Faith and Family

We left Kansas on Sunday morning, and I was more sad about it than I had expected to be. For months I’ve been so excited about moving back to SC and living in our own home, so I didn’t anticipate the sad feeling in my stomach as we said goodbye to KU, our beloved camp, and our dear friends from church. Our years in Kansas were wonderful. I’ll never forget the beautiful farmlands, the unpretentious dear people who call Kansas their home, the simple country life we enjoyed, the friends who became family at Amazing Grace Baptist Camp, Dan’s wonderful experiences with the students and faculty at KU, or the culture and incredible food along Massachusettes Street.

But here we are, back in SC, renewing friendships with our dear friends we hated saying goodbye to three years ago. Their kids are strangers to me now, but we’ll catch up. Things are going great. We love our new home and all the closet space we have (Wow!). We love having the summer free from camp responsibilities to do do “summery things”–gardening, swimming, sleeping in, playing in the water hose, visiting the ocean… We love having family one mile away. Overall, it’s wonderful to be back home. But still, there’s a part of me that will always call Kansas “home” too.

My husband successfully defended his dissertation yesterday and officially earned the title DR. Dan Forrest. I’m very proud of him for the work he’s done over the past 3 years, for the testimony he’s had for the Lord, and for how he’s given God the glory for every good gift we have received (and there have been many.)

By the way, his dissertation piece is just fabulous. I can’t wait for the world to hear it, and especially the Christian community, because it’s very moving and worshipful. The head of Dan’s dissertation committee asked Dan to sign his copy, because he’s confident it will be a piece that will live on and become famous. We’ll see.