Not yet

No apartment, no work, no new job for either of us, no furniture to enjoy (like a real bed), no refrigerator, and no address to forward our old lives to.

Not yet.

How does the saying go? -- God always answers our prayers: yes, no, or not yet.

A Day

So I suppose Sunday was "A" day if I'm going to be consistent. We pulled to a stop on Church Street around 6 or 7 at night and met Paul, who is letting us squat in his house that's up for sale. We feed his cats, so I guess it's a fair trade... Almost fair. We've already stumbled on some history our first day here. Adoniram Judson was commissioned to Burma around 1810 on a little patch of grass across Church Street from where we're staying. I'll put a pic of the marker up when I can.
We've spent the last couple days driving around town, going to Starbucks to use the internet so we can research apartments and jobs. Craig has applied to a couple jobs and we've looked at one place, more to follow tomorrow.

D Day

We've been talking and thinking and praying about our Departure Day for a long time. It has always been on our calendar in pencil, and has been erased and rewritten several times.

Now it's in pen on May 20th. The truck is reserved, almost all the boxes are packed, and we're sick with viruses... My youth pastor used to say something like, "You can know you're on God's road when there's obstacles in your way." Obedience isn't easy and the Enemy's efforts against you make it even harder. Of course you can never prove that a sickness or problem is a direct attack on you, but it usually feels that way.

I think the tea pot will be the last thing we pack.

Spaceheater

There is a frost advisory tonight. It's May 15.

Craig has a cold and I'm probably catching it while I struggle to survive this cold snap. Just kidding. I actually love it when it's cold at night. The term is "good sleeping weather." I suppose I'm getting nostalgic as reality begins to sink in: we have 4 days left at this house, and so many changes ahead. And so much stuff to haul around.

I really do love my home state. Even when it's schizophrenic.

No jobs, just dreams

Apparently the economy is improving? Apparently we missed that ride.

Craig has driven a school bus for something like four years now. I haven't had a job in my field ever. (Shoulda gone to heavy machine school instead of Bible school...) We are really starting to long big time for a family but we have no idea how God will orchestrate all these things, because they sure haven't been added yet! He has faithfully provided for all our needs to this point, even for my medical bills from back when, and this new car that will pass the MA inspections.

We continue to send out applications and emails and resumes and letters. Blah. I'm more of a farm girl; I wish we could just have a cow and chickens and grow our own food and forget this working stuff.

Cows don't ask for 3-5 years' experience.

Two Weeks

I've just been looking at a calendar and realized that we have only two weeks left at 1019 (our current house). While it is kind of awkwardly laid out, and the floor sags in every room, we've enjoyed living here.

We have lots of things packed away and ready to go, but there is still a bunch to be done. Since I am a procrastinator (for reasons too complicated to go into here), knowing that there's a deadline coming up will help spur me on to action. And planning. And organizing. All that good stuff.

With that in mind, I am creating an evite to a packing party two Thursdays from now. If you read our little blog and want to help out, feel free to join us!

Haverhill, MA

At this point in our planning, we will move to a town called Haverhill, about 40 mns' drive north of Boston. It's right on the NH border, in the Merrimack River valley. Some of the apartments I've looked at have river views! Anyway, we chose Haverhill because a friend of a friend is one of the pastors at Haverhill Community Church. We plan to attend HCC when we arrive and join a small group, even though we may visit some other churches in Greater Boston. They are growing and assisting another church in the city, and have opportunities for Craig to preach and minister. They also desire to plant a church in a few years' time, so we will be exploring God's will for us with HCC long term.

One of the bonuses of being north of Boston is that we'll be closer to Craig's family in Maine - and will not have to navigate Boston when we want to visit. I'm just sayin.
And tax-free shopping in NH. Score.