At first we felt dazed (mostly from the long hours on the bumpy seat of a moving truck) and overwhelmed at the thought that we were in Phoenix…to stay! We are no longer visitors, but residents. (However, we are still living out of suitcases in someone else’s home, so we still feel like visitors in a way.) Our dream for the past 3 years has become a reality!

We are excited to be a part of the Crossroad Baptist Church family. We joined the church our first Sunday here (9/13). Stephen has already begun recording sermons and uploading them to the church website. He plans to extensively update and expand the site in the near future. This past Saturday we had a youth group from another church in town come help us canvass Verrado for the upcoming BJU Drama Team. Afterwards we had a cookout in Founder’s Park. The park looks like something straight from Hawaii. It screams, “Have your wedding here!” It’s gorgeous. Then we headed to the ASU stadium to watch the Sun Devils. Stephen is looking forward to the Colts coming to Phoenix next week. Too bad the game is on a Sunday night.

We praise the Lord for guiding us to find a fully furnished condo with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that we can rent on a month-by-month basis. The price is incredible, and we plan to move in tomorrow or the next day. The condo is move-in ready, down to silverware, pots and pans, towels, etc. This is a huge blessing as it saves us from renting a truck to move our furniture in and then renting again to move it all out once we buy a house. An added blessing is that we can now house guests in our extra bedroom! Let us know if you’re ever in the area. We would love to have you. Our new address is 8101 N 107th Avenue #40, Peoria, AZ 85345. Notice the grass!

Our car is fixed and running well. The radiator fan had to be replaced, and we are thankful to have it back. We tried to wash the car, but quickly found out how futile a task that was. The heat is oppressive, and the water has so many minerals that the car had to be wiped down after it dried to remove the plethora of water spots. I used Windex on all the windows and mirrors, but it’s still hard to see while driving into the sun due to all the water marks. I’m thinking a $5 spotless car wash is the way to go.

This arid climate is definitely something we’re needing to adjust to. We try to remember to take water with us everywhere, whether it’s Walmart, church, running errands, or visiting a friend. Dehydration quickly becomes a problem without a constant intake of water. The temperatures have been around 107 degrees. We hear that it will start to cool down in a week or so. It’s just hard to believe today was the first day of fall since we are merely beginning our “Year of Constant Summer.”

Both of us are still looking for jobs, but Stephen did receive a call today requesting an interview tomorrow at 2pm for a network support technician position. Please pray that the interview would go well, but most of all that we would be able to discern the Lord’s will in this current job search.

As a side note, for those of you who may not know, Arizona is on Mountain Time (2 hours earlier than EST), but we do not observe Daylight Savings Time. So from March to November, we are practically in the Pacific Time Zone (3 hours earlier than EST). We just like to make it as complicated as possible. 🙂 Actually, I hear that we wouldn’t want Daylight Savings Time as it would mean that the sun would be up longer in the evenings which would make it hotter longer as well.

God is growing us and is patient with us as we learn dependence on Him. A church plant is a refreshing place to serve as it requires constant spiritual accountability. It’s rather hard to hide by sitting in a pew when there are no pews! We praise the Lord that we can have a small part in helping build His church here in Buckeye, Arizona.