Hello friends! As is our fashion, we have yet to give an update on our whereabouts…because we just really like to be difficult. Not really; we just procrastinate.
It’s been a little over 2 weeks since we left our tiny Gleanings family, and trust me that was not easy. We fell in love with the sweet people there in California and didn’t want to leave. However, true to their predictions on our very first day there, Gleanings proved to be a wonderful waiting place for us. It was there that we felt Jesus’ gentle push towards Portland and accepted it. And so we left beautiful California with bittersweet feelings.
After a few days driving up the west coast, we arrived in the Rose City, ready to find a place and get things in order. Unfortunately, finding a place in Portland isn’t quite that easy. After a week of looking and a wear and tear on our nerves, an apartment finally worked out for us. It’s pet friendly, in the area that we were already familiar with, a mile from the church we’ve been visiting and across the street from a bakery. Need I say more?! So we signed the dotted line and flew home to get our belongings and see our families. We spent about 10 days in Georgia, tearfully told our loved ones goodbye and loaded up our things. Because of the astronomical cost of moving trucks we made the decision to narrow our possessions to what would fit in our GMC Safari (commonly called the “Creeper Van” to those who’ve had the privilege of meeting it). With the exception of our sentimental, childhood things, which are being kept safe by the very forgiving Garrisons, we have downsized drastically. It was not an easy task, given that I am a romantic hoarder and keep EVERYTHING, but somehow we rigged that van to haul us across the country with everything we own and our two dogs. It took us 3 full days, fast food tacos and a car full of dog breath to get to our new home. But we made it just in time to move all of our belongings… in the rain… up a flight of stairs. We’ve never been such a collective example of exhaustion before.
Since then we have been adjusting to life in an apartment with two dogs, putting together cheap furniture from Ikea (or snagging a gorgeous free couch off Craigslist) and figuring out who we are in a city where we know practically no one. It’s been hard to leave our family and all we’ve ever known behind, but this is where we need to be now and we’re excited for this phase in our little lives. So continue to pray for us, that we’ll be Jesus in a city that needs Him and that we will continue to find where we should be in this world.
finding aslan 