(so quiet!)

It's 1:32pm on Sunday afternoon. I am sitting on my bed, next to sleeping Karis, listening to the birds outside. And nothing else! Normally around this time on a Sunday Matt's music would be blasting from the living room while we all finished up lunch and got the girls down for their naps (after which time Abbie would be babbling and singing to herself in her crib for the next hour or so before actually falling asleep). But today Karis and I dropped Matt and Abbie off at the airport and now we're home alone!

In case you haven't yet heard, there's good news on the Riley front. Matt will meet with his Board of Ordained Ministry tomorrow and Tuesday in New Jersey (Abbie is staying with his parents) and if he passes these interviews, he'll be approved to start his provisional membership which is a 2-3 year trial period before UM pastors get to be fully ordained as Elders (i.e. head pastors). Matt put together a mock interview with some folks from our church a few weeks ago and feels really prepared since then. But here's the good news: last week on Monday Matt's DS called him and asked him to fill out a form that they use to match pastors with church appointments, because decisions were being made the next day. And here's the GREAT news: The DS called AGAIN later that week and said that the bishop wanted to know if he could stay in Jersey through the weekend because, provided the interviews go well, he wants Matt to interview with the church where he'll be appointed!! As you can imagine, this is a pretty rare situation. I'm so thankful that we're not going to have to wait 2 or 3 more months to know where we'll be living--this means I can mentally prepare, apply for a practicum site, and start praying for the specific church we'll be at. Wahoo!

After that phone call I decided that I wanted to meet the church too (it's normal for the spouse to go on the church tour)--so Karis and I will be flying up to Jersey on Wednesday and staying through Sunday when we'll all fly back together. I'm so excited! Not only to meet the church and see our new house, but to see the family, for everyone to meet Karis, to have a break from school, and to eat real pizza :-)

Until then, I have an annotated bibliography to work on for my research class and a very messy (but quiet!!) house to clean up. Oh, and just to clarify--NO, Matt and I are NOT trying to get pregnant right now. I thought that went without saying when I wrote my last post, but apparently not :-)