We made it to Osterville!

Dave and I are glad to be settled into our new home as we celebrate three weeks on the Cape. Lots has happened in these three weeks, but I would like to begin by taking you back to Kentucky as we prepared for the big move.

We were excited to witness the wedding of Rebecca and Andrew Lucius. Andrew and I (Emily) graduated from Southern Miss together and Rebecca was the nurse who assured us that a positive pregnancy test meant we were indeed pregnant. Needless to say, these are two people who mean a lot to us. The ceremony was beautiful and truly a testimony of how the Lord has worked in their lives and will continue to sanctify them through their marriage. This was Sarah's second wedding and she did fabulously (aka, she slept through the ceremony and smiled through the reception)!

The next morning we celebrated the Lord's day one last time with our church family at Eagle Heights. Afterwards we were treated to a fantastic feast where there were as many desserts as savory items. It was a sweet time of fellowship. Then we hit the road and headed south for Sarah to meet her MS family. With only two feeding/changing stops, we made it to Hattiesburg without being on the road too much longer than normal. While in Hattiesburg we enjoyed sleeping in and talking late. Sarah met her great-grandmothers Ma and Grandma, along with many aunts, uncle, and friends. It was a sweet time and we look forward to seeing everyone again when we head south for the Katye Artmann wedding in May!

Reenergized by the mini-vacation we headed to Tennessee for the marriage of Phil and Laura Metcalf. Dave led worship for this wedding, so we enjoyed the rehearsal and a delicious dinner before setting in for a nice long sleep. After a warm rehearsal and with threats of rain, we were pleased to find a clear, cool afternoon for the wedding and reception. Everything was beautiful and Dave did a wonderful job. He decided he liked wearing a boutonniere.  :)

We then set our sights toward home and took on the challenge of navigating back roads without the GPS rather than sticking to the interstates. It was a successful bonding experience that got us home just before midnight and in record time. My parents arrived about the same time and we settled in for the first of many short nights. The next morning we worshipped with Highview Valley Station, one of Dave's former stomping grounds and home of Jon Akin, who performed our wedding ceremony. He was kind enough to pray for us at the end of the service and send us with blessings on our way. The rest of the day we furiously packed and cleaned- and finished with time to spare!

That evening we had dinner with friends (thanks Joel and Seth!) and then geared up for packing the truck the next morning. The Cooks arrived just as Dave drove up with the truck- let the madness begin! Amazingly, within just an hour or two everything from the apartment was arranged in the truck. Many hands make for good work! We appreciate all the hands and hard work that made loading the truck so easy. The next morning Dave took his ladies to the airport for an early flight and he and his parents hit the road not much later. We arrived in Providence and made it to the Cape just after lunch. The rest of the Cooks joined us around dinner time the next day.

We made it to Osterville! Thursday morning a few strong men unloaded the truck while Catherine (the sweet woman in whose condo we are staying), Vicky, and I unpacked boxes. By mid-afternoon everything was out of the box and within a few days in its rightful place. Since that time, Dave has started work and we are slowly getting to know our new home. The Lord has brought us to a beautiful place filled with kind people. We are blessed to have a church home and fellowship and look forward to more fully getting to know Osterville, our new home.

* Since Dave is now working 8-5, I am the chief family blogger. I apologize in advance for a comparative lack of creatively and interest- Dave is just good at blogging!

Farewell to Morton's

Thursday Emily and I had the chance to visit Morton's one last time- and take advantage of our last complimentary dinner.  We found that watching my now former co-workers do what they do best was the best possible way to say farewell.  

For nearly five years I waited tables at their Louisville restaurant, learning much from a company that is particular about everything.  At Morton's everything has to be done just so, and it has to be done very well- a standard that anyone would benefit from being held to for five years.  As a result, they saw local business rise during a recession, filling some of the gap left by sharply declining convention business.  They are the number one diner-rated special occasion restaurant in Louisville, and it's because of the good work they let me be a part of.  

God used Morton's to allow me to work for a rural church for three years, one that couldn't have otherwise afforded me a livable salary.  He used Morton's to allow me to graduate seminary and start our marriage with savings instead of debt- something almost no one in seminary gets to do.  Through it I was allowed to bring the Good News of Jesus to so many lost co-workers, bear a testimony of wise work to all who watched us, and find good jobs for many other seminary students.  They are just a company, run by lost executives, but they work hard and they work well.  And God uses that.  

But He didn't just use them to provide for me- he taught me through them.  I work better at everything I do because they have raised my standard of meticulousness.  I better understand the feast awaiting believers, provided by God himself, because I've gone in five times and eaten Morton's feast on their dime.  Why can I learn such important life lessons from a non-Christian company?  Because it is run by humans who are made in the image of God.  When they run things well, they image Christ- who is at the same time the ultimate human and the very God they are rebelling against- and they don't even know it.  

Now we sit with our bellies still full from last week's feast and our thoughts filled with memories, but then all we could do was enjoy ourselves.  It wasn't a time for bittersweet tears.  Now, however, that time is here.  I will miss these people dearly.  Oh, how I want them to hear and perceive the truths God has made plain to us.  How I wish God would use the Christians who are still among them, many of whom I introduced to the company, to bring the Gospel to them.  He is full of grace, and I have watched Him work there in the past.  May He continue to.  

But now we move on, and we say farewell.  Thank you for five good years, Morton's.  May all of you taste of the better feast.  

Osterville Q&A: Dave's Job & The Move

What Exactly Is Dave's Job?

The official title is "Associate Pastor for Worship and Arts."  One way of describing it would be to take a traditional Music Minister and move the style of music he coordinates toward a modern sound.  Then add everything your pastor does, but subtract regular preaching.  Another way is to add together a part-time Worship Leader and a part-time Associate Pastor. Yet another way is to take your Pastor, subtract from him the responsibility to preach every week, and replace that with leading the music each week. 

Another way is to forget the math and just tell you what I'll actually be doing.  They want me to have the main job of leading their Sunday Morning singing, but they want me to be a pastor about it.  This is one of the reasons I was drawn to this church, because that is exactly how I look at leading the singing.  So I'm called to lead them in singing, coordinate the musicians who accompany it, and shepherd the worship service the same way a pastor makes sure his sermon feeds the flock.  I'll make sure they're singing truth, that it's appropriate to the time in which they're singing it, and that it's being done as well as it can be done.

When you look at leading worship like this, and then consider that worship is only true when it is done all week, is becomes apparent that the person leading it needs to have both the authority of a pastor when leading and the responsibilities of a pastor throughout the week.  Is he qualified to lead you in worship on Sunday morning if he can't give you wise council in the Hospital?  We don't believe so, and thus throughout the week I'll act more like an Associate Pastor than a Music Minister. 

When and How Are you Moving?

Tonight, September 15th, is my last night at Morton's.  OBC voted and offered me the position on the 1st.  So today, two weeks later, I leave Morton's.  Tomorrow we're going in one last time for my annual free dinner for two, and that may be the very last time I go into the building.

Our apartment is close to being all packed up, and we will use the next three days finishing that work.  Then Saturday we will attend our 2nd wedding this month.  Sunday will be my last week leading Eagle Heights Baptist Church, and after a farewell lunch we will drive down to Hattiesburg.  Then, next Friday, we plan to drive up to Liberty, TN for a rehearsal dinner and our third wedding this month before heading back home.

The next Monday, the 27th, we plan to load up the Penske and my parents plan to fly up.  Early Tuesday we'll drop Emily and Sarah off at the airport and point the cars up toward Massachusetts.  We'll tow the Camry behind the Penske.  Then Emily and Sarah will spend the night in the Condo that is waiting for us in Osterville, while my parents and I will stay in a hotel somewhere on the road.  Late Wednesday we hope to arrive, kiss the girls hello, and go to sleep.  Then we plan to unload everything into the Condo, a Storage room another church member has provided us, and the Church office on Thursday.  Then my parents plan to stay a few days before they fly back to Florida. I don't start at the church until that next Monday, and my first Sunday leading them will be Anniversary! 

We hope this satisfies a little more curiosity.  There's more to come, of course.  In the meantime, here's a picture of Sarah taking her bath!

We're Moving!

We have been waiting ever since we got married almost one year ago, and have finally found our new church home!  We've been called to Osterville Baptist Church in Osterville, Massachusetts.  It's tucked perfectly in Cape Cod, in the mid-Cape town of Barnstable.  So Dave has put in his two-week notice to Morton's, and we have informed Eagle Heights, so the moving plans are underway.  After our dear friend Phil Metcalf is married later this month, we plan to load up a truck and move.  In God's timing, it appears that Dave's first Sunday as their Associate Pastor for Worship and Arts may actually be our first Anniversary! 

As Associate Pastor for Worship and Arts, Dave will be somewhat of a hybrid between a Music Minister and a Pastor- exactly what we've been looking for.  He'll spend about half his week overseeing all the music that goes on in the church, and the other half doing pastoral things like teaching and counseling.  He will be a member of the pastoral team, so he will have preaching, wedding, funeral, and leadership responsibilities.   But the area of specialty will still be music.  This goes well with the conviction he's developed that it's best for the person leading the church in singing each week to be a part of their pastoral team.

We know you have a million questions for us, and we hope to post a more detailed Q&A in a few days.  We also intend to post about some of the recent visitors Sarah has had.  Look for those soon!  For now, here is the church's website:  http://www.ostervillebaptist.org/