Some Updates

It's taken me forever to get this post up. I started it on Saturday and am finally finishing it.

Saturday, March 3

Right now, I'm enjoying the beautiful sunshine of Louisville, Kentucky on a bright Saturday morning. My head is resting comfortably against a beautiful high-back sofa, and my feet are propped up on an over-stuffed ottoman. And birds are singing outside. Chris, Luke and I are enjoying the weekend with our friends Julie and Brian in their new house (complete with new sofa and ottoman). Chris feels good about the tests he took yesterday, as well as the interview he had with the New Testament faculty at Southern.

But the real topic of this post is Wednesday. What a day. I had quite the "to do" list, full of errands to get ready for the trip to Louisville.

I could elaborate and give you a detailed play-by-play of that wonderful day. I actually started to do that, but it was getting WAY too long, and it was only to 10:00 in the morning! So here's a quick recap, in time-line fashion.

9:00am - Luke and I leave to go to the State Farm office; meanwhile, Chris' grandma heads to the Secretary of State's office to get a number. (Thanks, Grandma!)
10:00am - I drop Luke off at Beth's house to play with Claire (Much thanks to Beth for giving me a few hours of "free" time!)
10:30am - I arrive at the Sec. of State's office WITHOUT the title to the car. Shoot!
11:00am - I get back home and decide to just get some laundry and packing done. By that point, I didn't have enough time to make it to the Sec. of State's office and back to Beth's in time.
12:15 pm - I pick Luke up and bring him back home to hang out with Maw Maw (Chris' grandma).
1:00 pm - I head back to the Sec. of State office. Much to my delight and surprise, that pink return slip moves me to the front of the line. No number needed! No sitting for hours upon hours! The day doesn't seem all that bad now. Soon, I have a new Michigan license plate and my registration.
2:00 - After picking Luke and Grandma up, we head to Jerry's house (Chris' brother) to swap cars (LONG, boring story).
3:00 - I drop Luke and Maw Maw off at home and head out to give the car some TLC -- oil change, car wash, a full tank of gas, a good vacuuming out, and a good wiping down of the interior. I finished it off with a new air freshener, and that baby was ready for the road! I managed to go to four different places to get all of that done -- should've done some multi-tasking there. But, I kind of embarrassed myself at the car wash place and didn't feel like staying to vacuum. I don't know if I've EVER taken a car through an automatic car wash. Like a dork, I had a hard time getting the car in the track. I was cracking up at myself; the guy directing me must have thought I was such an airhead! I guess I was being sort of an airhead, because when they waved me out after the car was dried off, I turned around and noticed that the back window was rolled down about two inches! A fitting ending to that day. :) Ah well, I had to give Luke's carseat a good washing anyways.

We've had a nice weekend in Louisville. It's so fun to be with old friends. Luke and Caitlyn are having a ball. This morning we met John and Shannon Collop for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Unfortunately, Luke had the biggest blow-out ever. I did not have an extra change of clothes, and Cracker Barrel didn't have any pants for sale. The kid managed to get poop on his sock too, so I ended up carrying him back to the table in nothing but a shirt, a diaper, one sock and his shoes. After we ate, Chris just wrapped his legs up in his sweatshirt and ran him out to the car. We were in Kentucky. Luke fit right in. :) ha ha

Below are some pretty pitiful pictures of our cute kids. Luke and Caitlyn had a blast together, but I didn't manage to get my camera out of the bag too much. These are the best I have. :)




Monday, March 5

Below is an email that Chris sent out this morning. I just thought I'd post it to fill ya'll (I'm reverting back to Southern talk already) in.


The last couple months have been full of twists and
turns for us; however, it seems like God is giving us
some direction.
Just to bring you all up to speed, we found out just
after the new year that my supervisor in Aberdeen is
leaving for Cambridge. This left us unsure of what to
do. After applying to Cambridge, Wheaton, Southern,
and Trinity, we were waiting on God's will.
Two weeks ago, I had an interview at Wheaton. It
seemed to go well, but we knew that it would be
difficult for me to get in there (they only accept 2
NT students). We found out this weekend that they
passed on me; I am on a waiting list, but it is
unlikely I will get in.
This weekend, we went down for a quick trip to
Southern to interview there. I had applied for the PhD
under Tom Schreiner. The whole process went pretty
well, and I think my chances of getting in at Southern
are pretty good. After my interview, however,
Schreiner emailed me to say that although he would be
glad to have me, Mark Seifrid is very interested in
supervising me. Sunday morning, Brian Vickers, another
NT prof at Southern encouraged me to really consider
studying other Seifrid (he did this independent of
Schreiner).
So that is where it stands. Katie and I are leaning
towards Southern and the possibility of studying with
Seifrid.
We are trusting in our sovereign Lord and confident he
will lead us to the right place. Thank you for your
continued prayer.