The Cat's Out of the Bag!

This entry has been so long in coming . . . is so momentous . . . I don't know if I can do it justice, but I'm sure going to try.

WE'RE MOVING TO TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!

After thinking, praying, soul-searching, seeking, talking, more praying, interviewing, re-thinking and even MORE praying, Randy has accepted an offer to be the pulpit minister for the Woodland West church of Christ in Arlington, Texas. Arlington, baby! My old stomping grounds! (Well, almost.)

Randy actually accepted the offer last Sunday, September 30 and told our elders that evening, but we agreed that it would be best to announce our news to the congregation as a whole (not that it was really possible since you're never going to have everyone together at the same time, but still . . .). So, I have been keeping the news under my hat all week and I have to say, it's been kind of hard!

Randy had announced last October that he was talking to a church in Virginia about filling their minister post--he eventually withdrew his hat from the ring, so to speak, but just to show you how small the world really is, the man who eventually accepted their offer is in the DMin program at ACU with Randy! Anyway, because he made that public announcement (at my urging--I've come to discover that most people wouldn't have advised him in that way), I think most everyone at Southwestern knew this day was coming. We had made no secret of the fact that we wanted to move closer to family, and we also looked at our growing (and growing up) family and knew that if we were going to make a transition, now was the time. And lo and behold, up pops a church who's looking for a minister, and it just happens to be situated right smack-dab between Midlothian and Argyle, where BOTH of my brothers live! Don't tell me that wasn't an answer to prayer!

We visited with the Woodland West church over a long weekend (Fri-Mon) back in September and I know I can't possibly do justice to the feelings I had then and continue to have up to this moment! First off, when we left Woodland West for the final time on our trip, I remember feeling the same way that I felt when we left Southwestern after interviewing here 11 years ago--I felt like I was leaving friends behind, and hoping wildly that I would get to see them again! Isn't our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ just the greatest?! (Yes, that's rhetorical and a terrible understatement!) When you have Him in common, you can meet someone, talk for two minutes and automatically feel like you have a friend for life. That's Woodland West.

I compiled a list of stories from our weekend in Arlington that I wasn't sure I'd ever get to share; after all, if Randy had not gotten the job, whom could I have told? The folks at WW may tell me differently, but after all the meetings and get-togethers, after our time of worship and Bible study, after all the meals and times of fellowship, I was convinced if we were to receive an offer it would be because of my KIDS! I was so proud of them! They met so many new people, shook so many hands, repeated their names and ages over and over again, and through it all they remained pleasant, cheerful and engaged. I had reminded them before we ever left Ohio that the people at Woodland West were "family" just like the folks at Southwestern, and that's just how they treated them!

Okay, before the length of this post gets out of hand I'll wrap it up, but you can look forward to a few snippets from our time there in a coming entry. They're really funny!