Move to the City They Said. It'll Be Fun They Said.

If you're reading this within 6 feet of someone, you're doing it wrong.

Approximately 67 years ago, we moved to D.C.

What's that? It's only been 3 weeks? Oh.

In the 3 weeks since we've moved here, it seems like literally everything in the world has changed. Long story short, we're fine. No one is ill. We have a good supply of the things we need. A secure job. A built-in support system through the local church. Nice weather. Gigabit internet and subscriptions to, quite frankly, more streaming services than we need. I'm grateful for the privileges we have and how few things in our lives have gone sideways.

There are still challenges, though. Keeping kids healthily entertained while maintaining social distancing is certainly a trick. In 2 weeks time The Table Church went from no-live-stream to livestream only. During one of the largest upheavals to society in a generation, we're as far away from family and close friends as we've ever been. 

So there's that. 

The kids, honestly, have been pretty great through our own massive life transition. We've had some harder conversations about friends and family being far away. We've tried to explain COVID-19 to Audrey, which has helped increase hand-washing and give understanding to why we're not going to the playground (though she did lick a window today so…). Honestly, I just think our kids are thrilled to be getting to spend so much time with us. 

Which makes sense. Emily and I are pretty great to hang out with. You all are missing out.

Our move out here went shockingly well. I believe we’ve yet to discover so much as a cracked dish. We will be forever grateful for Jeff Berkland and David Vander Leest for making the 1,200-mile haul with our Penske truck; and serving as friendly continuity between Iowa and our new home.

All of this extra time at home has allowed for the lots of Ikea-assembly. 2 beds (one twin and one doll-sized), 4 bookshelves, a wardrobe, and an office chair.

Before the world began to #canceleverything, we did make it to the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. The kids went on their first Metro ride (which Audrey loved!) and we got to see dinosaur bones, butterflies, and more. I tried to block Audrey’s view of the mummies, but she later revealed that I wasn’t large enough to block her view. That’s probably a compliment, so I’ll take it.

On March 8, I got ordained and commissioned as The Table Church’s lead pastor. I wrote about that here. Long story short, my first act of pastor was to cancel in-person services. (If you’re interested in following along with us online, you can catch us 5pm Eastern at this link).

We did get to meet some real, live people that day. Audrey even got to cut the cake.

We visited the National Arboretum and saw some of the cherry blossoms.

And yesterday we went on a desperate-to-get-out-of-the-house drive around the National Mall and Tidal Basin to see the Japanese Cherry Blossoms. We only yelled out our window to tell people to go home once.

Here are some cute kids. Our new photo-taking trick is telling them not to smile. Our children are too rebellious to comply.