Already in Love

As you can imagine, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind (in some ways, literally a whirlwind, but that comes later in the story).

After a bitter-sweet goodbye, we pulled away from my dad's house in California. The only house my family (the Brown) family has ever known. Then we drove (caravan style) with Josh's best man, Matt, to Phoenix, Arizona. There we spent three days at a resort (courtesy of Josh's grandma). We spent time with family, including Josh's grandma, aunt, and his grandpa's twin brother. What a blessing. And a relaxing time as well.

From there we drove fourteen hours to Denver Colorado, where I got to see my longtime friend Holly, her husband Marty, and her two lovely little girls. It was a delightful time. I learned that I'm a pretty good bedtime story reader and dance partier!

From there we weathered a tornado warning/storm as we drove through Kansas. Fortunately we didn't get caught in the tornado, but it was a VERY windy, stormy drive into Kansas City. At one point we had to stop and get gas. It was hailing, yet there was a hot wind. That made us nervous, but we made it to the Clubb's home--our dear friends--where we warmed up with some deeply encouraging conversation and hot showers!

From there we cruised into Peoria, Illinois. We spent several days looking for a place to live. There were moments of frustration and discouragement, but the Lord is good and faithful! We found a place that we love. It is close to the church, and to grocery stores, etc. The apartment is brand new--it is just being built, so we will be moving into our new home on July 2, 2013. We are very excited. Until then, we are experiencing the wonderful hospitality of a family at our new church. They are allowing us to stay in their basement apartment area--so kind and generous.

We've already jumped right into church life, and ministry with the highschoolers. Tomorrow I will start attending a woman's Bible study on Nehemiah. I'm also signed up to help in the nursery and with vacation Bible school. We just returned from camp with the students on Lake Genevea in Wisconsin. It was a great time. We learned a lot of names and faces, and got to know many of the students, especially the seniors who allowed us to join their senior night out. Yes, we stayed awake until 3 in the morning--we can't break tradition. The students here are great, very encouraging. Three students professed faith in Christ at camp and we have reason to believe there is genuine conversion. Again, God is so good!

Thanks for your prayers, text messages, etc. We miss our CA family, but can already see God's hand here in Peoria. Yes, we are already in love. And as you can see from this picture from camp, the kids are already in love with Josh, for very good reason!

Ciao, until the next update!