We are slowly getting things in order to head out of here. I have put a for sale sign in the car so hopefully it will sell soon. I want to get that out of our hair before we get too close to leaving. Sherilyn finishes her job this week, but she is going back to cover some holidays for another
girl so that will be nice. We have a nice budget for our trip, so it looks like we don't have to scrimp and save and can enjoy ourselves a bit.

It is hot here and the tube and trains feel like ovens. It gets up to 35 outside and I am sure it is another 10 degrees hotter inside the tube. They just don't have proper ventilation for the
trains. Anyway, I better get back to work.

Chad

We are about 9 weeks away from going on our trip around Europe. We're going to Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands. It should be pretty fun, but I am really anxious to get home again. We're going back to Alberta in November for a month and then we're moving down to Grand Rapids, Michigan and Chad is going to go to school to be a pastor for 4 years.

I'm quite happy to be going back to the States. Everything over here is so unfamiliar, and I just want to get back to where things are normal! The other girl at work has quit, so now I am working her hours too. I'm doing 10 hour days, and the people here can't figure out how I can do it. Most people work 5-6 hours. I don't see how they can afford to live that way, maybe they are being paid more than I am!

So, yes, we are going to the States again. We were trying to decide whether to go back to the farm, or for Chad to continue school for a PhD. Both are really good options, but we couldn't make the decision, neither one seemed to be the right choice. So, in church one night Chad said "show me what I'm supposed to do" And God said go into the ministry. It's not like Chad hadn't though about it before, he'd kinda always felt the call, but never took it seriously. So once he knew the answer, he knew he'd better take it seriously. So we're going to Grand Rapids, Michigan to start school in December for Chad to become an ordained pastor.

Chad got accepted for the Winter term at Calvin, so we'll probably go to Grand Rapids mid-Nov to look for a house/trailer. Now we are here not really doing much but biding time while Chad does a few more drafts of his dissertation, but it's pretty much done, and we have our trip in October, but we are gonna be so rushed and busy once we get back home! Would have been nice to have a little more time, but we probably do better when rushed anyways. We have to get furniture and everything!

Chad and I are hanging around here earning money this summer and then in October we are off to the Netherlands for a week, and then we're doing Switzerland, Italy and Greece in 2 weeks. We've got train passes and I think we're just gonna stay in whatever hostels we find. I'm a little nervous that it's gonna be stressful, but hopefully it'll be more fun than stress!

It sounds like everything is going well back home. I hear you have had good weather. We had a 28 degree day yesterday and it is supposed to be more of the same today. This is very unusual in England, and most of the people can't handle it! They are not used to the extremes that we are. They can't handle cold OR hot!?! The church here is going well. We have started up a student bible study with some friends and we are studying Galatians. It is going very well, there are about 10 of us at every meeting. The church really wants to get more involved in the youth community around it. There are some campuses from US schools that send kids over for a semester abroad. Many of them stay close to the church, but very few come.

Sherilyn and I have finally figured out what we are going to do with our lives. I have decided to answer the call to ministry. I am applying for the Master's of Divinity program at Calvin Theological Seminary in Michigan with the goal of becoming an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church. I have felt the Lord's hand on my heart for some time, I was just reluctant to take the plunge. I now find it all but impossible to consider anything else. I was having trouble deciding between doing a PhD at King's College London, or going home to the farm. I was not satisfied with either of them. It was because I was not considering the right options. As soon as I decided to go into the ministry, I was put at ease and realised that this is what the Lord wanted me to do. We will try to keep in touch as we start this new journey in our lives.

Chad