Hunt Family FAQ

I know everybody is saying, "It's about time you posted something on here!" So, I am going to attempt to answer everybody's questions about our move...back to North Carolina.

Here is a Hunt Family F.A.Q.

Are you in NC permanently or are you just visiting for the holidays?

We have moved everything back here to NC. We are not planning to go back to Texas after the holidays.

How long will you be in Winston-Salem?

We don't really know. We hope to be here for a while but we really aren't too sure. We know we are going to be in NC for a good while though.

Where are you staying? Do you have a place to stay?

Yes, we have a place to stay. :) We are currently living with Brian's mom. She has an awesome townhome with lots of room upstairs for us. And, she is the best mother-in-law ever...seriously! I know what people say about mother-in-laws...but it's just not true about mine. :)

Why did you move back? Did something bad happen? Did you really dislike Texas?

We actually really loved Texas. We met lots of wonderful people and had a lot of fun there. Nothing bad happened to make us move back. There are several reasons that all kinda came together at one time that brought us to the decision to move back.

Even though we really enjoyed living in Texas, Isabel was very homesick. She enjoyed going to school, soccer, and church but had a difficult time being away from our family and friends. We knew that and we hoped it would get better, but it really didn't. She wasn't really acting like herself.

Brian had started attending Southwestern and knew that it was a Southern Baptist school. He did lots of research prior to applying and we had heard great things about the school. There are some great people, professors, and ministries at Southwestern. However, during Chapel time, it came to Brian's attention that what we believe theologically wasn't really lining up with the beliefs shared by the administration. Over time, Brian could see the influence of those views more and more frequently at the school level.

Brian really began to feel called to full-time ministry and my desire to stay home (and be ready for whenever our adoption comes through) started coming together. He began applying for many jobs in Texas. Nothing was coming up. All of a sudden he found out about a position in NC. At first, we weren't sure if he should apply or not, but then we just decided to go for it. As he went through the process and ultimately an interview, our hearts longed for him to get this job and return to NC. It really was our hearts' desire for him to work full-time in ministry and me to be able to stay home. We just knew that this job would be an opportunity for that and a way for us to be back in NC. Unfortunately, we found out that he did not get the job. He made it to the top 4 but ultimately, they affirmed Brian's gifts for leadership and strong teaching abilities and said they felt he would be more fit for a lead youth pastor position. He had applied for an Associate Youth Pastor position.

Since he didn't get the job, why did you decide to move back anyway?

Prior to Brian applying for the job in NC, we knew we were going to move out of our apartment in Ft. Worth. We had applied for on campus housing because it was MUCH less expensive and a townhome had come available. So, we had turned in a 60 day notice with our apartment that would end in November. We had to make a decision to move....to on campus housing or back to NC.

So even though Brian did not get THAT job, we knew in our hearts it was time to move back to NC. We had not felt so strongly that it was time until all of that happened. I think we just kinda kept it as a hidden hope and figured that wouldn't even be a possibility. Basically, we are trusting God to provide what we know He has called and confirmed Brian to do. He wants to continue in school at Gordon-Conwell. He has applied for two other ministry positions in NC.

We are going to remain hopeful and trust God to provide. He has ALWAYS been faithful to us before and has never failed us. We know He will again.

What about school for Isabel?

Oh, it gets crazier, y'all!! I have decided to homeschool Isabel. Yes, I know...I'm a public school teacher and it just seems nuts! But, God has put it on my heart over and over...even before we decided to move back to NC. I don't know if I'll do it again for 1st grade or not but we're going to try it for now. Yes, I've researched and no, I still have not chosen a curriculum. :) Oh, and Isabel is SO excited about this.

What about our adoption?

We are currently #29 on the waitlist. We never got our homestudy updated in Texas because I didn't get a job until the end of August and we were waiting on some other paperwork and stuff with our agency too. Anyway, since we are back here, we will need to do a new homestudy. God knows the timing of all of this and He knows that Brian needs a job for everything to continue. We are trusting Him to provide for all the details. We are still needing to raise funds for travel expenses and other fees. We're planning to apply for grants too.

Yes, we know all of this is just craziness. We can't say we have it all figured out or that we have a specific plan. God has just been full of surprises. We know that He is good and we know that He loves us. He has given us so much encouragement through His Word. This is one of the latest:

Trust in the LORD, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.

(Psalm 37:3-7 ESV)

Home

I'm still not sure how I got this devotional....but I do know that God wanted me to read it. Here it is:

Where the Heart Is Susan Meissner She Reads Featured Author

"He has planted eternity in the human heart ..." Ecclesiastes 3:11b (NLT)

A while back, my young adult son took a trip to visit friends in the state where we used to live. He stopped by the house that had been ours for all of his childhood. And, he felt compelled to knock on the front door and introduce himself to the strangers who now own it.

When he said he had grown up in that house, the wife didn't hesitate to open the door wide and invite him in. She knew that in our hearts we often feel toward our houses what we might feel for a trusted ally, a kind friend or maybe even a silent witness to our pain.

My latest character Marielle Bishop understands this. In my new novel A Sound Among the Trees, new bride Marielle takes up residence in an old house with a storied past. She just isn't sure that this place can be a safe haven for her heart.

We are wired to feel a tug toward that one special place we feel safe, wanted and cared for. Our hearts are restless when we're far from home, or our home is taken from us, or when discord disrupts the tranquility of that place.

So what's a girl to do when she doesn't feel at home? We need to remember that Christ is at home in her. So in a sense, we take our eternal home with us wherever we go. Wherever we are, we can feel safe, wanted and cared for by Christ who dwells inside every believer.

When the Israelites were waiting for God to lead them to their new home in the Promised Land, He had them build a tabernacle for His presence to dwell right there where they were, wherever that was on their journey.

We don't use the word "tabernacle" much these days but if you were to look at its Hebrew roots you would see that it comes from the same word as "dwell" and "abide" and "settle down." When God brings His presence right to where we are, He is "tabernacling" with us.

The Lord God Almighty settles down inside us. His Spirit lives in us. Our heart becomes His Holy tabernacle and He is at home in us. Isn't that a thrilling, mind-bending concept?

The Bible tells us God has "set eternity in our hearts" which means He has made us hungry for His heavenly embrace. The affection we have for our earthly houses stems from this smoldering ember of our longing for Him as our eternal home.

There's no place like home. It's why we like everyone to be home for the holidays and home before dark and why we just want to go home when we're having a bad day. Home is where our hearts are at rest. And our hearts can always be at rest in Him.

Whether your earthly home is as near as your next breath or too far away to be seen today, know that God has promised to tabernacle with you! He dwells with you. You are His earthly address. And in Him, you are home.

Dear Lord, help me today to find all my joy in knowing You are my forever dwelling place and that I am at home in You because You are at home in me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Big Sky, TX

The sky here is amazing. Seriously. Amazing. It's so different from NC because it's so much flatter and wider here. There aren't super tall trees all around either. Here are some of the pictures I've taken since we've moved here.

This was taken from our apartment. My "meteorologist" husband would probably say that's a front blowing in.

Same day, just a little while later.

I took this picture from the passenger window on the way to Waco. There were cows way out in that field and the sun was soo pretty shining down through the clouds.

This was taken at the Stockyards shortly after we moved here.

This was my view from the stop sign right where I turn to drive to my school. God is constantly reminding me of his presence and love for me.

Sunset at Southwestern.
We were walking to our car after a picnic on campus and I had to take this picture.

Texas State Fair!

Well as soon as we got to the fair we got some tickets and then got a map. Yes, this fair has a booklet with several maps. Now, I'm used to our little Dixie Classic Fair in NC where there are no multi-page booklets or 52 foot Texans! We had a lot of fun at this fair!
The great thing is that Big Tex is an awesome landmark to help you find corny dogs (yes, that's what they're called here)! He also greets you and waves his arm.

The first thing we did was find Big Tex so we could eat! EVERYBODY told us to get a Fletcher's Corny Dog so we knew we had to! They are AMAZING!
They also had yummy lemonade in Big Tex cups. :)

As we started walking to toward the Midway we got closer and closer to the Texas Star. That's the name of the tallest ferris wheel in the Western Hemisphere! Crazy huh? It is huge.

Finally we made it to the Kidway where all of the kiddie rides were. At first Isabel was a little nervous but then she warmed up and wanted to ride a lot!

The Fun House! She didn't want to come out!

She said the motorcycle ride was a little too fast for her. :)

Brian rode the "Ladybug" with her and she laughed and smiled the entire time!

Flying Dumbos! I mean "Jumpin' Jumbos"...this isn't Disneyworld after all.

Of course we had to have one more snack!! These have to be, hands down the best nachos I've ever had!! Oh my word. They all came with a little Mexican flag and Texas shaped tortilla chips! (and yes, my chip is backwards)

Whew, we had a great time but we were soo tired when we left. I guess I should have also included Brian's big pretzel, Isabel's crazy bubble blower gun, the cool handmade Mexican belt I found at Mundo Latino, and the enormous car show that was 350,000 sq.ft. of space filled with lots of new cars (Brian really liked this!). We also saw a crazy conspiracy theorist wandering around and just missed the pig races and dog acrobatics! All in all it was a good day. :)

The Train to the Fair

Last week, Brian's mom came to visit us here! We were SO SO excited to have her here with us! No one wanted her to live. While she was here we thought it would be fun to go to the enormous Texas State Fair together! It was a really fun day.

The fair is actually in Dallas so instead of dealing with INSANE traffic, we decided to take a train! There is a train that you can catch here in Fort Worth that is pretty inexpensive and really nice! It was so fun to ride together and just spend time together relaxing and talking on the way there. The ride takes about 45 minutes to get the station in Dallas. From that station, we got on the DART. The DART is like an above ground subway sorta. It rides you all over Dallas based on several different lines. We got on the green line and it took us through downtown and then right to the front ticket office of the fair. It was super easy because we didn't have to deal with parking lots, tolls, parking fees, or traffic!

This is the entrance to the T&P (Texas & Pacific) train station in downtown Fort Worth. It was originally built in 1931 and has this cool nostalgic look about it.

This is the outside of our train, the TRE (Trinity Railway Express).

Nana and Isabel together on the train!

They were so sweet just talking to each other. I love how Isabel is listening so intently.

Look! We were there too! We quickly switched seats because we realized that we are now officially too old to ride on a train backwards. Oh my word, it messed with my equilibrium. Thankfully there were two seats directly across from Nana and Isabel.

Well, we definitely recommend taking the train! It was so fun. I kinda hoped they would have a little drink and snack car too. They do have a nice clean bathroom though...even though it feels like an airplane bathroom. Alright, my next post will be about the actual fair!

September Prayer Requests

I know that I haven't been great at updating my blog or for that matter even reading blogs. I've just been feeling a little, no wait, a lot overwhelmed. We know that we are in the right place but at this time it feels as though we are under a lot of attack. I say that to ask for your prayers. I do want to also share some ways that God has provided for and taken care of us despite craziness that is going on. To be specific, here are some things that have been going on lately.

* I have been sick for about 2 weeks now. I went to the doctor and was given an antibiotic and some cough medicine. On the weekends, I feel better but as soon as I am back at school I start coughing (a ton) and my throat hurts and my head hurts. I think that I might be allergic to chalk or something since I have a big nasty chalkboard in my room. On a good note, the chalkboard was supposed to be taken down this evening and when I return tomorrow will be replaced with a nice new dry erase board. I'm hoping that this helps. I also found out that the school I work at was built sometime in the 50's and is the oldest one in the system.

* Our car broke down. Like completely. The Honda that we thought would last us longer has finally died. The amazing thing about this is that we were able to turn around and sell it for cash on C.list. So we started looking around and researching cars. We were pretty sure we wanted another Honda so we started there. We didn't really have anything particular in mind, maybe another Accord. Well, when we got there we looked at a few and saw some things we might could afford and some other things we definitely couldn't afford. We decided to check out another dealership too. It was not good and the people were not helpful at all. So we headed back to dealership A because we really like the salesman that we had been talking to. No one was pushy or rude. So when we returned the salesman took us inside to see a car that was on display. Apparently for that weekend they had advertised a CRV at a ridiculously great price to try to get people to come in and buy a car. That was the one they put in the paper to get people to come in. Well, turns out the car was Honda certified, which means we have a warranty for a while, has pretty low mileage, was in our price range, and actually runs (unlike our other Honda)! So, yesterday we got everything finished and we bought it! This car is 3 years old. This is crazy new for us. Our newest car was 8 years old and our other one was 11 years old. Both over 200,000 miles. Yeah, we wanted to drive our cars until we couldn't anymore.
We still have our other car but it's not in great shape either. We are seriously considering selling it too and just using one car. So far we've been trying that out and we like it. All of our schedules are staggered so it works. We'll see though.

* My school. The school that I work at is difficult. The staff/faculty is awesome. I am so thankful that I have people that offer to help me and check in on me. However, in the classroom, I am dealing with more defiance, disrespect, and disruptions than I have ever seen or dealt with before. I'm planning lessons where they aren't in their seats for 90 minutes. I'm planning stuff that is relevant and interesting. I have many students that are truly engaged and want to learn....but I also have several students that do not. Please pray for me. Pray that I would have wisdom to know what to say and how to say it. Pray that I would show love but also be just.

I guess those are the three main things I wanted to share. Brian, of course, would also appreciate prayer. He is studying Greek every night. Pray that he would learn it well and that he would have supernatural ability to understand and process everything.

*Oh, also, please continue to pray for the right job to become available for Brian. He wants to work and is applying for many jobs.

Thank you all! I'm not sure how many of you out there are still reading but I sorta wanted to write an update for my processing too. :)

My new favorite song

Alright maybe you've heard this song before but maybe not. It's my new favorite. The video is sweet. It reminds me of me and my husband. :)
It's called "Someday" by Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors. Here's a link to their facebook site. Oh, don't forget to go down and pause or mute my playlist!

Mystery

I'm awake and it's 1:30am. I should be sleeping but I'm restless. Also, my husband just got me Sara Groves' new album. I can listen to her music and just let it sink in like a good book. It's incredible to me how music can speak to our hearts and how God uses it to speak truth to us. It can encourage. It can bring our attention back to God. It can make us stop long enough to think and really pray. Tonight, I've listened to one song over and over. It's called, "Mystery."

"I see my faith before me. It's always there before me.

And I can no more own it than I can own the road that I'm on.

I don't know where it leads me. I don't know where it leads me.

Peace and Resurrection. Suffering and Dejection. I don't know.

And my body's tired from trying to bring You here.

And my brow is furrowed trying to see things clear.

So I'll turn my back to the black

And fall.

And wait for the Mystery to rise up and meet me."

This is how I feel. I'll keep waiting. I'll keep giving over all this unknown to Him.

New Update!

I figure I owe everyone out there an update. :) Sorry I have checked out of blogging for a while. We've been unpacking, applying for jobs, and swimming. We have both been applying for several jobs and have wondered and wondered why we couldn't seem to get any of them. I was able to get an interview for a job that I really wanted as a bilingual Kindergarten teacher a couple weeks ago. It went great and the principal called me and said they really wanted me to work there and thought I'd be a great fit. However, they were having a problem with my Texas certification. She worked with the district office for about a week trying to figure something out but it came down to the fact that in NC there is no such thing as bilingual ed. certification so I technically couldn't take the job. I could take the test here in September but they couldn't hire me now. The principal was so kind and encouraging and said for me to please stay in touch and let her know if I get certified later on. After that I was pretty discouraged and started applying for every Spanish job I could find. I found out that was the only area that I would be allowed to teach. So, still time went by and we heard nothing. We started feeling worried and were being to freak out a bit. If we didn't find a job by the end of the month, we couldn't pay the rent. We just kept remembering that God had called us here and that He has continually provided for us....even though we didn't see ANY signs of it yet. God did lead us to a special verse though. We started reading Habakkuk. Habakkuk had a lot of issues that He brought before the LORD. He didn't understand what was happening and he certainly didn't understand God's timing. However, God was so good to respond this way:

"For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." - Habakkuk 2:3

We committed to trust the LORD no matter what His timing. At the end of Habakkuk, he says, "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the LORD, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places."

Well, fast forward to last Sunday. We have been attending a church here that is super close to where we live. It's incredible really because we know that God perfectly led us to it. There are several families that have adopted and many of those are trans-racial adoptions. Also, there are many families like ours, that have the husband attending Southwestern. There seems to be a real community there and we really like that. So, anyway, we went to a worship/prayer/communion service last Sunday night. We decided to ask for prayer for employment and for Isabel as she starts Kindergarten. At first I felt funny to ask since we had only visited the church 2 or 3 times...but I really just felt so comfortable there. They all came over and prayed for us and it was so encouraging. We left with a sense of hope. We left knowing that God would indeed provide. I love that about God's people. I love that we have each other to remind one another of God's faithfulness and goodness, to spur us on in our faith. So, the very next day, we anticipated something...we just waited knowing that somehow or another one of us was going to get a job. Finally, at 8:45pm, I got a call from a principal of a local high school. He wanted to interview me for a Spanish teaching position. We took a deep breath and relaxed. No, I didn't have the job yet and I hadn't even interviewed yet but we knew.

So, I went for the interview on Wednesday. I got mixed up and went to the other Ninth Grade Campus but they didn't mind and they actually were still interviewing another candidate. The principal told me it would probably be another 30minutes because that lady had car trouble and arrived late. I decided to just sit and write some notes about what I would do as a Spanish teacher. I wrote down some prayers and that 30minutes actually turned out to be perfect because it helped me relax and prepare for the longest interview of my life. Seriously. I was called into their office to interview with the principal and asst. principal. They were both really nice but they wasted no time in asking me every question you can imagine. I answered all their questions and when the last question came, I was so relieved. They thanked me for coming and said that they hoped to let me know as soon as possible about the position. I walked out really having no idea how the interview went. I just wanted to sit in my car and not think for a while. Haha. So, I headed home to relax.

On Thursday, one of my references called me to tell me that she received a call from the school about me. She said they seemed very excited about me and she just knew that would hire me. I still didn't hear anything all day but then this morning, around 9am, I received a call from the principal and he said he was happy to offer me the position of Spanish teacher at their school! Yay!!!

So, this is all new for me. I have taught elementary school for the past 7 years! I know God is stretching me and planning something way better than I could have planned. I'm excited about this opportunity but nervous too! We are just so so thankful that God has provided a full-time job for me so that Brian can go to school full-time. I start sometime next week (when the district processes me as a new hire). Brian and Isabel both start school the week after that.

Thank you all for your prayers! We are so so grateful. It's late now but tomorrow I'm going to post about some exciting news about our house that we have been trying to sell.

I got my Texas teaching certificate!

Guess what?? I got my Texas teaching certificate yesterday! I'm so excited. This has been a REALLY long process. I originally applied for this back in April. There are many steps to take and actually I'm still not completely finished. My certificate is a one year certificate. That means I have a year to take the required tests. I'll take those in September to get my Standard 5 year certificate. I am so relieved though to actually have a certificate here so now I can apply for all the job openings that I have seen. This weekend I have been completing applications. They are super long (the last one I did was 27 pages) but it's worth it to get a job! So, pray that God would provide a great school for me to work at it and for Isabel to attend too.

I'll keep you all posted!!

Jazz Jazz

We miss you Jasmine Judy Hunt.

Jasmine was my cat that I got in college in Boone. During my senior year, I was at my condo alone during Spring Break because I still had to student teach. It was a nice day in the spring and I went out to get my mail. While I was out a cute black cat found me and started following me. She was super affectionate and I assumed that she belonged to somebody in the condo complex. I refused to let her in the condo because I knew I would love her and want to keep her. After a while I had to go outside to get something from my car and there she was still at my door. I finally let her in and she followed me all around the house. She sat on my lap and just stared at me like, "Okay, this is my new place." I decided to go back outside and see if I could find her owners. Of course, the cat followed me as I went to all the neighbors' doors. No one had seen the cat before and nobody wanted it. I let her stay the night and made a make shift litter box. I put signs up everywhere to see if anyone would claim her. No one ever claimed her. My roommate got back and said that the cat could not stay in the apartment so I took Jasmine home. She rode in the back of my Integra the whole way and was as sweet as can be. My grandparents and mom were totally fine with her staying. I went back to school to finish up the year. While I was gone, my mom took Jasmine to the vet....to find out that she was pregnant! So, that summer, Jasmine had several baby kittens and we gave them all away to friends and family. That fall, I got engaged. The next spring, I got married. Of course, Jasmine came with me. She was always the sweetest most affectionate cat. Isabel has loved having her and loved dressing her up. She's such a good sport.

As we planned our move to Texas, we took Jasmine to the vet for all her checkup. They said she was healthy and ready for the big trip. We loaded up the car and plopped Jasmine in the carrier in the front seat. She rode along pretty happily and curious. When we got to the very far edge of NC in the mountains we stopped at an awesome rest area in Clyde. It was beautiful. We knew we should let the cat out for some fresh air. Brian's mom had even packed a little leash for us. So, Isabel got to hold on to Jasmine with the leash while I got our lunch out of the car. Of course, the cat was nervous with all the cars but we knew she was on the leash and I had tightened so she couldn't slip it off. I picked her up and carried her over to the picnic table. As I sat her down, Isabel held the leash. I turned around to get the food out of the cooler. Then, I heard Isabel yell, "Mommy, help me!!" I turned around and Jasmine was trying to run off into the woods. Isabel was holding onto her with all her might. The second that I got to her, Jasmine's collar snapped. She ran up into the woods. She was afraid and wouldn't come down. I was afraid to go towards her because I didn't want to scare her off further into the woods. About that time, two guys from a family came over and offered to help. They went up on either side of her to hopefully get her to come back down. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. She ran further into the woods and up the mountain. Then, Brian and his dad arrived. They both went in to find her. They searched and searched for over an hour. She was gone. We waited and waited and prayed that she'd show up. We looked in every possible place. She was gone. We knew we had to leave because sometimes cats come back and sometimes they just don't. We knew we had to make it to Memphis before too late.

Isabel and I got back into the car in tears. We cried through most of Tennessee. We didn't want to leave her there but we didn't know what else to do. We called my grandma and she tried encouraging us. She said that a nice family would probably find her and keep her and that family must have needed a pet to love. We are choosing to believe that's what happened. It's still sad not to have her here with us. It's strange how a pet becomes part of your family.

We miss you Jazz Jazz.

Tuesday's Update

I’m writing this from my mother-in-law’s house. Today was crazy. Well, this past week has been crazy. I still can’t believe we’re leaving on Thursday. That it’s not a vacation and that we won’t be living in our house again. Tonight, the finality of it all started to sink in. I guess that’s what happens when all of the furniture from your house gets squashed into a Budget rental truck. It’s been difficult for me to pack. Yes, I’m just all around a procrastinator when it comes to packing but I think subconsciously I just kept putting it off because I knew that the more I packed up our stuff the less and less our home would look like home. In my mind, I thought we would be staying the night there tonight and maybe tomorrow night. I don’t know why I thought that because you have to pack up your beds too! Thankfully my family came to the rescue. All of my family came over after work to help load up the truck and pack and they even cleaned up too. I don’t know how it would have gotten accomplished without them. I would still be sitting there with my planner personality trying to fit everything exactly by size into boxes and writing up a list of how to pack it all. Thank the Lord that they came and just started putting everything in boxes and bags and carrying it out. That was the only way that it was gonna get done…by just doing it. So for tonight I just want to say thank you to them. For being my family, for loving me and Isabel and Brian, and for doing whatever they could to help us. I probably shouldn’t type anymore because then I’ll just start thinking about how I’m going to miss them and then I’ll probably start to cry and then I’ll never finish this entry. Besides, tomorrow is a FULL day and I should get my rest since I’m driving 10 hours to Memphis on Thursday!

Part 1: The Apartment

I need to share what all has been happening with our move to Texas. I love sharing these kinds of things because it's all about how faithful God is. He is so so much more faithful that we could imagine and I just love Him for it.

Well, you all know that we planned to move without knowing where to live, how to rent or sell our house, no specific jobs offered, etc. All of it appeared daunting....just like when we first started the adoption process. No one but God could have come up with the money we needed at the perfect time. So, of course, all glory goes to Him for what I'm gonna share with you.

Our Apartment

We had been researching apartments in the southwestern part of Fort Worth, close to the Seminary. They connected us with a lady that would help us search for the right place to live. After lots of researching we made a decision and found an apartment that we thought would fit us perfectly. It's 2 bedrooms with an extra loft bedroom upstairs and additional attic space that can be converted to a little office. It's close to Brian's school, they have a pool and playground, it's next door to a nice park, it's in the right price range, and the bedrooms are a good size. So, Brian called the person that our Apartment P.I. told us to ask for. She wasn't there so he left her a message. Later that day, someone else from the apartments called back. She said they didn't have anything available now that would work for us. She said we could probably get on a waitlist for possible availability in August, but there would be no certainty. Of course, Brian hung up discouraged. We knew we would have to go back to the drawing board and pray again about the right place. That night we just prayed that God would provide what we need. The very next day, Brian received another call. This time it was from the lady that he originally left a message for. She was calling to say that the apartment that we wanted was available as of that day. The people that lived there turned in their notice to leave. She said we were at the top of the list to request it and it was our's if we wanted to start the paperwork. As Brian talked more with her, they both realized they are both believers. She shared that it was actually the Youth Pastor at her church that was living there and moving out because his family wanted to move back to their home state. She said, "I don't know if you're interested in a Youth Pastor position, but when you get here, maybe we could talk about it. I'm on the hiring committee." Craziness. Anyway, so she worked out EVERYTHING perfectly for us and God just gave us so much favor with her. It was amazing.

Tomorrow I'll share about how God has provided for the other steps too!

Fear or Trust

We are moving on June 30th!

I know! It's craziness. I have to share this story with you. God has been so faithfully working out all the details of this move for us. Even though we still can't see how everything is going to happen yet (like finding someone to rent our house), we are trusting Him because He keeps opening doors for us to walk through. Brian and I have been very encouraged lately by reading the story about Joshua and Caleb and the spies from Numbers 13 & 14. This is such a story of trust. The Israelites had reached the Promised Land. They were just outside of it looking in. Moses sent the 12 spies to go check out the land. After they returned this was the report of 10 of them:

“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large."

Then Caleb silenced the people and said: “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Unfortunately the people don't listen or trust that God had already provided this land for them. Instantly fear starts to creep through the camp.

The other spies say:

“We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. " And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.

This is a sad story because the people of God refused to trust that He would provide for them and that He had a greater plan than they did. They missed their opportunity and it wasn't for 40 more years that the Israelites made it into the Promised Land.

We don't ever want to shortchange God's plans or assume that we know best. God used Moses to lead the people to this place. He opened all the doors and set it up perfectly for them. We can see God doing the same thing with our family and our move. Despite our fears, other people's opinions, and the unknowns, we want to trust Him and we never want to miss out on wha t He has in store. And really, what we are learning and gaining is more of Him. More of His sufficiency. More of His grace. More of His love.

Here is how Caleb and Joshua responded:

"The land we walked through and scouted out is a very good land—very good indeed. If God is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land that flows, as they say, with milk and honey. And he'll give it to us. Just don't rebel against God! And don't be afraid of those people. Why, we'll have them for lunch! They have no protection and God is on our side. Don't be afraid of them!" -Numbers 14:7-9 (The Message)

We want to move ahead without fear knowing that God is on our side!

Venturing Forth

I don't think I have any specific updates about our move. We are still planning to move in July. Our biggest prayer request is that the right person would want to either rent or buy or house. Today's devotion from John Eldredge spoke to our hearts. It is easy to get discouraged when you don't see immediate answers after you decide to follow what the Lord has called you to do or if you get little encouragement or criticisms from others. We have often felt like "things will never change." Sometimes it seems hard to hope. It's too vulnerable and just too risky. What if nothing changes? What if God doesn't come through? Those are doubts straight from the enemy. We want to to keep on trusting what He has called us to because He has always been faithful. To keep believing HIS Word and HIS promises. He is good and He'll always be.

Venturing Forth
"It's better to stay in the safety of the camp than venture forth on a wing and a prayer. Who knows what dangers lie ahead? This was the counsel of the ten faithless spies sent in to have a look at the Promised Land when the Jews came out of Egypt. Only two of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb, saw things differently. Their hearts were captured by a vision of what might be and they urged the people to press on. But their voices were drowned by the fears of the other ten spies and Israel wandered for another forty years. Without the anticipation of better things ahead, we will have no heart for the journey.

One of the most poisonous of all Satan's whispers is simply, "Things will never change." That lie kills expectation, trapping our heart forever in the present. To keep desire alive and flourishing, we must renew our vision for what lies ahead. Things will not always be like this. Jesus has promised to "make all things new." Eye has not seen, ear has not heard all that God has in store for his lovers, which does not mean "we have no clue so don't even try to imagine," but rather, you cannot outdream God. Desire is kept alive by imagination, the antidote to resignation. We will need imagination, which is to say, we will need hope." -"The Sacred Romance"

Moving Update

I guess I should post an update here! Sorry I've been slack.

We are still working on preparing for our big move. And yes, we are still moving. :)

About two weeks ago, I received confirmation that my NC teaching licenses had been reviewed by the Texas Education Agency. They approved me for a 1 year license and said that if I take some tests then I would be able to receive a Standard 5 year license. Since I have already taken most of the tests that are comparable to the Texas states, last week I had the testing people (ETS) send my test scores on to Texas. I'm pretty sure they arrived yesterday or today. They will review my scores and decide if my tests were comparable to their's and what tests I would still need to take, if any. So, that's great news! I'm hoping not to take more because they are very costly.

We have found several apartments that we really like in Fort Worth. We have found an area that is close to the school but also near a park too. There are several to choose from so it has been hard. Southwestern recommended a company that works with people looking to rent. We contacted them and they have been helping us a LOT. We tell them what we are interested in and they come back with all of the info on prices, sq.ft., neighborhoods, specials, etc.

We still need to find someone to rent out home. We originally were planning to sell our home but in order to maintain our "assets" for our adoption, we thought it would be best to rent. Later, we can sell it when we need to. Also, this is apparently a renter's market because many people are not being approved for home loans like they were in years past. We have been advertising through friends, flyers, and facebook. Hah, the 3 F's. Some people have been interested but it hasn't been exactly what they needed. So, just a couple days ago we listed our home on Craigslist. We already received 2 responses. Pray that the right family would just come to us and we would know who that is. We want this to be a smooth process and that's what we are praying for.

Many people have asked when we are hoping to move. We HAVE to be in Ft. Worth by August so we would like to move in in July. That is our goal. Would you pray with us that we can make it there by then??

Trusting...

When we started our adoption journey I knew it would be full of times that we would have no other option than to trust the Lord. He has been so faithful to care for us and provide for us. After all, that is what a Good Father would do.

So, when we started this whole moving across the country thing, I knew it would be full of more trusting. I knew there would be things that we just can't control, that we just can't know right away. I would say that trusting and laying down my worry is one of the hardest things for me. Here's the difference with me though...I trust that it will all turn out alright. I trust that God is doing something incredible and His plans for us are good. My problem is trusting for each detail and not being able to control it myself. I want to DO something and just, you know, move things along a little so that I can SEE some evidence. But, knowing our God wants to teach us and stretch us, He is always giving us crazy things that we cannot even try to control! It's a place of surrender over and over. It's me giving it over to Him and saying, "I know...I know you said you've got it."

Because this is something I struggle with, I am fascinated by George Mueller. George Mueller was a pastor and an orphan advocate in the 1800's. He wasn't just that though...A.T. Pierson, who wrote his biography, said he was someone that "devised large and liberal things for the Lord's cause.” He never asked for money and never took a loan or went into debt. He didn't even take a salary for the last 68 years of his ministry. He never went hungry and neither did the children he cared for. He took God at His Word. He believed that no matter what happened, God is still good.

So I am committing to trust what I cannot see. To trust God with the big and the small.

*That the right person would come along and want to rent our house.

*That I would find the right job in the right school. There are a LOT of schools in Ft. Worth! *That Brian could also get a job (preferrably one on campus b/c it would help with tuition). *That Isabel's heart would be strengthened and that God would comfort her as we move and provide the perfect school for her.

*That we would be able to rent the apartment that we have found that seems to be a great fit for our family.

*That our adoption journey would continue smoothly. We already know of people to contact, we're just waiting until we are a bit closer.

*That God would continue to provide for the rest of our adoption expenses.

*That God would provide friends for us.

*That we would find a new church home.

"Everything that I desire really may not meet my needs. Help me to seek first your Kingdom, You'll provide for me. Your grace for me is all I need, all I need is here. Your grace for me is all I need, all I need is here." -"Grace for Me" by Michael Gungor Band

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" -Matthew 6:25-27

Ft. Worth highlights

Brian's highlights of the trip to Fort Worth

1. On the shuttle to the rental car terminal, Brian was asked about why he wants to be a pastor by a famous pimp/brothel owner that has a reality show on HBO. He was able to share the Gospel with him and the guy said he had never heard that God could love and care about him. This story needs its own blog post. Craziness.

2. He ate Texas BBQ Beef Brisket for the first time. He went to a place called Cousin's and it was great!

3. He saw where his classes will be and went on a tour of the whole campus. He learned about the history of the school and what some of the future plans of the school are.

4. He saw the Mission House (where they keep up with all of the missionaries that are a part of SWBTS around the world). Every Friday night, they pray for a particular country and celebrate its culture and listen to someone speak that is from that country or has worked as a missionary there.

5. He visited the campus library. It is the 3rd largest theological library in the world. They have an active Biblical archaeology museum.

6. He attended a Chapel service on Wednesday morning.

7. He ate lunch with 2 professors that spent time getting to know him. They shared about their church planting program. They have a program called 2+2. A student would go full time for 2 years to the seminary. Then you team up with the IMB (International Mission Board) to go to another country for 2 years. While you are there you plant a church. They are working on getting a program set up with the NAMB (North American Mission Board) to work in Mexico for the 2+2.

8. He toured the housing owned by the school and we've decided to look into some other apartments nearby so that we can keep our cat, Jasmine. Isabel would be devastated if we had to give her away....wait, so would I! :) The prices of the nearby apartments are within our budget so that is good news. We are working with someone that the seminary recommended to help us find a good place for our family.


9. He visited the Stockyards which is a National Historic District. A long time ago it was used for selling mainly horses and cattle. Today it has restaurants, shops, and they still do a cattle drive twice daily. Unfortunately, Brian missed the cattle drive because someone drove into a telephone pole and a live wire was in the street causing massive delay and a detour.

10. He drove around the city checking everything out (and making sure they had a Chick-fil-A) and he decided that he loved it.

All in all it was a great trip!

God used it to further confirm that Ft. Worth is where He is calling us!

Brian arrived today!

Brian's first Texas meal! Sliced brisket!

Tickets Purchased!

Alright, so I'm a little jealous. Brian is heading down to Ft. Worth in less than two weeks. I really wanna go too but you know, flights are kinda expensive. The great thing is that we were able to get a flight from Charlotte for a great price! We were checking prices and they all just seemed so high and we were waiting until we got paid to purchase the tickets anyway. Well, on the day we got paid, Brian searched and ta-dah, there was the best deal he had seen! So, he snatched it up. He'll only be gone for 3 days but he will have the opportunity to tour the campus of Southwestern, see the housing where we will be living, attend a worship service, stay for free at their hotel/conference center, and meet with some professors that are in the departments that he will be involved in. When he called to arrange the tour, they wanted to know all about our family and what Brian sees himself doing in the future. They said that they want to know because it helps them plan things for us but also because they already have people praying for us. Isn't that cool? So, after talking to Brian they are going to set up plans for him to meet with some professors from the School of Theology and the School of Evangelism and Missions. He is really excited!


Also, another wonderful provision that I have to share! After booking the flight, Brian started researching rental car options. We never go places where we need a rental car....so we really had no idea what to expect. The last time we used a rental car was for half a day in Hawaii on our honeymoon 7 years ago. As he researched he was finding that prices for a car were going to be close to the same price as a plane ticket!! So, Brian sent out a post on FB to see if anyone had experience with rental cars and could offer some assistance. Well, wouldn't you know that someone would offer some assistance....by offering to take care of all of the cost for a rental!! Seriously, we are so thankful!!


Isn't that incredible?? We're moving right along! Please keep praying that our house would sell quickly and that we could move before the late summer/fall. Thank you!

Why are we moving?

Now that I have posted on facebook about the fact that we need to sell our house because we're moving to Texas I guess I should offer some sort of explanation as to why we are moving to Texas in the first place.

Well we've known for sometime that God was calling us somewhere new. We've actually had a pretty good inkling it was Texas but we weren't exactly sure how or when. Most of you know that ever since Brian resigned from his youth pastor position at our old church, he has had a difficult time finding work. Thankfully, he now has a job but he has not been able to continue his studies at Gordon-Conwell because of the high cost of the classes. He has been continually applying for ministry positions in different places (from Boston to NC to Texas). Sometimes he would get phone interviews and even get in the top 5 but nothing has come through. A few months back he had applied for a job in Spring, Texas. As we were researching the area we starting talking more about how we would like for Brian to be able to go to school full-time so that he can finish up his degree. We knew we were being called toward Texas and for some reason none of the job openings really seemed to fit...even the one he had applied for. So, we started looking into seminaries in Texas. From there we came upon Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. As we watched the opening video on the M.Div page, it was as though the person in the video had heard our conversation and our situation. He asked, "Are you being called to move?" As we listened to the video, even pausing it once to look at each other in surprise, we heard about how the Master of Divinity program there has a church planting track and a Hispanic ministry track: 2 things that we have felt called to. We heard about on campus housing options for families and other things that we had been talking about.

Our next step was to research teaching options for me in Ft. Worth. As we started looking into it we found that they have a need for bilingual teachers and even offer a sign on bonus and stipend to them. We found that the starting pay for a teacher in Texas is ridiculously nice compared to my teacher's salary in NC. We would actually be able to pay for Brian to go to school full-time! That is something that we could never afford here. So, we are getting ready to mail my license and transcripts to Ft. Worth so I can get a provisional Texas teacher's license and then hopefully get a job for the fall.

So, after we saw those big answers to much prayer seeming to come together, Brian applied to the school. It took a while to get his transcripts and everything but he was officially accepted into the M.Div program for the fall at Southwestern on Monday.

We are hoping to be able to move out there during the summer so now we are working on selling our house. We have started lots of projects to make our house more "sell-able" and we would appreciate your prayers for it to sell!

We also wanted to share that we are still continuing with our plans to adopt. Nothing has changed with that. Our agency works with cooperating agencies in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. We will have an addendum done for our homestudy to update our new information once we get there. It will not cost as much as the original homestudy. We will also have to update our USCIS information eventually but that is actually free for your first update. We still don't have any idea about the time line of when we would receive a referral but we are trusting God with all of the details. We want to be obedient to what and where He is calling us to. He has always been faithful and trustworthy so we are confident that He will continue to be.

Dallas

Accepted!

That's the news for today! Brian's last transcript finally arrived today AND Southwestern sent him an e-mail saying that he was accepted into the Master of Divinity program for the fall!!!!!! Isn't that great news?! We are SUPER excited! The next two big steps are to sell our house and for me to find a job/get my teaching license in Texas. We are working on both of those things now! I'll write some more details tomorrow!

The transcript arrived!

Guess what? Brian's transcript from Gordon-Conwell finally arrived at Southwestern today! We can stop obsessively checking the website for it now! Wait no we can't....now we will check to see if he has been accepted! On the website it says to allow 7-10 business days to hear whether he was accepted or not. If he gets accepted, we are hoping to use tax money if we get some and some money from side work that Brian is doing to pay for a ticket for him to fly out there and tour the campus. They will provide lodging for 2 nights and food for 1 day on campus. He would fly in on probably a Sunday and do the tour on Monday and then fly back on Tuesday. The tour would start at 9am and he would see the academic buildings. He would have lunch with the professors from the M.Div department. Then he would tour any remaining buildings in the afternoon and he would get to see the on campus housing. Dinner would be in the cafeteria.

So, we keep seeing Texas over and over again. We hear it in conversations and randomly meet people from there. We have seen it on random t-shirts, license plates, games at my school (weird), lone flags flying in front of businesses.

On the way to church on Sunday, we drove the same way we always drive and as I was looking out the window to the left, all I could see was the Texas flag up on a hill outside of a business. They had other flags too because I could see their poles but I couldn't see any of the other flags. Crazy huh? :)

No news but a fun God moment!

Well, we still don't have any news about Brian's application status and whether or not he has been accepted. We have been waiting for Gordon-Conwell to send his trancript and they made a mistake and didn't send it out within 1-2 days even though we paid extra for that. When Brian spoke with them they said they would try to mail it yesterday. As of today, it has not been received by Southwestern. So, we are really hoping that NEXT WEEK we will know SOMETHING! It is soo stressful to just wait and wait on everything in our lives. While we wait we are trying to be productive in getting our house ready to sell though. This week we have been really busy with work though and haven't gotten as much accomplished but we're hoping to use this weekend to do some more work and start painting the kitchen cabinets.

I don't think I shared about last weekend though! Well, last weekend we went to our friends' little boy's birthday party at their house. It's sorta complicated but another couple came that we are friends with too. They brought one of their new friends that was staying with them for the week. While we were all talking I found out that she is from Texas and lives about 15 minutes from Ft. Worth. She told us that she has many friends that go to Southwestern and even knows a couple that has a little boy and lives on campus like we hope to do. Also, a few weeks ago Brian and I had been talking about how we'd love to find a Reformed Baptist chuch but ya know, there really aren't many of those churches around here and we assumed there probably aren't in Texas either. So, my new friend started telling me that she and her family go to a Reformed Baptist church in Texas! Isn't that funny? We had seriously just been talking about that at home and then she shared that they go to one. Anyway, we thought it was so cool that God would bring us together to talk about Ft. Worth and Southwestern at a place we never expected!

We still haven't heard...

We thought we were gonna find out a couple weeks ago if Brian was accepted or not. We actually found out that his transcripts weren't sent so he has requested that they be sent and now we just wait. Brian got a call from Southwestern just to check in with him. They were super nice and helpful. We are trying to figure out a way for at least him to go out there. They will cover lodging and food if we can buy the plane ticket. I'd love to go too but I'm pretty sure we can't afford that either unless we get an amazing tax return or something. I guess we'll see what happens. We're still in the waiting phase but while we wait we are still working on fixing up our house to sell it.

So far we (mostly Brian) have:

1. Removed the metal shower doors, bought a new curtain and rod and hung them up.
2. Sanded and specially primed all the cabinets in the kitchen.
3. Removed the wallpaper border that has apparently been up in our kitchen for 20 years.
4. Re-organized the bookshelf in our living room so it doesn't look like such a mess.
5. Stayed well long enough to do all that. :)

No es imposible

This week we are supposed to find out if Brian was accepted at Southwestern. We are trusting God to lead us the right way but sometimes I'm so afraid that we're gonna mess it up! I know that seems silly but I just don't wanna make any decision too quickly. I think I feel that way because it's so my nature to want to do something new and go somewhere new. I've felt restless for sometime and I don't want this to just be a "cure" to my restlessness. I want it to be the real leading of the Lord. In my heart, I believe that it is. I guess I'm just a little scared.

We're working super hard to fix our house up. The last time that we tried to sell our house went okay but most of the potential buyers were turned off by the kitchen. They all said it's too small (which it is) and they didn't say this but I'm sure they thought it was dated (which it is). So, we are trying remedy those things. Brian has been working so hard to sand and paint the cabinets. It's been a chore because we found out that they aren't made of wood! AND if you paint something not made of wood you have to treat with other stuff first along with a primer. I'm thankful that he works with people that know all about this stuff. Also, I've been trying to pack up stuff to try to de-clutter the house. This weekend I tackled the bookshelf in our living room. It was FULL of stuff that we either already read, never read and never intended to, or are currently reading. It was also full of pictures, cards, instruction manuals, Isa's artwork, etc... So, I found this cute basket on clearance at Michael's and then another one at Target to store things that we really need. I filled one up with notecards and envelopes so I can actually FIND a card to send someone when I want to. The other one I used to organize some of Isabel's stranded crayon boxes, notepads, inkpads, and stencils and stuff. I think it looks a lot better...now to get all of the other junk out of the floor.

I feel as though we are fighting to get all of this done though. Something has come up to throw a wrench in just about every thing that we've tried to accomplish. From Isabel being sick all week to Brian having to tackle things alone to him getting really sick today. It feels like a battle. I know we will get it all finished but it just seems so daunting sometimes.

I just thought of this verse.
Matthew 19:26 says,

"Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This is the first post

I'm just trying this out to actually see how it looks.