Moving.

Have you ever had news that you wanted to share with everyone in the world yet you had to keep it under wraps? That is where we have been for the last couple of months.

I still remember about 2 1/2 years ago when Cody and I were headed to the very first meeting of our young couples small group. We stopped at Hasting's for buy one get one free hot chocolate and were having a discussion about some friends who are stay at home moms. It lead into me saying that someday I wanted to stay at home which lead into a big fight. We, of course, put on a happy face for small group and then the next week lead a discussion on fighting in marriage. Fun, huh?

Since that conversation and many more once I got pregnant, staying home has been something that we've talked about, cried about, worried about and feared that it would never happen. Coupled with that was the talk of when it was time for us to get back into a traditional ministry position. While we both feel like our recruiting jobs are a form of ministry, we both feel a calling into youth ministry and have been mindful of going back to traditional ministry in a church setting.

We began to casually look at open positions in towns around our current home and places closer to our family. This time last year we actually interviewed with a church and they were ready to hire Cody, but there were some things that came up and it just wasn't the right position for us. We kept looking, waiting, praying. A few more resumes were sent out, but the timing with Griffin being born just wasn't right. Griff came, life got crazy, maternity leave passed quickly, I started back at work, all the while still praying that something would change and eventually I would get to stay home with him.

Then in December Cody was called for an interview in the smaller town of Snyder. {about an hour and 10 minutes from where we currently live, closer to our family.} We went, spent a few hours with the search committee and left with mixed feelings. We were hopeful that something could come of it, but yet didn't really leave with the feeling like they liked us. The next few weeks flew by, the holidays hit and we didn't hear much. Cody followed up a few times but they were still waiting to do one interview and then would decide on who got the second interview.

I moped. I cried. I hated dropping Griffin off every morning knowing that there was no end in sight of our daycare days. Cody checked in again, still no news. More moping and crying from me. {don't I sound like a joy to live with?!} And then one day, totally unexpected and out of the blue, Cody got a call from the search committee. They'd finally finished the last interview and knew without a doubt that they didn't need to do a second interview, he was the man for the job.

We were shocked. Excited. Scared. Full of questions. Lots and lots of questions. We ended up driving down to Snyder that weekend and had about a 2 hour conversation with the pastor and his wife where our questions were answered. We then met with the pastor and the leader of the search committee team to go over some other information and to set a date to come met the youth group. {if you're not a member of a baptist church, after they interview the candidates, once they decide who they want to hire, they will usually bring them in to meet the church, then once it is time to officially hire them, the minister will come in view of a call. the church members then vote yes or no to hire the minister. what can I say, we like committees and lots of steps to get things done!}

We had went down on January 27th, met the junior high, had dinner with the personnel committee and the finance committee, then met with the high school students. We were still cautious going into the night because we weren't sure if something would happen and they would change their mind, but when we got there, they introduced Cody as their new youth minister, so we knew then they were pretty serious about him! :)

We went last weekend to look at houses, meet the church, spend more time with the youth group and have the official vote.

It has been quite a ride over the last couple of months and weeks as it has all come together. We've been packing up our house and getting ready to list it, yet it still hasn't felt real. Today was actually the first day that it hit me... we are leaving Abilene.  It's hard to believe it's been almost 10 years since we moved here. It has become home to us and we have made friendships and memories that will never be forgotten.

I definitely did the ugly cry today in church as I realized we don't have too many Sundays left before we're off on our new adventure. I have absolutely no questions that moving to Snyder and taking this youth ministry position is in God's plan for our lives right now, but we also know that it will come with some challenges and sadness as we adjust to a new place.  We would definitely appreciate your prayers that our house will sell quickly and that our transition will go as smoothly as possible.  You might even throw in a couple of extra prayers just for me... my new boss can be a real stinker to work with! :)