Homecoming

God showed me something just now as I was reading my daily devotion and I thought I would share it with you. Lately I've been homesick for my house in Wilmore. I loved that house and that neigborhood. I loved that I could walk to my friend Jen's house anytime of the day and be greeted with open arms and a smile. I loved that Anna Claire had several playmates within walking distance. I miss everything so, so, so much!! However, I do like it here, please don't think I'm miserable here. There is lots to do and see and I've met several nice people who have been so welcoming, but it just doesn't feel like home...yet. Anyhow, I miss home...I told Craig last night how homesick I am and he said you shouldn't be homesick for Wilmore, you should be homesick for Heaven, that's our home. That really wasn't what I wanted to hear, oh well.
My devotion today was called "Homecoming" and the passage was Psalm 73:21-28. Part of the scripture says, " When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, ...you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you." Ahhhh, He always knows what I need to hear and when I need to hear it. I love it when I open God's word and He speaks right to me. In chapel at preschool at SCC Ms. Connie always said to the kids, "When you open God's word, God opens his mouth." How true! And how amazing is it to picture my heavenly Father holding my right hand through this journey! I know several of you reading this have went through a move and have experienced the same feelings I am feeling. I pray that God will give you the peace, comfort and strength He has given me during this time.

Our 6th anniversary

This weekend was a fantastic weekend! Sunday was our 6th anniversary. Craig kept telling me all day Saturday that Sunday was going to be a great day...a day I'll never forget. I couldn't figure out what in the world it could be...because I thought we were going to have the kids with us our date. We haven't been here long enough to find a sitter, so I just couldn't figure out what in the world he could be planning that was so unforgettable. Long story short....we were sitting at O'Charly's after church enjoying a delicous lunch and guess who walks up?!! My mom and my step-dad. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever guessed they were coming to see us! I was shocked to say the least! After lunch, we dropped the kids off at the hotel my parents were staying at with them and Craig and I went our date...kidless! We went to Table Rock State Park in the upstate mtns of South Carolina. We took a nice little hike on a 92 degree day, so we didn't hike too long. :) And to top it all off we got a room at the Hampton right down the hall from my parents. It was so nice to get a night away from our stinky little temporary house. It was definitely an anniversary I'll never forget!

Today, Monday, mom, steve, the kids and I went and spent the day in Greenville. It is such a neat little city! We went to the zoo, falls park, Brick Oven Cafe and then got ice cream. It was nice to see them!! I'll be sad to see them go, but I know they'll be back Sept. 11th. I'll add pictures as soon as I can find my camera...hmmmm, where did I put that?

Love you all!

New Job

Today I went in to First Baptist Church of Anderson and got a job. It was the easiest job interview I've ever been to. They have a child development center there that I'm going to be working at 5 days a week from about 8:30-12...I think. I'm not sure of the details yet, but I definitely have a job and the kids will be attending there also. It will be a nice way to meet new people and keep the kids socially engaged for a few hours a day. I wanted Anna Claire to be in some kind of preschool the year before she starts kindergarten. Next year, I may just stay home with Jackson or if I really like this job I may continue to work there.

Also, the director of student ministries here at the college asked me if I would be interested in mentoring women at the college who struggle with eating disorders. Those of you who know me well, know that I have a passion for helping girls who are struggling with this. I was excited that God will be able to use me and my past experiences for the good! Pray for the women I will be meeting with and pray also that I will say the words they need to hear.

Not much else to share now, but if you go to this site you can see a video of downtown Anderson, SC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rliVpPJMnUY

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I just finished skyping with my mom, sister-n-law and nephew. It is so neat and much needed. I love to see their sweet faces. It makes me a little less homesick. I thank God for that kind of technology. It makes the move a little easier knowing that my kids will be able to see their family often, even if it is through a computer screen. If you don't have skype yet you can download it for free at skype.com. Let me know if you do and we'll have a video call too, that is, if you have a web cam.

That last two days have been pretty uneventful, therefore I'm bored and boredom leads to me feeling down in the dumps and longing for home. I did get together with English again yesterday at Books-a-Million, so that helped the morning fly by. It will be so much better once we get in our house. This little place we're staying is tiny and cramped. The kids don't seem to mind though. They pass the time by jumping on beds and climbing on anything they can find. We also take a lot of walks around town and the campus. The neighborhood around the campus is beautiful...lots of big, old, beautiful houses. I can just imagine ppl sitting on the back porch enjoying a sweet tea. Every once in a while I'll see palm trees in people's yards or along the road...I never imagined I'd be living somewhere with palm trees! I think I kind of like it. :)
I'm just ready to have everything I own in it's place. Last night, I made frozen pizza for dinner and had to use socks to get it out of the oven b/c all our towels are dirty and who knows where my oven mitts are?! Oh well, it could be worse.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. Craig will have some down time and we can hang out as a family. Anna Claire will be attending her first b-day party at a swimming pool, so she is very excited for that. We may go hiking in the mtns or just down the road to Greenville to explore the city. It is nice to know we have lots of options! We are in the middle of lots of big cities and also near mtns. not to mention 3 hours from Charlston, SC.

Here is a verse I ran across Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Amen to that!

Well, the kids are napping so I'm going to try to nap too. Love you all!

Play dates

Yesterday we had a wonderful play date at the pool with 4 wonderful women, Stacey, Sheryl, Abby, and English. Between all of us there were 12 kids. All of our husbands work at Anderson University. Stacy's husband is the women's basketball coach, English's husband is the tennis coach, Abby's husband is the Director of Student Activities, and Sheryl's husband works in the Admission's office. We have all been transplanted here in Anderson and I'm the newby. :) We enjoyed each other's company and shared stories about husbands, kids and how we ended up here. It was a day full of fun and laughter.

Today we met back up with English and her little girls, Aly (yrs) and Josie (11 mo). We went to the library for story hour. It was good to see them again. Aly and Anna Claire really enjoy each other's company. :) Aly told her mommy that Anna CLaire is her best friend. Not only am I thankful for God putting women in my life here quickly, but more so Anna Claire's. She has met so many little girl's her age and I love that she has made friends so easily! However she has mentioned several times that she is missing her Ky friends and her cousin Carter as am I! I think about you all everyday! I think of my old house and neighborhood and I miss my daily walks with Jen. I was looking at pictures of our life group the other night and cried. I miss your smiling faces and our outings. It makes me sad to think I haven't even met Avery yet, Aimee's new little one, and I miss Aly B and Ella so much!!! BUT I love the verse in Corinthians that reminds me "to be content whatever the circumstances....I can do everything through him who gives me strength."
I know I will see you all again soon! Thank you for you thoughts and prayers during this time. You all are in my prayers also. I thank God for putting you each in my life.
I could go on and on, but I do not want to bore anyone, so I'll stop here. More to come tomorrow!

The beginning of our journey down south.

I've decided to start a blog. Since we are farther away from family and friends I wanted to have a way I could keep you all posted and up to date on what is going on with our family. Now I just have to stay on the ball and keep up with this. Today is my first day of being a resident of South Carolina. How we ended up here has been a journey and I want to let you all know about it. Many of you have already heard, so I'm mostly just writing this so I never forget the chain of events that led us here to South Carolina. I'll try to breif. :)

It all started when Craig started looking for a new full-time job. He was an awesome realtor and did fantastic at it, esp his second year. The economy took a turn for the worst and so did his real estate business. Knowing he couldn't provide for our family by working part time at Asbury he began his search. Now, I had a rule for Craig to follow...he had a 3 hour window around Minford, Ohio. I would move, as long as it wasn't farther from my family. He applied for every type of job, not just coaching. Nothing was working out. Finally, I told him just do what you have to do to get a job anywhere. At this point I knew something had to be done. Bills were not going to get paid soon if something wasn't done. Speaking of bills being paid, the Lord provided for us always!! Just when we thought we weren't going to be able to make a payment, Craig would sell a property and the closing would come just in time for us to get our bills paid on time! This happened several times. Matthew 6:31-33 says, "so do not worry, saying,'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all thises things will be given to you as well."
Long story short, Craig applied for the Anderson job the day I told him to do what he had to do. A month or so later Anderson University called, he went for the interview and here we are. It wasn't an easy choice for me.

I would ask God to lead me to verses to help me make this big decision and here are some I read:
Ephesians 5:1517 "Be very careful, then, how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every oppurtunity, because the days are evil. Therefor do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is.

Ephesians 5:22 "Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord.....Not as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything!"
I knew Craig wanted this job, it was his dream job...fulltime Div. 2 volleyball coach.

Craig and I took a trip down here by ourselves. As we were driving around I pulled out my daily devotional. I was feeling very torn and knew that this place is nice and all but I want to stay put in KY. I am comfortable there, I have friends there, my family is only 3 hrs away, I love my church. I prayed "God, please let today's devotion lead me to the right decision." Be careful what you ask for. The devotion was from the book of Joshua chapter one...this is what it said, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go." The devotion went on to talk about how God may be calling you to make a move that you are not comfortable with, but to have faith b/c if God is in it, then he will bless you...okay, okay...I thought I might throw up after I read that, but I thanked God for the guidance anyway. :) As if that wasn't enough, on the way home my conversatation with God was going something like this..."WHY?????????????? No, I don't want to, I won't do it, you can't make me, why would you want to move us farther from family, it doesn't make since and these are the reasons why...if you really want me to go God show me a sign, some kind of visible sign...a rainbow? a flash of lightning? Well, I didn't see a rainbow, I didn't see a flash of lightening, instead I was two big Greyhound buses drive by that said GOANDERSON.COM. (Anderson is the name of the university). Ouch!! I felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach.
The days following were hard, but once the decision was made God gave me a peace that passeth all understanding.
Now what? The decision has been made, now what? We had to sell our house and in the market today, I was scared! Praise God it sold in 37 days. Not only did the we have to sell our house, but the ppl who bought ours, had to sell theirs, and the woman who bought theirs, had to sell hers. It all worked out and everbody's sold in less than two weeks!

One more thing I have to add to this. I've been reading a book called 100 + Ways God Shows Me He Loves Me. It is a book compiled with stories of women who have picked something special to them so everytime they see it they will remeber God's love for them. I picked a yellow finch, b/c it was my grandma Lou's favorite bird. I hadn't seen a yellow finch since I had been reading this book, about a month went by and I was feeling down. It seemed like nothing was going our way and I prayed, "God, I know you love me and I know you are in this move with us, but things just don't seem to be working out right now. Can you please send a yellow finch to remind me of your love for me and to remind me that we are doing the right thing." A little while later after saying that prayer I arrived at the Arboreteum to take a walk. I had just started my walk and guess what flew right in front of me?! A yellow finch! Thank you God for loving me and for reminding me of the love you have for me! Amen!!