Prayer, Faith, and Moving

Earlier in the summer, a church from my home town contacted Preston about the possibility of him being the youth minister there. We are currently living an hour away from this church, so we would definitely be moving. We prayed, we talked about it, we prayed, we talked about it, and then we prayed some more. The decision was on our minds constantly for weeks. I think that God was already working on our hearts.

We decided that Preston should at least meet with the minister from the church to find out more details. I was anxiously waiting a call at work from Preston to hear how it went... the 2.5 hour meeting went great and the potential aspects of the new job sounded great! Could we really make it work though? We're currently in a parsonage, so moving would mean adding bills. What about my job... keep it, change, what to do? Where in the world are we going to live? I wish I had written down all of the questions we had thought about and discussed, because through the past few weeks, God has answered nearly all of them.

We continued to pray about the possible transition, that God would guide and direct us, showing us His plans for us. Staying in our current jobs would be the easiest thing to do, no job change, no added bills, no moving (for the 5th time in 3 years). The thing is, ministry isn't easy. Actually, a lot of the time, it's really hard. As we continued to pray about the situation, we began getting answers to our questions. Preston had a meeting/interview with leaders of the church, we got a better glimpse of the church by walking through the building, looking at classrooms, fellowship hall, etc. One thing that we've learned is this church is moving forward, and it seems that God is going to use us as a tool there.

Through many talks and discussions about the possibility, Preston and I agreed that moving and ministering in Kentucky is where God is leading us. This past Sunday, Preston formally resigned as of August 3rd at our current church and Zebulon (the church we will be moving to) announced that they have hired a youth minister. As for me and my job, I am going to continue working at my current job and will commute.

We've debated between buying and renting and we want to buy a home. We have rented since we've been married and we're so stinking excited ready to have our own place, something that we own and can do with it what we please. The house hunt has been going on for several weeks... we've looked and looked, and we have now found one we are very interested in.

Please pray for us friends, that we will continue to have faith that God will work all of the details out, and that we will find a definite place to live. There are some uncertainties, of course. Moving and a new job always brings uncertainties, but that's where faith comes in. If God put it on us that we were meant to do his work at this church, then it will work out, even if we aren't sure how just yet.

Family, prayer, and a whole lot of faith will make this move all that we have imagined and more.

"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Memphis!

Well,  this week there's not a post dedicated to the usual weekend recap for 2 reasons.  1) Our weekend consisted of cleaning and me packing, and 2) I was on the road for 10 hours to get to Memphis on Sunday for the training I am attending for work this week.  Thankfully a coworker came to the training as well so I didn't have to drive the trip, or see Memphis, alone!
The training I am here for is to learn about leading correctional counseling, I'll particularly be leading a group for teens with substance abuse issues.  It's only day 2 of day 5 of the training and I've learned a ton, which was the purpose, but I've also had a great time in Germantown/Memphis, TN.
Sunday we got here, checked in to our hotel, grabbed some dinner at Macaroni Grill, and called it a night.
Monday we had training all day, had some homework, and then went out to Bonefish Grill.... yum!  After Bonefish we went to Ulta where I scored some great deals.  I have been wanting Urban Decay eyeshadow primer, online it's on sale for $10 but shipping was $8 so I didn't get it.  In store it was still $10, so I bought 2 tubes of it, plus some oh so good smelling shampoo and conditioner and 2 bottles of OPI nail polish, I was too excited about my new products.  After a stop at Homegoods, it was back to the hotel.
That brings us to today... had training until noon and then headed to down town Memphis.  We had lunch at BB King's, and then saw some interesting things around the city.  The Peabody Hotel is so gorgeous inside and their famous ducks are so neat!  Here are some pictures from our day, mainly checking out Beale Street.

You know it's a fancy hotel when toilets have their own lamps, haha, too funny.

We are going back into the city on Thursday, hoping to tour Graceland and the civil rights museum.
Hope everyone is having a great week!