Changes are Coming...

We have big news. No, I'm not pregnant. We have other big news. Jonathan was offered a job in Toledo, Ohio and we are moving. In three weeks! Yes. I'm still reeling from the news. This was nothing we sought out, so we know it's God's will and we have to follow His leading.

Back in August Jonathan and I talked about reevaluating our lives and our priorities. We ended up listing our house for sale by owner thinking that if we could downsize we could get to a place where I could stay home with the kids which has always been my dream. About 3 days after we listed the house on Zillow Jonathan got a call out of the blue from a recruiter. When he googled the company he found that the company was located only 3 miles from my parents house. We decided that we couldn't not walk through that open door to see where it took us. It was like God was waiting for us to release our grip on our "safe" lives and putting our house on the market was just that release.

The interviewing process took many weeks between the different interviews and then we had to find a weekend that we were able to get up to Toledo for him to do an in person interview. Through all of those weeks I just had this feeling that I knew that we were moving. I love Lexington (and so does Jonathan) and I really think I needed all of those weeks to wrap my head around the idea of leaving this place. I had so many songs and scripture versus, sermons and Jesus Calling's that just spoke to me where I was and I just had this knowledge that Lexington was no longer my home and that I needed to start taking mental pictures because these would no longer be my regular views. (I drive 2 miles to work each day past rolling hills with beautiful fences and cows. So pretty. If you drive most places around town and you see horses in a picturesque settings.) We both moved to Lexington in 1999 to attend school (not together. I went to Asbury and J went to UK.) so we have lived in Lexington for 15 years. All of our adult lives. Lexington is home to us. Jonathan has never lived outside of Kentucky. Northern Ohio will be a huge culture shock. And we may need a snow blower come wintertime... :)

After the in person interview, Jonathan was told it would be a week before he heard anything back. The very next morning he got a call back from the recruiter notifying him that they were drawing up an offer package that he would receive it by the end of the week. We spent that entire week jumping at any noise our phones made. Waiting is nerve-wracking. That call could change our lives! And it did. I had asked God for a big neon flashing sign. I needed more than just an open door. I was being less open minded about picking up our lives and starting over so I really asked God for a way to know 100% that this was from Him and that we had to go. Well I had something specific in my mind and when the offer came through the offer was for the exact number that was in my head. It was one of those things where I told Jonathan that I guess we didn't need to discuss it. God made it evidently clear that we were to move and that this was the job for him.

So here we are. We gave our notice at work this past Monday and have been telling our friends in person over this past week. My last day of work will be November 5th and Jonathan's will be November 7th (his birthday!). I'm trying not to stress out when I think about everything that needs to be done in the next three weeks before we start our lives in a new city.  I'm really leaning on God to give me a peace about moving and leaving our friends. Right now that's the part that stings the most. But I keep remembering that God is providing this job and providing me a way to be a stay at home mom. He's given both of us our dream jobs. We just have to release our grip on our safe lives here and follow His leading.

It's a bittersweet time. We're trusting that God will bring a buyer for our house so that we're not living in my parents house for any length of time:) Yes, our house is on the market with an agent as of today. And I'm trusting that God will help me not break down through all of our goodbyes. I'm thrilled to live near my parents and have my kids live near grand parents. I'm also excited to live near my extended family and have my kids be near cousins. And as I've been home a day and a half this week with sick kids, it has reminded me how wonderful it will be to be a stay at home mom so I don't feel like I'm letting work down when I need to stay home with a sick kid.

God's timing is not our timing and his ways are not our ways. I would have never fathomed 6 months ago that I would be writing this blog post or that we would ever have the notion to move away from Lexington. But I'm thankful for Jonathan for leading our family in this venture by following where God has opened doors. Here we go...