It is sometimes said seven days make one weak . . .

I disagree. The shape of daily life can certainly make a dramatic shift in just a few days. But in the last seven days I have seen strength and courage, not weakness!

Last July, my youngest son and his family moved to Fort Mills, SC, intending to participate in a missions training program in anticipation of going as a team of three families to live in community in another country. We learned over the holidays, in a more definitive way, that things just were not going as they had expected. This program is new and they were drawn to it based on conversation, shared vision and one of the team's past academic relationship with the two instructors. As it turned out, there were some significant differences in understanding of what was being offered and how the classes were structured, the housing promised didn't happen, the part time jobs that were supposed to be available didn't materialize. There were many challenges.

In early January it became clear that they would formally withdraw from the program. At that point, the team was also at different places in regard to accountability, vision, decision making. We knew by mid-January that Nathan and Terah would probably be moving back to the Lancaster area sometime within the next few months, but at that point, they felt they would be staying awhile, wanting to "leave well" with good relationships among the folks there. Nathan was optimistic in being able to find some kind of temporary even-if-minimum-wage job to allow them to be there a bit longer. But try as he might the past month, he hasn't been able to find anything. The other team members were already finalizing plans to return to Lancaster by March 1.

We got a call from Nathan and Terah a week ago. Nothing seemed to be moving forward for them. Nathan had applied several places and no one had even called him back. They thought, since he didn't have work anyway, that maybe they would just come home for a few days and explore possibilities here. So Friday, Feb 8, they packed their little family into the car and came to Pennsylvania. En route, they called a realtor and the woman who had worked so hard to help them get their first mortgage. By Saturday, they had a day of house hunting lined up for Monday and had learned good news about their mortgage possibilities. Nothing special in the way of houses appealed to them on Monday, but the realtor lined up more for Thursday. After observing their comments and responses, she said she knew a lot better what they were looking for and was sure she could show them houses they would like. Tuesday, Nathan met with his former employer and was offered his old job back, available as soon as he can start. This job offer really moved things along for them.

Wednesday was an ice and snow day, and they pretty well stayed put. We had lots of conversation about options and timing for returning to SC to pack up their belongings, whether to bring every thing now, or leave some household items until later since they have paid rent for another thirty days. Thursday, they spent with the realtor and saw three or four houses that they like. Meanwhile, my daughter and I took the two older children to State College to meet Terah's mom. She took them back to her home for a few days. Nathan and Terah left Friday to return to SC. The plan is to pack everything up Saturday, load a U-Haul Sunday and move all their things back on Monday. They had to "buy out" their lease, a penalty amounting to about two months' rent, but we all felt it was better to do that than to stay down there with no job. They will put their things in storage and live with us until they settle on a house. Hopefully that can be expedited because there are many homes available, many of them already empty, the sellers eager to close.

Nathan and Terah are doing okay. Going to SC was a good experience for them in many ways. They learned a lot. Though things didn't turn out as they had expected (how often does this happen for any of us??) they feel good about the decisions they made. We feel good about it, too, knowing their attitude and their hearts.