I graduated!!!

I graduated from Trinity Christian School this past Friday! I had been a student there for nearly thirteen years. It was memorable evening with speeches and special music and farewells to many friends that I've made at TCS. I'll miss them next year, though I'm ready to move on to college.

A week or so before graduation the senior class with the principal and his wife went to California together. We saw San Francisco and spent a couple days in Yosemite. Mr. Prol and a few of the guys hiked Half Dome - the biggest granite monolith in the world. Some of the rest of us hiked the Mist Trail up to Vernal Falls (for a great picture see Kate's blog.) Then we drove to Glacier Point for a stunning view of the whole valley. On the way back we saw two big brown bears very close to the road.

Yosemite Valley was nothing less than awesome. I don't think I've ever seen lakes so blue or landscapes so breathtaking. Our time there was far too short. I'll have to come back. The evening after we got back from California was the senior banquet and just over a week later was graduation.

JUNE BIRTHDAYS

8 Abigail Audrey

9 Rachel Lillian

16 William Javan

20 David Hugh

The Good-Byes Begin

Well, fam, the good-byes have officially begun. Jim and I both had our last days at our respective jobs this past Wednesday, and then we promptly sold our car on Thursday! We posted the ad for our car about six weeks ago but hadn't had any interested buyers until this week. On Tuesday a woman looked at the car, and by Thursday afternoon she had purchased it from us and very excitedly drove away, leaving us with only the memories (our first car as a married couple) and the I-Pass and the license plates. "I love this car," she kept saying. I guess we really are moving now! As our time in Wheaton is drawing to a close, we are thankful for how the Lord has taken care of us here the last three years - from grad school to employment to housing to deeper friendships - and how He is helping us close out our time here - selling our car and paying off bills and leaving our jobs on good terms and re-visiting favorite places and people to say good-bye. So the countdown to Cape Town begins (June 26)!

June 26 Departure for Cape Town

Praise God - the decision has been made! We are excited to tell you all that Jim - newly graduated from Wheaton College Grad School with a Master's in Biblical Studies - has decided to enter the University of Cape Town as a student in the Master's of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Education program. The semester begins in July, so we will be flying out on June 26. Fortunately, we now have some contacts there (due to our trip last December), so we will have some people to greet us, host us, and help us get situated the first few weeks.


There's a lot to do in the brief time left before we take off - including getting visas, leaving our current jobs, doing a couple of trips to see family, packing (how do we have so much stuff?), organizing our finances, and saying good-byes, so pray that all the details would come together smoothly and that we would continue to have peace about this decision. We are eager to see all that God has in store with this new adventure, and hope that we will be challenged and grown in new ways as we live and study in this place. More details to come soon!

May Birthdays

Hi all, this is posted from Port Orchard as the TOG himself, and his youthfuller companion passes through on the way to Wheaton.
Here is the single May birthday:  Elizabeth Grace Polak, May 21