Many of you have asked about our timeline for our departure to England to attend school at Durham University this fall. We appreciate the concern, support, and prayers. We are very touched by your love for us and interest in our mission and call. I thought I would dedicate this blog post to a “this is where things are right now” update.

Visas: The visa process to go to the UK is not difficult, but it is involved and time sensitive. We were not allowed to apply for our Visas until July 1. And it takes a few weeks. After completing a lengthy application on all of us, submitting to fingerprinting and photographs in Tampa (the location is a long story), we snail mailed our passports, wedding certificates, the children’s birth certificates and all those applications off to the British Consulate New York City. On Tuesday, July 23 (a week after our completed applications were finished), we received our Visas. They are valid September 1! We were excited to receive them and to have a date that we are allowed to enter the UK. Now the question is, when and how do we get over there.

Travel: We want to use airline miles for our trip. As much as we would like to be in England the very first minute we can, September 1 is not the best time to fly over there. Being Labor Day weekend, much of the week before and week after is blacked out. So, using miles, the earliest we can depart is September 4. We will leave Alabama the last week of August and visit some family before we go. On the way home, we will get dropped off in Houston and depart from there.

Our House: As of this writing, the house is still for rent. We know that the right renters are out there. We are praying peace for them as they make their decision on where to move. We pray that our house will be a blessing to them. We pray that things will go well with their move. In the meantime, we have a great deal of peace about everything. It is going to be good. Don’t know WHEN it will be, but we are at peace. In the meantime, we are moving out by August 1. We will stay with family in the meantime. We will visit some family. It is just too difficult to try to be here and in limbo. We are ready to finish up another thing on the list and move ahead.

A place to live in Durham: We look at places to rent in Durham a few times a day. The funny thing is, the agents over there don’t seem to be real concerned that we don’t have a place yet. The rental market works at a pretty fast pace, I understand. You usually don’t need to look, they tell us, until 3-4 weeks before you need it. We are looking for something in the city, close to transportation and the market. We won’t have a car while we are there, so we want to be in an easily accessible location.

Matters of Prayer: We so appreciate your prayers of support for our family. Some things that are on our hearts right now:
–Peace for everyone in the family. Most days are very good. But this “being in the middle” is sometimes hard, especially for the kids.
–For the people who will rent our home. We are ready to meet them!
–For a smooth finalization to our travel plans.
–For just the right place to live in Durham.
–For the church community in which we will participate. We want to immerse ourselves in the community.
–For friends for the children who will receive with open arms and be a good influence on them.
–For the study Rob has to do. Pray for illumination about his subject area and wisdom on what to do with the new information.
–For Beth and the children as they transition to Home Education (that’s the English term).
–For the resources to meet our needs both over here and over there.

We appreciate you walking this journey with us. We love to hear from you with your questions, your comments, and your prayers.