Well, we arrived in Philadelphia, MS around 3:30 on Thursday afternoon, after driving all day and half of the previous day. We were warmly welcomed by Glenn & Emma Myers, the current pastor and his wife of the church that Duane will be taking over as pastor. There was no time to waste with all that needed to be done, so after dinner we contacted a man who's ad we had seen in the local newspaper about an apartment to potentially rent. It was nice, but extremely small, almost claustrophobic, so we headed back to the Myers' house just to relax before our long day of searching to come!
On Friday morning we met with a realtor who was very nice and attempted to be very helpful, despite the fact that there are a very limited number of places to rent in the Philadelphia area at the moment. We checked out an apartment and a house, both of which Laurie was not thrilled about even though Duane and Heather had really liked the house, and attempted to find a house that we had seen in the newspaper. What an adventure that turned out to be... the GPS led us to the middle of nowhere on red dirt roads, some spots thick with mud thanks to the heavy rainfall from earlier that morning. While Laurie cringed and "wanted out", Duane and Heather were enjoying the chance to "off-road" in our Mercury Sable. Once we found the house (after three attempts and finally turning onto some unmarked roads), we saw that it was only a doublewide trailer, and that if we were to EVER try giving anyone directions to that house it would be absolutely impossible! So, we marked that one off of our list. :)
We visited the Meridian campus of Mississippi State University where Heather will attend for two of her classes this coming semester. She was able to get her student ID, as well as a "tour" of the one building that makes up this tiny campus! It was a relief for her to find that from Philadelphia to the campus is only about 45 minutes and only requires driving on one road. No getting lost for her!
Duane had a contact with Roy Smith, the dormitory director at Choctaw High School, located on the Pearl River reservation. We visited with him to talk about potential jobs and he was very kind and even said he would come check out Duane's preaching sometime! By the time we left there, all of the tribal offices were closed where we had hoped to apply for some jobs, but we have Monday to do that still.
Dinner with the Myers' was delicious and we concluded the night with homemade blueberry pie and an episode of Numbers.
Today there is much more house and job hunting to do. Please pray for us as we continue to walk by faith that somewhere in this town there is a home and three jobs awaiting us! We will be moving on August 14th, which is less than 2 weeks away. God's in control. Pray that we would not live in fear, but that instead we would eagerly anticipate the bigger story that's coming to completion as we continue to move forward into the unknown. Blessings to you all, friends!
On Friday morning we met with a realtor who was very nice and attempted to be very helpful, despite the fact that there are a very limited number of places to rent in the Philadelphia area at the moment. We checked out an apartment and a house, both of which Laurie was not thrilled about even though Duane and Heather had really liked the house, and attempted to find a house that we had seen in the newspaper. What an adventure that turned out to be... the GPS led us to the middle of nowhere on red dirt roads, some spots thick with mud thanks to the heavy rainfall from earlier that morning. While Laurie cringed and "wanted out", Duane and Heather were enjoying the chance to "off-road" in our Mercury Sable. Once we found the house (after three attempts and finally turning onto some unmarked roads), we saw that it was only a doublewide trailer, and that if we were to EVER try giving anyone directions to that house it would be absolutely impossible! So, we marked that one off of our list. :)
We visited the Meridian campus of Mississippi State University where Heather will attend for two of her classes this coming semester. She was able to get her student ID, as well as a "tour" of the one building that makes up this tiny campus! It was a relief for her to find that from Philadelphia to the campus is only about 45 minutes and only requires driving on one road. No getting lost for her!
Duane had a contact with Roy Smith, the dormitory director at Choctaw High School, located on the Pearl River reservation. We visited with him to talk about potential jobs and he was very kind and even said he would come check out Duane's preaching sometime! By the time we left there, all of the tribal offices were closed where we had hoped to apply for some jobs, but we have Monday to do that still.
Dinner with the Myers' was delicious and we concluded the night with homemade blueberry pie and an episode of Numbers.
Today there is much more house and job hunting to do. Please pray for us as we continue to walk by faith that somewhere in this town there is a home and three jobs awaiting us! We will be moving on August 14th, which is less than 2 weeks away. God's in control. Pray that we would not live in fear, but that instead we would eagerly anticipate the bigger story that's coming to completion as we continue to move forward into the unknown. Blessings to you all, friends!
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