New York!

We have arrived in New York!

(My apologies for the lack of pictures, we left our rechargeable batteries in Laramie and didn’t stop to get more for the camera.)

It became ever increasingly apparent that we are where God intends us to be, it was a real heart-lifting moment the first time Buffalo began appearing on the road signs. Even though we haven’t yet been into the city, it is still a wild thought to realize that we have no ‘return trip.’ Mary even said, “Wow, I guess we’re almost home.”

The last few days here at the farm have been peaceful enough. Zoe is still trying to figure out exactly what is going on, and that has caused her some stress (pray for her), but she is enjoying all of the new people and the animals here on the farm. For those of you who weren’t aware of our plans, we are staying at Tamy’s parent’s dairy in Bath, NY. They live on a beautiful rolling hilltop, surrounded by deep green woods and bright green fields; full of cows, horses, cats, dogs, and as many nooks and crannies as a two-year old could ever think to explore.

The second half of the trip was much smoother than the first. After our time in Laramie we headed to Omaha, Nebraska. I didn’t know quite what to expect there as I had simply emailed the local Vineyard Church there asking if they could house us for a night. The Pastor had seemed friendly during our correspondence, but we had yet to meet.

We had a great time! The Vasey’s opened their home to us and were so welcoming and hospitable; their three daughters (ages 4-10) were enraptured by our son, or perhaps it was the other way around! They made us a fabulous Mexican-style meal (the recipe is on its way) with a lime-cilantro cole-slaw that was phenomenal. The senior pastor and his wife, Scott and Lynette, came over for dinner. We talked shop (that’s code for I asked him a ton of questions and let him share years of experienced wisdom with me) as they had planted their Church about ten years ago. After the pastor and his wife left we had some time to fellowship with the Vasey’s. We shared our stories with each other and had the opportunity to encourage each other and pray for each other. They are entering an exciting season in their lives; this past year or two God has placed a burden on their hearts to leave American soil and reach out to people in other countries with the message of Jesus.

We were able to let Zane and Zoe sleep in the next day as we were only driving to Chicago. When we arrived in Elgin (a suburb of Chicago) we had another great time of food and fellowship with the Tai family. They brought home an authentic Chicago-style pizza, delicious! Li-En and his wife Amy (and two children) are a part of the team that went to China with Pastor Mike and Dave DeMar a few months ago. The Elgin Vineyard does work in China, as well the entire Tai family has been involved in China for a long time. Since that time they made a trip out to Redding, some of you had the opportunity to meet them. During their visit Zane actually managed to vomit on both of them, so they felt obliged to offer us their home when we drove through!

We left Chicago around 5:30 am to beat the traffic, Elgin is on the west side of the city. We made it through with out any real trouble and were through into Cleveland by 3:00 pm. We had been hoping to make it to Bath by bedtime, but we made great time and pulled in around 7:00. We were hoping to surprise the family as we had told them to expect us the next day, but when we didn’t answer our cell-phones all day, they had us figured out.

We are planning to go up to Buffalo to look for housing and pick up some job applications tomorrow. Pray that God would point us in the right direction. Thank you so much for your love and support.