Preparing for a big journey in your life can be quite
overwhelming work at times, but the preparation can also be a journey in itself
that takes you places you never expected to go.
Jenny and I love the outdoors and have no problem getting
dirty, but we aren’t exactly “at home” on a farm. So we thought it would be a
good idea to get acquainted with rural farm life. This past week Jenny and I
spent a day working on the farm of some friends of ours we’ve come to know
through our home church, St. Peter’s in Conway, Arkansas. We helped Kathleen
and her daughter Kate do all kinds of work at their homestead, Cedar Springs Stables.
We cleaned out the chicken coop, shoveled horse poop, broke down hay bales, played
with kittens, and helped to paint a fence. At the end of the day we escaped the
heat and filled our bellies with watermelon in the AC.
Yesterday we held a meeting with Teri Daily, Jeanetta
Darley, and our new curate, Andrew Hybl,
to work out the details for one of our final fundraisers. We are planning a
farewell dinner and fundraiser the evening of August 3rd, which is
the Friday before we leave for Japan. We are calling the dinner “Doug and Jenny’s
Sushi Sayonara.” All the details are on our Support page. RSVP soon if you want
to come out to support us, share a meal and a service with us, and give us one
final send off before we go!
After the meeting we walked through the summer heat over to
Oasis Massage Therapy to get a free couple’s massage from a friend, Leigh Ann
Warriner, who we also attend St. Peter’s with. Thanks to Leigh Ann, and her
assistant Anna, our muscles have all the kinks worked out and are ready for the
big trip east!
Then our final (not so relaxing) business to take care of in
Conway: shots. We were consulted at a travel clinic in Conway and ordered
vaccinations we will take next week for Japanese encephalitis. Luckily my tetanus
shot was up to date. Unfortunately, Jenny had to get stuck.
We are taking a break to celebrate the independence of our
country this week, but next week we’ll be flying out to Toronto, Canada, for a
two week orientation. We’ll be learning and talking about what it means to be a
missionary for the Episcopal Church in a forgiven setting. Wow! Toronto,
Canada. While there, we’ll try to keep you all updated on how God is further preparing
us for our work in this year to come.
May you all find peace in your own journeys and preparations
this summer.
Doug and Jenny
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