Spring?

I can hardly believe that summer is nearly upon us. My last post featured pics of snow, but that is a long forgotten memory now! I've been keeping plenty busy with work. I recently had a 12 day stretch without days off- boy was I glad for the weekend when it finally got here! Jack (the baby) caught a pretty nasty cold, and I managed to catch it too- in the middle of that 12 day stretch. It was no fun, but NyQuil made it easier :) Jack got better and moved onto a stomach bug and teething. I'm glad to have a week off now, but really for a kid to have so many excuses to be insufferable he's really quite a happy baby, just clingier than usual. Getting him set on a steady napping schedule has made life easier. I'm growing weary of the long drive day after day, but I have to remind myself of how grateful we were to get this job, then I smile and thank God. I got a raise :) only about 50c an hour, but that's an extra $20/wk, so we'll take it!
Kellen was in a car accident April 30. God kept him safe and except for an achy body and a few scrapes he is fine- the airbag caused more harm than good! The Honda on the other hand, is totaled. $10,500 damage on a car worth less than $6,000. Luckily we still had it completely covered on insurance, so we're getting the full value of the car minus the $250 deductible! PTL!! We were thinking of selling it and just driving the Ford, so I guess God has given us the go ahead :) We're probably getting more for it this way than we would've had we sold it out right. See pics of the damage below.

Kellen is signed up for summer classes. He's taking Hebrew 1 and 2. The classes are only 10 days long each, 9am-noon, so it'll be study study! SEBTS requires seminary students to take Hebrew and Greek, and other students say this is the way to knock it out. So hopefully he'll soak it up like a sponge!

I've been taking a class called "Living on a Limited Income." It's been good to see all the little tricks and ideas she has for saving money- coupons, do-it-yourself home decor, garage sales-- some stuff is pretty common sense, but then just being aware of all the resources is really helpful. It's also inspiring to hear that she and her husband paid for their home in cash. No loan. Insane, but something to work for.

Last weekend we visited Kellen's parents in South Carolina. They're all moved into their new home. It is beautiful and in a nice location. It's about a 3 hour drive from WF. They're looking at furniture now and it looks like the house will really suit them and make for a nice place to host us out of towners.

This weekend we'll be heading to High Point, crashing at Momma & Daddy's. Kellen will get some substitute teaching jobs Fri and Mon and we'll get to hang out with family for the weekend. I have a baby shower to go to- so excited to see my LCC friends and all the cute baby stuff!

Our Place

I don't know why I'm always amazed when God answers my prayers. Am I that faithless? Kellen and I have been praying for months leading up to this move for seminary. Our biggest concern was financial. I needed a job, that would ideally cover our expenses, including tuition, and Kellen would study his butt off and maybe get a part time job. I applied for teaching jobs, nanny jobs, biscuit making jobs, daycare jobs, secretary jobs, everything I thought would be a viable option. One by one each opportunity turned into a dead end.

Finally, after months of applications and weeks of fruitless interviews I interviewed with a family in need of a nanny in Durham who have 3 boys, twin 5 year olds (one of whom is autistic) and a newborn. This was the Wednesday before we were to move. I interviewed at noon, and that evening around 5:30 I got the call that would send hallelujahs around the world- I was hired! That was Dec 30. We moved here Jan 2. I started working Jan 4. The pay meets our needs and then some, plus we have a scholarship as well as funding from our church in Greensboro, so our tuition is covered this semester! God's providence amazes me still!

My job is about a 35 minute drive (when there's no traffic). The newborn isn't much of a napper, but we're making do. The autistic twin is in a home therapy education program while his brother goes to school. Most of my time is spent with the newborn and he's a happy baby! The parents are both doctors and are really nice people. They aren't Christians- mom is Jewish and dad is "nothing". My prayer is I can impact them with my daily walk and that God will open opportunities for me to share my faith with them. It will be really interesting to see how God answers that one :)

Kellen is really enjoying his classes. He's enrolled in 5 classes. He's reading all the time! He's tallied it to 71 pages a day to stay on track- that's in various books for various classes, but that's a lot of reading- especially if he wants to retain anything. He feels like he's learning a lot even from just the reading, but his professors are really great too. He's not working beyond that; I'm his sugar momma for now!

We got about 5 inches of snow last week, which is slowly melting away... s l o w l y... Below is a link to pics of our place and the snow :) Thanks for your prayers- keep 'em up- God hears us!

http://picasaweb.google.com/LOGGAINS/2010?feat=directlink

snow...