April Update- God has provided!!

As April has come to an end, we wanted to do another update on everything that is going on with our ministry that God has called us to. You already know that we have arrived safely to Tennessee and have spent these last 2 weeks settling into our new home. This house in itself is a HUGE blessing and we are so grateful to have it (I'll post more in it later).

We have been welcomed by both family, friends and church members and it has been overwhelming. Not having lived in Tennessee for 7 years now and then coming back it has instantly become evident that it is home here for us. We love the area we are in... it is beautiful! The people of the Powell community have already won our hearts as well and there have just continued to be so many confirmations that we are right where He wants us!

One of the BIGGEST confirmations is the way God has provided for us financially through so many people. We were astonished when we heard this past week that we not only met our goal BUT EXCEEDED IT!!! 2 months ago we sat with the overwhelming task of raising $20,000 and I'll be honest and confess that I truly didnt think it was possible. I did trust God in my head and knew that He had called us to do this drastic move, however my heart waivered. Mark 9:23 kept playing over in my head, "All things are possible to him that believes." But God this is just too crazy..... there is NO way!
Well God has proven faithful and abundantly so. Now 2 months later, we have $22,000!!!!! Absolutely incredible to me and I am still in shock honestly! Our God is our constant provider and through this process my faith and trust has increased. So thankful He isnt done with me yet and continues to show Himself to me and make me more like Him!

A few things you can pray for are that we can both find jobs. I know that may seem crazy since I just wrote about how God has already provided, and He has. But our journey is only beginning and we must continue to do whatever we can to get us through the next three years. We have both already had interviews, however, it is all in His time! Please also pray for a dear family back at Bethesda, the Stones. Mrs Betty worked in the nursery and was SO sweet to our family, loving on us in so may ways. She passed away unexpectedly Monday night and is now with Jesus. She was the primary caregiver of her three grandchildren Kayla, Dylan and Tyler so please pray for them.

Check out JR's blog to watch the video he recorded for even more updates and details. And thank you SOOO much for all of your prayers!!

Orange and White Game

Our first Saturday in Knoxville was the Orange and White game and we were so pumped that it worked out that way! We went and cheered on the Vols and enjoyed time with our friends and family!

 It was Carter's first game with the Vols but he was more interested in the girls. Go figure :)

My oldest had a blast though! He cried when we left. This boys blood is ORANGE and I love making memories at our Alma Mater!

Goodbye Reception at Bethesda

We were so blessed with a going away reception given by our Bethesda family before we left! We have been so loved by these people and are so grateful for God allowing us to cross paths.

Griffin's birthday

 I cannot believe we have a 3 year old! Waking up today not being with our little man was hard but we were thrilled to celebrate with him once we got back from our church planting conference in Orlando. We asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate and he said, "CRACKER BARREL!"

Little brother loves the CB rocking chairs

Daddy and the birthday boy

Granny came to wish him a happy birthday too!

And they sang him the birthday song and gave him ice cream... one happy boy!

He had a package waiting on him when we got back home and was very surprised to have his GDaddy send him his favorite cookies! GDaddy always spoiled him with them in NC and so it was extra special to have a little piece of him!

Griffin also received a birthday card with $3 from a very sweet couple, Jim and Lynn Todd. You'll also notice his new outfit that Granny got him which he LOVES!

We ended the day with movie night and the birthday boy picked... BATMAN!

Birthday Boy Griffin!

We made it to Tennessee!!!

We made it to Tennessee!!! One flat tire and 7 hours later we got to see our home for the very first time. To say that we loved it was an understatement!!

The boys and I ran around in every room singing "Oh HAPPY day!" It was so wonderful to have a place to call our own and also one that we love love love too!

We were immediately blessed by our friend Bobby who came over to help us unload. This man is the real deal.... he loves Jesus and therefore loves and serves others!

And we were continuously blessed with more help! We had no idea these guys, who we didnt even know but were from our new church, were going to come and help us as well!

Along with these sweet people

Even more!

Before it was all said and done we have over 20 people there to unload with us and the truck was all done in less than 2 hours! Here is our new pastor's daughter MariClaire showing off that the truck is empty! We were so blessed by our new church family and completely amazed at how they served us! Plus a very thoughtful family brough us dinner!!! God knew just what we needed before we even had time to worry about it upon arriving to our new home and we couldnt be more grateful :)

Packing it up!

 The day came that it was finally time to say goodbye to the yellow house. I would never say that I liked this actual house however it did teach our family and specifically me so many lessons! It was a humbling experience to say that least and I am thankful for how God used it in our lives.

 We packed everything we owned in the truck today! It was crazy for sure trying to get everything to fit into a 24 foot truck... and boy do you realize how much JUNK you have when you move ha!

We couldn't have done it without all these sweet guys, plus many ladies and even other guys who didnt make the picture. They were so great helping us get everything ready and loaded.

And on the morning of Monday, April 16th, this was my view for 7 hours :)

Off to Tennessee we go!

WOW God!

These past few days I've simply been astonished and can only say, "Wow God... WOW!"

So let me back up to August 2010. We had just been voted onto staff at Bethesda in April and we decided we wanted to be closer to our church to better serve our community. We put our house in Wake Forest on the market for sale by owner. We had a steady amount of showings for 9 whole months but never had a serious prospective buyer. We finally gave up and decided just to rent out our home so that we could still be closer to Durham. God provided us with 4 amazing tenants and we moved to Durham August 2011.

Now fast forward to February 2012, with all of the changes ahead of us with the move and all we knew that we would again have to try and sell our house because we simply could not afford a mortgage AND rent. This time since we were in desperate need to sell and quickly we decided to get a realtor. There had been a sweet guy who was a friend of a friend that had kept us up to date with the market during the time we took our house off the market and so he was the obvious choice for us. We worked everything out with our renters who were so gracious to serve us by allowing us to show our home while they were living there. The house went on the market on Monday and it was sold by FRIDAY.

Did you catch that? Monday- went on the market. Wednesday- buyer came to see the home. Thursday- offer from buyer. Friday-we agreed and wrote a contract. OUR HOME SOLD IN FOUR DAYS!!!!!!

I am STILL saying, "WOW God!" I mean really? Can anybody say "C-O-N-F-I-R-M-A-T-I-O-N"??? It was truly as if God was saying, "Yes, you guys are doing exactly what I want you to do and I am going to be with you every step of the way."

Thank you Jesus for your Perfect plan for us! You knew exactly when we needed to sell our home and have been there every step with us along the way. I continue to be in awe of YOU!

Please continue to pray that the closing goes through at the end of June!!!

Celebrating Easter

 We had an awesome Easter weekend starting with these two faces of our boys when they got their Easter baskets! Sure JOY!

 Carter's favorite part was the candy, surprise surprise :)

 And Griffin couldnt wait to hunt eggs with his new baseball basket.

 They had their first chance to hunt eggs at our church on Saturday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day and we were thrilled to have so many people in our community there.

 Ash stole a picture with Carter man

 The boys enjoyed a rare time of having their Daddy to themselves at a church event. Ha you dont know what youre missing until Daddy has to work during all the fun!

That night we were invited to dye Easter eggs with our adopted family and had a blast!

 Our sweater vest boys! They looked so handsome on Easter morning.

 Picture with Daddy at church

Picture with silly boys and Mommy

 Our best attempt at a family photo

 Since I had my camera on hand, I took the chance to capture the boys with their Sunday School teachers. This is sweet Mrs. Laura and Carter.

 Mrs. Debra and Griffin

 Mrs. Debra's husband, Tony. Or as Griffin calls him "G Daddy!"

Griffin and his favorite girls, Ashley and Heather.

 After a wonderful church service we headed to the park to hunt Easter eggs. I'm so thankful for a sweet friend who shares her family with us. Love my Stacey!

 Carter enjoyed the swings

 while Griffin and Daddy hunted the eggs

 Carter started getting sleepy and wanted to snuggle with Uncle Jake!

 This is Mema and Papa. They are the grandparents of the sweet family who has loved us so much and we just adore them!

We also celebrated Johnie's birthday!

So much to celerbate and lots of memories made... we had a wonderful Easter!