Out of touch

The house where we're currently staying doesn't have internet access so we're at "Coffee World" catching up on email and all things internet. The coffee at this place reminds me of my college days when I would make a pot of cheap coffee and just let it sit there and then microwave it and drink it a few days later even though it was disgusting - I just needed the caffeine and I didn't care how it tasted. Well, the coffee at this place is worse than that. It's like drinking acid with a little cream and sugar. The Starbucks across the street doesn't have wireless so here we are.

We visited our soon to be house yesterday and it is all finished and beautiful. We're still kind of holding our breath about the closing and I won't believe it's ours until we get the key. All this moving and job changing we've done over the past couple of years would make any lender a little skeptical.

Sameer had his orientation at Duke last week and he starts classes on Monday. We've met a bunch of great people here already - in fact, we're staying with a really kind student named Melanie right now. She has very graciously opened her home up to us while the Givens have other guests in town. We still haven't found a church yet and I think we'll take some time visiting different ones before we settle - there are so many choices. So far we've visited a really vibrant Presbyterian church that is closer to the downtown area and then we visited an Episcopal church in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill is a little too far away for us but the worship service was absolutely breathtaking. I have to say that I just love visiting different churches - it is so moving to see more and more of the body of Christ and to worship together with them. We're looking forward to tomorrow...

3 New Blogs

We've added 3 new blogs under "Friends and Family" - Chris & Heather Pelczar, Phil & Megan Camp, and Liz Ingham. Enjoy.

Our Hymn of the Week

Jesus Cast a Look on Me

Jesus cast a look on me,
Give me sweet simplicity
Make me poor and keep me low,
Seeking only Thee to know

All that feeds my busy pride,
Cast it evermore aside
Bid my will to Thine submit,
Lay me humbly at Thy feet

Make me like a little child,
Of my strength and wisdom spoiled
Seeing only in Thy light,
Walking only in Thy might

Leaning on Thy loving breast,
Where a weary soul can rest
Feeling well the peace of God,
Flowing from His precious blood

In this posture let me live,
And hosannas daily give
In this temper let me die,
And hosannas ever cry!

John Berridge, 1716-1793

A hymn for today...

All praise to God, who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of wonders, power, and love,
The God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul He fills,
The God who every sorrow stills,--
To God all praise and glory!

What God's almighty power hath made
His gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning dawn or evening shade
His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of His might
Lo, all is just and all is right,--
To God all praise and glory!

I cried to Him in time of need:
Lord God, oh, hear my calling!
For death He gave me life indeed
And kept my feet from falling.
For this my thanks shall endless be;
Oh, thank Him, thank our God, with me,--
To God all praise and glory!

The Lord forsaketh not His flock,
His chosen generation;
He is their Refuge and their Rock,
Their Peace and their Salvation.
As with a mother's tender hand
He leads His own, His chosen band,--
To God all praise and glory!

Ye who confess Christ's holy name,
To God give praise and glory!
Ye who the Father's power proclaim,
To God give praise and glory!
All idols under foot be trod,
The Lord is God! The Lord is God!
To God all praise and glory!

Then come before His presence now
And banish fear and sadness;
To your Redeemer pay your vow
And sing with joy and gladness:
Though great distress my soul befell,
The Lord, my God, did all things well,--
To God all praise and glory!

Johann J. Schuetz, 1640-1690

My Sameer, isn't he talented?!?

We're sitting here in our Hampton Inn Hotel room that we credit to our 3rd successful Priceline experience. (We credit the above picture to a fun night out with Danny, Lindsay, Tracie & Doug - someone was bragging about being able to hold a spoon on their nose, so Sameer one-upped them, promising he could hold one with his forehead...) We've been living with people since July 2nd - first with Sameer's parents - then with mine and then with the Givens family. We've spent a lot of time with people this summer and it's been absolutely wonderful.

There's something about having our own little space though that is so refreshing and relaxing. This little hotel room has given me the best nights of sleep I've had for months. The free air conditioning probably has something to do with that. (We had a record breaking heat wave here in Durham last week - we almost melted, literally.)

As soon as we got here I started my job and we began looking for a house. We found one quickly and we're supposed to close on August 31st if everything goes smoothly. Somewhere in the middle of that Sameer came down with a really bad inner ear infection that caused severe vertigo. Poor guy! I have never seen him so sick. Needless to say, it was a hard transition to Durham.

However, he is now climbing out of it and starting to be his old self. His verbose old self. So, if you dare, check out his new blog: Theoblogical Investigations It will serve as his ThD journal so if you're curious about what Sameer is doing/thinking about/studying, here you go! Just make sure you've got your thinking cap on and you have a quiet place to read.

Idaho Album

Pictures of our week in Idaho:

Idaho Summer 2007

We're staying in a hotel and Sameer's watching a Jet Li movie (not really my thing) so I suppose I'll organize our pictures and update the blog this afternoon.

Click on the photo if you want to see our "house" album.

THE HOUSE

Transition

6 weeks down, 3 weeks to go.

We've been living out of suitcases for 6 weeks now. If everything goes smoothly we'll be in this house by August 31st.