Singin' in the Hurricane

Well, Irene's almost here. She might even be here by the time you see this. So far, there's not much to worry about. Nothing more than some steady rain (not even pouring) and winds you might see on a normal windy day. In the grocery store yesterday, the shelves were getting kind of barren. Especially the bottled water aisle. I decided not to brave Wal-Mart as I heard it was a zoo, so I went to one of the local stores instead. But I think more than anything, people are a little jumpy from the earthquake and hurricane being so close together.

It's tempting to think that God is punishing us, but there's no way we can definitively make that call. It's always important to be right with God, which I think was Jesus' point in Luke 13.1-5 more than him focusing on God's judgment on certain people. But more than focusing on that judgment, it's important to remember God's promises in the face of danger and hardship. He sent a pretty nice reminder of that yesterday:

Anyway, the news is saying we won't get hit with it too hard because it's moving straight up the coast, and we're a bit further inland. It's not supposed to get really far inland until it moves further north, around the NY area. If nothing else, it's been giving us some nice sunsets:

So to anyone worrying about us, don't worry too much. We'd be happier with some prayer. And we look forward to letting you know how we made it out. God's peace.

-Andrew-

In Like Flint

We're in! everything's unpacked! Not everything is in its place yet, but the boxes are out of the living room at least. Out of the living room and into the garage. It's actually looking pretty nice. Audrey's good at making it homey. I'll have some pictures up before long.

The only problem is that we came from a pretty cramped apartment into a 3-bedroom house with a living room big enough to be 3 separate rooms. Everyday it feels less and less like an auditorium, but its hard to arrange your furniture when you have no TV to arrange it around.

Lydia's started going to bed early, like 6:30 or 7, so we have an excuse to check out early. We can put up the hammer and nails, stop moving stuff and relax. It's nice, but it makes for a really slow settling in process. So we've started watching Mad Men on Netflix to pass the time. On a related note, the no TV experiment is going swimmingly.

The congregation where we've landed has been fantastic. They helped us get all our boxes off the truck, we've been invited to a few get togethers, and Audrey's made friends with a high school girl and her mom, who adore Lydia. In church, I looked down to grab my bulletin off the pew, and when I looked back up, this girl had snuck up to Audrey and was standing beside her, holding Lydia. She moves like a ninja. Still it's good to have the support.

Pray for us as we continue settling down (as much as a family can settle down in a year's time), and we look forward to giving you more updates in the future.

-Andrew-

Moving

Well, there will be more to come shortly, but for now, we're in the process of getting settled. Just wanted to let everyone know that I previously gave you the wrong address. If you sent anything, I'll still get it, but I gave you the church's address. Our home address is 11102 Donita Ct., Fredericksburg, VA 22407. Sorry about that. Look forward to hearing from you!

-Andrew-