Really?

Well, from the title you can see that I'm starting this off with confusion, but trust me, I'm not confused...but you may be after you read this! So...let me begin without going on any rants.

I'll start by posing the question of; "What do you do when you are moving up in management, you're being told that you may be able to basically have your own business within the next several months, you're being trained by some of the most successful leaders in the company, they love you and you're pretty good at what you do, PLUS you just had your first son?" Well, in my case you walk away from it all graciously...and I can't emphasis GRACIOUSLY enough! Right around 9 months ago I was offered a job that I really didn't know what I was getting into. Since that time, I've been promoted, developed, trained, and basically guaranteed that if I stuck with it for the next couple years, I'd be making more money in retail than I ever thought possible, and that's no exaggeration...I can show you the details if you want! It's crazy, right? Who does that...well, I was called to. God opened up the opportunity for me to go back to school this upcoming fall and since making that decision, my heart has completely been occupied with what God is trying to do through me rather than what this world has to offer me.

When I sat down with my boss to discuss things, through no lack of trying on his part, I still had to walk away. I have more respect for the Buckle and the people that work there and run that company than you can imagine. As I told him, I will forever be a recruiter for that company! God has something big in store for Sara and I...and now Emery, can't forget him, and I can't really explain it very well right now, but I do know that in the next couple years it will involve getting my Grad degree in counseling, working/living in Siloam Springs, and investing our time in the people around us and in the church! God's got some sort of vision stirring in my heart and its just now starting to take some sort of form, but when, where, how, who with...I'm assuming will all be revealed to me here in the immediate future! So, as I step out of one job this weekend and into another, anticipating the start of school this fall and working on being the best Husband/Father I can be, please be in prayer for us, and I don't mean in prayer so that we will be well, successful, happy...the prayer I'm requesting is one that is quite simple. My prayer is asking God to direct me...and for ME TO LISTEN...so that I can:
1. Lead my wife
2. Lead my son
3. Discern God's plan for our family and the vision He has for our ministry

So, that seems pretty "cookie-cutter," but honestly I'm seeking vision right now...which all plays into my reasoning for leaving a job that in a worldly perspective is perfect, going back to school, and investing in my family more! Love you all who read this and we pray daily for you to seek God in your life to the fullest! We're not supposed to be ashamed of the gospel, so lets live it!

Heading HOME from Home!!!!

Two weeks later, and we are now less than 20 hrs from getting in the car again and heading back to Wilmington. It had been nearly 10 months since I had been back to what I've always called HOME, and I've learn a ton in my two weeks back. When we moved, we left because the only thing holding us here was comfort. Now, a year after making the decision to move, we realize the only thing we have here is Family. We do miss the area, the landscape, family and friends, but our calling is so much greater and we are so ready to get back. As I've said to some people here, this is what I called home for 22 years, and now I feel like I've been completely disconnected from our world for 2 weeks and I'm HOME! Does that mean home for me has changed...I don't know, but our world is definitely not in Arkansas any more...our family is, but what God has for us is in the Carolina's. We have fallen in love with the people, the church and the area, and now we are just waiting to see what it is that God is calling us to do! We followed faithfully in the move, we've grown, learned, and been ministered in ways we would have never gotten here in Arkansas. So, as we head back tomorrow morning, we look forward to it in ways we never realized. Driving back I remember having the thought of "what if we don't want to go back?" But that is not even part of my thinking right now. My heart has been shifted in ways I didn't realize and I'm so absolutely pumped to get back and lead people to Christ through all that I am and do! God has been preparing us for something great in the most wild roller coaster I've ever been on. We are looking for our place in ministry, we are trying to get out of debt, we are looking to lead people around us in a whole new way, and we are working on our relationships with God and each other so that there is nothing to get in the way of God and His hand on our lives. I was told once, Just follow God and PRAY that you don't get in His way! I'm afraid that getting in His way may be pretty painful, so I'm trying to follow Him and looking forward to having NO CLUE in where that may lead us! God has done unbelievable things in our lives through the last year, and now looking back on our 2 week visit back Home, we are leaving for HOME with a new passion and perspective, NOT TO MENTION ANTICIPATION!!!