For those of you just reading this blog for the first time,
I’ll try to condense what we’ve been up to over the last year. I guess I should
rewind a little before that. We moved to New Orleans in the summer of 2011,
just a few months after getting married in March. Josh started working on his
M. Div. at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I was teaching 2nd
grade at a school outside the city.
This past summer, we made numerous trips back and forth to
Georgia to be in various friends’ weddings. It was so nice to relax and spend
time with friends and family. We also got to visit Josh's sister, Jennifer, who lives in Washington D.C. and show Josh the sights for the first time. Sadly, during this time, Josh’s Maw Maw passed
away from Ovarian Cancer. It is good to know that she is cancer-free and
pain-free, but we still miss her a lot, especially around the holidays.
After much prayer and consideration, I decided to apply for
jobs at a different school for this year. The environment I was working in was
very difficult, and I was losing my passion for teaching. A friend from
seminary helped me get a job at Belle Chasse Primary School teaching 4th
grade. Up to this year, I thought I didn’t want to teach children older than 3rd
grade. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I love the older kids! They are
old enough to know the basics but at this prime age where they still love
school and are so curious and excited about learning! Unfortunately, 4th
grade is the year of high-stakes standardized testing in Louisiana. I do not
enjoy the pressure that puts on me or my students, but I won’t get into that .
. . :) This year has really helped me grow to love teaching again.
Josh started working at Village Coffee Shop in the city last
year, and he continues to work there part-time when he is not taking classes. (I
must admit that I am drinking a delicious Peppermint Mocha made by him as I
write this!) He took Greek this past semester, and I do not envy him! He has
spent many hours going over flashcards, and I have fallen asleep to the sound
of him saying random Greek words out loud in his office. He feels called to plant a church after
seminary. Maybe New Orleans, maybe anywhere; we are still praying and thinking
through that and have time to decide.
We are really enjoying our time in New Orleans. We love it
here! We have joined a church, and enjoy our weekly Community Group in addition
to serving with the Kids’ Ministry. There are always festivals to attend.
Josh’s family came to visit us in the fall, and we took them to the Blues and
BBQ Festival as well as the Lousiana Seafood Festival. In November, we attended
our favorite one, Po Boy Fest.
We have officially become Saints fans this season and got to
go to our first game this fall. It was SO much fun! I won’t tell you who we
were playing or the score of the game when we broke their perfect winning
streak, but I will say that we had family members disown us over Thanksgiving
break when they found out. ;)
We have decided that rather than pushing Josh to finish
seminary in three years (which they tell you is doable, but is hard to do), we
are going to continue to enjoy our time here and make it four years total. One
and a half years down, two and a half to go. This year seems to be flying by.
I’ve always heard the older you get, the faster it goes. I am finding that to
be true. I am sure it will feel like no
time at all before we are saying “Remember when we lived in New Orleans . . .”
For now, we will continue to make the most of our time here. Come visit us in
the Big Easy! We love having friends come so we can show them around and eat some
beignets.
We hope this finds you doing well this holiday season. 2 Corinthians 9:15 says, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” We are thankful this Christmas for our many
blessings, for the gift of Jesus, and for our friendship with you. Merry
Christmas and love to you all!
