Another Transition

Many times it has been said: "Home is where the heart is".  
I have been careful as we have transitioned from Bismarck to Florida NOT to call our house here "home". Why is that? I think there are many reasons but the overshadowing reason for now is that we want to make Moshi, Tanzania our new HOME. God has clearly been guiding us to Moshi over the last two years and the time is quickly upon us. We are thrilled to be at this stage of our transition, but I must say.....it has been a process.

The final sale on our house in Bismarck took place on Thursday, September 18th and we closed and moved our belongings on Wednesday September 24th. We left Bismarck after the STEER conference on Sunday morning October 5th and landed in Florida around 1 PM. Our house here was... and is... still undergoing renovations so we stayed in the home of Larry and Cindy Renner until Thursday October 9th when we physically moved in to our place. Every day is a parade of construction workers trying to "finish" their jobs as we unpack our things. We are getting it done and already have our six suitcases packed (for the first time) for Tanzania. We are already over the limit of weight so repacking will happen soon but taking out is easier than doing it all for the first time..... I HOPE.

The weather here in Florida is perfect right now. The days are warm and the evenings are cooler so we are enjoying lots of time on our new patio. We even have some horses just over the fence of our back yard. As we enjoy our few weeks here, we continue to remind ourselves that our HOME for now is in Moshi, Tanzania with the new children that God is giving us to care for. Our hearts are definitely in Tanzania for the present time.

As you can imagine, Kent is quite busy here with "house projects". He is trying to get his new workshop set up and the garage floor refinished and the pictures hung and the attic filled with storage items, and, and, and...... lots of trips to Lowes and I am grateful we have one only about 7 miles away.

Here is a reminder of what our front yard will be like in our new HOME in Tanzania. We will be busy as Peggy will be the Child Care director and Kent will work three days a week at the Medical School and teach with the RICE program which trains teachers for the remaining two days each week.
We are thankful for the many people who have visited us during our short stay here in Florida. They have been an immense help in getting unpacked and projects completed. I am not sure how we could have done it without them... we even had some come from as far as North Dakota!
In about two weeks after settling into our HOME in Tanzania we hope to send our first report of life below the equator. Please pray for us as we leave on October 30th and our safe arrival and as we settle into our home there. Thanks for joining us in prayer on this new journey.