First Month

Thank you all for your prayers these past few weeks as we made our move to Pennsylvania. It’s hard to believe that we left Beaufort over a month ago! The move up to Philadelphia went well. The biggest problem on the trip was a three hour delay due to DC traffic. The interstate was stop and go for miles. At one point, Erin was getting hungry, but didn't have any food in her car. Since she was driving right behind me, I just opened my door while I was stopped and laid a granola bar on the edge of the road. When we rolled forward, she stopped and picked it up.

The first six days in Philadelphia were spent visiting thrift shops and yard sales in search of furniture. Many trips have been made to Wal-mart to restock the pantry (there wasn't room for food in our cars) and to buy other essentials that had been provided in our last apartment, e.g. a can opener, that we might eat the canned food bought on the previous trip. There has also been a good bit of unpacking and arranging of furniture so that most of our things are now out of boxes and somewhat put away. We now have all of the major pieces of furniture we'll need.

Our biggest concern was Erin's job situation. She spent two of our first days in Philadelphia doing a working interview with a young family. Both parents work full time and were looking for someone to care for their 9 month old baby girl and Golden Retriever during the day. They recently moved from North Carolina and are as new to the area as we are. After much prayer, Erin got the job! She is finishing her second week and has absolutely loved it.

At the end of July we were able to take a trip to North Dakota to see Erin’s family. We all went on a camping trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota for a few days, spent some time hiking in the badlands, sunning at the lake, and playing lots of Settlers of Catan with Gary and Cathy. We were also able to spend some time with Erin’s grandmothers, uncles, aunts and cousins. We spent our three Sunday’s there in fellowship with a small group led by Erin's parents, and the Lord has blessed us through them. We have also enjoyed the extended time we have been able to spend with them--once school and work begin, we are not sure we will be able to get away long enough to have such time in the near future.

Upon our return to Philadelphia we discovered a problem with Erin’s car involving the idle control system. I spent more than a few days researching and tinkering; tryng this suggestion and trying that one. I was on the phone with my dad more than once a day, and at the end of all this, I remembered that there was one procedure that recommended resetting the engine computer after an adjustment, which I hadn’t done. So I found out how to do that, and presto (that’s a technical Greek term)—no problem! We pray that whatever it was that I did that fixed things, it would be a permanent fix.

            Please continue to pray for wisdom and discretion in choosing a church, and for the perseverance needed for me to test out of several classes. Also, praise God for the solid, quality (if not matching) furniture we have found for affordable prices, and the wonderful fellowship we have had in North Dakota, and the Lord's gracious financial provision.