Go Ducks!

First of all let me begin by officially saying "hello" from Eugene. My parents, older sister, and I arrived in Eugene on Jan 2nd and Rachel and the kids and Rachel's parents arrived on Jan 9th. It was the first time Elias and Jael flew on an airplane and they did great. So that is beautiful. We had a great time with both of our families being here and were extremely sad to see them go. We miss them dearly already. But we are acclimating to life in Eugene now. We are very happy with our apartment. I have successfully hung all the necessary pictures and shelves which has made Rachel very happy. And I've always said, "A Happy Wife is a Happy Life." The kids have acclimated well to sharing a room. Usually Elias is pretty tired by around 8:30 at night and could go to bed pretty easily but Jael is quite the talker and usually stands up in the crib jumping and yelling "Elias" until she gets bored and eventually lays down. Needless to say, each night is an adventure. We love being close to the rest of our church. We can get to anyone's house in less than an 8 minute walk. It has been really fun to acclimate back into the life of our church family. I've been riding my bike or walking everyday into downtown where I spend most of my days getting a feel for the city of Eugene and thinking about the church plant. I've been telling Rachel how much I want to know everything about the city and the people right now. You would think that after 9 months of waiting for our house to sell I would learn something about patience and waiting on the Lord. I know I have been formed and have learned to wait but I continue to feel like a kid in the candy store. But you know, the fact that I'm ok with the tension between the two (the slow process of learning about the culture and feeling like a kid in the candy store) reminds me that I have been formed....and am continuing to be formed. I'm thankful that God has wired me the way I'm wired and am thankful that He continues to invite me into further formation into his glorious image. What a beautiful invitation!

Clint