Isaiah and Calli English: Life Blog

Greetings all! We have now entered Week 2 of training at the Boardwalk Chapel. Last week was the Evangelism Conference (We hosted many people who wanted to learn and practice with the staff as we were trained by Chris Byrd). This week, there are 2 training options: an Apologetics course with Jim Z. (the head of the Chapel) and a Counseling course with Tom P. (one of the Evangelism leaders). Isaiah and I are taking the Counseling training course which uses a video series and a book called How People Change by Timothy Lane & Paul Tripp. Isaiah and I are really enjoying this viewing, discussing, and reading. We are also popping into the Apologetics training when we can since it's so awesome (in my case, when some kitchen responsibilities are finished since I am enjoying helping clean and prep dinners for the large groups here under the leadership of the great Avery!). In addition, Isaiah and I are taking part in the Evangelism team training (he is an official intern on this team;...

Things are going great here at the BWC! Isaiah and I are feeling so happy and excited to be here. Staff came in last night and will continue to come in today for our first official BWC Staff Picnic which starts at 1pm. The leaders and I (the wife!) have been here for this extra week, and we are so excited to meet up with pastors, friends, and staff to get the fellowship flowing today. We load up at 12:30pm. Please pray for us to get to know one another and live out the love that we will be sharing this Summer.  I am so enjoying helping with Domestics. Made Torta di Riso this morning with some of the leftover rice from dinner, and it was a hit! Thank you Sasha Martin's mom who cooked this recipe which ended up in Sasha's memoir Life From Scratch! ... And thank you Megan Prahl (me ole' C.O. friend who recommended this book years ago which has been where most of my meaningful recipes have come from; I love things more--including cooking--when they're related to story). Tor...

We've been here for 3 full days and 1 extra night. Had a good cry this morning about missing home. There is some loss that comes with being here for the Summer along with immense gain. I miss my neighbors and their kindness and the kool-aid they make me when I stop by;  even the knowing those neighbors and the knowing I can stop by is something to miss. I miss being closer to my family and knowing I can go by if I want, or invite them over. I miss being closer to those close friends; phone calls just won't be the same. I'm going to miss our church come Sunday, though I know the one here is wonderful too, but one does does get attached to one's specific Body. On a practical level, I miss knowing where everything is; especially those health items which get me going in the morning like headache pills, lavender bags warmed up for my neck, and drawers that make sense in general (since our room here is still coming together). I miss our cat who often wakes me with snuggles in...