As expected, these last few weeks have been a series of big transitions, with the one exception being that we thought we'd move and we're still in Durham for another week at least.
As we settled back in from our big trip, I spent the week looking through teammates' pictures, writing the blog from my journal, preparing a short talk to share at church, and attempting to make dawa and Kenyan food. Of course, like when we went to China, it's just not the same when I make it!
That week was our last one with all 6 of us here...and who knows? Maybe our last summer together, since Joshua has a house now. We had one last outing to play putt putt (though Julia was working) and had a game night on Joshua's last night. The girls went with us to move in to his house. It was not as nice in person as it was in the pictures...a little smoke-smelly, some rooms really small, some parts needing repairs/updates, but overall, it's a cute house and certainly fine for three college boys. We moved Joshua's stuff in and quickly realized that he had nowhere to put most of his clothes, so we made a Walmart trip for some light furniture and food. After putting it all together, it was time to say bye. Thankfully, Joshua's roommates were around and they are really fun guys and welcomed Joshua well, so I think he was feeling ready to move on with college life. Of course, I was super sad to say bye, but we did, and made the short trip home. Oh yeah- this was our second annual trip to Fayetteville on our anniversary, in which we move Joshua in and I cry most of the way home and we do not celebrate. :)
The next day, Matt and I were part of our team sharing about our trip at church, which was so sweet to be able to share how the Lord called us to this trip, equipped us, and gave us the most amazing time as we learned what it means to be a part of his global church. The ladies all wore our Kenyan clothing/jewelry to celebrate. Since coming back, we've been able to connect some with the friends we made there and even got some pictures today of new uniforms that our church left money for them to buy for the kids that most needed them. So sweet to see pictures of the kids we spent time with and such a blessing to have this personal connection and ability to share what we have with them.
Then I started back to work with teacher workdays. It's always hard to transition out of summer and I was still feeling a bit jetlagged, but being back with my coworkers reminds me why I work where I do. I was sure missing Jeanine, but happy to have a little time to get to know my new teacher. It wasn't the smoothest week at home, as Matt had to work 3 of those weekdays and I had to figure out getting Julia to work and somewhere for Allie to go, but thankfully we have great support here! We were also trying to get Gray to prepare for moving to Mars Hill and, in typical Gray fashion, he was putting off all the things I thought he should be doing, while embracing activities like 5:45am prayer meetings at his girlfriend's church, going to the movies, and cooking the family steak for his "last meal". Friday at 4:45am dawned early and he wasn't exactly packed, though he'd thrown most of his clothes in piles in his laundry baskets the night before.
We managed to leave around 6 and the girls left for Emerald Isle with Pa soon after that. It was a loooong day at Mars Hill, but a good one. We checked in and met some of the staff and talked to Gray's coach. When we headed to his dorm to unload, his older lacrosse teammates took all his stuff to his 3rd floor dorm room for us! We helped him unpack, went to lunch in the dining hall, picked up a few more things at Dollar General, and met his roommate, roommate's mom and roommate's girlfriend, who had just arrived to unpack as well. Gray's coach held a meeting for freshmen and their families and they all introduced themselves, took a photo, and began to go off together in groups. I really liked what I saw of the coach. He seems like he has strong expectations of the players and will hold them to it. The assistant had a ton of energy and seemed fun.
Since Gray went off with a few guys, Matt and I wandered downtown to the bookstore to cool off. Later all of us were in an auditorium for a meeting and then the students were taken to get ready for "March through the Arch", in which they come through downtown under an arch that says Mars Hill, in parade fashion with a band and parents ringing cow bells and shaking pom poms. Gray clearly didn't love this part, but I think it's a fun tradition. They'll march out the other way "into the world" when they graduate. After that, we gathered to hear the President briefly speak, then had to say goodbye. Of course I cried and Gray just kind of awkwardly patted me. :) It was dinnertime and so Matt and I walked away to one of the downtown restaurants and I quickly dried my tears and focused on my pita bread with pimento cheese appetizer! On our way back towards Gray's dorm, we ended up meeting a student who thought we were staff and needed to use our phone. He also gave us a student id we had found, who we happened to recognize as a teammate of Gray's, so we ended up going back up to Gray's room, where he was laying on his bed alone eating snacks and feeling worn out, and encouraged him to go find his teammate with the lost id and maybe play cornhole with some other teammates we saw nearby, which he did. We began the drive home and were super tired (I was trying everything to stay awake that last hour!), getting home after 11.
In the days to come, we'd text and hope to talk with Gray a lot and not hear from him much, but eventually got a call and were happy to hear he'd been having a great time doing lots of stuff with his teammates, who we could even hear in the background asking him to go shoot on the field. He has started classes and says it's easy so far. Hoping he learns so much, academically and otherwise, and matures in the best way as he navigates college life!
We've talked to Joshua a little too and he seems to be enjoying life in his house, spending lots of time with his teammates too, and doing some of the same 'ol, same 'ol in year 2, like having the same kids in his classes and falling right back into old routines from last year. What's new is that he's doing some cooking too, now that he's got a kitchen. Happy he feels at home at Methodist.
This week the girls started 5th and 10th grade and so far, so good for them. They had a great time with Nanny and Pa at the beach and jumped right into early morning rush the next day.
Allie comes home every day with lots of fun stories from her eccentric, funny teacher, who makes them call her Queen Ducky (Ms Ducanis, the "duck" class). Julia is loving being around friends, new and old, though feeling a little stretched to get it all done, with cheer practice every day. The kids came this week at my school too and it sure is different being upstairs in a "foyer" kind of area for our classroom. We hear everything as classes pass by in the hall since our wall is a thin divider, and the kids have to use the big bathroom outside the class. They are so little, but so far they seem to be adapting pretty well. They need a lot of interaction, reassurance, and reminders at the beginning of the year, so I'm pretty worn out/ready for quiet by the time I get home, but this "post-flood" situation with a new teacher hasn't been as difficult as I imagined, so I'm grateful for that.
And yes, we are still waiting for those wonderful rails to be installed in the new house. Maybe next week, maybe not. Anyone's guess is as good as ours! We are ready to move on and be done with this last big transition of the year, but it's not up to us, so we wait.
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