A Blessed Sunday

Yesterday morning started off with this out the window in our rental - a gorgeous sunrise! Just a few seconds after this, the sun popped over the mountain - and proceeded to fully rise in what I am sure was a matter of a few seconds. Reminded me of a Hawaii a little - how fast the sun rose and set there. It left me marveling at the wild beauty of the Wyoming God created and where we will now call home. (Please ignore the mess under the windows...we are still settling in for a very temporary stay, so clutter is how it's going to be for a bit!)

From here we got ready to head to the early service at Pinedale Bible Church. I was amazed that after attending only one other time, it really felt like home. Not the same home that we had at Day Creek - which will always hold a special place - but home here. I truly wasn't expecting that so quickly. I can tell that the Lord is present, living, and active there - and it is where he has placed us. Amazing - truly! And the girls couldn't say enough about how much fun they had, and how much they loved their new Sunday School. They told us that they spent the entire class on prayer requests - and ended up with 42 request! I have to say that it makes me happy that the kids can focus on prayer for a class - and it kind of reminds me of home as well! When we got to the car after church, it was just in time to receive the sweetest text from a dear friend (thanks Tara!) that said: 

"Praying God blesses you with a closeness to Him that takes the distant feeling from home...and squashes it like a bug! Love you all..."

As I should by now have learned to expect - He did that and more! To some extent, I realize that I haven't struggled at all with homesickness or missing everyone yet. I know that part of that is that this still feels like a vacation in some ways, and a little like we will be going back home soon. I know reality hasn't set in in that sense, but the Lord has been faithful every step of the way - and I have no reason to expect anything different tomorrow, or in the days to come!

Anyway - after church, we headed to Jackson 1 1/2 hours away to have lunch and do a bit of grocery shopping. As soon as we drove into the downtown touristy area, Amy right away noticed the bear statues. We were hungry and made her wait until after lunch, but she begged from the minute she saw them to get a picture with them! As you can tell - she was in love! Bears are her favorite animal at the moment...in case you didn't know! Katie of course had to get a picture too! Here are those - and that building you see in the background of the first one is where we went next - for ice cream cones! SUPER yummy ice cream - all homemade, organic, and natural ingredients. Soooo good! After the pictures is the highlight of the entire day...

After we got back and put our groceries away, we headed over to Sandy Beach park on Fremont Lake, because we had heard at church that morning that they were getting together for the final campfire fellowship of the summer at 7:00. It was WONDERFUL! There is something about campfires that I love anyway - but the fellowship of the small group that showed up was amazing. There was another couple who have very recently gone through a similar move as us, with the wife just able to join her husband. There was another family there that homeschools, and reminded me a lot of the Lohman family! The Pastor's wife was a sweet as can be, and we met someone who lives very near where our new house is. There was even a sweet woman named Bonnie...who passed out the hot dog and smore makings to everyone - how much more could the Lord make us feel at home? We left with a sense of belonging and family - again, AMAZING after only being here for 2 days! I can't helped but be overwhelmed at the way the Lord cares for us - in everything!