Still moving forward...

We thought we'd take a minute to update those few who are looking at our blog before we head for distant shores. Sorry that it has been so long since we've checked in.

Since the last update, we spent a lot of our time down in SE Ohio and NE Kentucky. My (Kaleb's) Granny finished her battle with multiple myeloma about a week ago, and finally went Home for good. She was diagnosed about 3 months ago and degraded fairly quickly as her bones weakened and broke. However, she always kept a smile on her face during her final weeks. She truly was a blessing to everyone and will always define dignity, hospitality, and generosity in my mind. Her husband of 58 years now finds himself in a very lonely house, please keep him in your prayers. We were blessed to be able to serve her and the family over those past two weeks with our time off. We never would have imagined we would be in that situation with this time, but we're so glad that we were able to be there. She gave us so much, I just wish we could have given her back a little more. The time getting to know the rest of the KY family better will be forever treasured. Thanks so much to everyone that provided food, care, and time. It means the world to us.

The other few days off included the wedding of two wonderful people (Zach and Kristi) and a couple days relaxing at the house with Mom and Dad. In addition, we also said goodbye to another dear friend... Trucka.

Although our time with him was short. He will be missed. I sold him right out from under myself to a great guy, and I'm sure he'll treat him well. It's a blessing to not have to worry about selling him any longer.

The next few weeks have us in PA before moving towards the airport. We hope to see some of you around here. Please don't be bashful; just shoot us an e-mail, and we'll try to connect! Support is going well, much thanks to everyone who has donated and prayed for us. It makes all of this possible. We love you all, please let us know how we can help you out when we're in your respective areas.

Grace and peace.

And so it begins...

As of last Wednesday, I found myself unemployed, but in a good way, but Wednesday turned out to be interesting in general. On my way home from the (theoretically relaxing) final day of work, Stacey called and let me know that our sister-in-law was in labor (5 hrs away) and two weeks early. Needless to say, things got busy real quick. We managed to rush a load of things from the apartment to our parents and get to Pittsburgh before the baby came the next evening. We're so glad we made it to welcome the beautiful Alivia Ruth Reeder into our own little section of insanity and exhaustion in the world. She's beautiful, and mom, baby, and dad are healthy, albeit a little tired. I have no doubt that Richie and Regan will raise a kicking little niece; I can't wait to undo all the hard work they'll put into raising her well.

But back to Wednesday, it was surprisingly hard to move away from YSI; there are good people there, and the security of employment is increasingly attactive. However, we've now both officially ended our employment and are finishing raising the funds necessary for us to move towards Honduras. We plan on spending the next two months with friends and family as we raise the support. Stacey and I feel so blessed to have had the jobs we had. They enabled us to meet legitimate people and provided the financial resources to stabilize the now and the future for us to do what we feel we need to do. We've seriously been blessed beyond what we expected.

We'll be all over the Eastern US over the next couple of months, so drop us a line and we'll try to let you know where we are. We're starting this week in Kentucky with grandparents and siblings. We're looking forward to seeing everyone before we take off. You guys all take care.

UPDATE: Thanks so much to everyone who picked up a plant or some cookies last weekend. We sold all of the plants and most of the sugary stuff, we can't thank you enough. We know that our children have found good homes. Hopefully they'll make us proud and behave themselves. If you ever have any questions about a plant you picked up, just drop us a line; we hope they live long healthy lives.
 
Plants, as it turns out, do not make good international travel companions.

As a result, we will be selling most of our stash of potted tropical plants before we leave Centerville. If you're interested in one or two of the little guys, we'll be in the cafe at Apex with the plants at the July 2-3 (Saturday and Sunday) gatherings. We can tell you anything you would want to know about taking care of them, so don't be shy. Any purchases made will go directly to supporting us over our coming year in Honduras.

Just drop us a line (under contact us) if you have any questions. Thanks!

Letter and Website

By now most of you should have received our letter from the HTH office sharing our heart and some details about our future ministry in community development.  If you have not received that letter and would like to - please send us an email (under Contact Us) with your home address and we'll be sure to send you the letter.

If you'd like to read a summary of us and our future ministry follow this link:
HTH Staff Info. Kaleb & Stacey Eldridge
Thanks for supporting us as we begin this journey!

Coming Soon!

Thanks for checking in so fast! We're hoping to get some more information up soon. Hang in there with us!

Take care.
Kaleb and Stacey