So we are moving!!!

So the news: We are moving to Texas!!! Telling the teens last night was one of the worst things EVER. So awful. But here's the story: Yep, out of the blue Chase was asked for his resume three times in a week! He didn't even have one so we whipped one up, talked to Pastor Steve and sent them out. Fairly quickly two of the options were shot down but the church in Princeton, Texas was seriously considering us. If you are wondering how and why they heard of us, some of you might remember Lynn Hoskins. She used to come to our church here before she moved to Princeton. She said that one day the Lord just impressed on her heart that she should be praying for me and Chase. She didn't know why until two months later when their youth pastor resigned! A light went  on and she talked to Pastor Stan about us. They received a bunch of resumes but really liked us. (what's not to like???)   We exchanged questionaires, had a skype conference call with their calling committee, and Pastor Stan and his wife Julie were able to come and visit Calvary awhile back. It "just happened" that they were going to be in New Mexico for a missions trip anyway. ;) So we talked with them and asked a bunch of questions and answered a bunch of questions. Pastor Stan met with Pastor Steve and they had a good talk. Next thing you know, we left early for Christmas in Houston in order to go to the Youth GroupChristmas party in Princeton, Chase was going to teach Sunday School the next morning and give his testimony in the church service. We LOVED the teens...the church...the community and felt right at home. The church was going to vote on whether or not to call us the following Wednesday night and we would pray about it some more. Well as it turned out, two people voted undecided and everyone else voted yes to calling us! Which is still amazing to me...anyhow. We prayed some more and sought counsel some more and talked to Pastor Steve again. We asked what his thoughts were and if he had peace about us leaving. He expressed that it was the last thing he wanted, but through the whole process he had never been able to find a problem with the pastor or church or process or us leaving. In fact, he told us that two months prior to Chase being asked for his resume (which we realized later was the same time God told Lynn to pray for us) Pastor Steve felt like God was telling him that we would be leaving soon... So we prayed about it some more, felt like this was something that God had completely orchestrated from the beginning and we accepted the position.  Funny too because our major three concerns and prayer requests for our family have been: to be closer to the Ward side, to get Chase back in school for his Master's degree, and to have a better schedule with more time to spend as a family or down time. We have really been wanting to start family devotions and the best time is in the morning except that that is the worst time because Chase's days start anywhere from 5:15-8:00. It just hasn't worked...and it doesn't help that he typically works 70 ish hours every week. Our kids are young and we need more time together.  Well guess what? All three of those were answered by moving to Faith Baptist in Princeton! Chase will have time this fall to go back to school and the commute would be MUCH shorter than if we were in Show Low. Chase's parents are about 3.5 hours away from Princeton...and they are hoping to move closer at some point. And Faith is SO relaxed!  Life just moves more slowly there and there aren't as many hours needed in the office.

So anyway...our prayers were answered...not like we were thinking but I guess we should have been more specific! haha! ;) Anyway, in case you are wondering, Princeton is just north of Dallas. It is a town about the size of Show Low but with 1 million or so people in the surrounding like 20 miles. I like Princeton because it is small enough it really has a country feel but I would only be 15 minutes away from THREE Targets and a Hobby Lobby and a Whole Foods, and a couple of malls! AWESOME!  So our last day at Calvary is the last Sunday of January...I believe Chase is preaching that day. We pull out of town on February first and our first day at Faith is the first Sunday of February. I am excited about the new teens and new church and being closer to the in-loves, but I am really very very sad about leaving all my friends, our teens...and what I believe is the best church and pastor ever! Calvary and Pastor Steve are not perfect...but I have never seen or experienced better.  (Or anything even remotely close!) We have been soooo very blessed and even spoiled here! I would like to take Calvary and just combine it with Faith so I don't lose anyone! :) It is also hard because we have no idea what we are moving into! We really want to buy this house: http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/TX/Princeton/1100-N-6th-St-402_11484404.htm But we can't buy anything (or rent anything other than a 750sq. ft. apt) until our house here sells. We are hoping to get it on the market next week after we finish up some projects we have had going . Please pray!!!