Finally...an Update!

OK, I have heard from several people who are wondering why there have been no updates. Well, long story short. life has been busy and stressful beyond imagination for the last 6 months. But alas, you really want to know, so I will take a few minutes and tell you where life has taken us right now.

(1) Our careers...
Becky has taken a job as an administrative assistant for an eye doctor right downtown among the Pittsburgh skyline. She is doing well, and enjoying the work. She is also forging some relationships with people there. IN addition, we finally have a small amount of income, which is quite helpful. As for me, I am about halfway through my student teaching experience. It is going fantastically! I am loving it, and the students are loving me. So are my supervisors. It turns out I have a knack for teaching (imagine that). It is, however, incredibly stressful, because I am also required to take my final 9 credits of grad level classes simultaneously. Between teaching all day, planning for teaching all night and all weekend, AND taking classes several nights a week which all have huge assignments (last project was 15 pages of really deep stuff), I am pretty much stretched as thin as I can go. I am tired most of the time, but I know I can make it to the end. Pray that I finish strong, and that I don't wear out.

(2) Our home...
Hopefully (and I am hesitantly hopeful) we will be closing on a house this coming weekend! We put our offer in a week and a half before Christmas, and we are still waiting to close, due to a plethora of circumstances beyond our control. Yes, we have been living in the attic of the Russells for almost 7 months now, and have not had a place of our own for 9 months. Yet no one has killed anyone else, and God has been helping us with patience. Not an over-abundance...just enough to make it one more week I think! It is a beautiful home, and we can't wait to move in. Hopefully we can rustle up enough help to make the move quick and easy.

(3) The church plant...
Well as we said when we started, this will be a slow process. But we have made some progress. WE have made several important contacts and relationships with local government and businesses. We have been officially sponsored as a church plant by West Hills Baptist Church (a wonderful group of people about 20 miles west of us). We have also been preparing to launch or first community group a week or two after Easter. We have a few people who have expressed interest, and we are continuing to gain enough momentum to launch that group. We are hoping to have 3 or 4 couples/families there when we begin discussing the great "Stories of God". Pray for us as we love people, and invite them to learn about God.

That just about does it for now. I know there is a lot more, but I have to get back to work. If you read this, drop me an e-mail. We feel kinda lonely out here without a church body to fellowship with regularly, and it would be great just to hear from you. I'll even try to write back!

The Hef