The month that has been:
Sorry that I haven't posted anything in about a month. With all of our unpacking, saying goodbye, moving and subsequent unpacking I haven't had too much free time. Here's what I can remember us doing. Holly's graduation week was quite the whirlwind. It started off on Sunday with a going away reception at church in between services where I talked to a bunch of random people that I don't know that I even met in my four years on staff. I really don't like those things because of that, but I guess you have to do them. We finished packing the rest of that week and then had a staff going away lunch on Thursday. Funny thing, as I looked around the cafe I could only truly say that I was close to a few people that are left on staff. After an awkward "share your favorite Jared story" time with people that didn't hardly know me, we went home to change and then head to a formal dinner/dance for Holly's school. We had a great time at this event. I got to meet some of Holly's med school friends that I hear her talking about from time and time. It was good to also put faces to names as well.
Friday we had a graduation party for Holly at the home of some of our dear friends that we used to serve on staff with. We had a great evening hanging out with some of our closet friends in PA. The evening came to a close with the group praying over Holly and I. It is interesting to note that this evening felt like my staff going away reception as five of those present were ones that I had served at FVCN with. Man, we had some good times together. I left that event to pick up one of my best friends from the airport. He was flying in to help us with the move by driving my car back to TN on Sunday. Many, many thanks go out to "gangsta." On Saturday Holly's family flew in to PA to be present for the graduation ceremonies and help us finish packing. Sunday was the big graduation day! I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of my wife. She has put in so much time, energy and effort to get to this point. (And I've only been around first hand for the past 5 years.) I can honestly admit that I teared up as the med school class processed into the theatre. After an interesting and fairly lengthy ceremony, my wife is now an official doctor! Here an interesting tidbit, Holly's dad was able to hood her since he was a doctor as well.
That evening was perhaps one of the hardest nights that I have experienced in my ministry life. Saying goodbye to a great youth group. During the evening a few students stood up to share a few stories about me, some funny and some serious. We were surprised with a Wii as a going away present and some cash to put toward some things for Karis and our move. One other huge surprise came from our youth band. I had worked with these guys when they were sophomores and now they were graduating seniors who had really come into their own as a band. Anyways, last year when Doug was on sabbatical the guys wrote me a song on the last Sunday night that I was "on my own" as youth pastor. As a going away gift the guys made a music video of said song and played it for us. I'll have to say, they did an amazing job. I'll try to post it on here sometime soon. The evening concluded with me having many heartfelt goodbyes with both students, parents and leaders. I am truly going to miss the FVCN youth group.
On Monday I took Holly and her family to the airport, said my official goodbye at the church, picked up the moving truck, packed said truck with the help of a few awesome friends, cleaned up the apartment, painted it back to white, and then drove 90 min down the road. Sounds busy? Well it was. I arrived at my in-laws on Tuesday and spent the night there. We left on Wednesday to drive the final 90 min to Chattanooga and then proceeded to unload the truck and start the unpacking process. Once again I had some awesome help with that.
Our time here has consisted of all the normal moving requirements, Drivers License, new tags, utilities and the like. We have yet to spend a full weekend here due to birthday parties, golf scrambles and graduation parties. Holly starts her orientation tomorrow and her residency officially begins on July 1st. We are in the process of settling down and finding what our normal routine will be here in Chattanooga. Thanks for your patience in my blog posts, hopefully I will be able to carve out some regular time to blog in the future.
Last thing, I need to find some type of employment while staying at home with Karis. Any ideas?
