"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those that love God, to those that are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

God has once again proven Himself to be faithful to work things together for His purpose! It is hard to believe how easy this transition to Rogersville has been!

Here's a brief rundown of the past two weeks:
**Moving Day**
-14 people from Persia Baptist Church showed up to move us
-All of our items were packed on the trailer in 50 minutes
-As we pulled in to Rogersville, Steph and I stopped at Wal-Mart for no more than 10 minutes. Before we got back to the car, Justin called to say that our boxes were unpacked and our beds were put together!
-Several ladies from the church had prepared food (and *delicious* desserts) for all of us, and we had a great time of fellowship!
-Steph helped me get the kitchen set up in record time!

-Since moving day, we have had so much help from church members in completing tedious things like getting the cable/Internet/phone set up, getting insurance, getting a new license plate/registering my car, finding a groomer for Macie, and finding great places to eat!

I still can't believe how easy everything has been! This has been a great reminder that God wants us here!


Despite all of this, we are missing our friends and family. We're not really homesick (we've been back a couple times already for Steph's Senior Awards Day---3 scholarships!--- and to clean the apartment), and we definitely haven't been lonely, but we still miss everyone... not in a sad way, though. We just want all of you here with us! If you can't be here with us, keep in touch with emails, phone calls, texts, etc. We would love to hear from you!

Finally, thank you to all of you for your love, support, encouragement, and prayers. You may never know how much it means to us. We love you!

T- E- Double N- E- Double S- Double E

We're moving to Tennessee!


Here's why:
Justin is the new Student Pastor at Persia Baptist Church in Rogersville, TN! His primary emphasis will be on youth, grades 7-12. He will oversee the children's and college ministries, too. This is an awesome church, and we are so blessed to be a part of that body of believers.

Here's when:
Our official moving date just got bumped up---we'll be in our new home on May 16! This is a week earlier than we had planned, but God had a different plan. And His is always better! We are finishing out this week at our current jobs, and then we will slowly start moving next week. It's going to be crazy!


Here's where:
The church is providing us with a parsonage! Rogersville is in NE Tennessee, which is a 3 hour drive from Richmond. It's about 45 minutes from Pigeon Forge, and 45 minutes to an hour from Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol.


Other stuff:
The youth group averages around 25 students on a weekly basis. The students seem to be very spiritually mature. We will be joining them on their trip to M-Fuge in Birmingham the last week of June... we're pumped! There is also a fantastic group of adults that work with the youth group. The youth team will continue to offer support and assistance as we also step into leadership roles. The church is discipleship-based, which we love! We really couldn't ask for a better situation!

I will hopefully get my foot in the door in the education system in Rogersville, as well. There are a few strong connections that we will have, but nothing is certain. Join with us as we pray about my employment, and remember that the LORD always provides!

Also, Cherokee Lake is about 5 minutes from our house! Justin loves this part! It is absolutely beautiful.

The hard part:
In order to be obedient in this matter, we must leave our family, friends, church, youth group, and home. While we are excited about the new chapter in our lives, we are certainly upset about all that we will leave behind. I am having an especially hard time with this. I have never really lived anywhere other than Richmond, and there are some dear friends and family members that I will really miss seeing on a regular basis. I know that 3 hours isn't so far away, but it just won't be the same. So, the only option is for our family and friends to visit us often! We will have plenty of room, so please stop by!

The next few weeks will be crazy, I'm sure. Hopefully soon I'll have more pictures of our new home, as well as some new contact information. Until then, please keep us in your prayers as we seek to follow God's will for our lives.

P.S.- Last night, Justin got to baptize his brother, Austin! It was such a beautiful blessing. Congratulations, Austin! We're so proud of you!