Our First English Visitors

Just after we got back from the beach in Florida, Nathan and I went straight to the airport to meet Rob and Robin, some dear friends from England. Well, Robin is American and Rob is English, but you know what I mean. When people ask us what we miss about Durham, we always say "church and friends," and these two were in both camps.

Please excuse the beached whale look. We were excited to see our friends and didn't have time to shower!

They greeted us with a sweet cuddly toy from Harrod's for the baby.

We greeted them with hot Chik-fil-A.

Wahooooo!

I think Rob is a fan. Robin promised to make sure he got more that was piping hot, instead of 45 minutes old. That makes a big difference in the taste. :)

We miss y'all already! Hope you had a great time on holiday in the States! English friends, who's next?

Lots of Beach Pictures

Good ol' Florida sunset time.

My love and me

This is the only picture I managed to get of Sterling, Hannah's boyfriend. I don't know what I'm doing or who took this picture. Nathan, probably.

This is a typical scene of us trying to get a Parker family picture. Nathan's mom running around like crazy and the boys fighting over who will get to be tallest in the picture.

Here's a decent one. Minus Nathan's open mouth.

Philip and his girlfriend, Sarah

Joy and Hannah

I love this picture of Andrew, Nathan, Philip, and Dad

Pretty sky

More horseplay

They brought a slingshot and some water balloons. No one was hurt... I think.

A self-portrait

Me and Mikey. I was hot. Really hot. But happy.

Crab Happy

We were in Florida with Nathan's family for about six days. It was hotter than blazes, but the sand and sea were gorgeous! Nathan and his brother, Philip, caught a crab, and Nathan was so excited to boil it and eat the meat. He asked me to document, so I did my duty.

The crab is inside that cooler bag. I did not dress Nathan.

Here they are cleaning it off.

Yikes!

After boiling it, Nathan pretended to snap a leg off and eat it.

Here he is with the spoils of victory... about a tablespoon of crab meat.

I'm not sure if this video will work, but we'll give it a whirl.

Have you caught any creatures at the beach? I just think of Kramer and the lobster traps in the Hamptons. :)

The No-Plan Plan

Psalm 37:25  I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

Nathan and I have been so blessed by the kindness of family and friends in the past few weeks. We have had countless offers for meals, housing, cars, health care, etc. and we couldn't be more grateful. Since we've been in Atlanta we've done a family holiday in Florida (a few posts about that forthcoming), visited extended family in Mississippi (my first time in that great state), hung out with lots of friends, worked on various projects (me: a book on hospitality, and Nathan: lots of odd jobs around several houses) and of course, looked for full-time work. 

I ain't gonna lie, this time of transition, change, and lots of waiting has been difficult for me. I am a planner, an organizer, a creature of habit. I like my nest nice and neat. I like my space. I like my peace and quiet. I like my routine. I sometimes feel like I'm going bananas between all the uncertainty and the state of my pregnant body in this Atlanta summer heat. Yesterday morning I counted the number of beds we've slept in since July 8th... EIGHT. Eight different beds in two countries and four states in six weeks. 

Since our baby will be here in the not-too-distant future and Nathan and I have no certain plans, we have made a no-plan plan. Here it is:

I will go back to California on September 4th to hunker down and wait for Mikey's arrival. Nathan will follow me on the 18th of September. He has to stay in Atlanta for two extra weeks because he has some PCA presbytery meetings he must attend to be licensed. We'll stay with my parents. I will clean out cupboards and set up shop and satisfy my strong nesting urges. Nathan will continue his job search for full-time church work while doing some short-term work to keep him busy. He is so ready to work doing anything. We'll re-evaluate after the new year. Hopefully by then we will know where God has called us to live, work, and serve in a church. We'll see... I am really beginning to hate that phrase, "We'll see," but that's all I can say.

In the mean time, I am learning hard lessons about my idolatry problem with the concept of home. Home is not California. It is not Atlanta. It is not wherever we are going next. It is in heaven with Jesus, and I'll be going there so very soon! Keeping that perspective is essential to my contentment. When I am restless and unsettled in my spirit, I am essentially saying to God, "You are not good and generous." But he IS. All the time! I just need to remind myself of that 50 million times a day.

Our friends from Durham were in a similar situation several weeks ago (they are now nicely settled in Africa), but I found this comment from Alex so encouraging: "Homeless is the way to be! With a retirement plan in the New Creation, who would want a home here? Maybe a temporary lodge would be nice though. Go well in the Lord, Alex."

Please be in prayer for us to have godly attitudes, wisdom to make lots of decisions, a strong marriage, and healthy bodies (Nathan, me, and Mikey too!). 

I am typing this post from our friends' dining room table. Thanks so much for your hospitality Justin and Julie!

Justin, Julie, and their enormous lap dog, Amos

What a gorgeous, peaceful room!

So that's it. I'll keep you posted on some other fun stuff we've been up to lately in the next few days.

Your Hospitality Tips, Please

So, ironically, I'm using my calm-before-the-storm time to write a short e-book on hospitality. I started it in England and have the rough outline done. I'm kind of in a bit of a rut at the moment, and I would love to hear any tips or tricks you might have on the topic. It can pertain to meals, how to invite people, being a host or being a guest, anything! 

I'd love to hear what you have to say... Leave a comment! If I use it in the book I'll give you a prize (to be determined). :)

Source

Lately

So, we're here in Atlanta, and these pictures were taken two weeks ago in California, but I'm wearing the black dress in this first picture today, so that kind of counts, right?

Plus I think my shadow is kind of cool.

And this is my grandma. She is getting older and is less able to chat for a long time, but she is definitely getting more giggly and smiley. I can't left justify this caption, and it is driving me crazy!

Since we arrived in Atlanta, Nathan and I have been looking for jobs (I'd like to sub at my previous school when school starts in a few weeks, but I have to go in for an interview), he's studying for his PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) license (he takes the 12-hour exam on Friday), and we're meeting up with friends from our life together here: church friends, Whitefield friends, college friends, etc. A dear friend from church who is a midwife was able to check on our baby this week, which was a huge gift. All looks great. Thank you, Ruth!

Next week we'll be at the beach in Florida with the whole Parker family. I've already been advised by my mother-in-law not to dig a hole in the sand and stick my belly in it. Apparently she did this when she was pregnant with #3 (out of five) and promptly fell asleep and burned the back of her body really badly. Noted. I have a feeling I'll last about two seconds in that heat and humidity anyway. Living in England for three years has made me a complete sissy. We've had really mild temperatures in Atlanta this summer (high 80s, low 90s), but I still have UK phrases like "boiling" and "summer brain" in my mind every day. 

What have you been up to this summer?