We are finally in Vermont and hooked back up to the internet. The last week has been full of surprises, many exciting, others stressful, but yet again, we are amazed at the faithfulness of God and those who seek to serve him.
Our trip took two days. The first day beginning with a wonderful time of worship and fellowship at OMV. I had to play the piano because our music minister was out of town (stressful), but after that was all over, our family at OMV gathered around to pray for us. It was a great time of joy and tears as prayers of protection, encouragement and promises of the gospel were lifted (exciting). Many tears were shed as we said, “See you in Vermont” to our sweet friends at OMV. God has really used those friends to bless our lives tremendously! We then went to lunch with the Smith, Swain and Lewis families and then headed off (exciting). We drove through Richmond, WVa, MD and as far as Harrisburg, PA on Sunday before stopping for the night. Nathanael loved sleeping in the bed with us so much that he kicked Daddy out before the night was over!
Monday, we started driving about 8am (3 hours after my parents had already left VA with our pick-up truck)… and it rained…and rained…and rained some more! Thankfully we remembered the covenant reviewed on Sunday at church that God would never destroy the earth again with a flood… although it our trip was a wash out (stressful). We made it through every town without hitting rush hour traffic. Drove by wind turbines, many mountains, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and passed a whole lot of 18 wheelers. Thanks to the Sheftes who made Nathanael’s trip better by lending us their DVD player. I think I listened to Cars about 5 times in two days… but Nathanael never cried!!! Thankfully, we made it into Barre just 30 minutes past our goal of 5pm, greeted by about ten (which eventually grew to about thirty) people from Faith Community Church to help us unload our truck (exciting) into a 750 square foot apartment (stressful). Before it was all over, the panty and refrigerator were full of food, given by people in the church, our beds were together, the washer and dryer hooked up (thanks ladies and Dupreys) and things were looking better (thanks Sara!)… until we got a call from my mom. Our pickup broke down in the “snow” (what Vermonters would call ‘spitting’) about six miles from our apartment (stressful). However, we were so thankful it was six miles and not six hundred (the total trip was close to 900 miles). It was great, though, to see the church quickly at work for us! The pastor and a deacon went to pick up my parents while Bill Duprey (a save the day kinda guy) waited with Brian while AAA came to tow the truck to a service station Bill trusted. He even called the following morning to let the mechanic know that we were new in town (the NC plates were pretty obvious) and what had happened to the truck. The radiator cracked just shy of Barre. We will pick it up on Monday. My parents were very encouraged to see that we already had folks helping us out (exciting)! They are now back at home after helping us unpack for a few days and going through post 9-11 screening at the airport (they hadn’t flown since 1989). Mom wanted to know why she had to take her shoes off! Now, they’re trying to talk my grandma into flying up with them! We really appreciated their help and all they endured to get the truck up here and help Nathanael adjust a bit better to not having familiar faces around.
It was a bit overwhelming at first walking into an apartment we had never seen, surrounded by people we didn’t really know, but as I type this up on Saturday night, we have felt so welcome here and are getting to know those people who will become our closest friends and supporters here in Vermont. We are looking forward to sharing the gospel here!
Great is Thy faithfulness, morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me (really exciting)!!!
The picture on the bed at the hotel is so cute. I LOVE that kid's smile. Even if you two weren't wonderful enough on your own, he'd definitely make moving to a new place easy. He's probably already made at least a dozen new friends! We're praying for your top 3 needs and others....
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