Lad and Ladies in Training: Our Journey

797 miles/1270 km

I don't think I have ever driven such a long way in a two day period. I wonder how far you would get from Auckland if you drove 1270 km? Dunedin perhaps? Of course driving from Auckland to Dunedin would take you quite a few days because of the hills/roads/ferry etc. Here in the USA, driving is a piece of cake as I don't think we made many turnoffs on I 80. In fact driving through Ohio was pretty boring, long & straight. Pennsylvania is very beautiful with rolling hills and very green. The closer we got to New Jersey, the busier it became, more lanes, more trucks, more housing. The plan was for Albert and I to take turns driving but I ended up only doing one rotation with Albert driving the rest. We made plenty of toilet stops and spent a lot of time driving through/waiting for roadworks! We had hoped to arrive at our hotel around 3 pm but we didn't get there until 6ish. A twelve hour drive!

The girls were excellent. I had packed them a travel bag each with lollies, crackers, and goodies that they would normally not have.Generous people from our church had also given us some goodies for the girls for the trip. I also went to the thrift (secondhand) store and bought some books for them. I also managed to pick up at Aldi some maths and sticker books for the girls! One thing I did on this journey which I don't normally buy is bottled water. Bottled water is pretty cheap here (24 bottles (0.5ltr) for $2.29) as our drinkbottles weren't going to last the distance. This worked out very well and we just replenished our drink bottles. I also froze some of the bottles for our cooler which again worked brilliantly to keep the cooler cool! Thanks to a generous donation we also indulged in icecreams along the way, what a treat!

Our hotel worked out pretty well too with all of us being able to sleep in one room. The hotel had a pool and so the girls thoroughly enjoyed going for a swim. The room also came with breakfast (pretty standard) and so they had pancakes and yogurt (out of a little container) the next day. We left about 1pm and carried on our journey. It was about about a 3hr drive for which I'm grateful, it enabled us to not be stressed about arriving late or having the drive a long distance on that day.

Once we arrived at the house (LOVE the GPS!) we were welcomed by Andrea, the lady who overseas the ministry house, who showed us around and got us settled! In the fridge and freezer were homemade meals and groceries! We are so blessed.

The overseeing Pastor Kuiken came down with bronchitis and so we haven't been able to meet with him yet. Providentially Aaron, (our good friend and he is doing an internship in NY with Pastor Murphy) is staying at our place on Sunday so we asked him to help Pastor Kuiken with the services on Sunday. So now Albert is preaching 2 services in the morning and Aaron in the afternoon! Talk about a steep learning curve, but that is what we are here for!

We are excited to see what this summer holds but at the same time it seems so unreal that we are here. I can't describe it, it's a funny feeling. There is so much to take in, so much to learn, so many new people to meet (and remember their names!), different cultures, different food. None of it is bad just different.

Thanks again for all those who are praying for us, it means so much to us. We are not here to have a long three year holiday (of course we do have some 'free' time, and seeing the USA is a HUGE bonus) but we are here to study/learn/mature for God's work hopefully in the future. So thanks so much for supporting us in our journey!