....Knoxville, TN! Well, actually Gatlinburg for now, but Knoxville eventually. I am so excited to finally be able to share this news. I've been holding it in for about six months now. Here's the story.
As you all know, Cary and I have been here in NC for seminary since 2007. It's been a long and trying six years, but God has never failed to show us his love, faithfulness, provision and guidance during this time. Cary has felt the call to ministry since high school. He just wasn't sure, at that time, what that meant or where he might end up. Since then, he has had several different ministry opportunities, including, leading worship, teaching SS, being a counselor, etc. When we got married, Cary knew he wanted to go back to school for his master's degree and after researching and praying, we felt God leading us to seminary and that's how we ended up here in NC.
I have to get on my soap box for a minute to praise my husband. He is AMAZING! When we moved here, within a month, we both had jobs at Starbucks. It was a huge blessing to find jobs that fast. Within two months, I got a promotion. By the next summer (08), Cary also got promoted at his store. This ended up being more of a blessing than we realized since I got pregnant that fall. While I was on maternity leave with Connor, Cary got promoted to Assistant Store Manager (09), and six months after that he was promoted to Store Manager (2010) at the Spring Forrest store, where he has been for the last three and half years. Not only has Cary been in school full time, during all of this, but we have also had two children. So for about four of the six years we've lived here, Cary has been a husband, father, full-time student, and working 40+ hours a week. It has not been easy, but we've grown a lot as a couple, as parents, and individually. I cannot tell you enough how thankful I am for this man. He is a wonderful father to our children, and an amazing husband to me.
Back to the story.
A little over a year ago, Cary and I were discussing our future plans and where we felt God was leading us. It was then that Cary told me he felt led to start his ministry and asked how I felt about it. I was a little apprehensive at first. After some time of thinking it through and praying over it, I knew this was the direction God was leading us. I knew this would mean a lot of changes and possibly moving out of this area. Originally, we talked about finding a church somewhere around here, or within a couple of hours so that Cary wouldn't have so far to drive back for class. As we discussed our options, we just kept feeling pulled back to TN. We've had a few rough times here and not being close to any family, other than my mom, who is still six hours away, has made it harder. We made the decision to move back to TN to be closer to family, and we chose Knoxville. Cary will have to drive back for class once a week when he starts his doctorate and six hours was kind of his limit. We have several friends that will be staying in this area for a while so he will have a place to crash just for a night, if needed.
Back in February, we contacted the guy who is in charge of the Knoxville area Southern Baptist Association, and he sent us a list of churches that are currently looking for pastors and youth pastors. Some full time and some bi-vocational. By the end of March, we had resumes printed, stuffed and addressed. I put 13 in the mail box, and the waiting began. In May, we got our first call back. It was from a bi-vocational church and the lady Cary talked to was on the search committee. She asked him a few questions and seemed very interested. She was going to pass the information along in the next meeting. Cary has talked to her a couple more times, but the last we heard was that they were still meeting and taking their time with the decision. At the beginning of June, he got emails from two other churches saying that they received his resume and would be in touch. It was at the point that we decided to take a leap of faith and just go ahead and move.
We knew that we would want to buy a house once we moved this time. Since we've been married, including this move, we've moved four times in almost seven years. That's a lot of moving! With the uncertainty of when Cary would get a job, we thought we may have to rent for a while once we got to Knoxville while we looked for a house. My mom and step-dad had recently finished flipping a house in Gatlinburg, with no intent to make it their own. After several months of thinking and praying and weighing out their financial options, they decided to move into that house! It is much bigger than the one they used to live in and with four grand babies between me and my brother, we would need more space during the holidays. Cary and I talked to them about living there until we found a job and a home of our own. They agreed! What a HUGE blessing that will be! We will have to put our things in storage for a while, but it will be totally worth it! We really have no timeline for how long we will live with them. We are thinking at least six months, if not longer.
As for a job in the meantime, Cary has decided to stay with Starbucks and step down to barista. He has already contacted the Starbucks in Pigeon Forge and talked with the manager. She has a spot waiting for him when we get there! Such a blessing! We will be able to keep our health insurance and we will still have money coming in to help with groceries, utilities, etc., while we live with my mom and step-dad.
We are sad to be leaving NC and the wonderful friends we have made over the last six years. We have been truly blessed by the lives of those around us and we are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives. We are excited about new friends to be made and being reunited with others! We will be so much closer to family, as well.
Our new adventure will take place in five short weeks! Eek! We load up the truck on August 23rd and head out August 24th. What an amazing journey it's been here, but we are looking forward to what God has for us as we begin this new chapter. Please pray for us and with us as we make this transition, that it will be as smooth as possible.
