A New Year Will Bring New Things

After waiting patiently and praying lots the Lord has graciously blessed Justin (and I) with our first church! First Baptist Church in Tyronza, AR voted yes this morning to have Justin as their pastor. We are so excited and thankful for this opportunity. Justin went and preached last week and we got to spend the day there and meet the sweet people. And they were just that...so sweet and welcoming to us! We can't wait to get to know everyone better and begin our ministry there. Justin will preach his first Sunday there as their pastor on January 1. We won't move until the end of January though. I need time to pack! But also Justin is a part time manager at Lifeway and he wants to stay there until the end of January. 

There are many reasons why I'm so thankful and excited. The obvious is this is what we have been waiting for a while now for this to happen and this is what the Lord has called Justin to do. Also, I'm pretty much moving back to my "home". Trumann is only about 25 minutes away and I miss living in Northeast Arkansas...really I do! I love small towns. When you live in Memphis for almost three years...you will miss it to! (unless you're a city person...which I"m not) I'm also looking forward to Justin being home more. This is has been a tough year with him working two jobs. There are several days where he is gone from 9 in the morning until almost 10 at night...it's been rough. He will actually be able to be home for dinner...and lunch! The parsonage is right beside the church...which is great! I'm not saying he won't be busy...but he will be able to be home a lot more than he is now! I will also be right in between my mom and sister...only 25 min. from both. Yay! I'm so glad we will be close to Jonesboro again too. I miss going there. I know that sounds silly but really..live in Memphis...you will appreciate "smaller" things...at least I do. :) Oh and I get to live in the same town that one of my best/oldest (not age wise!) friends teaches in. I can't wait to see you a lot more Megan!! But, yes in the midst of all this excitement is a little nervousness. I don't feel like I'm ready or adequate enough to be a preacher's wife. I"m sure every woman goes through that..or at least I think so anyway! I have things to learn and I know I will. Thankfully I have a Lord who will be with me every step. And a mom who I personally feel is one of the best pastor's wives I know, who can give me some great advice and help along the way. She made it look so easy...but I'm sure there were things I didn't know about! 

Here's a picture of the house will be moving into real soon. It's three bedrooms, two baths and has lots more room than our apartment! It's actually a really nice house. The second one is the house but you can see the church to the left...yes we are in walking distance. I love it. 

Well, in other news my brother is coming home Christmas Eve!! I can't wait to see him and I can't wait for him and Luke to spend some time together. I'm looking forward to spending time with all of my family. I'm sad we won't get to see our family in Oklahoma but we will be making a trip in January for a few days..and we are looking forward to that! 

Baby Jude is growing and moving around a lot! And he is making me grow a lot...hehe. But I'm okay with that. I'll just have a lot of work to do after he's born...I got to get in pre-baby shape before Julie's wedding!! I did it once I can do it again. :) 

Thanks to everyone for the Congrats and prayers for our family as we begin this exciting new stage in our lives...it is comforting to know we have such great support from our family and friends. The Lord has truly blessed us.