Fast Forward

At the last writing of this blog, we announced our exciting news that we are going to have a baby. Besides that, however, most of our future was uncertain. Three months later, I am writing to you from our house in Arizona, where Nick has begun his job as a pastor. I am no longer working, just anticipating being able to stay home and raise our baby boy, Josiah, when he arrives in September.

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Right?! So much change in so little time! It’s hard to believe it’s only been three months, because so much has happened. Let me see how much I can catch you up.

Our last blog post was written at the end of our spring break. From that time, our lives ran in overdrive until, oh, just about the last few days. April’s main focus was, of course, Call Day. Not a day went by that we did not think about it, talk about it, or answer questions about it.  Thankfully, April was also full of events. There was hardly a day on our calendar that was not claimed by something, whether it was a seminary event, a school event, or family visiting. Between the yo-yo weather and the blur of busyness, we were kept pretty well occupied until that fateful day, April 24^th. We enjoyed a snowy Easter at church and lunching with friends, a mild night at an Elvis impersonator concert with my parents to benefit my school, and a warm summer day being fed barbecue and spending time with our seminary friends at We Love the Sem, an annual event, just to name a few.

The highlight of this time was being able to spend time with my family, who were able to travel to St. Louis and spend time together around Call Day. My brother came from northern California, and it was his first time visiting St. Louis. My sister flew in from South Carolina the next day, and my parents arrived – original destination California, but driving from visiting my sister in South Carolina – later that afternoon. Although Nick and I were very occupied with the stress and our still full school and work schedules, it was such an enjoyable time to have them there, and they also got to spend time out and about while we were busy during the days. We got to go to the Arch together and spend some nice evenings together just enjoying each other’s time and company.

Call Day with my family

Of course, we cannot talk about that time without mentioning Call Day. Call Day certainly could use its own blog post to explore all the depths of the feelings and things that go on around that time, but like I said, I’m trying to catch you up on three months here. The interesting thing about Call Day is the way that the anticipation permeates the entire campus. You hear the whispered conversations of guesses and conjectures. You feel the anxiety in your body, whether you are actually mentally anxious or not. You see the family arriving on campus as the grounds crew spruces everything up and puts up signs about parking. Everybody, despite trying not to get their hopes up, has some guess as to where they think they are going, and they all hope they’re not the one to get sent somewhere completely unexpected. Nick and I were, thankfully, pretty relaxed. We had some suspicions where we may be sent based on the three interviews we had had, especially since we knew that one of the churches we interviewed was not calling from the seminary based on conversations with others who had interviewed there (don’t be surprised, it just happens). Knowing we would be happy with either of the two churches we interviewed with, we went into Call Day with our minds set on being happy no matter what happened. Still, it was a nerve-wracking day nonetheless, and we were happy to have it come, if only to kill the anticipation that had been building for months. Call Day dawned, thankfully, beautiful and sunny with no rain in sight (a rainy Call Day is the worst!). I went to work like usual, and Nick had his classes and work to keep him busy as well. That afternoon, we were busy in the blur of getting all dressed up and ready and trying to eat a little to settle nervous stomachs. I was thankful for my wonderful family, especially my sister, who took care of everything I needed just like when she was my maid of honor at my wedding! The Call service is notorious for being long and drawn out, especially for those receiving their calls, as it is a full church service with readings, hymns, a sermon, and multiple impromptu mini-sermons by those in charge. Thankfully, I found this year’s service to be very meaningful, and the sermon not too rambling. The nerves did hit upon the beginning of the assignment of calls, but when I heard the words “Nicholas Duerr, Associate Pastor, Hosanna Lutheran Church,” I was so excited. The rest of the service passed in a blur as I tried to catch where our friends were being sent, and thought about our future that finally had a path set to it. After the Call service, you have to weave through the crowds to try and find your husband, family, and friends, and offer quick congratulations and hugs before you are off to official business. Thankfully, Nick and I were so extremely excited about our call to Hosanna, and since we had interviewed, we already knew a good amount about the congregation, unlike the people who received sole calls and knew absolutely nothing about their churches. So it was a bit more relaxed for us, and yet still a full evening. To give you an idea – the Call service starts at 7:00 p.m. After a full church service including assignment of calls and the time it takes to get out of the building and find your people, it is close to 9:00 by the time you are able to head out. Then, it’s off to meetings with district presidents to meet and greet and get some information, then back to the chapel for photos with everybody who had received calls to that district, which can take time. So by the time that we were wrapping up photos, it was extremely late, and my feet were killing me (pregnant + high heels!). We made the walk back to our apartment and we were starving, so we ordered a pizza while we perused the information we received about the church. Thankfully, we had the good sense to take the next day off, so we were able to sleep in (as much as the adrenaline and anticipation let us) and spend the next day with family.

After that, the time flew by in attempts to continue our normal duties of school and work while trying to plan the future, which needed to be done in just a matter of weeks after Call Day. We had multiple to do lists going. We’ve been busy before, but I think this was truly the time we were trying to juggle the most things we needed to get done, and the most people we had to communicate things with in the process. Nick had classes and homework as well as his normal work hours. I had my normal school tasks like lesson planning and grading, in addition to working towards the end of the school year by planning Kindergarten graduation, doing report cards, and getting my things home from the classroom to pack to move. We had to have a move out date for the seminary within two weeks, which meant we needed to plan when we’d leave St. Louis and where we would go from there, since we didn’t yet know where we might be living in Arizona. This included booking a moving company as well as talking to everybody involved – our families, the district presidents (for ordination purposes), jobs, and churches – about our plans. We had to find housing, which involved getting loans preapproved, contacting a realtor, looking at houses, flying to Arizona for a weekend to house search (also its own amazing story!), and then all the crazy paperwork involved in buying a house, which we had never done before and had no idea what the process was. We had to plan Nick’s ordination service – where, when, who would be there and do what, and send out invitations. I needed to find a new doctor in Arizona and make sure that our travel plans worked between my prenatal checkups and that all my testing would be done on the correct schedule. All this in addition to packing our apartment, all in a matter of about a month.

But, as always, it gets done. Somehow. There were still details about the ordination that didn’t really get settled until we were in California, and I just finished thank you notes for gifts I received at the end of the school year today, but everything came together.

Our baby boy, Josiah

Nick's graduation from seminary

This isn’t to say that May was not a fun month. We had some other big things going on in the middle of all this. We found out the gender of our baby, and got to name him and announce that to the world. Nick got to go camping with his friends for a weekend. We spent lots of time with our friends, trying to enjoy every last minute together before we scattered. I got a surprise baby shower at work, starting our adorable collection of baby clothes and things. I started feeling our baby boy, Josiah, move. Nick’s parents came and visited for Nick’s graduation, another fun weekend of celebration (although much less stressful than Call Day!). I wrapped up my school year with Kindergarten graduation, a classroom move, and summer camp.

Nonetheless, it was a relief when work and classes were over, and we could focus on packing and getting ready for our move. After I wrapped up work, we had one more week before our move. That week kept us busy with packing, errands that needed to get done, the last minute planning and phone calls that needed to be made, and getting rid of things we didn’t want to pack. Thankfully, it also allowed us some time to sit and relax and spend time together, which hadn’t happened much in a month or so. The last few days before our move were busy, as usual, with figuring out what to do with those last minute things and how to get rid of things we needed to use up to the last day. But with good help, we were able to load up the POD, clean up the apartment, and check out on a Monday morning before hitting the road.

Our road trip to California was pretty uneventful (aside from a terrible trip to the DMV – another story for another time). We spent four long days in the car, with frequent stops so I could get out and stretch my legs every 2 hours, per doctors’ orders. We used this time to do some reading we’d been meaning to do and get some more to dos done – car registration, transferring utilities, ordination plans, and the like. Finally, we were in California, ready for some rest.

Celebrating at our baby shower

However, rest wasn’t to be had right away. We arrived in Bakersfield on a Thursday afternoon, and we were immediately working to get some of the things for our house finalized for our closing date the next week. We signed a massive pile of papers with a notary who would send them to the title company in Arizona, since we would still be in California on closing day. We also had other miscellaneous things coming up to smooth over our move that we were working on. It felt like we were constantly being pulled away to answer a phone call or get something settled. A lot of Nick’s family arrived that Friday as well, with grandparents and an aunt and brother and sister all coming into town for the weekend, so we got to spend time with them. Saturday was baby shower day! Nick’s mom and sister threw me and Josiah a baby shower with their friends and family that was incredibly sweet and fun, and Bakersfield’s weather could not have cooperated any better! It was a beautiful, fun day with family and friends. Then, still no rest because Sunday was ordination day! The ordination service was in the afternoon, so after church in the morning and a quick lunch, we were back to church for the service. It was such a meaningful, beautiful service, with pastors – many related to Nick somehow – from all over to participate in the service. Nick’s vicarage supervisor and his wife even came all the way from Missouri to preach and be involved in the service, and the senior pastor from Hosanna and his wife drove from Arizona to be there as well. Several of the pastors there had even preached at a church service that morning, then drove from Southern California, making it just in time for the service. Overall, it was a wonderful experience, with the pastors speaking incredible words over Nick to begin his journey as a pastor.

Nick's ordination service

At the top of our hike in King's Canyon

Finally, it was time for rest. Family returned to their homes, and Nick and I got some free, relaxing days at his parents’ house, and then at mine, doing some fun reading, watching movies, cuddling cats, and thinking about our house. To celebrate Nick’s birthday, the two of us made the short drive from my parents’ house to King’s Canyon to spend a day in the mountains and do a short hike. The weather was crisp and clear and the hike was beautiful, as always. That place just holds such special memories for the both of us that it was fun to spend the day dreaming of being able to take Josiah there to go camping, just like we camped there when we were kids. On Father’s Day, our last full day in California, we were fortunate to be able to spend time with both of our dads, which is fun because we don’t often get to spend holidays with our families. We went to church and lunch with my parents and grandpa, and then drove down to Bakersfield and got to go see a movie with Nick’s family.

First time IKEA shoppers

The next day, we were Arizona bound! We had closed on our house while in California, so we were excited to get to Mesa and get into our house, and to not be on the move for the first time in a few weeks. After a long day of driving, we arrived at our house, and it was exciting to be able to completely unload our car and explore the house again. Unfortunately, our POD was not scheduled to arrive until the next day, and not be unloaded until the day after that, but we managed for a few days without all our stuff. On Monday, we stocked our fridge with some basics to last a few days without our dishes or pots and pans, and then went out and explored the area a little bit. On Tuesday, we did much of the same – running errands to pick up the things we knew we needed, as well as going to the DMV to get our licenses and car registration taken care of. Since we still didn’t have anywhere to sit besides the floor or our air mattress, we were thankful to get an invitation to dinner at the house of some friends from college. Wednesday, people from church arrived and unloaded all our boxes and things into our house, which was a huge change! We were excited to sleep on our own mattress again and at least have a couch to sit on. Slowly but surely, after that, we unpacked – kitchen first, of course – and started to acquire the basic furniture we needed to do so. That included a few trips to IKEA and some time spent assembling furniture. Over the next week or so, we made progress day by day. Some rooms are now pretty much complete and functional, while some are still pretty unassembled, but we are comfortable, have places to sit, are able to cook our own meals, and it’s starting to feel a lot more like home. While the progress still must continue, we are happy to be settled in our home, knowing it is ours and that we don’t have a set date that we have to move again. Nick began work officially today, getting into his office at church and beginning to get organized and set up. We have had fun getting to see family and friends who live here in the area. Our calendar is slowly starting to fill up as we get invitations from people and find things in the community to do. We are so excited for what the future holds.

So there you have it, three months in about four pages. If you’re still reading, way to go. Now that I am not working full time, I will do my best to keep things updated more frequently…although once Josiah arrives, all bets are off! Thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers as we make our transition into this new community and Nick begins his ministry to the people of Hosanna.