It's Official

Well we are now no longer renters but home-owners once again. This morning we officially signed the documents that made us the owners of our new home in Middletown, DE. We are excited...overwhelmed...nervous...exhausted...etc. It has been a long process for us since we moved out here over 8 months ago from Warsaw. There were many times when we didn't think we would ever find a house that would be suitable for us and the situation we were in, both ministerially and financially. But God provided as He always does.

So tomorrow morning at 8am some men from church will be showing up at our house in Newark and begin to move everything down to Middletown. The next several days will be extremely chaotic and exhausting. Please forgive me if I don't post anything for a while. Oh wait...you're already used to all that, arent' you? We will be getting our phone hooked up on Monday and at that time we should, I repeat should, also get our internet access back. I will try to update the blog sometime early next week.

In all of this Susan has been doing pretty well. There have been days where her energy is just not there. This pregnancy has already seemed to zap a lot of strength from her. She has been wonderful throughout this process though. I, on the other hand, have been a nervous wreck the past couple of days. That may be tough to imagine, but it's true. Just ask Isaac and Riley.

Keep us in your prayers as we begin to get settled in. Susan's mom will be coming out later next week to help decorate and unpack some so that will be nice. If you want to drop us an email, our address will remain the same, grashams@verizon.net.

Later.

Countdown......Less than a Week

Wow! I can hardly believe it! A week from now we will be living in our new home in Middletown. What an unbelievable journey it's been! So many ups and downs in the past 8 months. Even yesterday morning we were concerned about everything getting done that needed to get done for us to close next Friday. But God continues to work out the details and simply tells us to trust Him. It's so hard at times, but I have a feeling that He knows what He's doing.

Church people are very excited about us being down in M-town. We will be so much closer to just about everything. We will miss our neighbors here in MHH (Meeting House Hill) though. It was nice to see the boys out playing with some of them tonight.

Well, it's getting late and I need to go over my sermon one more time for tomorrow. Have a great Lord's Day tomorrow!!

Later.

Birthday/Anniversary Post

So today is my 31st birthday. Not nearly as exciting as last year, but I'm getting older nonetheless. Tonight we did pizza with the McCarthys down at Grotto's in Middletown. It was real nice to be able to visit with them. We also ran into 3/4 of the Bennett family. It will be so good to be down in Middletown close to these people. We have felt very distant from them the past 8 months.

Tomorrow is our 9th anniversary. I can't say enough how much I love my wife. She has been the best thing that has ever, ever happened to me. She loves me so much that she even moved to Delaware to be by my side in ministry. I can't wait to see what else happens to us over the next many years together.

Summer Heat

Hey everyone! Hope you're all staying cool wherever you are. It's absolutely miserable here. The temperature is only in the 80s but 90+% humidity. Glad the air conditioning is working.

We had a good day at church yesterday! We had an attendance of 77 but with several large families absent. It was a really good day, except for the heat. The school building is extremely warm in the summer time. Of course, it's been extremely warm all the time. We had a good day nonetheless.

Still getting ready to move the end of the month. The next week and a half will be spent packing up what we got out originally. We are very excited about getting down to Middletown. We will be so much closer to people from church and the community as a whole. I'm getting more and more excited about helping to coach Isaac's soccer team this fall. I will have no idea what I'm doing, but it should be fun anyway.

This time of year I'm really missing my week of camp at Michiana Christian Service Camp. Praying that Larry and Gary and the folks from FCC Warsaw do a tremendous job, as they always do. What a great camp!!

Later.

Packing Begins

Hey everyone! Just about time for the weekly update. Yeah, I know, I could be doing it a bit more often, but such is life.

We've started packing for the move to Middletown in just over 2 weeks. We're excited and nervous. Nervous because we have to pack everything up in two weeks. However, a lot of our stuff is still in boxes and totes. So the majority of the packing will take place in the kitchen and my office. And I have started boxing up books already.

Tuesday was a fun day. After spending a great deal of time in the house for the past week and a half, we decided that we needed to do something with the boys. So we loaded into the car and drove almost 2 hours to get to Cape Henlopen State Park down near Lewes. We spent the afternoon on the beach, playing in the water and getting terribly sunburnt. Oh wait, that was just me. I had a great time playing with the boys. They're both getting so big now. What fun! Of course the temperature for the day was in the mid to upper 90s, but there was a really nice breeze at the beach.

We also found out some news Tuesday that prompted us to start praying. Carson Judd, a 2 1/2 yr old from Warsaw, was having surgery to remove a 5x10'' tumor from his right kidney. The surgery went well and we continue to pray that the tumor has not spread and that chemotherapy will be light for little Carson. If you would, pray for Carson and his parents, Clinton and Stacy, as well as his grandparents Jack and Theresa Wilhite.

The church here continues to look for land and possible avenues for growth. I will be assistant coaching Isaac's soccer team this fall down in Middletown. I know, it's crazy, I've never even played soccer. But it's an excellent opportunity to build relationships with people.

Ok, so that pretty much catches you up for now. Let us know what's going on with you. Look forward to hearing from you.

Later.

It's About Time

Ok, so you may be wondering why it's been so long since the last post. There is a most logical and easy explanation for this. We did not want anyone locally who reads this post and might happen to know where we live know that we would be gone from our house for nearly 2 weeks and seize the opportunity to break in and steal what valuable assets we have left in said house.

Easy enough right?

We had a very good vacation over the past two weeks. We spent a few days in Tennessee visiting with my parents and family there and in Kentucky. We then traveled to Warsaw and spent a few days there. Sorry to those who may read this from there that we didn't get to spend much time with. It definitely was a very quick trip up there. We were able to worship at FCC though Sunday morning. It was good to see familiar faces and places while we were there. We just had to eat at Dig's, El Arriero, and the Boathouse. Anything else would not be acceptable. We had a good time visiting with old friends there. Thank you to Dalene Goshert for letting us crash in her house for a few nights.

We then headed 2 hours southwest to spend a few days with Susan's family. It was quite quiet and relaxing those few days on the farm. Much needed. Susan and I returned to our home in Newark late Thursday night. The boys return some time today with Susan's parents. It has been very quiet here at home without the boys, but sleeping in a bit has been wonderful.

Hope everyone had a great Independence Day holiday! I know this is just a rundown of our vacation but felt obliged to let everyone know where we've been and that we're back safely now.

Enjoy the hot days of summer.