Sorry...

Jess: We've been so busy with the move that we just haven't had time to write in our blog recently. I apologize to everyone who follows us religiously. :-P

So, speaking of moving, we're finally here! Wes officially got his job as the part-time pastor of Ellisdale/Crosswicks here in New Jersey, and we've been slowly moving over for the past couple of weeks. We painted all day two weeks ago, then I came back while Wes was away last weekend, and we finished moving on Wednesday. I realized what a wonderful blessing we have in our new friends here when we had four people helping us move IN THE RAIN all day on Wednesday. It was wonderful to have such great people willing to do manual labor just so we can have a nice home with our furniture in it.

So now comes the great task of making what was once a one-bedroom apartment into a tw0-bedroom house. We went to the wonderful CRW (seminary housing) garage sale and got ourselves some furniture; we also inherited some furniture from the former pastor and his wife. Our walls are all painted (beautifully, if I may say so myself), and we just have to start some organization as well as getting stuff on the walls. The house is definitely becoming our home, and it's been a wonderful adventure so far. My dad is coming to visit on Monday, and I'm really hoping that we can have it mostly ready by the time he gets here. Once we get through that interesting process, we're going to start looking toward the churches and what we can do. I hope we can be a blessing to this congregation as we have been blessed thus far in our married life...

Wes: So Jessica has filled you in on most of the fun activities that we have engaged in together in the past couple weeks. I thought I'd talk a little about what I've been doing with the conference and the fun things that are coming up. First, I had the great pleasure of attending the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference this last week. I have been attending the Southwest Texas Methodist Conference for nine years, and it was exciting being able to sit in on this one and look at the differences of how they are ran. Bishop Devadhar runs a tight ship, and it was exhilarating to see a conference ran in such a fashion. Everything that we did was saturated in prayer, and because of this, even the heated debates ended with everyone smiling and knowing that God's will was being done.

I also had the opportunity to talk to the Bishop about joining the planning team of a wonderful celebration that will happen this October. As most of you know, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and the United Methodist Church (UMC) have both voted to extend full communion rights to each other. What this means is that we will now be able to have an ELCA pastor preach, work in, and administer the sacraments in a UMC church and vice versa. This conference is hosting a celebration with the local ELCA synod in honor of this decision. Since this is obviously something that is near and dear to Jessica's and my hearts, I wanted to be involved in it. When I brought this to the Bishop, he was very excited about the chance to have "young blood" helping out.

Now, I must also take a second and ask for your prayers on something. On July 1st, I start my job at the churches. Please pray for both Jess and I as well as the churches as we transition into this time of ministry together. We are both very excited about what the future holds, but it prayers are always appreciated and needed. I also want to remind everyone that if you need anything prayed for, let either Jess or I know and we will put it on our prayer wall. We would love the chance to pray for you.

Well, that's all from us! You stay classy, World Wide Web!