Arrival and Settling In

Thought I'd pick this blog back up to help record my internship experiences this summer in Burbank, California, as well as to help keep in touch with those far away in Princeton, Eagle River, Minneapolis, Wheaton, Jakarta, etc., etc., etc. :) I'll update when I can, and hopefully this will become a good record of what I've learned, how I've grown, and where I've been this summer.

Daryl is free to chime in as well.

Burbank is beautiful. We've already been blessed by old friends (Kent and Jonathan), Daryl's wonderful family, and the church where we are both pastoral interns for the summer. The weight of responsibility both humbles and excites me. The time between training and practical experience feels incredibly short, and I've already become aware of how important it is for us to make good on any available time to increase our knowledge of Scripture, tradition, and faith. Ministry felt years away, and yet here we are!

On May 12 we left our kitty in the capable and loving hands of our subletters--Sarah and Lana. He is sad we're gone, but a drive across the country wouldn't have done him (or us...) any good.

The drive out here (45+ hours) was both incredibly fun and totally exhausting. I'm SO grateful to have a husband who is comfortable driving the last stretch of scary desert highway from Las Vegas to California (the flow of traffic was going about 90 miles an hour...), and who suffers from highway fatigue far less than I do. We saw some gorgeous parts of the country--the rolling hills of Pennsylvania and Iowa, the dusty red mountains of Utah, the tumbleweed-strewn fields of Wyoming. We spent one amazing day in Chicago where we got to see some dear, dear friends and catch a breakfast with my Mom (in town on her way down to Indiana to pick my sister Caroline up from Taylor University).

We discovered parts of the country we want to visit again (Omaha, Laramie, Las Vegas) and those we would rather not (Salt Lake City, the western side of Nebraska, the southern tip of Nevada). We listened to countless "Adventures in Odyssey" episodes (you may laugh, you may say that those shows are only good for 12-year olds, but they sure are entertaining when you've been on the road for four days!). In Iowa--this was definitely a highlight--one of my back molars started to break into pieces. Cue the emergency dentist appointment made en route to CA. We sang along to the radio. We heard a preacher in Wyoming so unintelligible (crazy western/southern accent) that he entertained us for a good half hour. We drove. We ate lots things that were bad for us (Daryl = Taco Bell, Red Bulls, and Mountain Dew; Courtney = Ring Pops, Hostess Cupcakes, and McDonald's). We drove more. We slept. We woke up. We drove some more.

We arrived. It is sunny and GORGEOUS here. There are palm trees and orange trees and lemon trees all over. I feel continually as if I am on a constant vacation.

We began our wonderful, wonderful internships. Much more to come on those later on.

I'll take and post some CA pictures soon (and write an update on our AWESOME internships), but for now, I am going to sleep. There are crickets chirping outside the sliding glass door right now, and the lights on the highways of Burbank never stop moving. The air smells like dew and green things and the pink and yellow roses that are planted below our balcony. The view from Daryl's Mom's house (where she's generously and graciously allowing us to crash for the summer) is incredible--I'll post a photo of it as soon as I can. I've been here just one week, and already I'm completely in love with this whole city.

Thank you, Jesus, for our safe travels and this internship. Thank you for family. Thank you for friends. Thank you for rest.