So a quick update on little Hank first. Life just keeps trucking along. Hank will be 4 months old in less than a week!
4 month picture coming soon!
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| That sweet face! |
He is such a happy little boy! (for the most part, ha). I have so enjoyed being this little guy's momma and am so proud to call him mine! He started sleeping through the night about two or three weeks ago, and I am loving my sleep again!
Before Hank was born I wrote a post about how life is constantly like the changing seasons. At the time I wrote that post, we were about to enter our new season with Hank and with me staying home full time. And now, we are again changing seasons...
Sometime in the next few weeks (after Mother's Day and before June 1st), our little family will be moving to a little town about 4 hours east of where we are now. David just accepted a job as full time youth pastor/associate pastor at his home church! We are so excited to embark on this new journey together! I believe this will bring great things for our family!
These past four months have been really busy and really hard. David is working full time, he is the youth pastor at a little church in Siloam Springs (which is a part time position), and he is taking a seminary class which requires lots of time reading and writing papers on top of preparing for Sundays and Wednesdays. Oh, and on top of all that, he is an excellent husband and father! He has done a phenomenal job fulfilling all his roles as provider, husband, dad, youth pastor and student. It has required many late nights of studying and preparation. I am so proud of how well he has done in this season, but I am so ready for life to slow down a bit! This new position will allow for just that. He will no longer need to spend his evenings preparing material for Wednesdays and Sundays, and that will be a huge blessing for our family.
We are so thankful for the past 8 months that David has been able to serve at Gum Springs Baptist Church. It has played a huge role in confirming God's call on his life to ministry. The people there have been so encouraging and supportive, and we could not have asked for a better pastor to serve under. Thank you, Gum Springs, for all your love and support to David and our family! And thank you for loving our little Hank! You all have been such a blessing to us!
Now, as usual, let me backtrack a little bit. God has done some amazing things with impeccable timing that has confirmed to us this is exactly where He is leading our family. Let me fill you in with a little timeline...
January 22nd - I wrote this question in my journal: "Am I holding my husband and our family back from following God 100% by not being willing to move if that is what ministry would lead us to?" The answer to that question was a resounding yes. You see, ever since my mom passed away, I have not wanted to leave my family's side - I feel like that is pretty understandable. But as time passed, I feel like the Lord revealed to me that this should no longer be so. It would not be right for me to hold my family back if the Lord were to open a door for us to move and follow Him in full time ministry. Soon following this journal entry, I talked to David about it, and we decided that we would be open to follow wherever the Lord might lead us.
February 22nd - David met with the Associational Missionary of the Northwest Baptist Association and expressed his desire to enter into full time ministry. He gave him his resume to be passed along for any open positions. This was a big first step in pursuing full time ministry!
February 24th - TWO DAYS LATER - David's pastor from his home church called looking for a full time youth pastor
... lot's of soul searching on my part ...
April 19th - We went in view of a call and the church voted YES to David as youth pastor! Long story short, we've accepted and will be heading that way in the weeks to come!
I'll be honest and say, I wasn't expecting something to happen so soon. The Lord had to do a lot of work in my heart after that phone call to bring me to a place of accepting this new direction. Moving still scares me. Leaving my home and my family will be hard, but I also expect many great things! I have no doubt this is where the Lord is leading us, so I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Also, somewhere in the mix of the past 2 months, God had some more great timing... So we have been long-term house sitting for a family at my home church while they moved out to California. The initial timeline was that they would be gone for 2-4 years. Well, we are almost at the 2-year mark and we recently found out they will be moving back in June or July. We will be moving out in May. How cool of God?! Timing couldn't be more perfect!
Please pray for our family as the transition will begin in the next few weeks. That God will continue to perfectly work out the details (as He already has been), and please pray for my heart as it will be difficult saying goodby to home, family and friends, although I am confident of His blessings in this new season.
I'm sure I will have more to write on this topic in the weeks to come. But this is all for now!
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| Our little family :) |
"This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."
