Jacksonville: A 60 Day Report

July 3 marks 60 days in to our Jacksonville journey!  Some days it feels much longer, and other days it seems that we just got off that darn truck!

I was talking to Adam's mom, Norene, a few weeks ago, and when I realized that we'd only been here about five weeks, and I was saying something along the lines of "we don't have friends yet, and we don't know what to do on the weekends."  She reminded me that we've accomplished a lot, and that we'd been here a short time.  When I realized how short it really had been, it made me feel better.

Thanks to help from our family, we've got our home unpacked and very settled.  Those first five weeks, I read a lot of books from the library.  But then we found a church that we look forward to going to each week, and we're making friends there, and I've started singing on the praise team.  (!!!)  So our schedule is looking a bit more "normal" for us, and it feels so good.

We've been on a vacation, and Adam's started school and gotten lots of tests under his belt (he's making all A's, of course!)

I now know how to get to the library, the grocery story, Target, Lowe's, CVS and the nail place.  I use my GPS to get everywhere else, but I'm learning how to get to the beach without my map.  :-)  (As my dad says, it's just EAST!  But parking is another story. )

I'm so thankful for this "settled" feeling.  It seems that our life has been up in the air since we (he) started interviewing for schools last September.  This past Fall and Winter I felt very much on edge about where on earth we were going to be, so I think this season has left us feeling very grateful for where we are.

We found a church the second week we were here, thanks to some recommendations from a mutual friend who used to live in the area.  (That's our pastor in the photo above on the left at the beach baptism this past week.  I think that's so cool.)

We really look forward to going to our church each week, and WE HAVE FRIENDS!!!  I'm just a bit excited.

The first people to really "befriend" us heard us say we were from Texas during the welcome at church.  They stayed afterwards to meet us, and it turns out they are also from the Dallas area.  We've hung out quite a bit, and they're delightful.  (I don't have a picture of them.  Yet.)

At our church, when you're new, you get a "welcome" bag with a coffee travel mug & info in it.  I spotted a couple with a bag recently, and told Adam that we should introduce ourselves to them.  We found them after church, invited them to lunch at Jimmy Johns, and have been hanging out since!

I prayed for just a few friends here, and I'm so grateful to have them already.  It has been such a blessing.

We've made it a goal to get out to the beach about once a week, and each time I do, I grab a sea shell. I've collected more than 12 shells, and we've only been here 8 weeks.  So currently we're ahead of the game.  Going to the beach is so much fun.  I really love it.

Thanks for your prayers and love and support.  It's been a fun start to this adventure!