The Big Freeze

Today it is a beautiful, sunny day and yet the children and I are sheltering inside.... The temperature is 4F, -7F with windchill and it is just too cold to venture outside! The extremes of weather here are incredible - I remember writing a blog over the summer when we couldn't go out because of the heat! E is convinced that he will lose body parts due to frost bite if he ventures out which is maybe a little over-dramatic but it is flipping freezing!! I have to say that the weather isn't quite as I'd expected. The snow is beautiful but once the snow ploughs have done their business we are left with cleared roads and walls of snow on the edge of the pavement. It hasn't actually snowed for a few nights but the temperature never rises enough to melt it so it just builds up the more it snows. We are fortunate to have a garage so we don't have to dig out the car in the mornings but the snow in the alleyway behind the house is getting so deep it's not going to do the car's suspension much good.... this is just one of the many reasons why you need a 4x4 here....!

The children have layers upon layers of outerwear - padded trousers, jackets, gloves, hats, neck warmers - yet yesterday i was getting complaints about their eyes being cold!! I do sympathise, though ... I am waiting for a time unencumbered by small children when I can go and buy some fleece lined trousers as my legs are getting chapped!! We braved the conditions to buy Christmas food supplies yesterday (you should see the size of the turkey in our fridge) and just in the time it took to cross the supermarket car park and get in the car my finger tips were throbbing even through the thick gloves I was wearing. We are forecast heavy snow showers on Tuesday night so I will need to go out for supplies later on this evening once D is home from work. Annoyingly it is not currently forecast to snow on Christmas Day, thought there will be snow on the ground - but does that actually count as a White Christmas?

How do we give to God?

In amidst the festive preparations, we have been having some theological discussions this afternoon... whilst on the way to pick Daddy up from work this afternoon, the children asked me how we actually give our money to God. I started off on a long explanation about how the church is God's work on earth, so we give our money to the local church, etc etc then 'E' piped up, "Don't we just give it to really old people who are about to die so that when they go to heaven they can give the money to God for us"?!!!

Earlier on we had an incident with the downstairs toilet door which 'M' managed to lock from the outside - "It's OK", she said, "Jesus can open it even if we can't" to which I replied, "Yes, but Jesus isn't here to open it just now.." Of course she then countered, "but you said Jesus is always with us!"

'Is', meanwhile, was more concerned about whether I would end up in a fight with another mum from school if she didn't believe Jesus was the only way to God.

You'll be glad to hear that they all believe unquestionably in the existence of "Farmer Christmas" (as he has become known in our family)....

Guest Blogging

I have been granted the honour of guest blogging on Emma’s blog (Is there an internet moniker for this? If ‘web logging’ becomes ‘blogging’ what does ‘guest blogging become? Glogging? Globbing..? Suggestions in the comment box below...) and, whilst I’ll struggle to match her levels of erudition and wit, I hope to pop up now and again on here with my view on life in Chicago.

The week has been one of (typically) one of us chasing around trying to get the next piece of admin sorted with the other occupying the kids. Fighting the bureaucratic machine has given us a mixed level of success, particularly with the lack of the critical social security number. Responses have ranged from the helpful (the cable tv doesn’t care who you are it seems!) to the pernickety (Gas co continually insists on more ID, and are still not happy) to the downright obstructive (the Department of Motor Vehicles isn’t even going to talk to us about a driving licence until we have a SSN. See Emma's comments below on the problems with this...!)

Next up, and I suspect this is going to pop up in conversation quite a lot over the next few months, but I do have to mention the weather. Obviously this seems a terribly British thing to do, but it does also seem to be the current opening topic with the local Chicagoans. (“How are you finding the cold weather?”) We wandered out at lunchtime Friday in a nippy 19F (-7 C for European readers) but because it was a perfectly clear blue sky and snow on the ground it was actually very beautiful – as long as you were well wrapped up. I’d take that option over it being 10 degrees warmer in the UK but raining and grey. Until, that is, you walk past a junction and an icy cross wind, funnelled down a concrete canyon, blasts you to the core through all your layers of clothing. At which point we went scurrying off to buy yet more winter clothes…

Actually I will be less bullish on the weather after this morning. It was seriously colder this morning (I heard -20 C with the wind chill). Just breathing in gave you the sort of headache you get from eating ice cream too fast...

We continue to settle into the house, which is a great place to live but I would illustrate as follows. (I will illustrate with photos at some point, but have yet to track the right leads down in all the boxes!) The biggest “pro” being the the proximity of downtown from our place. (Front door to work desk in 22 minutes. Fellow commuters on the DLR: read and weep.) The biggest “con” (and one reason for the short commute) being the very close proximity to the El! We should have warned all the people we invited to stay that they will face a constant rumbling of trains 50 yards away. Emma’s solution to it was to say that she prays God would bless those who travel on it each time it goes past. I have yet to reach the same level of maturity or insight as my wife.

Our stuff has also started to arrive which really helps this house feel like so much more of a home than where we stayed in the summer. The air freight (mainly cooking stuff) arrived on Friday, and the sea container with all our furniture turned up today. It's all still in boxes, but no more sleeping on the floor from Tuesday night! Hurrah!

Lastly for now, moving house like this is always tiring and at the end of the year we are all feeling run down. However once you combine that with the plan to be part of a church plant then health is an obvious area of attack. I am on my third cold in 2 months, and on Friday Emma started throwing up and carried on until last night although we suspect this was self inflicted – as none of the rest of us are suffering, we are blaming a dodgy burrito! Anyhow, we continue to value your thoughts, prayers, and messages. We should be up and running with internet access at home by the end of this week or so, so hopefully can start to respond to them!

David

What a difference a day makes…

Well, we got the phone set up which was fabulous as we received a call to say our air freight is being delivered tomorrow (Fri) and the shipping container on Monday. This is wonderful as it means we will have furniture (5 weeks sleeping on mattresses on the floor is beginning to take its toll) and, most importantly (if you are under 7 years old) the Christmas decorations so we can go out and buy a tree. I was contemplating buying one this morning as I passed a seller next to the El stop and then dragging it home through the snow – not an American Christmas cliché at all!!

It was my turn to head downtown today to the Social Security and Driver’s Licence Offices and as I caught the El (‘elevated train’) for the few short stops to central Chicago, I actually felt really excited. Absolutely freezing, but excited all the same. As expected I ran up against problems with the paperwork – I couldn’t apply for the social security number as I didn’t have my original marriage certificate (arriving tomorrow) and you can’t apply for a driver’s licence without a social security number which is a real pain as that will take 5-6 weeks. As you can’t insure a car unless you have a US licence that means we can’t buy one either and so will have to pay through the nose for a hire car until the SSNs come through. Hey ho! At least we now have gas, electric & phone accounts set up so we have proofs of address.

We are starting to buy all the bits & pieces we need for the house (none of our electrical items will work here due to different voltage). I seem to be spending the bulk of the relocation allowance on ‘furnishing’ our bathrooms. We have 3 full ones and one cloak room so that means 4 toilet brushes, 4 bottles of hand soap, 4 hand towels, 3 bath mats, etc, etc. It made me laugh when we discovered there are 2 hoovers here – one upstairs, one in the basement. It’s obviously too much to lug one up and down the stairs (and the landlady must presumably have more at her new house if she can afford to leave 2 behind!)

We are making progress on the jet lag front – D & I managed to stay awake until 9:30pm last night and the kids woke up at 6 this morning. D goes into the office on Mon am and I have just spoken to the school about arranging for I & E to go in for a half day next week so we would appreciate your prayers for positive first impressions for them...

Touchdown

Ok – my first post from the US this time round… First of all, thank you so much to everyone who has helped us get here, either by cleaning, lending us household items, looking after the children, or just praying for us. Your help and support is so appreciated.

Despite the best attempts of a Monday morning M25 to thwart our plans, we made it to Heathrow just an hour before take-off! We were all upgraded (to the ‘comfy seats’ as my children refer to them) and, although it was a bit close to the wire, we rushed through security etc and straight on to the plane. The flight attendants then proceeded to rearrange business class for us and moved various people to accommodate us. There were lots of nervous glances towards the children – I guess the passengers thought they were safe when there were no kids in the lounge!! I have to say that all 3 were so well-behaved (which is a miracle in itself so some of you must have been praying!) that it was a really good flight.

So, we are now ensconced in our Chicago pad (still a bit echoey due to lack of furniture). I have to say David made an excellent choice – it’s a fabulous house in a great location. I would be happy just to live in our enormous ensuite bathroom for the whole 2 years, but I guess that’s not really the point! We arrived to snow on the ground which turned briefly to rain yesterday but then we had another sprinkling overnight so the children are happy (except that it’s so powdery, the initial attempts at a snowman ended in tears!)

I have to say that it has been so different arriving this time – whereas before everything seemed alien, now it’s all familiar, even comforting – and we are starting to find our feet despite all the limitations of being an alien. Trying to get utilities set up, phone, etc is proving a challenge but it’s early days yet. The first hurdle is to get the children to wake up at a more human hour – it was 2am the first morning, 4am today. Not sure when this will get posted but I thought I’d write while it’s still fresh in my mind.

"Have I not commanded you?"

I'm sure I'm not the only mother to get her children's songs stuck in her head. CBeebies' theme tunes are some of the most annoying tunes on the planet. My children love to listen to the CD from the Bible Camp they attended over the summer in Chicago and this week I have been thankful for the truth that has constantly been in my head - God's promise to Joshua as he stands on the edge of the Promised Land: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)

It's getting challenging now as we have started saying goodbyes and various problems are emerging on the front. I went to visit my grandparents, both 88 on Sat and the obvious question that comes to mind is whether or not they will still be alive in 2 years' time, then it was on to Brighton where we heard David's Dad preach at CCK on Sun morning. Not his last preach, but as he retires next year, the last time we will see him in that context and the end of an era for us.

Back in Sidcup, we still do not have any tenants lined up so we are furiously painting in order to make a better impression for both on-line and in-person viewers. As we lifted the bathroom carpet to prepare for new flooring, we discovered a leak which means re tiling and, around the same time, the central heating decided to go on the blink. The good news is that the plumber can come and fix it late next week, the bad news that we get saddled with an enormous bill and don't get to experience the benefits of the improvements as we leave first thing the following Monday! Oh, and did I mention that the container has been delayed due to loading congestion at the port?

Phew! It feels like the rubber is really beginning to hit the road. I think we always realised that such a move would be challenging - and especially where there is a church plant involved there can be real spiritual opposition. I know that God is with us and for us in this move. I certainly have no reason to doubt His faithfulness - we have seen Him sovereignly intervene on the school and house front on the US-side - so I will not be running to hide under my duvet, however much I may want to!! Stepping out on a God-adventure is always going to be stretching but I do believe that the cost is worth it. And it makes me even more passionate to seek God for what He will do in Chicago.

Watch this space.....................

Back by popular demand.......

OK, as promised the blog is back!!!! Somehow it didn't seem right to be writing a blog entitled 'Letter from America' when I was clearly not there but as we are about to return to the US for at least 2 years, I guess it's time to start it up again.............

For those of you who are out of the loop, D has been given a 2 year contract back in Chicago and we are very excited to be going out in advance of the Newfrontiers church to be planted in the spring. It has been amazing really how God has changed my heart towards this move - many readers of this blog may be surprised at my enthusiasm given the many frustrations I have voiced here about our 3 months in the US earlier this year. To be fair, I think we just were not sure what God's plan was for us and we didn't want to commit to such a big move just for the sake of job security (if that exists in the financial sector at the moment). Coming home actually really helped us to view things more objectively (thanks, Dave Holden for your wise counsel!) and we were surprised at just how much we missed the rawness of Fusion. Returning to a large, well-established church it would be so easy just to settle into our seats and relax but we missed the glimpse of church-planting we had seen. And it was the icing on the cake when we heard about the Sweetmans' plans to come and plant in 2009.

The next piece of the jigsaw puzzle was the school. I had been worried about how it would affect our 4 year-old middle child spending the next 2 years in the American school system as the early years' education is so different, but God had that one sorted, too and we were quite miraculously offered 2 places at the British School of Chicago just the same week we had to make a final decision work-wise. The whole ex-pat thing is not really my scene but I had been very impressed by the school when I visited it and the split is actually 85% American v 15% foreign nationals so it's actually a great mix and,hopefully a ready-made community for us to get involved in. Added to this, the provision of a wonderful house (not that I've seen it yet - but I've seen the photos and trust my husband's judgement!) just 15 mins walk from the school and walking distance from the lake. I'm really excited about being downtown and closer to the action of the city - suburban life was just a little bit boring for me when such a great city was not far away!

So, we are now camping in our house and waiting for the off. The furniture went 2 weeks' ago and we leave on Mon 8th Dec. Thus begins a 3-week cycle of goodbyes which will be a bit of an emotional roller-coaster I expect. But though it will be hard, I do want to say goodbye so that we leave without unfinished business here at home. Whilst this is a 2 year contract I want to focus this time more on being in Chicago and seeking God's plan for me there rather than counting the days, weeks, months until we come home.

Please pray for us to find tenants for house and for the children to settle into their new school and make friends. This is a big adventure for all of us and I will try and post regular info to keep you all up to speed with our news - or alternatively you could just come and visit!