Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

As I mentioned in my last post, things are not turning out as we had envisioned in regard to our upcoming move.

We were slated to move on Friday, the 20th (a week from tomorrow) and for Matt to begin his new job on Monday, the 23rd. We have a truck reserved, utilities transfers ordered, boxes packed, and are set to sign a lease on an apartment in Nashville on Monday, the 16th.

But now, everything is changing.

The information Matt came across indicated various levels of personality conflict, mismanagement, and incompetence. There also appears to be a huge amount of employee turnover considering the size of the company. In total these factors are significant enough that we began to doubt that things were as good as they originally appeared.

Through much prayer and conversation, we have decided that this isn’t the right position and situation for our family. If the job didn’t require a long-distance move, selling our house, etc, it might be a risk we felt comfortable taking. With things the way they are, it isn’t worth the uncertainty.

Over the last few days we have come to several realizations about God’s work through out this process. From the beginning we have prayed for wisdom, discernment, and that all we did would be about the righteousness of God. I believe this information has come to light in answer of our prayers for wisdom. As my friend Diane said yesterday, it seems like this is protection from the Holy Spirit.

And now, we walk by faith and not by sight. Matt is scheduled to leave his current position as of Thursday, July 19th.

I anticipate the things that are to come. I recognize God’s sovereignty now more than ever. I sit in trust of His faithfulness, of His provision, of His love.

The God I serve has a sense of humor; and if this isn’t proof of that, what comes next will be an even greater adventure!

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21

We just got a call for a second showing of the house this evening.

I have a friend coming over in about an hour.

My house is a wreck.

Hopefully I’ll be back later with more!

Matt has worked in the University of Tennessee system since he completed his Master’s degree four years ago. A few months ago he decided that he liked the idea of leaving academia for the private sector, and we embarked on a season of prayer and conversation about his job.

The first weekend in June, Matt spent a copious amount of time preparing his resume and Pushcart Labs, his web portfolio. His hard work paid off when he submitted a resume the following Tuesday and received an e-mail reply within hours. On Wednesday morning he spoke with the CEO of the company, on Wednesday afternoon he spoke with the person he will be working alongside, and by Wednesday evening he had an interview scheduled for Wednesday the 20th.

This job opportunity was one reason our trip last week was a bit hectic. We headed to Nashville on Tuesday afternoon, Matt interviewed for the position on Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday afternoon he was offered and accepted the job over the phone as we drove to his parents’ house in Georgia.

We spent time Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – around wedding preparations, family time, rehearsal dinner, wedding, etc – doing online research on places to live; Nashville is my hometown, so it made things a bit easier in that we knew the areas where we wanted to focus our search. We are planning to rent for a couple of years; I’m sure finding an apartment is much easier than trying to find and buy a house long distance and on short notice. Early Monday morning we left Georgia headed back to Nashville hoping to find a place we liked that would be available in the time frame we needed.

Through God’s provision, the second complex on our list had three bedroom apartments available when we need to move. Our unit has close to the same square footage as our current house, an open floor plan in the kitchen/living room/family room/dining room, a large balcony, and a big master bath (something we’ve not had before). The complex has multiple pools, including an indoor pool that is open year round, and other nice amenities. We feel very blessed to have found a place so quickly, and that, so far anyway, things have gone smoothly.

The next task, when we returned home, was finding a realtor and getting our house on the market. Matt was able to get in touch with someone Tuesday afternoon, we met with her last night, and our listing should go up today. We are hopeful that we will sell quickly as we are in a great school district and our house lists for under $150,000, both of which are a bit difficult to come by in our area. The realtor seemed confidant that we should sell with no problem (but she’s paid to say that, isn’t she?); she said that though the market as a whole is pretty bad right now the market for “first-time” homes is still moving well.

Whatever happens, we know that God is sovereign over all and trust that He knows how everything will turn out in the end. We have been, and continue to be, prayerful through the process and are trying to be intentional toward making this about God’s righteousness and glory, not about our wants. It will be nice to move close to family, it will be nice for Matt to be in a job doing something for which he has a passion, it will be nice to see what happens in our lives as a result of this change; but if God is not glorified through us and through this, what have we really accomplished?

No, I am not bulimic; fortunately, I have never struggled with eating disorders. Eating – why yes, that is something I engage in regularly; but the purging part, well, not so much. I really hate to vomit. But I digress; on to the point of the post.

Every year in late Spring or early Summer I go into purge mode. When I’m purging there is very little that is truly safe; pretty much anything that isn’t nailed down is fair game. Matt can sense purge mode coming and begins to nail things down. Things like the dishes, clothes, furniture. You know, the stuff that every sensible person cleans out once a year. I mean, do you really need to eat off of a plate? Are you really going to wear that shirt again (no matter that you wear it once a week)?

The last several weeks I’ve been cleaning out. It all started when my neighbor, Lindsey, and I decided to have a yard sale. I went through the house ruthlessly searching for anything that we no longer used or needed, then I enlisted Matt’s help in the hunt. We ended up with boxes of things that we toted to Lindsey’s driveway in hopes that our trash would be someone else’s treasure. What didn’t sell went immediately to Goodwill. A couple of hundred dollars and more space in cabinets and closets were ample reward.

This weekend I attacked our paperwork. “Important” papers had grown to take up a two-drawer filing cabinet and a couple of other file boxes; I could take no more. It took a good portion of two days to sort through and shred all of the papers we were holding onto that we didn’t really need. I filled four kitchen size trash bag with paper and got down to one file box containing the papers that really are important. I feel a hundred pounds lighter.

So, today I am thankful for a husband who puts up with (even encourages to an extent) this quirk of mine and I am thankful for our cross-cut shredder. I’m sure the shredder is thankful for a day of rest.

Saturday was moving day in our household, and everything went smoothly (of course, the only comparison I have to make is with the move from Knoxville which, as we all know, was a disaster)! I thought we were going to have an issue with the delivery of the appliances on Friday afternoon, but with a little quick thinking on Daddy’s part and a minor kitchen remodel – which involved removing countertops and moving cabinets – we were able to get the washer, dryer, and fridge into their appointed places.

Right now we are dwelling in a sea of boxes and unplaced furniture (in the back part of the house), but all of the imperative pieces are in place – the kitchen is put together, the bed is assembled, and the computer is up and running. If you would like to come see us, we would love to have you, but please let us know in advance so we can clear enough space in the guest bedroom that someone could turn around in there!

The only room with no clutter right now is Little’s room, it also has no furniture, but at least we can get the bed in there when we do get one. We received the pictures we plan to use on her walls, so now we can choose a paint color and get things rolling from there. With only 7 weeks to go, we have to get moving, but we seem to function most efficiently under pressure.

We will try to get some pictures of the house posted so you can all see our new, quaint little abode. More updates to come as news breaks.