December 31st always has a way of making me reflect, and this year is no different. 2013 has been a whirlwind of a year for us--but a blessed one at that! This time last year, we still lived in Louisville. We were interviewing with a couple of churches back in Arkansas, but we were thinking our timeline to move was more like May or June. Obviously, the Lord had other plans!
In early January, the doctor I worked for fell deathly ill and it was questionable if he would recover (and if he did, would he come back to work?). Since I was the main source of income for our little family, if I wasn't able to work, then we were in deep trouble. After discussing our options and having some serious prayer time, we immediately called our families and explained our situation. They agreed with our line of thinking--either the Lord was going to provide a job for Daniel in the immediate future or we were moving back in with my parents and would continue to look for employment at that time.
Daniel also called both churches to let them know our situation and to see if either one could move up the interview process. We were both praying that the Lord would make our path clear and boy, did He ever! The church in Conway told us they had decided to hire someone else, so that left First Baptist in Fort Smith. They were very willing to work with us and moved up our interview date so we could make things happen faster. Over the next 30 days: I turned in my 2-weeks notice to my job, we interviewed and they hired us, we found a house in Fort Smith to rent, we found a moving company and they packed up our entire apartment in a day, and we made the 600 mile trek back home! We officially moved in to Fort Smith on February 17th.
Since then, Daniel has graduated with his Master's degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he is fitting in beautifully well at the church and we could not feel more blessed with his ministry work there, I (still) could not find a job in my field so I am currently a nanny to an adorable 10 month old little girl, my sister got engaged and we have been having a blast planning her wedding for next May in Florida, and we have started looking for a house to buy! Whew!
I feel like the blessings have just continued to pour on--and to be honest, I am a little overwhelmed and humbled by it all. While we miss our friends in Louisville, it is such a dream to be only 2 hours away from our families and especially to be back in the state of Arkansas! The Lord is so good and His mercies are new every morning. It sure is going to be fun to see what He has in store for our family in 2014!
Showing posts with label arkansas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arkansas. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Dreams Do Come True
Now that things have settled down a bit, I finally have time to dish some details on our move back to Arkansas. First of all, let me say, GOD IS GOOD.
This process started about 4 months ago. Around Thanksgiving, we started having contact with FBC in Fort Smith. We actually met face-to-face with Daniel's boss that weekend since we were in town. It was an informal meeting and we knew they had other people they were interviewing and considering for the position, but I think we both walked away from that meeting feeling hopeful and trying not to get too excited. Thinking our timeline to move was after graduation in May, we didn't really anticipate a fast interview process. Suddenly, in mid-January, the Doctor I worked for in Louisville got deathly ill and had to be hospitalized. They honestly didn't think he was going to live through that week. He had a bowel perforation, underwent surgery, went into cardiac arrest as well as sustaining liver and kidney failure. (Thankfully he is on the mend now) Absolutely crazy and scary! Well, being an assistant to him, if he is not working in the office, then they don't have a need for me and therefore I wasn't working either. Daniel and I started freaking out a little bit because we knew that we would not be able to survive and pay bills if I lost my job. We prayed and consulted our families and decided to turn in our 30-day move out notice to our apartment complex. Biggest leap of faith ever! Either God was going to lead us to where He wanted us to serve in ministry within those 30 days, or we were going to move in with family until we figured it out.
Once we made that decision, Daniel contacted the church and explained our situation to them. They had already told us they wanted us to come down for a weekend to interview and meet some of the staff. They were so kind in working with us and asked if we could come down and stay for the very next week (keep in mind this was like 9:30 on a Thursday night and we would have to leave the next day). Since I wasn't working anyway, I called my office manager to make sure that was ok and she said yes. So we packed up and headed to Arkansas bright and early the next morning! We got to Fort Smith and had a week of meeting staff and people at the church, lunches, dinners, interviews, etc. We even got a chance to drive around and look for a house to rent. It was wonderful! After meeting and interviewing with the Personnel Committee on Wednesday night they called us Thursday morning and informed us it was a unanimous decision and "unofficially" offered him the job of Associate Pastor of Connections. I say unofficially because once it passes with the personnel committee, it's about 99% sure to pass with the deacons and the rest of the church, but it would not be "for sure" official until that happened on February 10th. Knowing our situation with having to be out of our apartment by February 16th, they went ahead and told us so I could turn in my two weeks notice at my job and we put a deposit down on the house we found to rent.
We came back down the weekend of February 10th to interview with the deacons and be voted on by the church and it was a passing vote with 97% yes! We drove back to Louisville, had the pleasure of having a moving company come and pack up our stuff and move us (if you EVER get that opportunity do not pass it up!) and came back to Arkansas for good on February 17th!!
To say it has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. But let me tell you, God's timing is everything! We never could have dreamed up these circumstances but it has been such a blessing! Daniel is settling into his new role and absolutely loving it (I feel like this job was created just for him--it is so perfect!) and he is also finishing school full-time so he can graduate in May! Please be in prayer for us on a few things:
1. For Daniel to keep up with his schoolwork and finish strong. I cannot tell you how wonderful the church has been-- letting him do some of his work while at the office! I am SO proud of him and I know he will continue to do great!
2. For me to find the perfect job in the perfect timing. Another blessing is I am able to draw unemployment due to us moving states for Daniel's job and the fact that I basically lost my previous job because my doctor got sick. This is helping out and taking some of the intense pressure off of me, but I still need to find a job and work so we can save money for the future.
3.For us to settle in to our new ministry and that the Lord would be glorified.
Words cannot express how excited we are to be back in Arkansas! Being closer to our friends and families is so fun and we absolutely are already in love with the community of Fort Smith!
This process started about 4 months ago. Around Thanksgiving, we started having contact with FBC in Fort Smith. We actually met face-to-face with Daniel's boss that weekend since we were in town. It was an informal meeting and we knew they had other people they were interviewing and considering for the position, but I think we both walked away from that meeting feeling hopeful and trying not to get too excited. Thinking our timeline to move was after graduation in May, we didn't really anticipate a fast interview process. Suddenly, in mid-January, the Doctor I worked for in Louisville got deathly ill and had to be hospitalized. They honestly didn't think he was going to live through that week. He had a bowel perforation, underwent surgery, went into cardiac arrest as well as sustaining liver and kidney failure. (Thankfully he is on the mend now) Absolutely crazy and scary! Well, being an assistant to him, if he is not working in the office, then they don't have a need for me and therefore I wasn't working either. Daniel and I started freaking out a little bit because we knew that we would not be able to survive and pay bills if I lost my job. We prayed and consulted our families and decided to turn in our 30-day move out notice to our apartment complex. Biggest leap of faith ever! Either God was going to lead us to where He wanted us to serve in ministry within those 30 days, or we were going to move in with family until we figured it out.
Once we made that decision, Daniel contacted the church and explained our situation to them. They had already told us they wanted us to come down for a weekend to interview and meet some of the staff. They were so kind in working with us and asked if we could come down and stay for the very next week (keep in mind this was like 9:30 on a Thursday night and we would have to leave the next day). Since I wasn't working anyway, I called my office manager to make sure that was ok and she said yes. So we packed up and headed to Arkansas bright and early the next morning! We got to Fort Smith and had a week of meeting staff and people at the church, lunches, dinners, interviews, etc. We even got a chance to drive around and look for a house to rent. It was wonderful! After meeting and interviewing with the Personnel Committee on Wednesday night they called us Thursday morning and informed us it was a unanimous decision and "unofficially" offered him the job of Associate Pastor of Connections. I say unofficially because once it passes with the personnel committee, it's about 99% sure to pass with the deacons and the rest of the church, but it would not be "for sure" official until that happened on February 10th. Knowing our situation with having to be out of our apartment by February 16th, they went ahead and told us so I could turn in my two weeks notice at my job and we put a deposit down on the house we found to rent.
We came back down the weekend of February 10th to interview with the deacons and be voted on by the church and it was a passing vote with 97% yes! We drove back to Louisville, had the pleasure of having a moving company come and pack up our stuff and move us (if you EVER get that opportunity do not pass it up!) and came back to Arkansas for good on February 17th!!
To say it has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. But let me tell you, God's timing is everything! We never could have dreamed up these circumstances but it has been such a blessing! Daniel is settling into his new role and absolutely loving it (I feel like this job was created just for him--it is so perfect!) and he is also finishing school full-time so he can graduate in May! Please be in prayer for us on a few things:
1. For Daniel to keep up with his schoolwork and finish strong. I cannot tell you how wonderful the church has been-- letting him do some of his work while at the office! I am SO proud of him and I know he will continue to do great!
2. For me to find the perfect job in the perfect timing. Another blessing is I am able to draw unemployment due to us moving states for Daniel's job and the fact that I basically lost my previous job because my doctor got sick. This is helping out and taking some of the intense pressure off of me, but I still need to find a job and work so we can save money for the future.
3.For us to settle in to our new ministry and that the Lord would be glorified.
Words cannot express how excited we are to be back in Arkansas! Being closer to our friends and families is so fun and we absolutely are already in love with the community of Fort Smith!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
No Place Like Home
There truly is no place like home! This past weekend, my hubby traveled to Washington D.C. (he is an intern this year at our church, so our associate pastor and one of our elders took them to the 9Marks conference at Mark Dever's church on Capitol Hill). Once we found out when he was going, my parents felt sorry for me to be home by myself for 5 days and decided to fly me home! :) Sweet of them right?! Equally sweet, my boss let me off work Friday so I could fly out Thursday night.
Friday morning, Mom and I headed to Mimi's house where she got up early to cook me my favorite pancakes (blueberry w/ granola sprinkled in) and bacon. Then we headed to Gran's house to spend time with her and my aunt Virgie before we played Bunko with the rest of my mom's Bunko group. I have the sweetest grandmother's ever! Friday night, Hannah came over and us girls had a sleepover---watching girl shows like "I Found the Gown" and eating brownies. :) I love Girl Time!!
Saturday morning, mom and dad and I headed up to Fayetteville to support our Razorbacks as they took on Alabama. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good game, but it was fun to be back up there and enjoy the atmosphere and time with my family.
Sunday came way too fast, and all too soon I found myself back at the airport headed to Louisville. I'm back in my apartment safe and sound, but I'm ready for my husband to be back home, and I'm even more ready for it to be time for holidays so we can go back home together. Even after being in Louisville for 15 months, in my heart, Arkansas is still home.
Thanks mom and dad! It was a great weekend!
Friday morning, Mom and I headed to Mimi's house where she got up early to cook me my favorite pancakes (blueberry w/ granola sprinkled in) and bacon. Then we headed to Gran's house to spend time with her and my aunt Virgie before we played Bunko with the rest of my mom's Bunko group. I have the sweetest grandmother's ever! Friday night, Hannah came over and us girls had a sleepover---watching girl shows like "I Found the Gown" and eating brownies. :) I love Girl Time!!
Saturday morning, mom and dad and I headed up to Fayetteville to support our Razorbacks as they took on Alabama. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good game, but it was fun to be back up there and enjoy the atmosphere and time with my family.
Sunday came way too fast, and all too soon I found myself back at the airport headed to Louisville. I'm back in my apartment safe and sound, but I'm ready for my husband to be back home, and I'm even more ready for it to be time for holidays so we can go back home together. Even after being in Louisville for 15 months, in my heart, Arkansas is still home.
Thanks mom and dad! It was a great weekend!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Surprise 25th Anniversary Party
Our last plan was the present we wanted to give them. We teamed up with the photographer of the family, Aunt Linda, and started gathering photos from the past 25 years. We found pictures from when they were dating, wedding pictures, baby pictures, family vacation pictures.....everything. In the end, we had over 700 pictures to choose from! In the end, we created a family photo album off of shutterfly.com that chronicled all the moments and memories our family has shared since my parents got married. It turned out even better than we imagined!
We decided to have the party in January...for two main reasons. 1) Their anniversary is December 27th. That is way too close to Christmas for us to be able to have time to squeeze in a celebration party! 2) It would be more of a shock and surprise. As the date got closer, we nailed down details and sent out invitations and finished the photo book and boy, was it HARD to not say anything! Especially when we left to come back home after Christmas--it was hard to not say, "see you in a couple of weeks!" Finally, the weekend came! Daniel and I left on a Thursday--which of course, it was snowing up here, so we were just praying we would make it! We got in late Thursday night and spent all day Friday decorating and cooking and getting ready for the big party. In order to pull off the surprise, my grandmother invited my parents out for fondue. We knew they were coming out about 6:30pm, so we told the rest of the family to arrive about 6:00pm. To hide the cars, we parked them at my dad's aunt's house right down the street and carpooled down to my grandmother's house. We went down to pick everyone up and headed down to the party. But, SURPRISE! Wouldn't you know, my parents who are ALWAYS late, arrived to their surprise party 25 minutes EARLY!!! Holy Cow! So, to avoid my parents seeing us, we pulled up to the front door and all ran inside and Daniel and I hid in the back. They walk in, and I can hear my dad say, "what are we celebrating?" Lol. After the initial shock, Hannah told them we had one more surprise for them. They closed their eyes and Daniel and I walked out from the back. I'm so glad my Aunt Linda captured their faces on camera---it was priceless.
We sat down to a dinner of wedge salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, Imperial chicken with twice baked potatoes and green beans, and Italian Creme Cake from PattiCakes bakery. It was all so yummy!
After we stuffed ourselves on the delicious food, we let them open their gifts. Hannah and I gave them the photo book, but we requested everyone else to write them a letter describing what they have meant to them the past 25 years.
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It was the perfect surprise party! In a hilarious way, we ALL got surprised--but I wouldn't have changed anything for the world! It was such a special time to spend with family and I think it's one of those memories we will love to remember!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Christmas Holiday 2011
Now that things have settled down a bit, I can finally take the time to write about our fantastic Christmas week back home! We were so, so fortunate that my work let me off for a whole week to go home for the holidays (total God thing). So, we packed up and headed out Friday, December 23rd. It took about 8 1/2 hours to get from our house in Louisville to my grandmother's house out on Beaverfork Lake--which is great timing! Since this was our first trip back to Arkansas since we moved in the summer, we couldn't WAIT to see everyone (yes, even you too Uncle Richard). We had missed everyone SO much and it was a very surreal feeling to be driving on familiar roads--definitely did not feel like it had been 5 months. We got to Mimi's house and were immediately met with smiles and hugs and "we have missed seeing you" and got eat some wonderful food. We woke up Christmas Eve morning, and started off the festivites with my favorite tradition--Homemade Gifts. Every year, my dad's family draws names (and you keep it a secret) and you have to make that person a gift. We have had everything from guns to wreaths to paintings to food. It is so fun to see what everyone comes up with! This year, I got my mom's name and decided to make her some Razorback pillows (which I will admit, I got the idea off of Pinterest). And ironically enough, she drew MY name and made me the most beautiful napkin rings out of some family heirloom brooches! I wish I had taken a picture on my camera to be able to post--look for it on facebook...i'm sure it will show up. lol. After that, we continued with our annual Christmas breakfast--peppered ham, cheesy grits, cinnamon rolls, etc...(all low-calorie foods I assure you) before ending with stockings and presents under the tree. Our stockings were fun this year because we all got treasure hunts to go find our big present! SO FUN! My big present turned out to be a sewing machine!! I have been wanting one for a while and my grandmother, the sewing master, was sweet enough to get me all decked out with all the materials I need to get started. I can't wait to put my creativity to the test! Christmas Eve night, we went to my mom's family, where we ate (again, all low calorie foods) ham and turkey and sweet potatoes and green bean bundles and the list goes on and on (oh how I have missed good ol' Southern cookin'). We do a gift card Dirty Santa game with everyone there and I walked away with a $25 TJ Maxx gift card--YES!
Christmas morning came bright and early and we celebrated with my parents first. We all watch each other open stockings and then we move on to the big presents...and boy, did my parents surprise us with a BIG present. They combined mine and Daniel's and got us an iPad--yes, you heard right. AN IPAD. Can I just say...total.shock. Yes, I know I work at the Apple Store and everything, but never in a million years did I ever think I would actually OWN one! It is so great! Daniel will be able to take it to class and take notes, it helps him with tutoring his students, and then I just get to have fun with it :) we absolutely love it! And can I just say that Facetime is the absolute best thing ever! Getting to actually SEE the person you talk to??!! That is perfect for us--especially talking to everyone a few states away! Christmas afternoon we went to North Little Rock and met Daniel's parents at the movie to see "War Horse." I really liked it---much more so than I was anticipating! Of course, it is a Steven Spielberg movie, but to be honest I wasn't too keen on going to see it. SO glad I did though! The day after Christmas, the 26th, we spent the day in North Little Rock again celebrating Christmas with all of Daniel's family--his parents, brothers and their wives, our nieces and nephews, and his grandparents. That was a fun day too! It was so great to see all of them--and the kids have grown so much! Plus, Sean and Kim just had a new addition to their family in November, named Audrey, so we got to see her for the first time too (she is a doll!).
December 27th was my parents 25th wedding anniversary! Congratulations to them! I feel like that is such a huge milestone in a marriage--especially in today's world! We were able to surprise them a little with a small family affair--a replica of their wedding cake and punch and some light snacks. It was really special. I am so lucky to be able to say they are my parents--such a great role model for me personally to look up to! And not only from a marriage standpoint, but also a parenting standpoint. Love them both an incredible amount--words can't describe!
The rest of the week was spent watching football and enjoying time and savoring moments with family and a few of our friends. And then, sadly....we had to head back to reality. We headed back Friday, December 30th and got in late that night. So now, we have rung in the new year (2012...Really?!) and are back at work. But, we are having a watch party for the Cotton Bowl tomorrow night (WPS) which will be great to see all of our friends up here again. Sooooo, that's all for now. Just wanted to share about our joys of the season. I hope everyone else had a fantastic Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Christmas morning came bright and early and we celebrated with my parents first. We all watch each other open stockings and then we move on to the big presents...and boy, did my parents surprise us with a BIG present. They combined mine and Daniel's and got us an iPad--yes, you heard right. AN IPAD. Can I just say...total.shock. Yes, I know I work at the Apple Store and everything, but never in a million years did I ever think I would actually OWN one! It is so great! Daniel will be able to take it to class and take notes, it helps him with tutoring his students, and then I just get to have fun with it :) we absolutely love it! And can I just say that Facetime is the absolute best thing ever! Getting to actually SEE the person you talk to??!! That is perfect for us--especially talking to everyone a few states away! Christmas afternoon we went to North Little Rock and met Daniel's parents at the movie to see "War Horse." I really liked it---much more so than I was anticipating! Of course, it is a Steven Spielberg movie, but to be honest I wasn't too keen on going to see it. SO glad I did though! The day after Christmas, the 26th, we spent the day in North Little Rock again celebrating Christmas with all of Daniel's family--his parents, brothers and their wives, our nieces and nephews, and his grandparents. That was a fun day too! It was so great to see all of them--and the kids have grown so much! Plus, Sean and Kim just had a new addition to their family in November, named Audrey, so we got to see her for the first time too (she is a doll!).
December 27th was my parents 25th wedding anniversary! Congratulations to them! I feel like that is such a huge milestone in a marriage--especially in today's world! We were able to surprise them a little with a small family affair--a replica of their wedding cake and punch and some light snacks. It was really special. I am so lucky to be able to say they are my parents--such a great role model for me personally to look up to! And not only from a marriage standpoint, but also a parenting standpoint. Love them both an incredible amount--words can't describe!
The rest of the week was spent watching football and enjoying time and savoring moments with family and a few of our friends. And then, sadly....we had to head back to reality. We headed back Friday, December 30th and got in late that night. So now, we have rung in the new year (2012...Really?!) and are back at work. But, we are having a watch party for the Cotton Bowl tomorrow night (WPS) which will be great to see all of our friends up here again. Sooooo, that's all for now. Just wanted to share about our joys of the season. I hope everyone else had a fantastic Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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