Sweet Summertime!

It’s summertime! We made it! Woohoo! One of the perks of both of us being on a school schedule is that we have this summer off! Last summer, we worked at Ingleside Baptist Church right up until the day before we moved to New Orleans. This summer, I finally get to enjoy one of the greatest perks of being a teacher . . . 9 weeks without students, lesson planning, grading, or getting up at the crack of dawn! Josh claims that I will quickly get bored, but I promise him I will not. I plan on cleaning the apartment, reading lots of books, and enjoying time at the pool (something I did not get to do last year). 

Josh finished his 2^nd semester of classes. It’s hard to believe he’s a third of the way through seminary, in theory – we might stretch it out a little longer. He will continue to work at the coffee shop this summer but is not taking any classes. Between the two of us, we were/are in 4 weddings this summer. Mine were both in May, and they were beautiful! (Congrats to Caroline Niziol and Christy Link!) Josh’s are in June, so it just didn’t work out for him to take classes with all the traveling to Georgia, South Carolina, and even Washington, D.C. to see his sister, we will be doing over the summer.

Another answer to prayer is that I have a new job next year! I just found out last week that I will be teaching 4^th grade at Belle Chasse Primary this coming August. Fourth graders will be a huge jump from my little 2^nd grade kiddos this year, but I am very excited about it. Plus, one of my friends from seminary campus works there and is moving from 3^rd up to 4^th to teach with me! I feel so honored and blessed and can’t wait to see what this next year has in store. While I’m not naïve enough to think that it will be easy – 4^th grade is the big year for standardized testing in LA – I have prayed a lot about what to do next year and feel like this is where God wants me.

It’s been a while since my last post. Josh went to Canada back in March with his church planting class and it really confirmed that is what we’re supposed to do after seminary. We’re not sure where, but we do know that God is calling us to start a church. So that is something you can join us in praying about. We still have at least two, maybe three, more years here at seminary. We love our new city, but we’re also eager to see where God wants us to go next. Always an adventure with the Cooks!!

For now, we’re content to rest and enjoy this time off with each other, friends, and family! Goodbye for now.