Hello, friends,
Wow, where do I even begin?! So much has happened in the last month. I moved to New Orleans and started new teacher orientation. Josh joined me in a week with my parents, Philip, and Jeremiah, who helped us move in. In exchange, we took them downtown and fed them beignets at Café du Monde before they left. :)
On August 11, I started teaching 2nd grade. It’s hard to believe it’s been two weeks already! I have to admit, it’s been a very hard two weeks. My students are good for the most part, and I’ve already grown to love them. Aside from a few chatterboxes and some not wanting to do their homework, I have a good class. We’re still working on getting down the routines and procedures. I feel like I’m learning as much as them each day about how all of this works. There’s so much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it. I get up early to make my 30 minute commute to school. I stay late at school, come home, and work until the wee hours of the morning to get everything ready for the next day. In a way I feel like I’ll never catch up. I’ve had my moments where I feel completely overwhelmed, but Josh has been a great encouragement. I know teaching is what I’m called to do, and I’ve heard the stories about how difficult the first year is for everyone, so I try to keep that in mind. It’s just hard to remember that at times. Prayers are welcome.
Josh has been wonderful! I call him my “house hubby.” :) He cooks dinner for me and has it ready when I come home. He’s even started doing laundry again! (Something he hasn’t done since getting married.) In a way it’s hard, because I want to be able to do all of this for him. He’s the one going to school full-time. But it’s going to be a little while before I can manage school and life again, so he’s helped me a lot.
Enough about me . . . Josh started seminary classes this week and so far he is enjoying them. As expected, he has a lot of reading and writing to do. It’s a good thing he was a Lit minor. He’s meeting people in his classes and is getting back into the routine of school again. He thinks it’ll be a good semester. He’s looking for a part-time job, preferably in a church somewhere, but ministry jobs are hard to come by in a city with few Baptist churches and a seminary full of students. We’re praying the right job comes along soon, in ministry or not.
We like New Orleans so far. It’s very different, but we’re getting used to it. We’ve been getting to know people on campus and visiting different churches. It’s strange to start life over in a way, but it’s been an adventure. We heard "Livin' on a Prayer" the other day on the radio, and I joked that it's our theme song right now. Haha! We’ll keep you updated. Please stay in touch with us and let us know how life is outside of the NOBTS bubble. We love you all!
