First Saturday night/Sunday morning

On Saturday night a bunch of us wound up at Casa de Jose's Mexican Restaurant in downtown Wilmore. We all walked the two or three blocks. There was a convoy of strollers, bikes, and scooters. Jose's isn't Tex-Mex, so some folks didn't care for it. I liked it.
You can see only a small portion of the number of us who were there.

I met John David that night. Never did baseball have a bigger fan. He is great fun to watch. This kid WILL be a baseball player.

On Sunday morning, we went to Southland Christian Church with Adrian and Jennifer Fehl. They taught the Sunday school class. It was nice to hear them talk about their work in Ethiopia.
After church my brother, Eric, and his wife, Missy, met us for lunch. They were on their way through Lexington after vacationing in South Carolina. Their young'ns (Ethan, Marcus, Lilly, and Catherine) visited with us too. I'm sorry I forgot to get a picture of them for the blog.

After Eric and Missy left, Kevin and Carrie were able to stop by on their way from Louisville to Johnson City. Their visit was very short, but it was great to see them. The reason it had to be short was that at 4pm we had our first official Beeson Pastors' gathering. It was an informal supper with the families and a chance to meet the whole crew at once. We also met the Connells. Jack is an associate administrator for the program and just moved here from upstate New York a couple of days ago. The good news is: He has a daughter close to Meghan's age! So, maybe there will be some peer friendship for Meg after all!

Tennessee and Back

On Friday morning we bid farewell to the Hannah, Megan, and Jackson (cute neighbor kids) and drove down to Johnson City so that Meg could go on the youth mission trip.
We stopped at the Cumberland Gap for a picture for the blog!


Then we went by Ted and Jane-Anne's house to pick up my car. Anna and I then went by the Grandview office to pick up a few things, then we went by the new house. Then we got gas at Food City. Then we got Starbuck's. Then we turned toward Wilmore. Anna and I got to ride together and we had a great time. Anna and I arrived home around 10:30pm. Be advised, if you're coming from Johnson City the trip takes about four and a half to five hours. Once you get to the Lexington exit, you still have about 35 to 40 minutes before you're in Wilmore.

Today (Saturday) I got a surprise visit from Adrian and Jen Fehl. They are on furlough from Ethiopia and staying in Lexington. We'll go to church with them at Southland CC tomorrow. Adrian is looking well, despite having almost died from malaria a couple of months ago. Jen looked well . . . and relieved!
After Adrian and Jen left, Cindy and the girls and I walked into Wilmore, ate at the new Mexican restaurant, then toured campus.
Anna and Cora like Wesley's statue.









By the way, this is the Beeson Building. My classes will be on the second floor and my carrel (from which I now write this blog) is on the bottom floor just to the left of that window you see you on the bottom left.

The Whole Family Arrives

The first picture is of the back yard and the back of the moving van. The place looked so nice and inviting as we walked through and checked everything out. They have provided all new appliances and furniture this year. We've never had such nice furniture!
We posed for some quick smile shots . . . then we began unloading. The unloading made a mess of the place and (more than once) wiped the smiles off our faces. Still, no matter how sweaty and harried the unloading process, it beats packing and loading the stuff. The last picture was the one I took this morning as I left the house to get busy on some more reading. As you can see, we were able to bring order out of chaos.

After posting this entry of my blog, the family and I will run back to Johnson City to pick up my car and to drop Meg off at Katy S's house. She'll spend the night there before going with the Grandview youth to New Orleans for the mission trip.

Becoming the Wilmore Wymers (or Aaron at Asbury)

Check out my sweeeeeet ride. U Haul is the new Hummer . . . I promise. All the movie stars will be driving them soon. Meg played an important role on this journey. That's because the little "air vent" window (and you have to be over 30 to have any idea what I'm talking about here) whistled like a cartoon wolf every time we got up to speed. Something had to be done, or I was going to go insane. Meg took my hat and then kept it stuffed against the whistle spot (using her foot), thereby restoring my sanity.


Meg took a picture of the warning against driving the truck beneath overhangs. This was to remind herself that next time I ask her to tell me how far I can back up, she should look UP as well as down. (Don't worry, disaster and damage were avoided).

If this is a life-sized statue of John Wesley, then I may become a Methodist before this year is up! Meg and I walked around campus on the way to get our key for our new home. As you can see, we occupy the left door. The door on the right belongs to the Layer family. They are really fun. Scott (the dad) is easy to be around, as is Kate. They have 4 children--with one more due in August! Scott is going to have to study AND be the father of an infant.

We're Here . . . and Boxing

No pictures. I'll have to upload some from my phone . . . maybe tomorrow. I have to find the patch cord to transfer them.

The trip up was great. Meg and I drove up in the U-Haul, picked up the keys, walked into the house, and Cindy and the girls followed close behind. We unloaded the truck as quickly as we could, then we helped our new neighbors (the Layers) get unloaded.

After that we just emptied box after box after box. We're tired and excited both. Cora is in kid heaven, and there is one young'n Anna's age as well. Meg will be the old lady of the kids around here, but she has tons of places to walk and to enjoy. She seems pleased.

Cindy is working on the kitchen area as I type and seems to be pleased with our new digs.

Tomorrow (Friday) we head back to Johnson City so Meg can go on the youth trip, and to pick up my car. Now I've GOT to start reading some books.


I'll post pictures ASAP.

Last Sunday, Part 1

Our farewell Sunday at Grandview was great fun. The services went well (except that I didn't warn my youngest two that we'd be going forward at the end of the services for prayer . . . this led to crying in public . . . oh no!).

We were all reminded what a great family we have at Grandview. Not pictured (because it didn't come out well) is a picture of Maylinda. Maylinda gives great hugs on Sunday morning and I will miss her tremendously uplifting presence. You do see pictures, though, of a tiny fraction of friends who were a part of saying good-bye. There were too many pictures for this blog alone, so there are two parts to this one.

I'm only writing briefly because of time constraints. Maybe once we're settled in Wilmore I can write more!

The Last Sunday, Part 2

I think I'm overloading this entry with pictures, so I'll only give a brief explanation. These were all taken at the "We'll Leave the Light On For Ya'll" Celebration on Sunday night. Good music. Funny speakers. And Good Friends. Thanks to everybody (especially Yvonne Marr) for putting this together. The Swains remain amazingly talented. The speakers, Craig, Becky, Dirk, Nicole/Hylda, Katy, Donna, and Cassidy all made us laugh (as you can see from one picture especially).

Any way . . . the truck is loaded and we're about ready to drive north. More on that as it happens (actually, with blogging, I lag at least a day behind--usually two).

Thanks again to everybody for making my family feel special. We'll miss you!

From Wilderness to Wildness

On Friday I zipped down to the Appalachian Christian Camp in Unicoi to pick up M and A. Here they are, looking weary after a nice week at camp. M was a part of the Wilderness Camp, which she enjoyed very much--thanks to counsellors like Mo, Ada, and Sam!

Her sister, A, had a fun time as well, and I'm happy to see a developing friendship between A and Abby, who has been visiting Grandview lately with her family.

The girls came home to a house that was being sifted by our process of moving. We spent our last night in the house on Friday night. Before bed we sat around recalled various events from the past 8 years. It's easy for me to forget that our house on Hilton Lane will always be "the" house from their childhood (the only house C remembers . . . she was 3 months old when we moved here).

Last night (Saturday night), we stayed at Ted and Jane-Anne's house. It was nice to be back in a "settled" house. Ted and Jane-Anne are away and letting us stay there until we drive away (Wednesday morning).

As I type, it's Sunday morning and I'm getting ready to put up the computer and head to the church building. This is my last Sunday for awhile. Writing the sermon was hard this week because of the busy-ness, the text, and the occasion. I'm also feeling some of the same sadness the girls are. There have been moments this past week when I've had to stop and ask myself, "What in the world are you doing?"

I'll chalk it up to nervousness. God's hand has been more visible in this process of going to Asbury (being selected for the Beeson Fellowship, selling the house, buying the new one, the quality of staff at Grandview, etc . . .) then I could have hoped.

Still Going Well!

Thanks to any of you who have been praying about our transition to Wilmore. Things continue to go really well. Our closing was moved from Friday (today) to yesterday because the lawyer's wife had to have some surgery. The house closed without a hitch. The first picture is of Joel and Stacy, the new owners of the place where I'll be sleeping tonight (for the last time) with my family. Thanks to Joel and Stacy for letting us hang-out at the house for a few more days! Most of you know that Lorna Crouch is the third person in the shot, smiling after successfully executing another home sale.

Thursday was a nice day, all around. It started with a surprise fare well from my friends at Panera Bread in north Johnson City. The "Via" crew at Panera sectioned off my normal corner and decorated it. The yellow mustard packets spelled out "BYE" and they gave me a free coffee and pastry . . . AND a Panera Coffee tumbler. While I was placing my order, they decorations to my car. The "Via Panara" crew are the ones who put together special orders of pastries, lunches, and such. If you have any catering needs that call for Panera food, call Kaci at 794-8210. She and her crew are hard workers. Thanks to all of you for making my last day at Panera so nice!

It wasn't just the Panera employees who were being nice; my coffee clutch buddies were all there too. We sat and chatted for a good long time. In the group photo, from left to right is Harold, Harry, Bob and Bonnie, Frank, Wayne, and Robbie. The conversation with Harry was particularly poignant. Harry has lung cancer and the doctor's estimation for him is only a few months. Harry appears to be at peace with the time frame that's been given him. He's an inspiration and a fine man. If you have room on your prayer list, add Harry and his wife.

At the end of the party Harry stood up and said, "Aaron, I have bigger plans than to be here to welcome you back." It's surprising how different good-byes are when you're pretty certain it's the last time you'll see someone.

Besides a Panera Party and closing on the house, we got a lot of packing done (thanks Jerianne, Marissa, and Spencer!). It was a long, but very good, day.