Good Evening!
It's an odd thing to say considering most of you are seeing this on a Monday afternoon.
After a long year of planning, crying, praying and rejoicing we are finally HERE.
In some ways, it has sunk in. However, in some ways it has not. We are still VERY jetlagged. We are not getting much sleep because we cannot fall asleep till about 2 or 3 in the morning and then we are getting up around 7 or so. I am sure that we will get acclamated soon.
The journey was long but when we arrived in Belfast we had a very Northern Ireland experience. There was no one at customs. This country is pretty laid back.
We arrived a little early and waited almost two hours for our cab driver. Come to find out he was in a different part of the airport than we were instructed to be.
This did not stop him from holding it against us.
He was clearly peeved that he had to wait forty whole minutes for us. He did not seem to realize that we just stepped foot into a brand new country that we agreed to live in for 3 years and had waited TWO HOURS for him.
The car ride was awkward to say the least.
We arrived here at Judith's house and tried our best to stay awake but we kept falling asleep almost mid sentence. We decided to take a nap which we knew was a bad idea but we couldn't help it. We had about 3 hours collective sleep in the past 48 hours.
Judith is wonderful an absolute gem. Her house is beautiful and overlooks the sea. I attached a picture below!
This is the back of her house and you can see it is quite quaint and beautiful!
Judith drove us around the village of Portrush on Saturday and got us acquainted with this area. She drove us about a half mile down the road to Dunluce Castle. Dunluce Castle was built in the 13th Century and is known as the Castle that fell into the sea. It was absolutely breathtaking.
On the way back home, I kept thinking "Where have I heard that name before?" When we arrived back at the house, I rummaged through my backpack and pulled out a file of photos that I had brought with me. One of these was a beautiful watercolor painting that one of my previous students, Mason, painted for me when I left my job at Cambridge. He had done some research of castles in Northern Ireland and found one that he found particularly fascinating and painted it. He told me that he hoped that I could see it while I was over here. Well wouldn't you know that down in the bottom left of the picture in his 3rd grader handwriting was scrawled "Dunluce Castle, Northern Ireland"
I couldn't believe it. I had it framed while we were living in Birmingham but had taken it out of the frame to travel with. However, it'll definitely be hanging up once again when we have a new home. It was such a sweet reminder of God' guidance and love towards us.
We attended her church this Sunday at Portrush Presbyterian Church to find out that the pastor is the father of one of Harrison's friends from his Westminster Philadelphia days! Again, what a wonderful reminder of God's grace!
We went into Belfast for the first time today! We were able to secure our BRP Cards and finish enrollment! Harrison and I are now completely legal in this country and he is OFFICIALLY a doctorale student at QUB! Praising God from whom all blessings flow! We have an appointment with the bank on Thursday to finish setting up an account so that we can be fully functioning in British Pounds!
Also, on Thursday, is Harrison's interview. For those of you who don't know, Harrison has an opportunity to be a youth pastor down in a village called Saintfield which is just 10 miles south of Belfast.
WE WANT THIS JOB
I repeat
WE WANT THIS JOB
We feel that it would be a perfect fit for Harrison in so many ways. First off, it would allow him to work in ministry during his time here and not at Starbucks. Secondly, the lead pastor has been in ministry for almost 40 years and has even been a missionary in Afghanistan. He would be such a well-spring of knowlege for Harrison. Thirdly, securing this job will give us a point of reference to look for housing. Fourthly, it would be such a wonderful in road to getting immediately involved in a church.
There are many other things going on and we will do our best to keep you all in the loop. For now I have summarized our prayer requests below!
- Quickly get over jet lag
- Studies can pick up quickly and Harrison can start to get some headway on his project
- For this job in Saintfield to come through
- For us to quickly find housing
- That our appointment at the bank goes smoothly
- For patience during a transitional time
Thank you all so much your support and prayers! There is no way we could be here with out y'all!
Soli Deo Gloria,
Sarah
FYI- Our phones are off so our cell numbers will not work. However, if you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac that has iMessage on it, you can text us at:
Sarah: sarah.wade08@csu.fullerton.edu
Harrison: harrison_perkins87@yahoo.com