Summertime in (and around) the Pitt: Life Update on Isaiah and I

Greetings Friends! Much has happened since we last spoke (me writing and you reading), and I can't wait to share with you. Thank you for pulling up a chair with me and caring to know about our lives. Feel free to grab a cup of tea or coffee as I share with you what the Lord has been doing! 

To start off the end of Spring-start of Summer season here in the Pitt, we had some goodbyes to say. We couldn't be more proud of our Joy Li for courageously following the Lord's guidance out to Austin. Though we miss her and will continue to, we know that she is a blessing to God's Church wherever the Lord places her, and we know that Christian goodbyes are NEVER final. Praise the Lord! We also had more temporal goodbyes for Andrew and the Kanagas from church (and, later in the Summer season, to some Lauers). Andrew headed out to New Jersey to serve on Boardwalk Chapel staff for the Summer as the Apologetics Intern, and he is thriving! The Kanagas have been in The Big Apple for Jonathan's internship, and, at least from the pictures, have been doing very well there. Though it is with slight sadness that we said goodbyes to some of the fellow young people at church, we were and are excited for their individual journeys and growth, and for catching up with them to learn of what the Lord has been doing in and for them in this Summer season. Sharing and hearing testimonies at the end of a journey is literary the best! (After all, it's part of what we'll be doing for eternity! Celebrating what the Lord has done!) We are excited that the Kanagas are back, that Andrew will return in September, and that Joy will visit in the Fall season. We are also excited that Paul and Sara are now finished with their Summer Internship in Japan, and are also returned. It will be lovely to have more of these shining faces around the sanctuary again and to fellowship with them once again, but I am also so glad that the Lord has been sending out his workers into other harvest fields throughout the Summer. He always uses his Saints as they go on their journeys, and they are often more glowing with the Spirit when they return. 

Aside from the goodbyes and the various trips we have taken this Summer (which I'll discuss soon; Promise.), life has been full of the stirrings and churning of everyday life--for Isaiah sermon preparation, licensure exams, intern reports and meetings, emails about dates and trips, phone calls, and the occasional workout or date with his wife (lately, mostly library movies, jigsaw puzzles, and walks). For me--nannying the wonderful and energetic Asher (whether our time be spent in the grocery store, the Meyer house, our apartment, the library, the Aviary, or Moon Park), phone calls with family and some friends, attempting to consistently enter receipts and bills into budget and money-back apps, working out at my Cory gym (though less than is really needed), and much more shopping than I ever remember doing in my life. Allow me to spend an unneeded amount of time discussing that last, the shopping portion of my current season...

Not only do I no longer live near a grandmother who has the gifts of mercy and gift giving (and hence, I no longer magically receive any item I mention in passing...for real, the women is a generosity ninja), I have also been cooking more, researching health more, and in general caring more about the actual needs of our household--whether that be new running shoes for Isaiah, better Sunday shirts for my husband who now has a reputation to protect ;), gifts or cards for folks at church or home for occasions both happy and non, or vitamins which we now need more than ever as we live out year 35 (Praise the Lord!). The truth is, someone in our household has always filled this role of shopping, but until this past year, it has not been me. 

When I was teaching (which I did for 10 years), Isaiah was always the one finished with bread-man work (which is an early-morning affair) and seminary classes (mostly early afternoons) first. I often didn't arrive at home until around 5pm, prioritizing finishing work at work and not bringing it home (Life looked like classes until 3:30, car-rider line and socializing until 4, followed by necessary tutoring--some paid and some non, and grading/planning, until hopping in my car at 4:40 at the earliest to drive home). Due to this (and honestly more cooking experience in general), Isaiah ran point for groceries and household items. Dinner was usually already cooking by the time I got home, and I received the blessing of good conversation with a great man while things cooked (usually my ranting in some form or another, which Isaiah is happily amused rather than irritated by #blessed) and whilst we ate our food (by then I was more calm, and we could speak of more deep things). 

I'll also mention that it truly is only within the past 3 years that I've learned seemingly simple things like the fact that changing out your shoes every few years is rather essential to good foot health or that vitamins actually matter as much as Isaiah has always thought (I honestly am very minimalistic by nature and thought for years that he ordered all kinds of unneeded things when we could have been donating more to charity). I was wrong, Oops! And I'll happily admit that for years I truly did not realize that the standard of living we were at had not registered in my "I'm poor" brain ; that it truly was okay to care for our own household AND be generous, and that spending the occasional $20 on Monday night pizza or needed clothing was not going to break the bank. Alas, the things we learn and how the Lord shapes us into his image bearers who live as Children of the King. Anyway, yeah....lots more shopping which I both love and strongly dislike...mostly at Aldi, Walmart, St. Vincent's, and Ross. 

Now that I divulged my newly blossomed household shopping prowess, I'll get into the various trips and opportunities we've had this Summer. Isaiah and I enjoyed serving as cabin leaders at the Presbytery of Ohio Youth Camp June 23rd through 28th. It took place at Slippery Rock Camp, where a pool, cabins, art shed, fields for games, and a gym for Bible lessons reside. Since this was the first Summer the camp was led by Director Karl (otherwise known as Kaptain Krunch), an elder at our church, we definitely needed to participate. In addition it was a great opportunity to get to know more of the youth at church along with some of the adults (like Karl, Claire, and Carolyn) and to get to know plenty of folks from the greater Presbytery. I was blessed to be the leader of the greatest cabin of all time, otherwise known as Middle School Girls; I even got two of our own from church (such a blessing! Loved it). Isaiah led an Older Elementary Boy's cabin, a group whose self-written "Karen" skit placed them in 2nd on skit night, and which contained a kiddo who went through much at camp (including breaking his wrist playing Gaga Ball and getting stung by a hornet on his face as he laid down to sleep!). We watched the kids play games, occasionally taking on little jobs like sunscreening/bug spraying in between plays or reffing, attended Bible lessons (on both Missions and on the camp theme "Benediction"), led our cabin groups in discussion, memory verses, and skit prep, and attended morning staff meetings as well as participating in the Find-the-Counselors game at then end of camp and nightly campfire time. The camp was well planned and required less of us than I expected (meaning there was enough downtime to help you truly just be a good counselor; there was grace built into the schedule). It was a rough week to have camp due to the intense heat (hottest week all Summer), and there was much heat exhaustion, dehydration, and some sickness, but Nurse Claire (from our church!) and her helpers helped everyone stay hydrated with water and Gatorade. I myself got sick for a few hours on Day 1 after soaking up the rays during game time, but after a nap and lots of water, I learned going forward to take rests in the fans of the cabin or art shed and to have electrolytes and not just tons of water. A woman cannot live by water alone...apparently. It was fun overall getting to see adults from church in different roles and getting to invest in some kids' lives for a week. It's my hope that some of those relationships continue to develop and flourish. I also really loved getting to know Faith, who ran the art shed and grabbed the pizzas for our final night of camp fun. She and I have much in common, and getting to connect with that great woman of faith was such a blessing! 

After unpacking a bit, doing laundry, mini-golf with church, some dinners, and a lot of preparation on Isaiah's part, we were off to Camp #2 for Summer. The nice thing about having recently returned from Slippery Rock Camp was that we had already bought everything we needed for a camp experience, and had already learned what we'd actually use and wouldn't when packing for this second camp. We weren't Cabin leaders/counselors at the Machen Science Camp (which took place July 14th through 19th); rather, Isaiah was the Camp Chaplain, and I was along as his dutiful and happy wife. Isaiah prepared and led Chapel every morning of camp; his messages followed the gospel message throughout the Bible through trees of the Bible, a cool tie to the Science portion of camp--trees like the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Gopher Tree (aka: the flood narrative), the tree in Psalm 1, the Fig Tree Jesus curses, the tree Jesus died on, and the Tree of Life in Revelation. (Isaiah quickly learned that the kids--and adults!--at this particular camp, really enjoyed learning Greek and Hebrew words, so he tied a word or phrase into each lesson, and they ate it up and really remembered well.) Isaiah also led 3 separate age groups in devotions each day of camp in addition to morning Chapel; for devos he focused on reading through the Book of Jonah with the kids, which was both evangelistic in focus and also accidentally (yay!) tied into the kids study of mammalogy throughout the week (whales man!...although one kid kept claiming Jonah was swallowed by a lobster; it was his running bit throughout the week haha). 

God used me while I was there in many ways; He never wastes (Praise Him!). I soaked up the Bible lessons from my husband and the Science talks (the camp hosted 2 visiting teachers--1 led lessons on Mammalogy and the other on Meteorology) as I followed the older group of campers throughout the week and participated by passing out papers, asking questions, and just learning alongside the kids. In addition, I was able to fill in as the older girl's cabin counselor for one night when Diane had gone to hospital (a former camper, Rose, came the next day to help for the rest of the week). I was also able to help with the constant flow of dishes in the kitchen (Praise God for the dedicated Kitchen Staff at this camp!) and was happy to write the staff skit for skit night which reflected our learning throughout the week in a fun, silly way. I also took joy in helping create the questions and rubric for the Bible portion of the competition on the last day of camp (got to use those teacher skills to help my spouse!). No glory to me; I just enjoy sharing what camp was like for me. I love being of use, and the Lord never disappoints on that front when it comes to his children--He always uses them for His glory when they keep their eyes open within their environment and their ears attentive to his Spirit. The biggest thing I enjoyed being involved in at camp was just knowing the kids names, getting to hear about their lives, and sanitizing & sending them in for eating times (fellowship!).  

The things I enjoyed most about this camp in general were the environment (the Machen Center is beautiful--in the Monongahela National Forest area), especially the gorgeous mushrooms, deer, and even the flying squirrel who resided in the laundry room!, and the atmosphere of the camp itself (it has a homey, all-are-welcome, small but open kind of feel). It was indeed heart breaking to have the Director of Science Camp, Diane Ippilito, experience a brain aneurysm near the start of camp right after leading the campfire songs. This would put her into a coma and later God used it to bring her to Himself. I barely knew her (unlike so many counselors at the camp who knew her deeply and bravely continued to lead the camp in her absence and keep things hush-hush around the kids), but it is a strange experience to be among the last people someone meets in their life here on earth. Diane was one of the first at camp to really seek to get to know me and help me with what camp life at Machen Science would look like, and then the next night, as Isaiah and I headed off to bed early, having just heard her lead a camp song, she would start her journey into glory after leading a few more songs at the camp she loved. When Diane and I had spoken that morning, I had wondered about perhaps going her Moms in Prayer group in PA since she served as the state coordinator, and now she awaits us all in glory. I am happy with her. But this made camp difficult for many, and I so admire the leaders there even more as a result. Praise God for his Saints, both here and praising Him before the throne. See you soon Diane! You are well loved. 

My next stop was a solo trip, a weekend trek to Chattanooga, TN, to attend Isaiah's sister, Lyuda's, baby shower. The trip was July 25th-28th, and I was privileged to stay with Isaiah's Uncle Tim and Aunt Jenny, and enjoy much fellowship and fresh tomato and basil meals. Isaiah's cousin Cara, who I consider a friend as well as family, hosted the shower, and I had planned on going to it months before the date was officially decided. I knew it would be a solo trip long before it became one, and Pastor Geoff's being on vacation for that week made that even more certain, since Isaiah (as Intern) was very needed here in Sewickley area that week. As Isaiah served and loved here (and was quite well fed by the congregation!), I was able to see much of his family (who we haven't seen since last November; some much longer). It was such a joy to catch up with many we haven't seen, and to better know how we can pray for them from PA (and of course to be at the shower!). I really loved getting to write down how to pray for the different family members, and now am really enjoying incorporating that into our morning prayer time. (I esp. enjoyed also seeing Grandma Joan, Isaiah's dad Paul, Dan and Pam Knox!, and talking with Isaiah's brothers Matt and Jed a good bit, as well as flower decorating with Sierra and Cara). The Lord also blessed me greatly in so many wonderful conversations, connections, and new friends in my airplane travels. Praise God! 

And, we have now just returned from the Boardwalk Chapel Trip--August 9th through 16th. This is perhaps the trip which Isaiah most prepared for (lots of emails, phone chats, zoom calls, and a Chris Byrd visit to discuss the Chapel earlier this year), and the Lord blessed his efforts. Praise God. It was a fantastic trip, and I cannot wait to tell you more about it in a future blog post. Suffice it to say that it was probably the most fun and most enjoyable time I've ever had at the Chapel, and that I am praising God tenfold for the kindness of this trip. We returned physically tired, but spiritually and mentally VERY refreshed and ready and excited for ministry and life. 

...Now, as far as unpacking and cleaning up post-travel this time? ...I have not unpacked yet. haha. Honestly it's been a challenge to pack and unpack so much this Summer, but I know that once I get started the Lord will sustain me, and I do plan on "getting on that" today (especially now that the laundry is all caught up and the clothes have been calling out to me to fold them for days now!). Pray for me as I eventually leave the cozy cat curled up next to me (big shout out to Chris and Helen for loving her during our many absences this Summer!) and the yummy matte I am sipping to venture into our bedroom to do spiritual battle with the clothes which need to be put away before we prepare for our final adventure to end this season of travel--Japan to visit the Lauers and the OPC Mission there (September 1st-19th). People told us to keep an open mind and to explore possibilities and connections this Summer as Isaiah is nearing the final leg of his intern journey, and I believe we have been faithful to do that. haha. 

That being said, it was just decided on Sunday that we will be officially staying here until March!--the congregation voted to extend Isaiah's internship until then. Allow me to just say that it is so wonderful to be so appreciated and valued in the community, and to know at least for a while, what the future holds for us. We can stay here for longer! I can keep investing in the people and community at church, in Cory (Coraopolis), and in the greater Pittsburgh area; which is great because I don't feel finished! There is much to do, and much love to share, and many Jesus conversations to have and to continue to have in this city. It is a comfort to know that we have a home here as Isaiah finishes his licensure exams and steps into the calling which he has felt on his heart and mind for so very long. There is MUCH to be thankful for. This Summer has been pure, abundant blessing!!!