Finally here...

Well we are here in Pasadena. It is amazing how fast a week can fly by. We are starting to get settled in our new home. We really only have a few things left to do because my parents are amazing and have been here with us helping us get all set up in a matter of days! They just left tonight (on the red eye flight!) and we are already missing them! They did SOOOOO much to help us make this transition to California. We literally could not have done this without them and we feel so grateful for their amazing generosity and willingness to help us in the ways they have. We love you guys so much!


For those of you who might be wondering, yes we did experience the major earthquake that took place yesterday morning. Welcome to LA, huh?! The above picture is of the aftermath a store not to far from where we live. Fortunately no one was hurt and no major damage was done. I have never experienced anything quite like that. More of that experience to come.

Tomorrow I plan to take pictures of the place (and even a video for you, Grandma and Grandpa so you can see EVERYTHING!) and I will post them as soon as I can.

Good night for now from California!

Goodbye Abilene

Well, it is our last night in Abilene. It is crazy how fond we are of this place. What neat experiences God has allowed us to have these last few days here.

Yesterday we were able to eat lunch with a wonderful couple from our small group. What an encouragement they were to us, having walked a little farther in life's journey than us, their excitement for our future simply contagious. We look forward to the moments when we will share in sweet fellowship with them again.

Last night we were able to take the younger three of the Martin kids out to the movie to see Wall-E. What a precious time we had. Josh and I , sitting on either end of them, relished in their laughter and joy. Saying our final goodbyes to their family was very difficult for us both and we can't help but look ahead and anticipate their possible visit to see us soon!

Today was my last full day of work. I am going to miss Highland so much. What a wonderful place it has been for me to regroup and regain my focus after a difficult first few months in Abilene's business world. Michael has been so fun to work for and I feel so blessed to have been able to witness the birth of his precious twins. And I will miss dearly the deep friendship I have grown to have with Sarah! I can't wait to hear about all the awesome things God is going to do in her life over the next few years! I am only sad I won't be able to witness them first hand.

Tomorrow I will spend a few more hours in the Youth office before hitting the road to California. Josh and I are both excited and nervous. But we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we will be driving into God's will for our lives and so we have no fear. We know there will be moments in our time there that will be difficult and hard to bear, but we place our hope in God's perfect love and anticipate the awesome ways in which He will use our new home to grow us in our outpouring love for Him.


It may be awhile before I write again but stay tuned for pictures and stories of our exciting journey to our Pasadena home.

Decisions

Well, this is our last Saturday in Abilene. We currently don't have cable (this happens at Sherrod sometimes...not sure why) so I thought I would try my hand at another post.

In my last post I said I would fill you in on our move to California. Here it goes.

Our goal in coming to Abilene was for Josh to finish his Masters of Divinity, get in to a PhD program near home and try to settle down for awhile. After being here for two semesters as a full time student, Josh was feeling burnt out on school. We decided to go ahead and apply to PhD programs and also begin looking for jobs in Atlanta and Nashville, both cities we thought we wanted to live in. He applied to 7 programs, mainly in the southeast. On a whim right before Christmas Josh decided to apply to Fuller Theological Seminary. To make a long story short, right after the spring semester began Josh found out that one of the really great professors in his field had moved to California and was now teaching at Fuller. Interesting, we thought and stuck this info in the back of our minds.

After several months of waiting we started hearing back from schools, all of which thanked us for applying but did not accept us into their program. We were having very little luck finding jobs in either Atlanta or Nashville and were both feeling a little down, nothing looking very promising. Then Josh received a phone call from the very professor that had moved to Fuller, letting him know that they wanted him to come and study there. They offered him a very good scholarship and the opportunity to be mentored by this same prof. Wow!

As several weeks passed we received rejection letters from every other school Josh had applied and no job leads. We continued to hear positive things both about the Fuller and the opportunity to work under such a great man. We had prayed for God to open the door He wanted us to enter and close all the rest. It was starting to become clear to us that He was answering our prayers, but in a very unexpected way.

Needless to say, after lots of thought and prayer, we made the decision to follow God's leading, accept the offer at Fuller and move to California. We knew housing was going to be expensive and difficult to find, we knew that it might be hard for me to find a job, we knew that it would not be the easiest place to live, but we also knew without a doubt that this is where God wanted us to be.

Josh graduated from ACU with his Masters of Divinity in May of this year. I am so proud of him and feel blessed to be his wife and share in this journey with him. He is going to make a great professor one day!

God never ceases to amaze us in His willingness to provide everything we need if we will simply trust in Him. He has provided me with a wonderful job in Pasadena, an amazing place to live, free tuition and so much more.

I NEVER thought we would live in California! But I am slowly learning to never say never. God's plans are perfect and His timing is just right and we are excited to see what all He has in store for us in Pasadena.

I will leave you with some pictures of our "Graduation" cruise that my parents took us on to celebrate Josh and Ashley's graduations!

We had a blast! It also gave Josh the opportunity to truly relax
for one of the first times in a year and a half!

Thanks Mom & Dad!!

Trying again...

Ok. So we are trying the blogging thing for the second time. Hopefully this time it will stick. If not I think we will simply have to call it quits!

Today finds us one week away from moving to Pasadena, CA. Emotions are high, full of nerves and excitement, sadness and anticipation. Through out this blog we think you will find it evident that God continues to have plans for us that are NOT our own. To do a quick catch up, after being married for a year and working together as campus ministry interns in Murfreesboro, TN we decided to begin looking for jobs in Nashville, TN where we knew we wanted to settle down. I got a job but after searching and searching, Josh ended up with nothing in the way of a job. God, needless to say, had different plans. Within a time span of a two months Josh applied to ACU's Masters of Divinity program, got accepted with a wonderful scholarship, and we moved to Abilene, TX. I had been saying for along time that I would never move to Abilene, TX and yet in December 2006 here I was.
These pics are of our "apartment" in Abilene also known as Sherrod Apartments, married student housing at ACU. We moved to Abilene without ever coming out and seeing the place and I will admit there were a few tears shed (by me) when we walked into this place.

Josh and I both thought God was a little crazy for moving us here, and for the first month all we could think about was the day we would be able to leave. But He knew what he was doing. We quickly fell in love with the people of Abilene (as well as the barbecue!). We found a wonderful church home, Highland Church of Christ, where I eventually went to work as the administrative assistant for the wonderful youth office. We joined a small group who took us in with open arms and who have truely become our second family. This is where we were introduced to the Martin Family who have made our experience here in Abilene one that will stay with us through out our entire lives. When we look at their family and our time with them it is then that we really understand why God called us to this place and we are so grateful that He did.
These are the Martin kids in order of age:
Allen (top left), Jackson (top right) Hope (bottom right), Grayson (middle), Ashton (bottom left) and not pictured is their newest addition to the family, their little girl, due Thanksgiving 2008!
We are so grateful for all Tim and Angie Martin have taught us about how to be Godly parents raising Godly children and how to live out our faith in every decision and move that we make! We will miss you so much!!

This has been a pretty long post and I really need to be packing so I will leave you with some of our favorite moments over the past year and half we have spent in Abilene. In my next post I will explain our move to California and our continued amazement at God's will for our lives!

Precious Time with Hope!

Trip to San Antonio to see Mom and Dad!

Bringing Shiloh into our family and experiencing lots of snow in West Texas!

Visit to see Graham and Ashley in Los Angeles!