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.

You know you're in the south

when you hear one syllable words (ex: "hi") lasting over 8 seconds long.

We moved

After a wonderful three weeks between Idaho and California we have arrived in Durham, NC. We got here around midnight on Saturday - as we pulled into the neighborhood where we're staying we saw two deer crossing the street....what a treat. The weather was gorgeous on Sunday and the views of the sky and trees were beautiful. These things ease the pain of leaving New Haven a bit.

I (Whitney) am starting my job at the Divinity School this morning. We are staying with Tommy and Kim Givens until we find a house. We started our search yesterday and looked at several homes - we like a few of them so we have a tough decision to make. Hopefully we'll have a picture of our future home up here soon.

Almost Gone...

Well most of our stuff is packed into the truck thanks to several kind friends. We just have to gather up a few more boxes and clean the apartment now. We're hoping to finish by this evening and then perhaps spend one last fun night in New Haven. Tomorrow we'll savor our last time at Christ Pres and in the evening we'll head off to Hartford. Here we are enjoying some delicious New Haven pizza from "BAR" after the hard work. The pizza here has ruined us - we'll never be able to eat pizza anywhere else again - it's just too good here.

What we'll miss the most: Christ Presbyterian Church

(no, it's not snowing in June - this is a winter picture of where we go to church)

When we arrived here last August we happened upon the best thing that has happened to us this year - Christ Presbyterian Church. We had never been to a Presbyterian church before and we weren't sure what to expect. We wonder if we'll ever find another place like it - the combination of the rich liturgical worship, thought provoking and convicting teaching and amazing fellowship is extremely unique.

There is so much going on at this place and we feel we have just barely seen the tip of the iceberg. First of all, I don't think I've ever seen such a large group of people function so well as a family and yet be so so welcoming to newcomers. We were warmly welcomed immediately and sometimes we can't even believe we've only been here for such a short amount of time. This is the place for us - the worship instructs us and draws our hearts to God. This church cares about the poor and the community and is so generous with what they have. This is a church that is mindful of it's urban location and seeks to be a light in New Haven. And the liturgy -I could write pages and pages on why I love liturgical worship. How it nourishes my soul to weekly read the various responses to "Christians, What do you believe?" or "Christians, what is your only comfort in life and death?" We are always reminded of the whole of our faith - from God to Christ's saving work to the resurrection and to the "world without end" that we long for. I love to see the little ones singing the Doxology and the Gloria Patri - these words are etched into their hearts already at such a young age.

A few weeks ago we were in church and I was just amazed to look around and see us surrounded by friends. We feel like we have been here for much longer than 9 months. Leaving this church is definitely the hardest part about moving. People here have been exceedingly kind to us and we have so enjoyed spending the year getting to know them. We are so challenged by the way everyone serves each other and especially by the way they have served us - meeting various needs we have had, like rides to the store or small group...and yesterday several of them loaded all our heavy furniture onto a moving truck. What a help!

Moving across the country to a state we had never visited, where we knew not a soul and had not one single connection (other than the admissions staff at Yale Divinity...) was the most adventurous move we've ever made. I'm amazed at how the year unfolded - how God put so many of His people in our lives so quickly. We leave behind dear friends and an incredible church body that we will sorely miss.

The year is 1957

So the next Indiana Jones movie (can you believe there's actually going to be another one?)is filming a scene or two in New Haven. It's all anybody has been talking about at work the past few weeks. Several people from the office actually went to the casting call and are determined to be extras. The craziness started the other day and downtown New Haven has been transformed into a town called "Bedford" and the year is 1957. Sameer met me after work on Thursday and we thought we'd go downtown for a last stroll through the green and dinner at Richter's (New Haven's oldest bar - one of our many favorite places here...).


We didn't realize that New Haven wouldn't be quite itself for our last night on the town. The streets were filled with 50's cars and all the store fronts were transformed. It was like walking through a museum - except for when we couldn't cross the street or walk a certain direction because they were filming...

Relief

After 3 awfully hot and humid days the weather has changed and we are actually so cold we're wearing sweaters and socks again. Yesterday was my last day at work so today is the day we need to finish all of our packing. Last night we were so miserable in the apartment (no air conditioner...) we could barely stand it. The oppressive humidity was almost making me sick - I had no idea how we would be able to finish packing. Last night I dreamt that someone gave us an air conditioner and sure enough when we woke up at 6:00 a cold breeze was drifting into our room and we actually needed the sheet and blanket. We are very happy and content now and I think we can handle this move.

The Elm City

I LOVE New Haven. When we first got here we heard so many warnings about the danger and crime and poverty. We were honestly nervous to walk down our own street at night. We were skeptical, suspicious and scared. Now, I feel intimately acquainted with this place and I love that. I love that we don't have a car and that we need to walk everywhere. I love taking the city bus to run errands and I love meeting strangers at the bus stop and hearing all about their day. I've never been good at talking to strangers. Living in Santa Clarita and driving a car everywhere didn't help that. I know plenty of people in suburbia who are outgoing and friendly to strangers but it took a place like New Haven for me to learn that I love to meet people and that it's not that hard.

There is so much diversity here. New Haven is not just a university town. Downtown and Yale are all mixed in together.....it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. I love the bustling Green in the middle of town. I love to cross it to run errands and I love that the more I walk around town the more I see some of the same people over and over again. Like the sweet old man who reads the paper at Dunkin' Donuts every morning, or the nice homeless man who sits by the bus stop on Broadway St. and helps lost looking people figure out which bus they need - or Sal, who lives on the bench at the northeast corner of the Green.

I like that I actually know and talk to the owners of a few of the little stores we shop at. I love that on a typical day of walking to and from work and maybe running an errand in the evening I usually see a couple people from church and several people I know from work or from the Div school. I also now have so much admiration for some of the hardest working yet least appreciated people - like the bus driver who picked us up at the train station after we got back from New York at 1:00 in the morning on a Tuesday. He probably had to work all night and didn't have childcare so his two children tried to sleep on the front seats of the bus. We watched people get on and off the bus and accidentally bump into the poor tired kids over and over again. I know of two other bus drivers who have to take their kids to work so unfortunately this situation is not uncommon.

We're moving this week and while I'm excited for what's ahead, I am so so sad to leave New Haven because I adore this place and in a strange way it helps me feel more human. I see more of the raw beauty of life and people here even in the midst of poverty and racial tension and class distinction...I do hope this place has changed us.

Last days in New Haven

So we got together with our small group for ice cream in the courtyard and we ended up spending the evening playing on children's play equipment anywhere we could find it - 5 different locations to be precise. Our only regret is that we never discovered the cool one person "merry-go-round" sooner.

We started with the small stuff and ended up at an elementary school an hour later. Haven't felt that young in years....

It's better on Broadway

The Office, My Office

I never thought that having a "normal" job working with adults could provide as many funny moments as teaching piano lessons did. My students used to say the weirdest things. Sometimes I would write their hilarious quotes in my day planner because certain things should not be forgotten.

Now I work in a large office with dozens of people. We have enough characters for a whole new version of The Office.

There's a nice older man who sits 2 cubicles over from mine. We'll call him Ernie. Ernie is so kind. He was one of the first people to introduce himself to me and he walks by my desk several times a day always saying "Hi Whitney." Last week I was in the lunch room washing my lunch dish and Ernie came up to me and said, "Hi. I'm Ernie. What's your name?" Reminded me of a certain scene involving Creed.

On another office note, we had "Diversity Day" last week.

Lady Liberty

Sameer's mom wanted to take a picture of us in front of the Statue of Liberty, but was unable to fit her in the picture.... Our dismay turned to joy, however, when we noticed that - by pure and blessed coincidence - Lady Liberty sent a stand-in...

Album: Yadavs in Manhattan

NYC with Sameer's parents