Jackie:

This summer has been un-stressful and soothing so far. It's very strange because I know we're on the brink of doing something that will be like a shock to the system. The calm before the storm.

For me, I know I will be challenged by the exterior and interior of the next half year. Brenden asked me yesterday, "Don't you ever just get sick of the beach?" ....."No", I said. When I think about leaving the Outer Banks for some reason, I can't bring myself to do it. I already miss the water before I've even left it. The exterior of this trip, the mountains, will be a challenge. I hope I can resist the urge to drive 12 hours just to see the Pacific Ocean. Probably not a do-able weekend trip. The interior of this school will be hard in that our lives will be lived in a highly concentrated Christian environment full of prayer, worship, teaching and fellowship. It feels like since I graduated from college my life has been void of most of these things. The isolation, socially and spiritually, that comes with living on a small island will come into play as we enter this next phase.

On a different note, we have been blessed with some work. Brenden will finish his pseudo-beach-rental company job at the end of this week and then together we will begin doing some odd jobs for a family friend at her beach house.

The photo is of a recent thunderstorm that came in over the sound. I took my camera out and it took a good 5 minutes before it would begin to de-fog because of all the humidity. The storm was incredible. In a matter of seconds you felt it go from hot and humid to a rush of cool air come over you. The sea grass flattened out and the lightning put on a show as the rain swept across the water.