. Can you believe, that right after our move to Fairbury, we started getting calls about teaching jobs in Florida schools. Lots of calls were coming in, we were lining up interviews that would end up filling our July Vacation. It was an exciting time.
In July, the same 10 people under the same roof, started out on a vacation under an even smaller roof, an RV. Yes! An RV! What were we thinking? An 18 hour trip in an RV, no problem. The movie had nothing on this. At every gas station we looked like the clown car at a circus. How many people are going to get out of that thing? Well, we made the trip there and back with no fatalities and I think we are even on speaking terms. While in Florida, God provided both Tara and me with teaching positions at Ridge Community High School. And then he even threw in some neat living arrangements on a golf course. Again, isn't waiting on God pretty cool?
So, at the beginning of August, we loaded up the truck and moved to Haines City, Florida that is (to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies!)! If you are counting, this is two moves in two months, plus a career move for both of us. With God, our lead blocker, we were out in the open and running to daylight. The trip went well after we got two flat tires on our UHaul fixed. We made it and immediately began training for our new jobs. We also began looking for a home church as this is an important piece of our lives. Our first church visit was rather uneventful, but two weeks later we visited Northridge Church which we now call home. After two visits to Northridge, their auditorium burned down. We began to wonder if this was a sign. After that, we decided just to watch how the congregation would handle this adversity and we were very pleased by what we saw. That very next Wednesday, we attended a prayer meeting and they were talking about how we should thank God for burning down the auditorium and that they were excited to see how God would use it. We knew we had found our home and joined the church shortly thereafter.
In May 2008, we had the opportunity to move from our two bedroom upstairs condo to a three bedroom ground floor condo and couldn't pass it up. For those of you who are counting, that is the third move in less than a year. While my back still hurts, we are thankful for the extra space so that we have a place for our friends to stay when they visit. Tara and I have also finished our first year of teaching in the Florida public school system. While we are not impressed with the IQ's of our clientele, we do believe that God has given us a mission field and we are happy to serve.
In case you are wondering, we are tired from all the moving, but we are happy that God has led us to Haines City. We understand that not all things will go smoothly, but God will never give us more than we (or our backs) can handle.
I pray that you continue in good health and that you will think of us often. We do miss our friends, and that was the hardest part about the move, but we understand that God works on his timing, not ours. Friends are more than welcome to visit, so don't be shy!! Mickey awaits!
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