A new year, a new post, a new place

We made it to St. Simon's Island. We've spent the past two weeks a little closer to where Danny is working here in Georgia. He can't stay with us during the week, but we've been able to have dinner together more nights than not, and we get to keep him on the weekends. Unfortunately we shared more than just our time with him; we also shared the flu. Yesterday and today in particular, his work was very physically demanding. We called on our friends for prayer and God answered our prayers in a miraculous way! Danny was able to perform his tasks effectively and without injury, feeling a burst of energy for the time he needed it most. (And then he nearly passed out when it was over.) Glory to God! Afterwards, Danny told me that I should be looking out for the opportunity to bless someone similarly and that opportunity presented itself almost immediately, as I found myself connecting with the brother of a friend, someone that Danny had been a camp counselor to years ago, by way of his wife's blog. I hadn't heard from him since he'd gone off to the army, and now I found myself praying, all day, for their newborn son who is waiting for a liver donation. Isn't God amazing?

 We celebrated New Year's Eve with some of Danny's work friends, hanging out, chowing down, and then, at the stroke of midnight, the older kids and I ran out to the shore to see if we could catch the pier fireworks from there. The pier is a little less than two miles from us and we could just see little bits here and there over the real estate that hugs the curving shoreline. What we did get to witness close-up were a few families that would light these lanterns that would float up into the wind, into the black sky. Beautiful!

And of course this whole island is beautiful. This vacation has been a real treat for us. We are staying in a rental that is walking distance from a public beach. It is three stories tall, and you can see a glimpse of the ocean from the top floor. It's a tremendous home for us, quite a luxury. But what has surprised me more than anything is the peacefulness of this place. For one of the few times in my life, I don't hear ANYTHING at night. Not the airplanes flying over our Davie home, not the Turnpike traffic or train rumblings of my parent's home, not the waves from my parent's oceanfront summer home, not the drunken parties of my college neighbors, not the crazy birds of Venezuela, not even the bugs of South Carolina. Nothing. Even the AC is quiet! Silence!

And cold. I know that most of the eastern United States had a cold blast this week but we haven't seen temperatures above 50 but one day so far. On Tuesday the high was 34! I had anticipated a Tallahassee winter, so I'd packed for moderate weather- 2 pants, 2 shorts, 3 short sleeved shirts, 3 long sleeves, and such. Well we haven't used about half our wardrobe- just the "winter half" and most of that all at once! (At least I didn't have to run a mile and a half in it. Danny deserves a vacation as well!) It is supposed to warm up to the 60s this weekend. I'm looking forward to that with much relief.

And last but not least, yay FSU! WOOOOO!