Sprinkled in Presbyterianism

*The original title was "Immersed in Presbyterianism," but since Presbyterians don't immerse-they sprinkle, I decided to change it*

We have been in Charlotte for a couple months now and the transition has been much more difficult than we thought. It took us longer for Dolly to find work than we thought, we didn't end up at the church we initially thought we would, and our best friends are moving back to their hometown. However, in the midst of all of this transition, frustration, tears, and hardship we have experienced such an overwhelming amount of love and support from family, friends, and our church. So here is a little update à la Presbyterianism ;)

School

As all, well the two of you who read this blog, know I am attending Reformed Theological Seminary. Although RTS is a non-denominational seminary, it is dedicated to training current and future leaders (especially in its Presbyterian and Reformed branches) to be pastors, missionaries, educators, and Christian counselors. All of my professors are affiliated with a presbyterian denomination. The environment is thoroughly academic, practical, and pastoral. I definitely think this will help cultivate me to become a competent minister of the Gospel. Overall, school is going very well. Although demanding, it isn't detracting from my family and marriage but I am still maintaining very good grades. I usually do all my studying and reading in the living room/dining room (its the same room) to intentionally be interrupted by my cute, curly-haired girls, they are all so cute and I love being interrupted by them.

Church

In addition to learning about Presbyterianism, we just (yesterday) became members at Grace Community Church, a Presbyterian Church located in South Charlotte. It doesn't have the characteristics of most traditional Presbyterian Churches. It meets in a high school, has more "contemporary" worship (which we don't care too much for, we prefer the crusty 'ol hymns), has amazing preaching, and has more vitality than a some of the other Presbyterian churches we visited. We have meet so many great families who have invited us over for Sunday brunch, who have had playdates with our girls, and have made us feel at home and like family at the church. Although we miss our families so much, Grace has made the transition even easier. Now that we are members at Grace, we plan on getting our girls baptized soon (most of the church's we have been a part of have never practiced infant baptism, but Presbyterians do). In addition, one of the Pastor's owns a really nice town-home in Blakeney Greens, which we will be renting until I have completed my schooling. We look forward to living somewhere again where we can walk to get all of our errands done.

Work

Dolly got two part-time jobs. So she will be working three nights a week when she is completed with orientation (which is currently full-time, but thankfully we are able to work it around my school schedule, and some students at RTS have helped us out when it does conflict). One of the jobs is at Carolina's Medical Center, and the other is at Presbyterian. They are both at the Children's Hospitals (Levine's and Hemby), which is an answer to prayer since Dolly has such a passion for providing care to the young'ens. So I will watch the girls in the morning/early afternoon when Dolly is sleeping and have been watching them in the day while Dolly is at orientation. I have found that changing diapers is a great cure for pride and compliments a seminary education well. I just learned these great theological truths, but I need to work on our circle/square/star/color flashcards with an adorable toddler after I change some diapers.

Although moving out here to Charlotte is difficult and looks nothing like we thought (e.g. Bugs that could probably take Josie away in her sleep), it has been an amazing blessing. It has provided such an amazing opportunity for us to connect as a family and experience God's grace and love through His church. To truly learn what it means to trust Him.

Additionally, Fall (my favorite season) has been absolutely gorgeous here. The trees are blazing orange, yellow, and red, while the weather has been awesome (a balmy, 70 degrees).

Finally, we would ask for your continued prayers. This has been the most difficult thing we have done in our family. We are learning what it means to be dependent upon God, to love our family, and trust Him daily.