So, I've been in Georgia for almost three weeks, and Jess and the kids have made it their home for the past two. I had forgotten how much more slowly we handle transitions, how much less we like them now.
That's not to say that moving to St. Simons hasn't been pretty good. It has. The church has been unbelievably supportive of us, and people thus far have been genuinely friendly. The island is quite beautiful, and assuming that I can convince Jess to forget that Brunswick is smaller than Erie, I think that we'll settle in well around here. It sure is a different world, though. Life after seminary is good, but it is an adjustment.
We've been pretty pleased with our house so far, although I don't think I fully realized what a financial drain home ownership is. We so want this place to feel like home that we're working our tails off to make it so. The next time I think about buying a house that has been regularly smoked in, knock some sense into me. After three weeks, we have finally purged much of the smoke smell out, but that involved scrubbing walls, fixtures, ceilings, and cabinets with trisodium phosphate, tearing out all of the wallpaper, painting almost the entire house, having our carpet replaced, burning a few candles, and losing some brain cells to paint fumes. Needless to say, I have become fast friends with the folks at Home Depot.
I will be preaching for the first time as "The Reverend" on Sunday, and I'm pretty excited about the opportunity. For now, I'm killing myself over details that I won't sweat in a couple of years, but I guess it still is fun to take my time over my writing while I still have the chance. Heck, for those keeping score at home, I actually translated the text from the Greek to get me into it. That was perhaps the easiest part of writing it.
There will be some family and house pictures soon - once the place finally looks like a Southern Living showroom. Until then, my words will have to suffice for an update.
The island is open for visitation. Plan your trip now!
