Well, it's been pretty quiet here on the blog, but that's primarily because there's been so very much going on in our not-so-little family. Let me fill you in what we've been up to.
Toby finished up his year at the Sovereign Grace Pastor's College, excelling in his studies, and all of us loving our time spent there. The graduation ceremony was such a sweet time, recalling great grace over the year, laughing at many fun memories, and shedding a tear or two, especially when a group of largely unsung heroes were honored - all the children of the families!
Unfortunately, there was no time to catch a breath, for early in the morning the day after graduation, Toby left for a couple days of interviewing and house hunting north of Boston. Having made the decision to move to New England to pursue the possibility of church planting, getting a job and home were of greatest importance!
Just a couple days after returning home, Toby was offered a senior engineering position with Bostik - the only company he heard from, the only company he interviewed with! We saw clearly God's hand in all this, right down to the fact that he didn't have multiple interviews with lots of travelling to deal with.
There was still a home to find, however. Toby's house hunting was not very successful, but we were blessed to have help from a couple of friends who were willing to continue to look into and visit potential properties for us. In the end, our pastor's wife visited a home and gave us a call via FaceTime to show us around. We pretty much fell in love with it and sent in a rental application. Though there were several other applications for the property, God gave us favor and we were accepted!
With a lot of hard work and a lot of help, we got our home in Louisville packed up, loaded into a large moving truck, and the house cleaned up to return to the landlord. We then started on our journey east, making stops in Ohio, Maryland, and New Jersey to spend time with friends and family. It was so good to see people that we love, not to mention breaking up a long trip.
After 4 days of travelling and visiting, we made it to Massachusetts. It was lovely to meet our landlords, get the keys to our new home, and actually see it in person! We spent a night in a local hotel until our moving truck arrived first thing the next morning. Toby and an incredible team of helpers (and new friends) had our very large moving truck unpacked in a matter of hours, unpacked boxes, put together furniture, cleaned rooms, and brought food. In just a couple of days, these amazing people made this house a home! We don't actually have central air conditioning here, but we were loaned several window units - and then our landlord surprised us by bringing over 3 brand new units he had purchased for us!
We had a week of settling in time before Toby started at work, and we filled it with errands, furniture shopping, and learning a new area. Going back to work full-time has been an adjustment for Toby, but it's nice to have a little more free time in the evenings. He's also getting to grips with the responsibilities of his internship at church. He'll be overseeing Children's Ministry and a Care Group, which will begin in the autumn. We are loving getting to know our new church and its people - they are an amazing bunch of individuals, and we already feel blessed in the new friendships we are forming, both for the grown ups and the children alike.
As for me, I'm now just waiting for a baby. Yesterday was her due date, come and gone. Can't say much seems to be happening at the moment, but I'm in faith that I won't be pregnant forever, trusting that God's good timing is better than my own.
