We were in Waynesboro yesterday morning and are now camped out at the Iversons (Joel and Mary Stuart) in Atlanta for a day. It’s been a really good trip. Martha had a stomach bug or something on the trip from PA to VA, but she is doing better and eating crackers and water. Please keep her in your prayers if you think of it.
Our girls haven’t done much car traveling in their lives (everything in Japan is so close together, so there weren’t many long car rides); but I have been very impressed with how they’ve adjusted to this new life of traveling. Yesterday was our longest trip and best trip yet. Noa read and sang and ate and colored and was simply delightful. Poor Martha, who spent the trip the previous day throwing up, spent yesterday’s ride sleeping and quietly watching her big sister’s antics. I was so thankful that it was a drama-free ride!
We’ve had a wonderful time with Joel and Mary Stuart so far, and will spend the day today with Eric’s Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Greg and their family. It’s nice to have a day of rest amidst the traveling and we’re so thankful for fabulous family to spend it with. We leave early in the morning for Florida and hope to arrive mid-late afternoon, in time to begin to unpack and get some beds set up in our new home.
Speaking of our new home, Noa is getting skeptical that it even exists. We’ve been telling her for the last month that we are moving to a new home, but in her two-year-old mind, it seems like forever since we started talking about it. Still, she gets pretty excited when we talk about it, and everywhere we stop asks, “is this my new home?” We can’t wait to show her tomorrow that we haven’t been playing a cruel trick on her and we are, in fact, going to settle in one place for a significant amount of time. 
PRAISE GOD! In the month of July we have had many safe travels and good times with family and friends. We often take safety for granted as well as catching up, thanking people, enjoying relationships both old and new. Still, all of these have been blessed abundantly! This month we were able to visit each of our supporting churches in VA, PA, and MD, and were greatly encouraged.
Prayer requests:
Moving
We are leaving Lancaster, PA and are headed south tomorrow, Monday, with a 16 ft. moving van, our trusty station wagon, and my parents, Dave and Kathy. We are planning on arriving in Orlando on Thursday afternoon, with stops in Virginia, Atlanta, and probably many rest stops on the way Please continue to pray for our safety and sanity as we say goodbye to family and friends and pickup our stored belongings on the way.
School Starts
We are moving in on Thursday, and class starts Monday, Aug. 3rd. We ask for your prayers as we enter this new stage of life.
Support Needed
We will also be support raising in August. We are around 64% of our monthly need as of right now, this includes the most recent contacts we have had personally as well as those of you who have contacted MTW. Through recent one-time gifts and continued giving of many, we are okay for August, but need to raise support for the next three years.
We started the month in Japan.
This picture taken during our last moments in Japan at the airport. The Tokyo to Toronto flight went great. Little did we know that at the Toronto Airport our flight to DC would be canceled, we would miss our reroute by 5 minutes after running through the Canadian Airport with the kids & luggage & customs stuff. We ended up taking a 6 AM flight the next day. It was an adventure that we smile and laugh about weeks later.
