First week in Laradise!

I don't even know where to begin!  The incomparable Trudy and I left last week on Friday, drove straight through (Nebraska is still mind-numbingly long), and made it to Laramie in pretty incredible time.  We spent Saturday and Sunday exploring Laramie and looking at potential apartments.  Praise the Lord, I was able to find a studio apartment!  I'll be going in this afternoon during my lunch break to officially take over the lease from the tenant living there now.  I'm hoping to move in by the beginning of next week!

I started work at SROM on Monday morning, and I've been loving every moment of it!  My coworkers are absolutely phenomenal, and I'm so excited to continue getting to know everyone.  We're in the middle of a pretty huge transition right now, and a lot of the projects that we're working on will enable us to run courses much more effectively.  Even though the summer is still quite a ways away, there is a LOT to do before courses start in May.  It's an exciting time to jump in! 

In the midst of all the transitioning, I'm realizing that I fooled myself into thinking that the hard part would be simply getting out here.  I wasn't really preparing myself for the emotional side of the physical move.  Packing and driving were the easy parts!  I've felt a little blindsided by how much I miss those I left in Wheaton.  I absolutely have seen the hand of the Lord in providing for me to be here, and I am astounded at how smoothly this transition has gone overall:  I have an incredibly community that is welcoming me with open hearts and arms, and I have a job that I really love with amazing coworkers.  But there are definitely hard parts about being away from family and friends that I love.  Please be praying for wisdom for me as I try to find the balance of pouring in here and getting connected with community, and keeping in contact with loved ones back home.  Forming deep relationships takes time, and I'm learning how to nurture the deep relationships I already have without using that as an excuse to avoid forming new relationships.  

Sorry that this is more of an update and less of any meat to chew on!  I just wanted to keep everyone in the loop as far as moving has gone!

Blessings!