The Fairview Churchills

I have been told that a couple, newly married, typically disappears for about two months, after which time husband and wife slowly start to make their public reappearance, and reassure the friends, family, and acquaintances of their former life that they are not, in fact, dead.  I suppose this post constitutes our reappearance (at least our digital reappearance) into society.

Rennah and I celebrate two months of happy marriage today!  Thank you to all who came and helped and worshiped with us at the wedding; and to those who were unable to come, we missed you dearly, and we hope a meeting will not be too long in the coming, especially for those of you who have not met Rennah.   After our wedding, we intended to have a relaxing summer, and though we enjoyed some much-needed rest, it seems we were busier than intended, so that I’m not sure I can fit all that has happened in one post.  But, as Chesterton tells us, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” So, here goes.

The wedding day was perfect (at least for us–sorry to those who had to wait so long for food!).  Rennah and I were remembering our wedding just yesterday, as our wedding photos arrived.  (I’ll try to share some in a later post.)  Two days later, we made our way to Iceland–the land of fire and ice, and home to the Vikings and their language, Old Norse (whose oldest descendant is, in fact, Icelandic).  Despite six years of fantasizing about the perfection of Iceland, we found that its grandeur far exceeded our expectations.  Rennah and I agree it was the most beautiful place we have ever seen–what a well-kept secret that country is!  We stayed for about 5 days, in which time we shopped in Reykjavík, watched waterfalls, bathed in lagoons, stood under geyser eruptions, bought antique Icelandic books, walked in hobbit holes, and generally just explored the country by means of our little Hyundai we rented.  In all, we snapped about 800 photos, so I’ll do my best to parse through my trove and share the ‘best’ of my pictures.

Meanwhile, back in Fairview… While life is not so consistently, magnificently breathtaking as Iceland was, we find that we enjoy our new house immensely, and that married life suits us quite well.  Our house is rather minimal in the way of furniture, but it is filled largely with gifts from friends and family, for which I can never express deep enough thanks (our Wedding Thank-Yous are on the way, I promise).  Visitors continually reassure us that our house won’t be so clean once children come along, but I’m usually to busy vacuuming to hear them.  Overall, Fairview (just 20-30 minutes west of Franklin) supports a good mixture of a rural and yet rooted-community feel.  The biggest news in Fairview is the new Walmart (installed about two years ago), but Rennah and I like it that way, especially as Franklin’s population is exploding to the point of overpopulation in recent years.

Our prayer for our new life was that our house, and our marriage, would be a consistent blessing to others (so come on over anytime!).  God has begun to answer that prayer by the initiation of Bible studies.  I meet with three other friends once a week, and Rennah meets once a week with the entire female population of Fairview.  In all honesty, though, I think her Bible study has been a real blessing to the ladies who are attending, and I’m excited to see how God continues to use us.

Perhaps the biggest news in our life in recent weeks is the new church we’re attending: Bridge International Fellowship (“BIF, like the guy from ‘Back To the Future,’ Daniel always reminds me).  We met the pastor, Timothy Tan, providentially while ice skating in Franklin one day, only to discover that the vast majority of his congregation is Chinese.  Tim’s vision for the church is to be a multicultural center that seeks to fulfill the prophecy of Revelation where “every tribe, language, people, and nation” worship the Lord together.  So far, mostly Chinese attend (Tim is himself Chinese).  But the church is moving into a new building in the heart of Cool Springs in Franklin, where they hope to grow.  Besides one other family (whose children attend Franklin Classical School), Rennah and I are the only white family that consistently attends.  Most the congregation goes back home to China in the summer, and our congregation has been increasing in size every week that we’ve been there!  But we’ve really felt more involved in this church than just about any we’ve ever attended, and I’m hopeful that God will use us there and reveal His purposes to us in this new endeavor.

For the first time ever, I’m anxious to get back to teaching.  Perhaps not un-coincidentally, this will be the first time since high school that I’ll only have one job, at Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA).  I’m excited to invest a more focused energy into my teaching, where I’ll be teaching Chinese I, Chinese II, and Latin I in the high school.  God’s provision of this job is just another gift that He has added to this season of plenty in our lives, and I’m excited for how God will use me there.  Rennah has one more semester of college before she graduates with her Associates degree, and then she’ll seek to work somewhere other than Publix.

Now, time for pictures.  Note how beautiful my wife is.