We Arrived ......Sort Of

Well, here we are in Southern California. Last Sunday was my last one as the pastor of Believers Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas. After sharing from the Word, sharing around the Lord's Table, and sharing some of the memories of a 10 year ministry, we all shared together in some wonderful fellowship in the Family Life Center. It was a time to say goodbye to some terrific folks that we have worshipped and served alongside of over the years. The Lord was good and gracious during our time at Believers Fellowship.

Monday we jumped in the car, after watching the final holes of the PGA tournament (see Ben's blog for more), and away we went. The drive was uneventful and we spent the night in one of my favorite spots - Gas City in Benson, Arizona. As the saying goes, if they don't have it at Gas City, you don't need it. Every thing a road warrior could want, he can find at Gas City.

Tuesday morning Ben and I were awakened by Roberta saying, "It's 4:30, who else is ready to go?" Well, Ben and I got ready and away we went. By 3:00 in the afternoon we were at our new home. After checking out the new digs we went out to dinner at the Outback. Then we checked in to a hotel to spend the night.

Early the next morning the moving truck arrived. Did we really pack all those boxes? We are currently in the process of unpacking. We are making progress. Thursday some high school students from church showed up to do some unpacking and cleaning. Did I say cleaning? We were a little disappointed with how the house was left but the high school students were a big help. There is some carpet that will need some serious cleaning or replacing. Also, our guest bedroom is painted a kind of purpley-pink or pinky-purple. Since most of our guests will be Billy or Bobby and Christa, we plan on painting the room a different color. Also some window covers left with the previous owners so we need to buy some new ones fairly soon.

Overall we are extremely happy with our new house. It is light and spacious. It has a terrific view (the hill we are on is higher than I remembered). And it has a lovely pool. So far all we have done is gaze at the pool. It needs a cleaning which we don't know how to do and we don't know some other basic things like how to turn the hot tub on. However, Monday we have a guy known as Dr. H2O coming to clean the pool and give us instructions.

We also enjoy being closer to family. Last night Billy came and spent the night. Tomorrow we will have dinner with my dad. Monday Bobby and Christa arrive to visit for a few days. Even though Ben is at college, we will see him often and we are looking forward to getting to know the friends he will make rather than mostly just hearing about them like we did with Bobby and Billy.

I'm itching to get into the ministry groove at Grace Church. Right now we are getting settled and in a week Roberta and I will get away for a few days. After that I will be eager to get into my new office and ministry. One thing we have noticed is that we are surrounded by a lot of people, and I mean a lot. People who need the Lord. People who need to hear the Word of the Lord. We look forward to many opportunities to serve, teach, pray, and witness. Pray for our witness to our new neighbors. I've already met one - Eddy.

So we are here, sort of. We keep thinking of that box we saw somewhere. Another common phrase is, "I have no idea where that is." And we don't know exactly what our routine will be once we get in to it. It's not like we are on vacation and then we get back to the normal. We're about to establish a whole new normal. However, the Lord has not changed and He has not left us. We look forward to what He has for us in the near future.