An Update - Fall 2024

To our chagrin, we realize we are not the best at updates. And we apologize for that. Much has happened, and so here are a few of the big events since our last more formal life update.

Josh began and finished his first semester at GPTS. His classes included: “Greek I,” “Philosophy for Theologians,” “Medieval Church History,” “Modern Church History,” “Former Prophets” (Joshua-Kings), and “Gospels and Acts.” The semester went from, hard, to harder, to even harder, but Josh finished well. When I’ve begged for the answer to, “What was your favorite class,” he gives the adorable nerd answer, “I can’t choose. They are all so important.”

[Below is a picture of a typical day with Josh studying. This was earlier on after our move. Hence the boxes. Now he has officially upgraded to a desk in our living room. ]

During the semester, the seminary hosted the “Confessional Conference,” and the theme this year was missions. The sessions were very encouraging, and some are available online to watch!

One of the unexpected joys of seminary has been our dear community on the seminary housing street. The friends have truly became family. From Nepal to Poland and everywhere in between… even California! On Josh's long days, I have been blessed by their many talents and just sweet fellowship time together. Another answer to prayer was for community for A and Z. We laugh that the children act like cousins, playing and bickering and doting and loving one another endlessly as they speedily bike and scooter around the driveways together.

During this Spring, we had the joy of becoming members at Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville. This was an answer to our prayer request for a local church, so thank you for praying!

Josh also became an intern at Second Presbyterian Church (“Second Pres.”) Another answer to prayer! His work there varies but usually includes the blessing of learning at Elder Meetings, Staff Meetings, being trained and mentored by the Pastors, teaching Middle Schoolers, along with occasional other varied jobs.

The summer was a difficult season for us. As many of you know, I had a hard pregnancy. And then, on August 12, our daughter Talitha was born. We had the joy of holding her in our arms for two precious hours before she went to the Everlasting Arms of the Lord. We hope to share more about this over time. But for now, thank you for your unending love and support through this trial.

And now, here we are more than halfway through the second semester of seminary! This semester Josh continues his studies, taking the following courses: “Greek II,” “Hebrew I,” “Torah,” “Reformed Devotion and Discipline,” and “Intro to Reformed Theology."

While these are the more dramatic highlights, most of our life looks like me caring for A and Z while Josh works and studies and serves. We are so grateful for the sweet blessings of community in the church and seminary as we press on, and are ever so grateful for you! Your support, texts, letters, packages, and prayers bless us more than we can say. Truly. Thank you. We love you all.

Then a hurricane came! [Picture above is of Josh and our neighbor pulling the grill out of the water from the rain of the hurricane.] Hurricane Helene was NOT what we expected. Yes, we got the government text, "There is a hurricane coming," but I think, like most people here, we thought we were so far inland, how bad could it be? We were wrong. Trees uprooted. So many power-lines down. A road we frequently used was completely washed out! Many people very close by had it far worse. God was very gracious to us, and none of our property was damaged- we were just without power for a number of days. And we had the genuine joy of going full on "camp life" with our seminary street neighbors. This included cooking meals outside, sharing miscellaneous battery powered items, and figuring out this "Little House on the Prairie life" together. [Pictures below of "camp street life" and the washed out road just miles from our home.]