"Moving on....., down"

I don't know how well you can see what is on Elijah Brooks' outfit, but it is the Alabama Crimson Tide mascot/emblem.  Why is he wearing that you may ask...., especially since my husband is a die hard Carolina Gamecock fan.  Well, he is sporting his Alabama outfit because...., we are moving on down to Alabama!  I am actually still in shock, especially because we are moving to Montgomery...., the place where I was born and raised.  When I graduated high school, I never in a million years dreamed that I would ever live there again.  I left after high school and never looked back, except to see my family. I have lived in SC, TN, SC/NC and never thought I would ever find myself back in AL.  However, Jay has been pursued by another church there and we accepted the call 2 weeks ago and he will be the "Pastor of Family Ministries/Assistant Pastor" of a church in Montgomery.  He will be graduating from Seminary soon and we knew that it was a possibility that the Lord would move us to another church to minister, but we never thought it would be Montgomery.  Our church in SC had extended a call to him as well, but we just didn't feel that this was where we needed to stay...., even though we absolutely adore the people of our church and our friends here.  We just knew for various reasons that this was not where we were supposed to stay.  We are so excited about this new opportunity for Jay!  This position has his name written all over it and he is really excited about it.  We are very excited too that Elijah Brooks will be closer to some family.  We haven't been near family in the 7 years that we have been married.  Montgomery also provides more opportunities for Elijah Brooks than the current city that we are living in....., but more than either of those things, this new position is just a better fit for Jay for many reasons and the Lord is calling us there. We must follow in obedience. Our hearts rejoice that the Lord has provided a wonderful place for us to minister and a job for Jay (especially during these tough economic times...., churches are not hiring very much right now), but our hearts also ache at the thought of having to say goodbye to our dear church/friends here.  They have truly been the hands and feet of Christ to us in more ways that anyone could ever imagine.  They have been our family during these years of Seminary and have loved us well.  We will miss them greatly.  We will also be moving alittle further away from Jay's family, who are on the coast of SC so that will be very hard too.  However, we know that we will always make time to see them and they will always make time to see us too. 

We definitely have our work cut out for us over the next 3 months, but we praise God for His faithful provision for us and we know that He will work out all of the details as we make this transition. 

Alabama....., here we come!  (Still so shocking to write that)!