Meeting our new family

As many of you know, Christian has accepted a call to ministry which long story short is leading us to North Carolina next year to serve among our Nazarene brothers and sisters in that district. A few weeks ago we were blessed to be able to make a trip there to be a part of their Mission Advance Conference.

It all started on Monday, June 5th; we packed our rental car and hit the road. We made what should be a 13 hours drive through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and finally to North Carolina in 17 hours. After we realized that we were going to get there 7 to 8 hours before we could actually check into our hotel, we decided to nap at a rest stop along the way. I love road trips! I like driving, seeing the natural beauty of different lands, forced connections between the car mates, and don't even get me started on gas station hotdogs. There is just something so relaxing and freeing about being on the road, until that hotdog catches up with you.

On  Tuesday morning we made it to our first stop... Biscuit World for breakfast. If you like biscuits, fried chicken and Jesus then you should be moving to North Carolina with us to plant a church; just saying. After breakfast we checked into our hotel. The hotel was in Archdale and the only plan we had that evening was to meet a family for dinner that Christian had connected with previously. Our families went out to dinner, the kids played together, and the grown ups talked shop. We got to hear many amazing stories from their journey in ministry and in life. I left dinner with a full belly and a full heart. This was just the first of many great connections we made on our trip. Wednesday evening we were invited into the home of one family. They cooked for us, listened to our story, told us their story, and in the mean time our kids became (in their words) best friends. On Saturday we made lunch plans with a Woman and her daughter that we had never met before who actually used to live in Illinois and went to the church we go to now. She introduced us to a really great BBQ joint and we got to connect with her about "Illinois stuff" like crummy winters and our shared love of Casey's Pizza. Everyone we met treated us like family. One of the things that I know I'm going to struggle with when we move is leaving everyone I know and love behind. As an introvert it makes me anxious to think about making friends. I didn't even have to try there! Everyone introduced themselves, loved on us, and helped us out. I have moms already helping me figure out the school systems there. One thing is for sure; our family grew exponentially on that trip.

Between meals and meetups, we spent our time driving around the area just looking at neighborhoods and dreaming. We imagined where we would live and what communities we would connect with. It is an incredible feeling when you just let the wind of Jesus carry you. I used to stress out over planning every single detail about every single thing. We are moving next summer and I have no idea what that will look like and it doesn't matter because God is good. I know that God has a plan for our family and that He is going to use us for the good of His Kingdom. All we had to do was say yes.

On Friday we were interviewed at the Mission Advance Conference. It was so humbling to share our story and the plans that God has laid out for us. Christian told the attendees about our start living a life far from God and how he has transformed us. He went on to tell them about our passion to tell others about the amazing love of Christ. Telling our story was great, but the best part was the people that would come up to us afterwards and tell us their stories and how they would like to help. We made so many connections at the conference and we look forward to being a part of the NC Naz team next year.

On Sunday, Christian had the privilege of preaching at the Wake Forrest Church of the Nazarene. It was such a blessing to go to that church and meet all of the wonderful people there. There is so much love and compassion in that congregation; we again had people offering their help to us for the mission. I also connected with some wives and I'm glad to have a network of women who understand ministry life. I'm so thankful!

The trip to North Carolina to meet our new family was so empowering and enlightening. It always feels so good to spend some time around other people who are on fire for Jesus; recharging to charge in. After meeting everyone and getting a feel for the area I'm even more excited to get there and get to work.