The snowman

Here is the snowman with Reed poised to throw one of the many snowballs that came my way.  It was a great afternoon.  The snow had begun to melt some so it was much easier to form into snowballs, and of course the snowman.  Now all the kids want to do for free time is go outside and throw snowballs at their dad.  Oh the trials of parenthood...such a sacrifice.  

Twice today I have had friends from Gainesville tell me that is is 74 degrees and sunny there while we have the chance of a major winter storm.  It looks like those chances are pretty slim for us as we are probably going to have thunderstorms by later afternoon tomorrow.  

I'm sure we'll get another storm sometime soon though.  Apparently last year there was snow all the way into late April here.  We're not in Florida anymore. 

A change in scenery and the Providence of God

Just over two weeks ago we packed up our house (with a lot of help from friends) in Gainesville, Florida and started our adventure in moving to Mason, Ohio.  On Monday the 24th we had new friends help us unload the truck and get everything into our new place (pictures to come soon).  It has been a long process, which will continue for a while, trying to get settled and figure out where to put everything.  On our second night in the new house we had a bit of a backup in the basement--just a little raw sewage to welcome us to our new home.  We called our landlord and the next day the plumber sent a 100 foot snake into the pipes to cut out some roots and get rid of some "obstructions" in the line that weren't roots. 
One development that happened as we were moving was that I got an email from our realtor on the day we were moving in with an offer on our house that was really low.  Yet in this market we decided to counter and yesterday we got it all worked out and now the house is under contract.  We are very grateful to the Lord for how He has constantly and consistently cared for us.  We have taken a big step of faith moving from Gainesville, raising a support team (and still working on that), jumping into a new work situation, and soon begin preparing for the privilege of starting a new church. 
On the home front the kids have been very excited about the snow.  Our front yard is on a decent slope and the kids have been sledding on it a few times.  Before we got to Cincy the kids got winter gear and Meredith rushed outside at Erin's mom's house in Bay Village and immediately plopped over backwards and made her first snow angel.  Since then I think she has realized that snow can be pretty cold and wet.  Yet, they still are consistently hoping for more snow because they really (and in this Erin and I are included) want to make a nice snowman. 
One new thing about our house here is that we now have stairs.  This is a new thing for our family--especially for Anna who thinks she is much more capable than she is...and this morning she found that out.  I was in the back of the house and I hear a "Anna, on your belly....oh no--she fell down the stairs" from Erin and then a good bit of crying.  Thankfully (and God was clearly gracious to us in protecting her) she was alright and just a good bit startled.  I'm still not sure who was more shaken, Erin or Anna, but hopefully it will help Anna take the stairs with more caution in the future. 
We will surely have more to update in the coming days and we are glad we stepped back into the 21st Century by getting internet hooked up yesterday.  Please feel free to call or email if you want to chat.  We miss our friends and church in Florida, but we are excited about what the Lord has for us in Ohio. 

The sometimes unpredictable call of God

Saturday morning as I was outside in shorts and a t-shirt sweating while pulling the girls in the bike trailer around our part of town I thought about why we are moving in January from Florida to Ohio.  I know that God is calling us to a new stage in life and a new ministry, but moving this time of year when Florida is beautiful is a bit crazy.  But hey, that's sometimes the way God works.  I was listening to Bryan Chapell the other day talk about Abram's call.  I am not equating what our family is doing to Abram, but we are moving on from the familiar to the unfamiliar.  I also hope and pray that God chooses to use us to be a blessing by bringing the Gospel to more people in Cincinnati.

There are still many things you all can be praying for us as we prepare to move.

1. Our family.  Over the Christmas season we have experienced a good deal of sickness and it doesn't seems to be done yet.  Please pray that we will be healthy soon.
2. My travel.  Next Thursday I am flying up north.  I have a committee meeting to go through in order to transfer to a new Presbytery on Saturday.  On Friday I will spend the day in Cincinnati hopefully finding our family a place to live.  Pray that all goes well and that Erin and the kids enjoy the time here.
3. Development of our team of partners.  We are at around 81% of our support goal.  We still have approximately $16,000 left to raise to be at full support.  Please pray that God would continue to raise alongside us a team of people who believe in our call to take the Gospel to more in Cincy.
4. Selling our house.  Yes, we still have not sold the house.  Right now a showing of the house would be very interesting as there are boxes in nearly every room, but we would make it work.  Please pray that the right buyer comes along soon.  It's a great house and has been a tremendous provision of the Lord for our family.  Now we want it be a blessing for another family.
5. Saying goodbye.  January 9th will be our last Sunday worshiping at Faith Presbyterian.  Our time here is really indescribable.  Without the time here what we are doing now would not be possible and we are so very grateful to the Lord for giving us these last 4 1/2 years.  Pray that we say goodbye well--though we'll surely be back for visits.

Thanks for praying with us.