The last few weeks have been so crazy!
We have been going back and forth house hunting down in The Woodlands area and as much fun as it has been I am just ready to have a house! The first trip I looked at 25 houses in 2 days... yes. it was pure insanity. The great thing was we thought we found one! We went ahead and made an offer and the sellers came back and wanted more money than we were willing to give so we walked.
I headed back down this weekend and looked at 10 more and we have another winner! This weekend was a little more stressful because Ryan was not able to come down with me due to his work schedule that thank goodness we will not be dealing with for very much longer! I mean I can not even tell you how excited I am to have dinners with my husband. We have made his 2-10 shift work for as long as possible but I am so glad to tell it good-bye! Anyway, this house actually fits us a little better than the other one and is really precious :) I hope that it will work out but know if it doesn't then there is a better one out there somewhere!
I will keep you posted on what happens! I can't wait to move into our new house, wherever it may be! I definately feel all grown-up looking at houses and signing my life away to contracts. It is so weird to think that this time next month I will be packing everything up and moving away. It is exciting, sad and surreal.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
There's No Place Like Home...
Well the time has come for me to formally announce that Ryan and I are leaving sweet Fort Worth to return to our hometown, The Woodlands, TX. Well, actually my hometown- he lived in Oakridge which is only about 10 minutes away.
As most of you know and can learn from reading my entire blog; Ryan has been looking for a full-time ministry job that can also help support us. This search has seemed endless and impossible to find. Although there were opportunities they were always either part-time or nothing we could possibly live on while also paying his tuition, bills and actually living in anything other than a box. Can I please just get on my soapbox of how ridiculous this search was? I know, I know, this is no surprise to any of us- churches are non-profits and I of all people know this seeing that I work for the largest non-profit in America but of all jobs for you to struggle to pay bills it should not be ministry!
Anyway, moving right along to the exciting part... Ryan got a call about a month ago from a church in The Woodlands called Faith Bible Church. I used to drive by this church everyday on my way to highschool and I even looked there for a potential wedding location... the church said they would like to set-up a phone interview. The phone interview could not have gone better and he really loved what they told him about the position. Discouraged by all of the disappointing offers or rejections from the past year we were both trying not to get our hopes up but we also both had a peace and a feeling from the beginning that this could be the one.
FBC then asked us to come down for a visit which we were so nervous about! However, from walking into the church the youth pastor and his wife made us feel so comfortable and it was not as scary as I thought it would be. Yes, the day in itself was stressful and I so badly wanted Ryan to get the position because I know how very hard the last year has been on him and we fell in love with the church. The students we met were so much fun, the service was GREAT! Can I just get an Amen that this is a church we actually would have went back to being visitors?? During my interview I was even told that one of my close friends from an old job was a member there- they had looked on Facebook to see if we knew any of the same people and the funny thing is that I actually taught at a end of the school year girls bible study right before I left Fort Worth for some Seniors at this church! The Bible Study was not at the church but at someone's house and I never put the two together- it was obvious that everything was falling in place. Still apprehensive we only told each other "this is it."
Well, God giving us an over-abounding peace about the situation also had the church contact us immediately offering us the position. We had been waiting on a formal offer that took about a week and we accepted the position. We will be returning to The Woodlands area at the end of May and Ryan starts in June!
Some of you may be wondering what about your job?? Well, because I work for such an amazing company and the blessing of working from home the American Heart Association is thrilled for us and letting me keep my job! It is so crazy how everything just falls into place when it is the right thing. We have been so blessed in the last month that I can not even describe to you how excited we are to start this next chapter!
Of course there are a few hard things in all of this.... I love Fort Worth. I have loved the fresh start, the new friends and some fantastic old ones that were there. The people I have met in the last 2 years have gotten me through some tough times and Raven, Katie, Owen, Steph and Christina- I am going to miss you desperately! I love my entire work team and although I will still be on the team I will no longer be just a few minutes away :( Raven and Katie have been my rocks through the move and I see them at minnimum 2 times a week so I am going to have very difficult time with this transition. Your support has been amazing and I can not thank-you for all of the laughs, crys and just great friendship we have. Both of you will forever be 2 of the best friends I have ever had and I promise in front of the entire blogging world to visit on a regular basis because life without yall is impossible.
We feel so blessed for this new chapter to start soon and so thankful for the last 2 years spent in Fort Worth. It has been such a time of growth and change for our relationship together and seperately. I plan to soak in as much of Forth Worth as possible and ask that you keep us in your prayers for this bitter-sweet ending of one chapter and beginning of another.
As most of you know and can learn from reading my entire blog; Ryan has been looking for a full-time ministry job that can also help support us. This search has seemed endless and impossible to find. Although there were opportunities they were always either part-time or nothing we could possibly live on while also paying his tuition, bills and actually living in anything other than a box. Can I please just get on my soapbox of how ridiculous this search was? I know, I know, this is no surprise to any of us- churches are non-profits and I of all people know this seeing that I work for the largest non-profit in America but of all jobs for you to struggle to pay bills it should not be ministry!
Anyway, moving right along to the exciting part... Ryan got a call about a month ago from a church in The Woodlands called Faith Bible Church. I used to drive by this church everyday on my way to highschool and I even looked there for a potential wedding location... the church said they would like to set-up a phone interview. The phone interview could not have gone better and he really loved what they told him about the position. Discouraged by all of the disappointing offers or rejections from the past year we were both trying not to get our hopes up but we also both had a peace and a feeling from the beginning that this could be the one.
FBC then asked us to come down for a visit which we were so nervous about! However, from walking into the church the youth pastor and his wife made us feel so comfortable and it was not as scary as I thought it would be. Yes, the day in itself was stressful and I so badly wanted Ryan to get the position because I know how very hard the last year has been on him and we fell in love with the church. The students we met were so much fun, the service was GREAT! Can I just get an Amen that this is a church we actually would have went back to being visitors?? During my interview I was even told that one of my close friends from an old job was a member there- they had looked on Facebook to see if we knew any of the same people and the funny thing is that I actually taught at a end of the school year girls bible study right before I left Fort Worth for some Seniors at this church! The Bible Study was not at the church but at someone's house and I never put the two together- it was obvious that everything was falling in place. Still apprehensive we only told each other "this is it."
Well, God giving us an over-abounding peace about the situation also had the church contact us immediately offering us the position. We had been waiting on a formal offer that took about a week and we accepted the position. We will be returning to The Woodlands area at the end of May and Ryan starts in June!
Some of you may be wondering what about your job?? Well, because I work for such an amazing company and the blessing of working from home the American Heart Association is thrilled for us and letting me keep my job! It is so crazy how everything just falls into place when it is the right thing. We have been so blessed in the last month that I can not even describe to you how excited we are to start this next chapter!
Of course there are a few hard things in all of this.... I love Fort Worth. I have loved the fresh start, the new friends and some fantastic old ones that were there. The people I have met in the last 2 years have gotten me through some tough times and Raven, Katie, Owen, Steph and Christina- I am going to miss you desperately! I love my entire work team and although I will still be on the team I will no longer be just a few minutes away :( Raven and Katie have been my rocks through the move and I see them at minnimum 2 times a week so I am going to have very difficult time with this transition. Your support has been amazing and I can not thank-you for all of the laughs, crys and just great friendship we have. Both of you will forever be 2 of the best friends I have ever had and I promise in front of the entire blogging world to visit on a regular basis because life without yall is impossible.
I am also very lucky to have amazing friends and family back in The Woodlands. I have so many friends that move away to places they do not know a single soul so we are very blessed to be moving into familiar territory. However, with this familiarity comes the truth that things always change. It is always hard going back home because things are never as they were left. Sometimes friendships don't make it, I truly believe sometimes they are not meant to. I know that with different phases of life God chooses to put those around you to lift you up and support you during whatever trials you may face. Fort Worth has been such a security blanket and the thought of starting over is exciting but also a huge challenge- especially when it somewhere you have already been.
I spent this past weekend house searching and it was so exhausting but very exciting! We have found one that we are hoping will work out, we plan to make an offer on it tomorrow morning if all of the paperwork is worked out. Please keep this in your prayers as we are dealing with a short time frame, crazy apartment fees and just a super stressful time.We feel so blessed for this new chapter to start soon and so thankful for the last 2 years spent in Fort Worth. It has been such a time of growth and change for our relationship together and seperately. I plan to soak in as much of Forth Worth as possible and ask that you keep us in your prayers for this bitter-sweet ending of one chapter and beginning of another.
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