Locust, North Carolina (our new town) is located 1,100 miles away from home. In many ways, the journey here was no easy feat. It required prayer, perseverance, and lots of preparation.

The last few weeks at home in Kansas were a tremendous blessing to us. We had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with much of our family and many friends. We enjoyed sweet fellowship as we approached our departure from where we have known “home” to be all of our lives.

Our church in Kansas, Kirk of the Plains, showered us with love with a “send-off” party, to which we invited many loved ones to have a formal “see you later.” This provided us a time to share our gratitude to those who have walked alongside us during this journey to the Carolinas, to pray and seek the Lord’s continued guidance and thank him for his providence, and to celebrate Matthias’ first birthday (albeit, a month early) with those he loves most.

Our actual trip to North Carolina, accompanied by Noah’s mama and Jenna’s parents and brother, was rather uneventful, praise the Lord! The most notable hiccup occurred within five minutes into the drive. Before we got out of Derby, we hit a poor deer. For a minute we questioned whether or not this was a sign from God that we were supposed to stay in Kansas, but we decided to persevere! After that, the Lord kept us moving smoothly and steadily during our 10 hour drive to our overnight stop in Clarksville, Tennessee. We got some much needed rest, fueled up, and headed out for 7 more hours of driving to reach our house in Locust.

You would think making such a trek would be tremendously difficult with an almost 1-year-old, but Matthias impressed us all with his cheerful attitude and cheesy smile almost all the way there. We did have to pull up an episode of “Bear in the Big Blue House” for the last twenty minutes of the drive, but he was a champ through it all.

We were greeted by Jack, the pastor of Carolina Presbyterian Church where Noah is serving as youth director, Andrea (Jack’s wife), and their two boys, along with our incredible landlords and lovely friends Gary and Donna, and Elijah (Hoyer, to those of you back home). We had the truck unpacked in less than 2 hours.

Our families were able to stay through Monday. They helped us get settled. We had the joyful opportunity to explore a bit of the town, get to know Gary and Donna and experience their generous hospitality, show our family the RTS campus, and visit Jeni’s ice cream (shout out to Soph for the idea)! This time was dear and precious to our hearts as we felt the impending goodbye slowly approaching. They left early Tuesday morning and we began to discover what life would be like in Locust, North Carolina- 1,100 miles away from home.

We are incredibly fond of the house Gary and Donna have so generously lent to us. It is a quaint, 75-year-old farmhouse on their land, with country as far as the eye can see. It has three bedrooms, an office space, a gorgeous kitchen that Jenna has rarely left, and a warm living space. It features wood paneling that was sourced from the farm where Gary grew up when his parents built the house. It has a welcoming personality and a hospitable heartbeat. Not only does it give us the gift of a safe and warm place to live, but a wonderful place to welcome others.

We have already had the joy of hosting a few times and sharing fellowship- something we were praying for in whatever space the Lord provided in the Carolinas.

We have experienced such kindness in our new church, Carolina Presbyterian Church. Jack, the pastor, and his wife Andrea, and their two boys have been among the first friends we have made here. They have extended their hospitality and guidance as we join a new community and assimilate into a different culture. Matthias has had a wonderful time having some boys to play with.

Noah has already begun teaching and interacting with the youth. On our first Wednesday evening when the youth group is held, the students had the opportunity to interview Noah. They asked questions about what life was like in Kansas (they were disappointed because we had lived in the city, and our lives now look more farm-like than they did back home), what sports he played, where Matthias’ name comes from, but the most devastating answer they received was that we had never eaten at Bojangle’s. Bojangle’s is a southern fried chicken restaurant with cajun style chicken. This devastation resulted in a youth field trip the following Wednesday to remedy this catastrophe. We were pleasantly surprised how much we enjoyed it. The chicken is fairly tasty, but what sold us is the Bo-Berry Biscuits- fluffy, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits with blueberries, and a glaze on top. They came out warm. Needless to say, we told the kids that those biscuits would likely become a problem for us in the near future.

Jenna has been able to attend women’s bible study and get plugged in with some more women at the church. They are kind, considerate, and welcoming. They are studying the book of 2nd Samuel, full of God’s faithfulness and truth. She is glad to be in a setting with more in-depth study once again.

The life of the church is vibrant with Carolina Christian School (CCS) being a large ministry within the church. The church is almost always open with CCS, youth events, bible studies, fellowship meals every 2nd Sunday, and our favorite- The Lord’s Day gathering. We are grateful for being able to find our place among such a rich congregation.

As always, we have much for which to thank our faithful Heavenly Father. We ask that you would praise his generosity in our circumstances with us.

We are grateful for all of your care, love, prayers, and support. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us here and how he will shape us further into instruments for use in his Kingdom!

With the deepest love and affection,

Noah, Jenna and Matthias Costello