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

Life over here is ok. I really miss farm life and all the wide open spaces, but I am trying to make the most of the time we have here b/c everyone keeps telling us that we'll really treasure this time that we have over here, so I am trying to enjoy it. Its not always easy. I spend my mornings reading, and my afternoons and evenings at work. I kinda wish it were the other way around b/c in the mornings I feel like I can't really do much b/c I don't want to be late for work (you know how I am...early, early, early!) but if I worked mornings, then it'd be done and I could go home and do whatever! But I work 'til 7, and then it takes an hour to go home, and then I have supper and watch a little telly and go to bed...sadly, that has contributed to my jeans shrinking! :)

We are having really nice weather here! Except it has rained for the past 3 days, but it is quite warm out! We are told that it's not going to get real hot here though b/c Summers generally aren't all that hot apparently, so I'll miss that. My job is going ok.... I just told them though that I am applying for another job b/c this one is only 5 hours a day, and they have told me that I'm not allowed to say anything, but they are looking at hiring me on for more hours, more money, and permanently instead of as a temp, so I'll get benefits! Not that we know for sure that we are staying here next year yet. Chad just got his letter from the school for his PhD this morning that he is accepted, so we can stay if we want, but Chad isn't sure it's worth all the money we are spending if we are just going to end up on the farm in the end any how. So we'll see.

We got some games at a charity shop last weekend, and we've already had a go at playing them, and Chad even got so frustrated that he cheated whilst playing Master Mind. It's like playing w/ my brother all over again! We also got scattegories, and catch phrase, all three were only £3.50 all together. Plus we had gotten monopoly from a garage sale a while back!

You all right? (That's British for "how are you?") It sounds really funny because it makes you think that you look like you're sick or something! Anyway, life is going great. We moved in with a couple in North London that are letting us stay there for free!!! That is not something I expected in London. Accomodation is very hard to find, and hence is very expensive. It is a big victorian house and the couple is in their late sixties, but it will feel somewhat like home in no time I'm sure. Classes are going well, though I am nervous about the exams at the end of the term. Three hour comprehensive exams that the entirety of the course is marked on. We are regular attendees of a Baptists church in the City and the youth group there. There are only about five of us, but we are all grad students so that's nice. The weather in London finally went bad. It has been raining now for the past three days, and I don't think it is going to stop anytime soon. I did bring clothes for it, but I really miss the sun.

Chad

Things are going well here, my preliminary classes have finished and my courses start today. Sherilyn has been working as a switch board operator for a law firm in The City. She works from 2-7 and makes enough money to cover our rent, so that is nice. We are moving to live with an elderly couple a fair ways out of town, but it is free to live there, so that is nice. it is only until may when we will most likely move back to the place we are living. We have bought a car, its a SEAT, (pronounced see-ought). It was fairly cheap and in good shape, so it will get us from a to b. We have to purchase a tube pass to live out of town because it costs too much to park in the city. Sherilyn and I should be able to travel home together every night which will be nice. I hope things are going well there. We haven't yet joined the choir here, and probably won't since we will have to travel to church now. The song books here have no music, and we don't know the songs at all! The books that do have music have no words, so that doesn't help very much. Let us know how things are there.

Chad