Getting Started

This week has been a series of new starts.

We started this new blog that will hopefully allow our many friends who are across the country to keep up with what is going on with us.

I started my new job for the orange and white Texas High Tigers. Growing up a Razorback fan, I have never owned much orange clothing; but paychecks create a new sense of loyalty and loyalty knows no colors. It's going well, just a lot of info at once. I am teaching a Health class for an hour and a half a day. Only about 12 kids in each class so it's not too bad. I am going to do my best to carry on the legacy of a coach-taught health class. We are going to do as many vocabulary words and worksheets as I can get away with. I may pop in a video of Dr OZ's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. I am trying to find a way to incorporate Sportscenter into a health curriculum. Any suggestions are encouraged.

Baylie started her new school at Nash Elementary. Her first day was Tuesday March 11. They were having "Donuts for Dads and Muffins for Moms" that morning for breakfast. So Corey and I were able to eat breakfast with her to start her first day. The THS LB coach's wife teaches 2nd grade at her school and his daughter is in Baylie's class. The principal is the mother of the head coach that I am working for. So everyone has been VERY helpful. And most importantly, she loves it...so far. She was most excited about getting to choose from a variety of foods for lunch. She had a baked potato her first day and was fired up about it.

My favorite verse in the Bible is James 1:3--"The testing of your faith develops perseverance". This verse took on a whole new meaning over the last few weeks!! After looking at 20 something houses, participating in 20 something arguments and nearly killing one another in order to preserve the sanctity of our wedding vows, Corey and I FINALLY found a house. We (I) signed the contract today and are set to close on April 4th. God has truly had his hand in our entire moving experience. He knew our breaking point and took us right to it, made us look over the edge and then showed us a house to buy just before we jumped off the cliff.

Our plan is to stay with my parents until we take ownership of the house (the tenants are friends of ours and are staying in the house through the end of the school year, paying rent of course...they're not that good of friends). So pray for us. Often. Especially Corey.

We are still set to close on our house in Nac on Tuesday March 18. If all goes well, we will sign the papers and head out of Nacogdoches that day. Leaving behind: some of the greatest friends a couple could ask for--friends who became such an important part of our life and we could not have endured the 3 years (and especially the last 4 months) we were in Nac had it not been for them, a great small group whom we will miss tremendously, the most awesomest church we have ever been a part of with a pastor who has made visiting other churches a frustrating experience, and a wonderful elementary school full of amazing teachers and administrators that prepared Baylie for many of the challenges she will face during our move. We thank God daily for the blessings that he has brought into our lives. And we look forward to continuing the relationships of those blessings.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for and is continuing to pray for us during this time of transition. God has a plan for us and we are trying to walk through life with our eyes wide open in order for us to see his plan as he lays it out for us.