We're THERE

Oh man! 11 hrs later and we're THERE!

Sa-WEET place too - just massive - I don't think the 3 of us combined will have enough stuff to fill it up!

But it's late, I'm tired, so I'll leave you all with one final pic of our destination - thanks so much for your prayers and thoughts! I'll be in touch!

Bamma and me - adventures with the Maize and Blue

Before playing in the water digging canals, rock-hunting, and beach swing dancing, Bamma and I snapped some quick pics with the sleepy sun.


What a cutie pie ;)

Come Visit M!ch!gan

And so concludes day 1 of the adventure to the coast! In order below are 1. Iowa, 2. Illinois, 3. Indiana...












Aaaaaaand that's the Midwest for ya!


And then there was M!ch!gan... Martha and Ryan live in St. Joseph and we've come here to trespass on their hospitality for a night en route to NJ. So, we drive in... and 200 ft away from there apartment I see this: Lake M!ch!gan!

Oh yah -

So, they took us to the Tabor Hill Vineyard/Restaurant - and I seriously had the most incredible Kobe Steak EVER! And then we took pictures - nice pictures!

It is just too beautiful to leave here as early as we were orignally planning, so we're gonna go play in Lake M!ch!gan tomorrow morning and head out around noon - catchya later!

Final transmission from the 'braskeeee!

Well - it's here! I'm off to NJ today ... and if you think of me, please pray that Amber and I would have a safe trip to the coast, and that the Lord would watch over her flight back to NE.

I won't have internet at my apartment right away in Hackensack, but I did check online last night and found a coffee shop a few blocks from the apartment that has free internet!

We'll be in touch! God bless!

Broken Bow and Holdrege

Well isn't it just like work to send me off on a 2 day trip on my last week...

Well, praise the Lord I got back early this afternoon and have been able to spend my time going through the last painstaking details before the movers come tomorrow morning to take my life away. A bit dramatic, but when they give you a "2 to 19 day" dropoff period, it sorta feels that way. So, I'm bringin the old sleeping bag, my trusty pillow, a couple knives and forks, and a bottle of Tylenol.

But the silver lining to this cloud is my Bamma girl - she's going with me for the first week to help me move! I think it'll be the most consecutive days that we'll have seen each other since we started dating August 11th 2006. Yesssssssss!

Aighty - I'm gonna get back to work - lotsa papers to throw away yet, and I'll hopefully leave myself enough time to make one last trip to the beloved Columbus Y - mmhm.

Oh wait - have you ever wanted to see what 100,000 head of cattle looks like? I didn't think so, but y'know, "when in Broken Bow!"

Ciao Columbo

Well - it's really here... my last week in Nebraska.

Whooo... ...I've never lived more than 2 hrs from home, much less 2 DAYS from home! But I know it's something that I have to do. Not even so much want to... but that I'm stepping into the inevitable. Things change. I change. And somewhere in all of the change, the Lord is directing the movements of the symphony. I've just been tuning for the last 23 years, but I think He's moving me into the first bar of the progression... and all I know is that it's different than the notes I've been playing up until this point.

But praise the Lord for His incredible foresight and planning. He's set me up with an amazing network of friends and family that I know I'm not alone out there.

And now I'm off to my last evening at the Rescue Mission. The Lord has blessed me so much through this ministry - and it always seems to work that way, that when I try to bless someone else, it returns in degrees of magnitude greater volumes back into my soul... praise the Lord.

I'm so sore

Man alive - we played soccer Saturday night in Lincoln and I am still sore! And Bamma stuck me like 15 times before I wisened up and played the other side of the field... she may have been the only girl out there, but she steps it up just like one of the fellas!

And then there's Tanner - from his football, basketball, and any-other-sport days... who has mocked soccer as long as I've known him - hopped right in and threw some weight around. Shut a couple of cocky's right up a couple times... and then let me score a few goals just to be nice - what a pal.

So - I'm definitely going to miss Nebraska... and it's hitting me again just like it's hit me before.

I really enjoy new things - going new places - performing the same tasks in different ways - surprising myself by hiding gift cards/$$$ in my dresser drawers... and so I can't help but anticipate the move to NJ. But I'm seeing that every decision has a cost - and it's not so much about selecting which paths have the least cost, but more about if the cost is worth it. And until I'm there, it's hard for me to justify the cost of leaving Bamma, my family, and my friends behind - cuz I know one of the biggest costs will be loneliness... And after a year in the lumbus by myself, I really don't want to walk into that again.

So, if you think of me, please be praying for a small, strong community of believers that I can connect with. I know that if I try to fly this one solo, I'll get picked off.

Speaking of which - I've heard a number of people tell me to check this church out in NYC - they say it's led by a "John Piper"-type pastor - and I'm getting excited about it! It's called Redeemer Presbyterian Church - and it's located in downtown Manhattan NYC - about 30 minutes from where I'll live. They've got city-outreach ministries and small groups even in NJ about 10 minutes away from me that could really be a cool connecting point! Check it out: http://www.redeemer.com/

Anyha - that's where I'm at - thanks for listening.

New Jersey Hiking!

Well - even though I'll be spending most of the time traveling around n' such, it looks like NJ has a lot to offer in the great outdoors!

Here's the website I've been shopping around on for some SWEET hikes and stuff that Bamma and I are looking to take when she helps me move to NJ in June! Yesssssss for hiking - booo for moving.

http://www.localhikes.com/Default.asp

Check out the "Buttermilk Falls", anything with "Harriman Park", and "Ringwood Park" - it's kind of a toss-up between those 3 areas... which means that I'm not really even close to making a final decision. Ah well - indecision is half the adventure.

But, from where I'll be living, each of these should only be about 45 min - 1hour drive away... so not too shabby for a boy driving 9 hrs to get to the mountains every year!