Expected the Unexpected

I know I have been pretty quiet on here since returning to Smyrna nearly 8 months ago. Things have not gone at all how we expected. But then again, how often does God do exactly what we expect?

As God began showing us His plan for us to move back to GA, we had discussions about what we wanted and prayed over what God wanted us to do. We always hope that our desires and the Lord's desires are the same, but let's be honest, often times their not!

We prayed for clarity of vision. As we prayed a few things were clear:

1. God was calling us back to Smyrna First Baptist to be a part of the Body there
2. God was wanting us to take a step of faith and begin a multi-faceted ministry through blogs
3. We were to move July 16, 2017, 7 years exactly from the time He took us to Louisville
4. Jim was to look for something that was a better fit for our family's season

So just like when we moved up, we took a leap of faith that God would provide exactly what we "needed" in a couple months, and we would be resettled into our new life.

But just like God, what we expected did not happen. While we moved July 16 like He said and entered back into the Body of Christ at Smyrna First, the other two were a bit more elusive, especially a job for Jim. He applied, had some interviews and even thought a couple were a guarantee but nothing until December, and that job did not seem like it would really work. But we took it, knowing we needed something and God provided. 

Then the hours that Jim was told he would have did not happen. And several times he was canceled due to patients not being at home. We thought, this is never going to work! In this time we started looking at houses again, but the hours we needed to buy a house were not there. Our hands were tied and we could not move forward.

So we stayed, feeling defeated again. Jim had an interview for another job. It looked really promising. He even went to shadow, with a couple of months before it started. He called, he emailed. Nothing! We prayed, "God what is going on???"

What was going on, was God teaching us patience, obedience, endurance, connecting, trust, crying out to Him and relying on Him for everything. During these months our family grew together, worked through tough times together, and learned what it meant to cry out to God together.

Jim and I began working together, combining our strengths to launch 2 of the sites God had been laying on our hearts: Psalm 127 Ministry, the parent site for all of the ministry we desire to do, and Childbirth Conversations, a rebirth of my previous blog. (We would love for you to check them out and sign up for our mailing list!)

Then two weeks ago, Jim found out about a new patient, oriented, and started last week with a five day work week with more than what we need. God has provided! In His perfect timing, God has given us what we need. In fact, all that we envisioned before we came here is coming to fruition, just completely differently than we thought it would be.

We put an offer on a house and by God's grace everything will come through with it soon. God is providing what we need, what He wants us to have.

God is good and His timing is never slow!