Weekend in Review

We had a great weekend! It started with company on Thursday evening. We hosted Jenn and Chad in our home. We went to eat wings and then took them downtown to see Omaha. We really have a neat city. There are so many beautiful buildings downtown, as well as interesting things to see. After sightseeing, we returned home to eat dessert and talk.

On Friday at lunchtime, after eating at Cheesecake Factory, we left for Des Moines, IA. The regional lock-in was at one of our churches there. On the drive from Omaha to Des Moines, we stopped off the DeSoto exit and found out the birthplace of John Wayne. We drove into Winterset and realized it was also the set for Bridges of Madison County (Madison County, IA). We visited the birthplace and its little museum. The guys really enjoyed it.

After our detour, we drove into West Des Moines (home of Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson) and had dinner at one of our new favs - On the Border. It was great! Then we headed to the church for the lock-in. Chad preached for us at the lock-in and we had a wonderful worship service and a great turnout! Chad did a great job challenging the teens to FLEE, FOLLOW, and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!

I stayed up until 6:45 Am and then I had to take a nap. Once all the teens were picked up and on their way home, we went to IHOP for breakfast. After an afternoon nap, we had dinner and dessert and returned to the hotel. The UGA game was on and by halftime, Jenn and I headed to Target. Matthew was not too happy with the score!

We left on Sunday after lunch. We had so much fun with our friends and enjoyed having them at the lock-in, our first Youth event in the Region. Matthew did a great job putting it together!

Since the move....

I was trying to think back and recall all the things we’ve done since moving to Omaha. I don’t want to bore anyone with all the details, so I thought I’d recap in a few bulleted points (I love lists, by the way).

- Traveled to several regional (IA/NE) churches where Matthew preached
- Conference in St. Louis – got to see friends (yay!)
- Went to San Antonio, Texas for the General Assembly of our denomination
* Saw friends and family – great week!
- Gotten settled into our apartment (most boxes have been unpacked)
- Began meeting with the church plant (8.26.08) at our apartment complex’s clubhouse
- Helped Matthew with the planning of our Regional Fall Lock-in for teens (9.26.08)
- Found Ulta (a hair, beauty, and salon superstore – the salon I used in SC)!
- Discovering lots of neat places around Omaha to shop, eat and spend time
* Buffalo Wild Wings – Matthew’s a happy man
* Village Pointe
* Cheesecake Factory, Charlestons, Jason’s Deli (2), Hector’s
- Meeting new people!
- Went to TN
* For meetings
* Celebrated Matthew’s birthday (9/16)
* Saw family and friends

So, to sum it up….we’ve been pretty busy getting settled and beginning our ministry in Omaha.

The Intro

I know that I'm backtracking a bit, but I thought some might wonder why we moved to Nebraska.

Well......We lived in South Carolina until the beginning of July. We were sad to leave the camp ground, our jobs, family (Matthew's parents and sister) and friends, but felt that it was a necessary move. Matthew was offered a position in the Regional COG office and we’ll also be planting a new church on the west side of the city.

So, to begin our new adventure, Autumn, my best friend came the weekend before the trailer was to arrive to help get us loaded up. I’m SO GRATEFUL! Packing is not the most fun thing to do, but after it was all over I thought, “that wasn’t too bad!) After leaving from SC, we traveled to Virginia where we picked up my dad and step-mom. Since we had already loaded up an ABF trailer with all of our things (you pack, they transport - good deal), we only had our cars to drive to Omaha, NE. My dad and Susan so graciously offered to help us drive, unpack and get settled into our new home. Without their help, I'd still be unpacking and driving Matthew crazy! It was a two-day trip from Virginia to Nebraska and we got to stop in St. Louis on the way and eat dinner with Jeff and Brittany. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I guess it helped that I didn't have to drive that much. I think my time totaled 4 hours (at most).
We arrived on Tuesday at 2 PM, but we weren't able to receive the ABF trailer until after 4:30 PM. We had already found a place to live during our June visit (Camp Meeting, etc.) so we already had utilities and the keys to our new place. Our apartment is on the west side of the city (where we'll be planting a church) of Omaha. It's right off a main thoroughfare (Dodge) and we live on the 3rd floor. As you can imagine, once we were able to unload the truck we were thankful it wasn't earlier in the day. It was so hot! The trailer was empty within 2 1/2 hours (thanks to some hired help) and we were exhausted.

My family stayed from Tuesday - Saturday and worked so hard to get us settled. We did manage some relaxation while they were here (sightseeing, fine dining, movies, relaxing at the pool and shopping), but mostly we were hard at work. Seeing them off at the airport was sad, but I knew we’d see them again in about a month so that made it easier!
We’re happy to be here and excited to see what God has in store!

Finally!

I have finally set up a blog! Lisa encouraged me to do this - especially living so far from family and friends. Although I don't think our life is extremely entertaining and exciting, others might want to know how we're doing and how the church plant is progressing. So here it is!