And what did I do all summer? I titled myself the Camp Mom and took pictures of campers, did town runs for camp, volunteered where help was needed, and, of course, played with a baby. I was glad to be at camp. I have a soft spot in my heart for that particular summer camp, because I believe it is such a great place, a safe place, for kids. I think Madelyn was a valuable ministry at camp as well. She smiled at pretty much everybody and would let anyone hold her or feed her. 70% of the time somebody was holding her! It was great for me that I could get a break from having to hold her. The only rough part was that we shared housing with the camp nurse so we never felt like we could let Madelyn cry it out, so all that sleep training we did before we left Texas flew out the window for the rest of the summer. If I heard her cry at night, I would nurse her back to sleep, sometimes four times a night. Needless to say, I was tired! And so was Nate!
But we were happy and felt like camp was the place where we needed to be.
Then something happened unexpectedly. Nate was contacted by one of his tutors from Oxford with an odd request. They asked them to work for RZIM! If you don't know what RZIM is, the website can be found here. It was through RZIM that Nate went to Oxford to study apologetics two years ago. They wanted us to move to Boston, Massachusetts to help the ministries that already existed there. We were knocked for a loop! We were astounded! Us? Why us? Why now? We both were immediately thinking that this is not what wanted. Nate had seminary, and I was just getting settled in Dallas. What about staying in one place for more than a year!? I was perfectly happy to turn them down. They asked us to pray and pray and pray about it. So we did. I was so reluctant at first that I knew if God wanted us to work for them then He would have to soften my heart towards the idea. And ever so slowly, I started to think that Boston wasn't that bad an idea... Even a good opportunity to make some money... What? An adventure, you might say? So, we finally decided it might be an opportunity we didn't want to miss out on.
But how were we going to get our stuff from Texas to Boston? Nate wouldn't have time because as soon as we finished our vacation he would preach one last time at the little church in Page County and then drive non-stop to show up to work the next day in Boston. So I convinced my mom to fly with me to Texas and pack our stuff up. After we decided to go with that plan, Nate signed us out of our lease in Dallas, and within an hour someone was asking to move into our apartment! And what was even crazier was they offered to pack up our stuff and put it in a truck so we wouldn't have to fly down there and back! It was unbelievable! We were so thankful that we could be helpful to that couple and they could be helpful to us! It saved us so much money that would have gone into plane tickets and hotel rooms and rental cars. It also saved us a lot of labor. We are forever grateful to a couple we've never even met! With that load off our mind, Nate and I were happy to travel together to Boston with Madelyn in tow.
WORD OF ADVICE- DO NOT drive to Boston by way of Interstate 95. Traffic on a Sunday was still horrendous. We also paid $50 in tolls. FIFTY DOLLARS. I am now considering having my own toll booth on interstate 95, because it seems like there is not enough toll booths on the stinkin' roads!!!! We left Page County a little after one in the afternoon and did not get to our apartment in Boston until THREE IN THE MORNING. This does probably not needed to be stated but I am VERY reluctant to try that road trip again. At least the trip from Dallas to Virginia was a moving twenty-one hours! Okay, there is my rant! Breathe deeply... And now moving on...
We arrive in Boston and meet our housemate, Alycia, who is going to be working alongside Nate. I'm glad for a female presence in the house if we are going to have a housemate. We get along well! We all survived the week of waiting for our furniture to make the trip to Boston and she even helped us move our things into the house. The place is newly renovated, with hardwood floors, new kitchen countertops and redone bathroom. It's very spacious, we don't have enough furniture for all the space we have! How crazy!
The place is starting to feel like a home with our belongings around us and Madelyn's giggles and squeals reverberating through the rooms. It's hard to believe she will learn to walk in Boston! She may even pick up a Boston accent (which is VERY real and thriving) when she starts speaking. It is exciting that she will probably get to play in snow. It's hard to not be in Dallas with our church and DTS friends. It's hard to be away from family in a completely different direction! But the hope is that we will all get to see each other again some day. And Facebook has been a great way to stay connected with people. Yay Facebook!
So that has been the story up to this point. Summer brought some major changes that we didn't see coming. But Nate and I hoping that if this is the Lord's will then he will bless our time here and show us where to go from here. Stay tuned for pictures of my darling ten-month-old and other Rittenhouse shenanigans!
E
- Posted with the help of my iPad
Location:Massachusetts
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