Summer Comes To An End

The time has come for the summer to end, our summer at least. The past fews months have been really great for Katie and I. We have been able to spend a lot of time traveling and with family. It's over the summer that we realize how fortunate we are to have the jobs that we do. We have been able to leave whenever we need to and work whenever we need to. For all the throngs of readers who are wondering what exactly we did this summer, I give you our summer in review.

The school year ended back in the beginning of May. I finished up my remaining projects and crammed for finals in the last two weeks of spring semester. A time of highest rejoicing came when I completed my last final. However, this rejoicing was short lived when Katie and I decided we should try to squeeze forty plus hours in at work at the end of finals week. We overloaded on work because our first vacation was beginning the week after school ended and we didn't want to have to panic over our finances when we got back home. By the time our first vacation came, a cruise to the Bahamas, we were completely burnt out. I suppose there isn't a better time to be burnt out than right before a relaxing cruise but we still regretted taking on so much work. It took us a few days to get back into a normal sleep schedule but we enjoyed our cruise thoroughly. We were very excited to see a new culture in the Bahamas (Surprisingly, the Bahamas are barely different from Baltimore).






After our cruise we spent some time in Baltimore with family before heading back to Beckley. Originally we had plans to leave for a Chick-fil-A grand opening in Fairfax, VA the week after we got back. But after remembering the week before the cruise we decided we should stay home for a little and take it easy. At the end of our trip home when we were driving down our street we saw a car for sale a few houses up the road from us. By this time our cars were giving us untold troubles and we were in need of a new ride. Long story short, the man selling the car was on staff for the school and offered us a great deal. I had to learn how to drive a manual but Katie and I are now th proud owners of a 2003 Volkswagen Passat.


We decided to spend the fourth of July at home so my family came to visit. We invited some of the other married students and had a little cookout at our house. We had planned to have a bonfire but some rain changed that plan. Instead, we roasted marshmallows with our little grill on the back porch in the rain.



The weekend after the Fourth of July we made a trip back up to Baltimore. By this time we were really missing the city. We visited all our favorite stores and did more window shopping than anything. That Sunday night I had the opportunity to preach at Grace Pointe Baptist Church in Chase. Katie and I were very excited about this opportunity because we could finally see if I learned anything during my first year of school. I was very happy to share the message God had laid on my heart and the response was a blessing. Interestingly, I was given the opportunity to preach the same message at Freedom Baptist in Virginia that Wednesday night. This whole trip turned out to be a huge blessing for us this summer, I was very grateful for the preaching opportunities.

We returned home to work for a few more weeks until our final trip of the summer to America's Keswick in Whiting, New Jersey. Keswick is a Christian retreat/conference center that Katie's family has been going to for many years. This was my second year going but I love it to death. On most vacations you go home more tired than when you left but Keswick is truly relaxing for us. After Keswick we stayed a few more days in Baltimore to spend time with family.







Now we are back home, working full time until the school year starts. At the beginning of summer I didn't even want to think about school anymore. But, over these last few months God has restored my desire to learn and given Katie and I much needed rest. I'm excited to be starting my second year of school at Appalachian Bible College. The word around campus is that this is supposed to be my hardest year. That makes me both nervous and excited. Nervous, because I obviously have a hard task ahead of me. Excited, because I love a good challenge and if I get through this year then it's all down hill after that. As we return to a somewhat regular schedule we hope to provide everyone with more regular updates. While you wait for our next post, please keep us in your prayers.