Back in Georgia

Hello!  A lot has transpired since the last post.  I'll do my best to catch you up to the present...

For starters, Barry successfully finished the DMZ marathon that we told you about and he made a friend in the process!

I love this photo.  Barry said they met during the race and ended up spurring each other on and eventually finished the race arm-in-arm.  What a beautiful picture of the partnership between the church in the U.S. and in Korea!  Awesome.

Barry was able to raise $1200 for KidsWorship Inc.  So, THANK YOU for helping us further God's work!!!

After the race Barry took off for a whirlwind filming trip in Europe.  They hit 27 cities in 24 days and slept in cars, on floors, in churches, and no-telling where else.  They got some great footage and told some great stories about the Reformers and their faith.  Mary Delaplane graciously allowed Barry and Ross Schmidt to borrow her costumes.  The were incredible and perfectly suited for the task.

Meanwhile... the kids and I helped box up the Yi family's belongings that we borrowed during our stay and then we hoped on a jet to cross the Pacific.  I had wonderful help along the way. Jinhun, Yunlim, Jihyun and Byoungik were so kind to drive and help us haul all our bags to check-in and then they saw us off at security.  It was very surreal and a little teary.

Mom and Dad and our Costas met us on the other side in Atlanta.  After chasing my guitar around the airport for an hour and half we finally got it and left and then ate some Chick-fil-A and then were dropped off at Grandmas where we happily fell into our beds.  We bounced between grandparents for 3 or 4 weeks and then Barry returned.  We stayed with grandparents another week or two and then moved into Snow's Mill Guest House for 6 weeks.  (That's where we are now!)  We've been so blessed to have a place to stay!

There was a bit of culture shock in returning home.  For several weeks I felt really weepy at times, especially during church because I missed my dear friends in Korea.  There were also, of course, so many unknowns.  Barry and I weren't sure about much of anything (cars, house, jobs, school, ministry) except that God had a plan and that everything would fall into place in His timing.   We were able to quickly get a van and a job.  That was a huge blessing.  Meanwhile, I literally scoured the Internet for houses, but alas, everything we looked into or placed an offer on fell through.  (If you're wondering, we still do own a house in Statham, but it is occupied by a family.  The husband/dad has MS and they are afraid to move right now because of his health so we told them not to worry about it.  They committed to at least another year in that house.)

The Lord had reminded me of His word when we were still in Korea.  He reminded me about the secret of contentment and how the Bible says to be content if you have food and clothing.  That simplified things tremendously.  We have never been without food and clothing!

Fast forward to last week.  Pastor Mel (the senior pastor from our church here in Athens) requested a meeting with us.  We invited him out to the Guest House to meet and he asked us if we would consider coming on staff with the church as youth pastors, continuing in our "team-style" ministry.  That was a little mind-blowing because it was unexpected and it had the Lord's fingerprints all over it.  What a perfect fit and a tremendous answer to some of the questions we had had!  In Korea we worked primarily with children, youth and young adults every week so that fit in perfectly with our experience and heart.   One more piece of the puzzle was in place!

Housing, school and another vehicle were still needed.   (I've been homeschooling the kids since we returned and we've been looking into several options, but we're still waiting to hear something from the school we like best.)

So yesterday, the housing plan came together.  Again, our minds are absolutely blown... much like the ministry opportunity, the housing is more than we could have asked for or imagined -- absolutely EXCEEDING our highest hopes or expectations.  More on that later...