I'm starting to hit that point where I have packed just about everything that I can't forsee us using in the next 10 days.  Which just means that I will still have a lot of packing to do next week!  We must also get through some goodbyes, to our Bible study groups and to our church.  I am so thankful that we will only be about 2 hours away.  It makes leaving so much easier to think that it is more "see you later" than the finality of goodbye.

BW's seminary was really smart this year.  They placed the Annual Seminary Banquet the week before the Shepherd's Conference(annual pastor's conference) so that the Shepherd's Conference "widows" couldn't complain too much since we just had a fabulous date night with our husbands.  The Seminary Banquet has been one of the highlights on the seminary calendar each year because you get to get dressed up, have one of the most delicious dinners ever and great fellowship with other seminary couples and, frankly, no children are invited:)  So I get to actually TALK to other adults and I don't have to cut up anyone else's meat (what joy!) and don't have to worry about where our kids may have run off to.  This year we were additionally blessed with our speaker, Dr. Will Varner from the Master's College, who helped to remind us who it was who called our husbands to ministry and that once one has heard "the call of the lion" (Amos 3), what else can one do but preach God's Word.  It helped to give me further understanding that the call on my husband's life (and therefore the call on my life) is not merely a career choice but a call from God.

By the way, this year's Shepherd's Conference can be heard/viewed via Live Streaming Audio so I started our morning after our Bible time with my 4 kids huddled around our computer screen to try to see BW as the seminary men sang the opening hymns to start off the conference.  Our computer was quite fuzzy so our kids were arguing over which man in the blue suit was Daddy(all the seminary men were in blue suits).  Then, when John MacArthur came up to start the opening sermon, they were very disappointed because they wanted to see their Daddy preach instead!  I've been trying to listen in between doing school and packing today.  What a blessing that I will actually have some background when BW comes home all excited around 10:00 tonight. 

Blessings!

-J