Hey there friends!
I've had mixed emotions about sitting down and writing this particular post. In some ways I've been sad and dreading it, and in others ways I've been really excited and looking forward to it. (That's also a pretty good description of the way I/we feel about this whole move). Yes, as you may know already, we're moving....to Kansas.
Here's the story: Back in April, Brother Billy got a phone call from a friend of ours, J, President of an organization in Kansas (Brett knew that J had called Billy, but we didn't find out details of their conversation until later). J was calling to ask for Billy's permission & blessing to talk to Brett and have him turn in a resume. Late May, when Brett was helping at an orientation in KS, J talked to Brett about joining his staff. We decided not to tell anyone for a while and to just pray about it together. (We
did talk some more with Brother Billy & Theresa, and we
did end up telling our small group...I kinda slipped. But we were so grateful to have their support and encouragement all along the way!)
We love our church and our life here in Waco; we were not seeking anything elsewhere. As you know, we were in the midst of trying to buy a house, and we had really come to the point that we thought we'd be here in Waco for a while. God obviously had other plans. Looking back on how difficult that process was of looking for a house, we really feel like God was protecting us. Actually, looking back on the last few months altogether, LOTS of things seem to make more sense now. Funny how God works sometimes.
Brett has had other job opportunities come along since he's been at Brazos Meadows, but we never felt like they were anything that we were supposed to pursue. On the other hand,
from the moment we knew about this possibility in KS, we
both felt like we were supposed to check into it a little bit more. And that's what we did....we took little baby steps through this whole process, little by little learning more about the opportunity and praying each step of the way that God would lead us and help us hear from Him. We really feel like this whole thing was God-initiated, and that He has been slowly and gently pulling us in this direction.
We decided that it was time to talk to our families about this possibility. That was extremely difficult, and has continued to be difficult. Brett and I are both very close to our families, and have always lived relatively close to them (especially Brett, he has lived in the Waco/Robinson area his whole life, never more than 30-45 minutes away from family). Moving away will not be easy, but we know that if this is what God asks of us, then we want to do it. A verse we've been clinging to throughout this whole thing is Romans 8:28 "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." If this indeed is what God is calling us to, then we know He'll cause all things to work together for good.....His blessing will not only be on
us for our obedience, but it will be on
our families as well.
We spent about a week in KS in late July--checking things out, seeing old friends, making new friends, sitting and talking through some details with J face to face. It was a good week, and the possibility became much more of a reality to us. All along, we just wanted to make sure that we
truly heard from God on this.....stay or go.....it didn't matter--we just knew we wanted to be obedient.
After we returned from KS, we had 2 weeks to let J know if we were going to accept the job. We knew it was time to tell our close friends and our church. That went so well! God really went before us and prepared lots of people's hearts. There was lots of tears, but everyone was (and is being) so encouraging & supportive. Many prayed with us and are continuing to pray for us and have showed such enthusiasm and excitement for what God has planned for us. Here's 2 of my favorite responses from a couple people from church.....
- "Well, I've thought long and hard about what y'all said this morning. You have my blessing, but you're going to have to leave Emma here with us!" :o)
- (This next response was from a lady that is very special to us. We went to her house to tell her in person because of how important of a role she has had in our lives. She even prayed for us as single-individuals and knew we would be married before we did!!!) First words out of her mouth as we all sat down to talk were....."You're joining J's organization, aren't you?" (our jaws hit the floor, and we said how did you know?!?!?!) "I just knew.....it makes sense. That is your passion....as far as I'm concerned, you're already there. I believe that's what God wants for you, and I think He's going to use y'all in a really cool way!" (She said tons more, but you get the idea!)
God has confirmed this decision in so many ways.....I wish we could share them all, but it'd just be impossible! We officially accepted the job offer last Friday. In 3 little words, I can tell you how we're feeling at any given time: EXCITED, SAD, & NERVOUS!!
Excited--because we believe this is what God has asked us to do so we're looking forward to seeing what He's up to.
Sad--because we are leaving our family, friends, and church.
Nervous--because we're starting a whole new life: new place, new job, new friends, new church, new house, new everything!
As far as the time line of when we'll be going....the target date is November 1st, but it really just depends on our support raising. We will have to have a "livable amount" raised before going. At times, we're a little scared about the support raising part of this job, but then we remember all the cool stories that people have told us and that we find in scripture about God's provision and faithfulness. 1 Kings 17:1-16 has the coolest story about how
God provides the giver and the gift. This will definitely be a faith-building time in our lives. We are looking forward to having a deeper understanding of our utter dependence on Jesus!
I think I'm going to end here for now.....I know that was a lot for you to read. Thank you for loving us and taking interest in what's going on in our lives. Please pray for us, if the Lord brings us to mind. This is new ground for us; we want to be sure to keep our eyes on Him!
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And now, the part you probably are most interested in....pictures!!
Here's Emma having fun with her "tuh-tle" sprinkler. She LOVES baths, sprinklers, swimming, water fountains.....ANYTHING that has to do with water and getting wet!
She also likes shoes, as you may recall from previous blogs. She likes to walk around the house wearing either mine or Brett's shoes. (She is pointing at the camera because I've started showing her pictures that I take of her, so now she is always interested in seeing what's on the screen.....makes it hard to take pictures of her sometimes).
I took Emma to the Mayborn Museum for the first time recently. That place is awesome!! She had so much fun (and so did I!) I didn't even remember to pull my camera out much....only got a couple pics (and they weren't all that great either). Here's Emma walking on the giant floor piano like they have in the movie "Big." It's so cool!
Lots of piano time lately....We spent this past weekend in the Woodlands seeing family and celebrating my mom's birthday. Here's Emma playing a little birthday song for my mom on Aunt Leslie's piano.
Here's Brett and Uncle Jack working as a team to feed a super tired, fussy, & hungry baby. I forgot to bring a bib with us, so Emma has a big, cloth napkin draped over her.....looks more like she's getting a hair cut than eating.
We're so thankful for our little travel DVD screen (you can't see it in the picture, but that's what her eyes are fixed on). Cars, planes, coffee shops....wherever! It's nice to be able to bring "Praise Baby" videos wherever we go. No matter where we are or what's going on, she always loves to watch her videos....and it's fun to see her interact with them too!
Funny Story!So, yeah....we had to get a new trash can last week. Our TV remote disappeared. We turned the house upside down...we just couldn't think of where else to look. Then it dawned on us...."You know, Emma has been pretty interested in the trash can lately." (She notices when there's a banana or something familiar on top. She has even tried to grab something off the top a time or two). We decided she must have thrown the TV remote in the trash when we weren't looking (It was just an oval trash can with a flip lid.) So we invested in one of those trash cans that you have to step on the little pedal to make the lid go up. Unfortunately, she is still pretty interested. She watches us use it and then goes to try to step on the pedal. I guess that's why so many people put their trash under the sink or in the pantry. hmmm.....
