a wild ride {life update}

Another year has come and gone, with great plans of writing, that have felt like a failure. Sometimes I think my blog mocks me as I tell myself every year, “This will be the year I write once a week!” It is what it is. However, this year, I have a pretty crazy reason for not writing as much as I had hoped.

In the middle of the year, we packed up and moved our family to North Carolina for Greg to take his first ever full time ministry position! It was indeed been a wild ride. It would be the longest. post. ever. if I tried to share all of the details in one single post. You might would get bored and not even make it all the way through. It has been an exciting time for our family, and the reason I want to take time to write it all down is for one reason: God.

being transformed

Let’s go back to the beginning of this year. If you’ve been around this space for a while, you know I’m a nerd. One of those people who chooses a word for each year. This year’s word was actually a phrase, being transformed, and I had no idea how exactly that was going to play out for me. Honestly, I never do when I choose a word. I have joked with Greg that this year I’m choosing “Blessed and Highly Favored” because I’m tired of hard words and what comes with whatever I choose for the year! Of course, I’m kidding, and I’ll share my word in another post, so make sure you subscribe by email to make sure you get all future posts. 😉 Shameless plug.

What does my phrase have to do with our move? I’m not even sure I have all the words to explain it. This move has challenged me greatly. In ways I didn’t think it would. It’s been great, and hard, and weird, and a serious transition. So, on with the God story.

a wild ride

Greg has desired to be full time ministry for a long time. God kept closing the doors that we prayed, begged, pounded on, to be opened. It seemed such a mystery to us. It felt frustrating at times, knowing it was something God was calling us to do, but wondering when it was going to actually happen. Often, our conversations would revolve around being faithful where we were while we waited on God. Back at the end of January early February, Greg received a message from a guy we had known years ago at a previous church. Greg knew him, but they weren’t besties or anything. They ended up talking on the phone, and he told Greg that the church he was serving at was looking to hire a full time worship pastor. The catch? The church was in North Carolina while we were currently residing in Georgia.

To say Greg said no would be an understatement. In his mind, he had completely shut the idea down. While I was over here packing- figuratively mind you. You may relate to this, but it seems I have almost always known before Greg when it was time for us to step out in faith and be obedient to God, not matter how crazy it seemed. Trust me when I say, to those around us, God has called us to things that haven’t made sense.

Days, weeks, and even months of turmoil for us ensued. It was a very difficult time for us. Greg would probably say some of the hardest. I tried very hard to not be the nagging wife, to encourage to the pursuit of this position, knowing we could say no if it really wasn’t from God. Greg saw it as affirmation that he was to be full time, while I saw it as a complete calling and open door from God. I’m sure you can feel the tension that we were dealing with while you’re reading this!

Then, there was one morning where our new found friend and Greg talked again. Greg had asked him if they have found a worship pastor yet and he said no, along with a description of who they were looking for. Not in talent, experience, or education, but in character. Let me just tell you, it was Greg to a T. And he knew it. This time, Greg knew it. From there, Greg texted the lead pastor and asked if the door to conversation could be opened again. I’d say the rest is history, but it’s not. Although it does all feel like it happened a lot longer than 7 months ago!

During this time, I kept a journal of the things we prayed for, our concerns, the way God used other people to bless us and provide for us. It’s truly been an amazingly wild ride! Before this post gets too long, I’m going to stop here. Don’t worry, part two will be coming soon!