Zion E.C. Church

Yesterday we began our fall church tour at Zion E.C. Church here in Myerstown. I can actually look outside our office window and see the church building, so it was nice to speak at a church so close to home. You might think that we would have taken advantage of the proximity by walking to church, but we were too lazy...or we just had too much stuff with our display to be able to carry it all in one trip over there. It was a pleasant congregation to worship with and speak to since the folks there were very encouraging to us, so we enjoyed our time with them and felt it was a good way to kick off our fall tour.

South Carolina Getaway

Over Labor Day weekend we were able to get away for a nice little mini-vacation to Columbia, South Carolina, where Rachel's sister Jenny and her husband, Phil, live. It was a great getaway (as is usually the case when you don't have to work), but we found ourselves quite refreshed by being with Phil & Jenny. On Saturday we were able to take a day trip to Charleston, SC to see some fairly old buildings and eat some seafood.

On Sunday we worshiped with them at Columbia Crossroads Church, a very exciting place of ministry, and during the afternoon we had the chance to reconnect with Ben and Elizabeth Thompson (and their energetic son, Jack). Ben was a few years behind me in school, but our connection is a pretty cool one, I think--we grew up spiritually together, as a part of the same church and youth group in Buffalo, IL. So it was a great opportunity to reconnect, especially since we hadn't seen Ben since our wedding and Rachel hadn't met his bride.
Even with all the excitement of Saturday and Sunday, Monday proved to be a day of transformation...at least for Rachel. She and Jenny went to the hair salon where Jenny goes, and Rachel came back a new person. That may be an overstatement, but her new hairstyle is quite different but very attractive! ¡Me gusta muchísimo! To see a few more of our South Carolina photos, click this link: http://www.flickr.com/gp/12717181@N07/P4wP8Q.
So now we're back to reality here in Myerstown; Rachel's back to work, and I'm back to seminary at Evangelical. It's hard to believe I'm completing my final year here, but it's pretty exciting, too!