Well, it's Sunday afternoon, and the family is all at home resting. This morning's services at church were good. Sunday school was the last installment of a Bible study in Acts, and I brought a message in the morning worship service on the importance of good communication within and without the church. This evening one of our trustees will be preaching, and his messages are usually interesting.
After church tonight, we're going to head home, and get the rest of our packing done so that we won't have to worry too much about it tomorrow. Tomorrow already has a lot in store what with closing off accounts and finalizing bills and all. In addition to that, the bus drivers at the school are going to be moving most of the rest of our furniture out tomorrow as our apartment has to be vacated by Wednesday. By tomorrow night, I'd imagine that all we'll have left in our apartment is our king-sized bed (which is currently in our living room so that we can sleep under the ceiling fan in there...it's been REAL hot lately), the fridge, the oven, and the washer. Still a lot to be done, and very little time in which to do it.
A huge praise for us is that we found someone to take our cocker spaniel, and the family that has agreed to take him are real dog lovers. So, we know that he's going into a good situation, and will be well cared for in the future. This is a tremendous weight off our shoulders. We were ready to take him to the shelter on Camp Red Cloud, but really didn't want to, as his future would have been rather bleak had we been forced to do that.
Pastor Rushing and company have already begun moving the furniture that was given to us by various members of the church into our home. We're both very excited to be moving into a house. It'll be the first we've lived in since being married 12 years ago. The closest we came to living in a house is a duplex in Pensacola, Florida.
Well, not much else to report at present. Just keep us in your prayers as we still have much to do...but we're sooo close!
In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
T-minus 8 days and counting...
Well, we have entered our last week in Korea. It's hard to think that this is true...but we're excited to be moving on. Our 7.5 years in Korea have been such a wonderful adventure full of learning experiences. God has taught us so much, and we're excited for what's on the horizon.
We've been able to use Google Earth to look around our new neighborhood a bit more in detail and we're looking forward to all the little things that there are to do around our new home. There's a waterfront park with walking paths, picnic areas, etc. just a few blocks away. The old-fashioned down-town area is even closer than that. There's an Amtrak station nearby, too, with trains that run north and south along the coast, and a couple others that run east. I'm sure we'll be venturing further than our neighborhood, but it'll be neat to have some things to do around the area.
David stole my thunder on Father's Day, this year, as his birthday fell on the same day. We had a good time at church in the morning where I had the privilege of preaching in Pastor Vasel's absence. I brought a message from Colossians 3 targeted at the Dads in the congregation as kind of a charge to do the right thing in their households. After church, we took David to Toys 'R' Us for a couple presents and lunch out. Then after the evening service we were invited over to my director's house, The Freel's, for an enchilada (!!!) dinner, which was totally a cool thing, and a great time of fellowship, during which we cut-up a cake, and sang "Happy Birthday" to David. It was a great day altogether.
Summer school is coming to a rapid close...too rapid for some of the students. Two students have already finished all their required assignments, but three are still working away. PRAY that they will get as much work done as is possible and pass.
Tomorrow, I'll be sending an application to Tabernacle Christian School in Concord, CA. They're looking for a 6th Grade teacher. PRAY that God will guide and direct this process. I have also been contacted by another, much smaller school that is looking for a teacher, too. This school uses the ACE curriculum, and it would be a one-room schoolhouse situation in which I would be teaching my kids and seven others. Please PRAY that God will continue to guide and direct our path.
We are not going to be able to take our cocker spaniel, Rollie, back to the States. From what I read online on the airline's website with which we are travelling, I thought we were going to be able to take him. I called to double-check, though, and because we are flying through Beijing, they won't allow us to take the dog. We've looked into transporting him on a different flight, but that solution had about a $900 price tag on it...not possible at all. So, please PRAY that someone will take him off our hands. He's a tremendously well-behaved and mature dog. One couple has shown a slight bit of interest, but we've not heard if they've made a final decision, yet.
Finally, continue to pray for us as we begin final preparations for leaving Korea. We're going to call a used furniture salesman tomorrow to have him come look at some of our furniture in order to possibly purchase some of the items. We've sold or given away much of our stuff to teachers that are remaining, but there are some other things that we purchased brand new out of which we'd like to recoup some money. We could use a little extra cash here in the next couple of weeks. PRAY that he would be willing to buy a lot and give us a fair deal in the process.
I'll do my best to post at least once more before we depart. I'm hopeful that it won't take too terribly long to get our internet set-up once we arrive, but I know that could take some time. I'll post again as soon as I can.
In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Kathrine Healey.
Mark 10:45
We've been able to use Google Earth to look around our new neighborhood a bit more in detail and we're looking forward to all the little things that there are to do around our new home. There's a waterfront park with walking paths, picnic areas, etc. just a few blocks away. The old-fashioned down-town area is even closer than that. There's an Amtrak station nearby, too, with trains that run north and south along the coast, and a couple others that run east. I'm sure we'll be venturing further than our neighborhood, but it'll be neat to have some things to do around the area.
David stole my thunder on Father's Day, this year, as his birthday fell on the same day. We had a good time at church in the morning where I had the privilege of preaching in Pastor Vasel's absence. I brought a message from Colossians 3 targeted at the Dads in the congregation as kind of a charge to do the right thing in their households. After church, we took David to Toys 'R' Us for a couple presents and lunch out. Then after the evening service we were invited over to my director's house, The Freel's, for an enchilada (!!!) dinner, which was totally a cool thing, and a great time of fellowship, during which we cut-up a cake, and sang "Happy Birthday" to David. It was a great day altogether.
Summer school is coming to a rapid close...too rapid for some of the students. Two students have already finished all their required assignments, but three are still working away. PRAY that they will get as much work done as is possible and pass.
Tomorrow, I'll be sending an application to Tabernacle Christian School in Concord, CA. They're looking for a 6th Grade teacher. PRAY that God will guide and direct this process. I have also been contacted by another, much smaller school that is looking for a teacher, too. This school uses the ACE curriculum, and it would be a one-room schoolhouse situation in which I would be teaching my kids and seven others. Please PRAY that God will continue to guide and direct our path.
We are not going to be able to take our cocker spaniel, Rollie, back to the States. From what I read online on the airline's website with which we are travelling, I thought we were going to be able to take him. I called to double-check, though, and because we are flying through Beijing, they won't allow us to take the dog. We've looked into transporting him on a different flight, but that solution had about a $900 price tag on it...not possible at all. So, please PRAY that someone will take him off our hands. He's a tremendously well-behaved and mature dog. One couple has shown a slight bit of interest, but we've not heard if they've made a final decision, yet.
Finally, continue to pray for us as we begin final preparations for leaving Korea. We're going to call a used furniture salesman tomorrow to have him come look at some of our furniture in order to possibly purchase some of the items. We've sold or given away much of our stuff to teachers that are remaining, but there are some other things that we purchased brand new out of which we'd like to recoup some money. We could use a little extra cash here in the next couple of weeks. PRAY that he would be willing to buy a lot and give us a fair deal in the process.
I'll do my best to post at least once more before we depart. I'm hopeful that it won't take too terribly long to get our internet set-up once we arrive, but I know that could take some time. I'll post again as soon as I can.
In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Kathrine Healey.
Mark 10:45
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Housing Secured!
Well, as the title of the post denotes, Pastor Rushing and company have secured a house to rent for our family. This is a huge answer to prayer! It's in an older part of town, he says, but that's not a big deal for us at all. We're just happy that we have a place in which to move as soon as we arrive. The picture is of the house itself. The trees kind of obscure a lot from street level. In all, we're pleased.
In other news, Clara, Pastor Vasel's daughter, has made a full recovery! All the tests they ran showed that she is perfectly fine. The doctors said that she had suffered a severe febrile seizure, caused by an abrupt rise in body temperature. She and her parents were able to return home yesterday afternoon. Thank you on Pastor Vasel's behalf for all your prayers concerning Clara!
Summer school is in full swing, now. The first day went rather slow, with most of the attendees seemingly still in shock that they had to be there. Today, however, they buckled down and got to work, with all them taking at least one of their tests, and a couple taking two. Some of these students have a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks. Please PRAY that they will do their best and better.
Not a whole lot else going on right now. We feel like we're kind of in a holding pattern right now. There are only a few things left that need to be done, and all of them are small in comparison to what has already been accomplished. But please do continue to keep us in your prayers as those final doo-dads come together.
In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Transition Update...
Well, here we are with only 3 days of school left, and quite frankly, time can't go fast enough. Tomorrow is the last day of final exams for the students. Thursday is reserved for a service project day where students and their teachers go out and do something to help the community in some way. A couple classes are helping clean churches, others have gone tracting at the subway stop near our school in the past. So, that gives you a general idea of what Thursday holds in store. Friday, then, if our final chapel. During this chapel, teachers hand-out academic awards of achievement throughout the year, and student awards for teachers are given, too.
Next Tuesday marks the beginning of summer school which I am manning this summer. It will last until Friday, June 26, taking me practically all the way up until we leave. Being able to do this, though, is a huge blessing in that it helped us pay for our plane tickets back to the States. It is not very laborious, just time consuming, and time is something of which I will have a lot. Next week during the afternoons (after summer school), I will be helping my floor waxing partner for the last time as he gets started with the daunting task of waxing all the floors in the school over the summer. Praise the Lord, though, that we will have some former students helping us move classroom furniture (the hardest part of the job, really)! That will make the work-load much less than what it was.
I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with our car insurance company this morning getting everything ironed out for our coverage to start on July 1st. We also decided to get renter's insurance through USAA, too, as doing so gave us a small discount on our car insurance. Both of them combined only came to about $83/month. So, it continues to be a huge praise that my Dad kept that going for us while we were here in Korea.
I heard back from both Pastor Rushing and Lavoy Byars, our head deacon, about the housing situation this morning. They are both working very hard to find a nice place for us. Pastor Rushing sent a link to a rather nice place, is in the right price range, but doesn't allow pets. I told them that we trust them to make the right decision, and that not being able to have a pet wasn't necessarily a deal-breaker. In all, it seems like they have a good grasp on the market, and we trust that God will help them make the right decision for us. Please PRAY that God will continue to guide them through this process, and that they will find His perfect place for us before we arrive.
We are going tomorrow to sign-over our car to our good friends The Lowell's. He was my assistant coach during the soccer season. Please PRAY that all goes smoothly during that process. With the language barrier, it's easy to get confused when talking about these kinds of things. So please PRAY that everything will be good to go, and the time we have to spend at the office won't be long.
Well, that's about it for now, I think. A bit shorter than usual, but I guess you need a break every now and then...:)
In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David,and Katherine Healey
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