On the road again....

Tomorrow morning we get back into our little truck that is a little less loaded down with stuff and head from Florida to the great state of North Carolina.

We have had a wonderful week with the Florida Heath's.  Eating lots of great food, sharing memories, eating lots of yummy desserts and generally just enjoying time with family.  Wednesday we had a great day at Cocoa Beach.  We went to Ron Jon Surf Shop, ate at Grill's Restaurant and were able to see a dolphin, a sea turtle, and lots of pelicans.  Then we went to the beach and had a great afternoon of relaxing on the beach, playing in the water, boogie boarding (it was as awesome as I remember), and walking along the beach.   Other highlights include enjoying the Red Sox vs Tampa game (in spite of the Red Sox not winning) and a cookout on Saturday with the extended family in Florida and a few friends at church.  On Sunday we had the privilege of sharing at Center Pointe, which is where Joe worked on staff for three years.  Then we were able to have dinner with some friends from church.   And those are just a few of the highlights that have made this week wonderful.

We have also started to try to go for two 30 minute walks everyday (see eating lots of great food and desserts above and needing to fit in the clothes we are carting around the country).  It has been a good time to exercise and a unwind and also just take a few moments to reflect on everything that is happening.  Our hope is that the pattern once formed will continue once we get to South Africa.  Here's hoping (and trying :) )! 

Tomorrow morning we leave Orlando and head to spend the week with my family in Creswell and New Bern, NC.  I am looking forward to another great week.  I am often overwhelmed by the awesome friends and family we have and the blessing we have to get to spend some time with some of them before we head to South Africa IN ONE MONTH!!!!! 

Until next week remember to be present in the moment you are in....you can't get it back and it will be gone before you know it!  

Goodbyes and other things that keep us busy

Goodbyes and See you laters have been the theme of the last couple of weeks.  With a few other things sprinkled in.  We have an amazing group of people we call framily who have loved on us and supported us. We are very thankful for them and are looking forward to continuing to hear from them and continuing to be a part of their lives.  Technology is a wonderful thing!!

Here are a few of the things that kept us busy since our last blog post.

Got everything packed (well mostly) and ready to go either in a suitcase to go to South Africa, or in a bin to store or to be donated.  (we still have two suitcases to repack and reorganize).

Flew to Denver and spent the Saturday night and Sunday with an amazing couple from the Lakewood Church of the Nazarene.  We also had a great Faith Promise service at Lakewood and met some more amazing Nazarenes.

Spent every moment we could with our KC framily; which included lots of meals together, zip lining and several cookouts.

Had wonderful send off service at our home Church of Crosspoint Community Church of the Nazarene.  There were lots of tears and hugs, a wonderful goodbye video and plans made for how we will stay connected.

Spent a week with fellow Missionaries who are either already serving, planning on serving or considering serving.   It was a great week to focus on what we are getting ready to go and be a part of. Made some great friends there that will be friends for years to come.

Made flat Heath's and exchanged them with some of our framily so we can still "experience" life together.

With the help of some friends, loaded up the truck and tied everything down for our road trip.  It was a little weird having most of our earthly belongings all packed in our little truck.

Had a great Faith Promise weekend in Webb City MO.  And again meet some amazing Nazarenes who are working to love the community they are in.  

Drove through the night Sunday from Webb City to arrive in Orlando and then took a long nap.

This week we are spending time with Joe's family, taking in a Boston Red Sox game, going to the beach, working on Thank you notes and finishing up packing.  We are also spending time in prayer for the framily and ministries we are leaving behind here in the states and the framily and ministries we are going to be joining in South Africa.

So what filled up your days over the last two weeks.  We would love to hear from you as well!

Until next time remember when on a long trip to limit your liquid intake if you don't want to do the potty dance while driving.  :)

Time keeps ticking away…tick tick ticking away.

We have passed the two month mark.  In less than two months we will be arriving in our new home in Johannesburg, South Africa.  It is a bittersweet countdown.  We are very excited about going to South Africa but at the same time we are not ready to say goodbye to our Framily (Friends + Family = Framily according to the Sprint commercial).   So we are trying to make the most every moment we have left in the states and we are trying not to dwell on the upcoming goodbyes. 

The last couple of weeks have been full of lots of activity. 

We had our garage/moving sale; which was made possible by lots of help from friends.  We had a lot of community people stop by which was really cool.  And only a couple of people walked away empty handed, which was awesome. 

We moved out of our duplex; which was made easier by the garage/moving sale.  J We have most of our suitcases packed except for our clothes suitcases.  We are staying with some wonderful friends from our church, who graciously offered up their basement until we left Kansas City.

We had another of many upcoming road trips.  We traveled to Wheaton, IL to see some friends of Joe’s and a had great weekend with them and then got to share in their Children’s Church which was awesome!  Then we drove to Northwest Indiana to connect with our LINKS district (in Nazarene language that is a district that supports missionaries through prayer and such.)  It was great to connect with the great people of Northwest Indiana. 

This week we have been finishing up things and doing all the stuff that comes with an international move.  Today someone is coming to buy Joe’s Jetta and we have sold almost all of our Craigslist stuff!   Slowly but surely we are getting ready for our move. 

Pray with us as we continue on the journey and let us know how we can be praying with you. 

Until next time remember the last leg of any road trip always seems the longest (even though time passes at the same rate…)