Tennessee Home

We arrived in Paris on Thursday afternoon. We praise the Lord for the many hands from our new church family who were willing to help us unload when we arrived. That night we eagerly put beds together so we could sleep in our own beds after several days on the road. Callie the cat was especially glad to be out of the travel cage and free to roam around the new house. Interestingly, Jake the dog was a bit more reluctant to check out his new surroundings. In fact, that evening he seemed to be a little scared of the night sounds (frogs and insects and ???) which were so foreign to him. Below is a picture of those who helped us unload and a few pictures of our new home. We'll save the inside pictures for later when we get totally unpacked.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and for the ministry here.

Glory to God in All Things!

Today we finished the last long leg of our move to TN--Amarillo, TX to Conway, AR. Also today, about an hour and a half from our motel, the air conditioner suddenly stopped working in the U-Haul. It was certainly discouraging at first given the humid July heat but God reminded us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) and that God causes all things to work together for good to those who are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). So, in addition to praying for God's help as Mitch drove the truck in the sauna-like conditions, we thanked the Lord:

• That we are so close towards the end of the move rather than at the beginning of the long trip.
• That the entire family, along with dog and cat, does not have to travel in the cab of the truck together.
• That there has been no other truck or Durango trouble as we've traveled.
• That our dog and cat have been relatively good travelers. (Jake's been the best traveling buddy and Callie's merely tolerated the inconvenience.)

Our next post should be one of our arrival in Tennessee along with the arduous process of unloading and unpacking.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us during this time of transition. We love you all!

Saying Goodbye

It's been a busy and emotional past few days. Our brothers and sisters in Christ showed up in force to help us load the truck on Saturday. Then on Sunday Mitch was blessed to be able to baptize a young believer, the youngest son of our music director. Deacon Dave showed a beautiful video at the end of the service, we enjoyed a potluck afterwards, and hugged necks and cried. This morning we left Pioche in hopes of being in Tennessee by Thursday afternoon.

The video Dave put together

Jake the dog rides with Nicole and Mom in the Durango

Can you see Callie the cat in the dashboard of the moving van with Dad?

Thanks for your prayers for us, for Berean Baptist Church in Pioche as they begin the search for a new pastor, and for our new church family at Jones Chapel in Paris.

VBS & Summer Missionaries

This week our Pioche church family is hosting VBS. You can visit the church's website to see a picture slideshow of this event (www.bereanbaptistpioche.blogspot.com). We are blessed to have the help of two summer missionaries, Joey & Jeffery. Both are from Mississippi and spending their summer in service to the Lord and to Baptist churches throughout southern Nevada.

Today we took Joey & Jeffery to a nearby park, Cathedral Gorge. The pictures below are of the missionaries and our trip to the park with our friends from a sister Baptist church, who are also helping us in VBS this week.

L to R: Joey & Jeffery

Top row (L to R): Nicole, Jeffery, Joey

Front row (L to R): Pastor Dad, Nic, Josh, and Kat

Jeffery with one of the many tumbleweeds in the park

Tumbleweed hat, anyone?

Joey is Jeffery's unofficial photographer

Answered Prayers

Thank you for your prayers for us in the process of moving to Tennessee. Since our last post we have sold our second vehicle, our go-cart and trailer, and found a rental that will meet our needs (and have a fenced yard for Jake). Allow us to continue to glorify the Lord by explaining the way He has answered these prayers:

• The sale of our go-cart - It's been fun to own but you just can't drive a go-cart all the way to Tennessee, so it had to go. The man who mowed and weeded the church property in Pioche (and in particular, around the go-cart) last week bought it as soon as he learned we wanted to sell it.
• The sale of our pickup - It's going to be difficult initially to be without a second vehicle when we move to Paris but we knew it would be impossible to haul the pickup and everything we own. So we reluctantly decided to sell it. We posted a few signs around town, got a call the same afternoon, and sold it as a package deal with our go-cart trailer.
• A rental home - This has been the most challenging. The offer and subsequent counter offer on the home we saw while we were in Paris the first of June were both rejected. Since then we and our Pioche & Paris church families have been praying and searching for possible rentals. Today we learned of a man, who just happens to be a Gideon, who owns a rental home in a nice neighborhood with a fenced-in backyard! One of our sisters in Christ in Paris promptly inspected the home inside and out and gave it a "thumbs up." We secured it today! We now have a Paris address and will be able to unload our boxes and road-weary pets as soon as we pull into town. We'll start receiving mail at the following new address around July 7: 723 Salem Circle, Paris, TN 38242. We'll update you on new phone numbers as we obtain them.

There are more answers to prayers forthcoming. Our Pioche church family will be meeting this week to discuss the steps necessary in this time of transition, including the formation of a new pastor search committee. Continue to pray for them during this time. We love them so much!

Another prayer yet to be answered is a job for Jane; however, another one of our sisters in Christ in Paris knows of an open position in a school near the church. We'll see how the Lord works in this. Pray for His will to be done.

Our God is so good, isn't He?! Thank you, once again, for your prayers.

Tennessee Bound

For several months God has led us to pray about a new direction in ministry. He has been calling us to minister in Tennessee. As He continued to confirm this call, we knew the next step was to step out on faith and submit Mitch's resume to pastorless TN churches. About a month ago Jones Chapel Baptist Church in Paris, TN began dialogue with Mitch. Over the weeks that followed, it became clearer and clearer that this might be the Tennessee church God had in mind for us.

On Sunday, June 5, Mitch preached in view of a call and Jones Chapel Baptist Church voted to call him as pastor. So. . .we are moving to TN. This is an easy statement to put in print but a harder one to put into practice. The move involves many difficult things: saying goodbye to our precious, loving church family and community friends here, buying a house in Paris, and moving our home (and pets!) nearly 2000 miles away.

But God is so good! While we visited Paris this past weekend, we quickly learned that there are also wonderful, loving people at Jones Chapel. We also placed an initial offer on a house in Paris that will sufficiently meet our needs (and has room for Big Jake and Callie!). Jane has also submitted teaching applications at the two school districts in the county and is waiting on the Lord to open this door in accordance with His will.

Will you join us in prayer at this time?

• Pray for our church family here in Pioche during this transition. We will serve with them here through the end of June and then begin the trek to TN on July 4.
• Pray for a TN home. Our initial offer has been countered and we're waiting to learn God's will regarding this home or His will about where we'll live. Our greatest prayer is that the entire process of finding a place to live will be finalized in time for us to unload the first box (and road-weary pets) when we pull into Paris.
• Pray for a job for Jane.
• Pray for our new church family in Paris during this transition. They are preparing for a youth revival the end of June (which we'll miss) and VBS the third week of July (which we'll be able to take part in).

Thank you for your prayers!

Tennessee plates from our rental car (wrong county--right plate)

Paris is home to the World's Biggest Fish Fry.

The remaining pictures were taken after the Sunday evening service.

Artsy Nicole

Nicole loves art! She likes to paint, draw, color, and make crafts. Earlier in the school year she began taking art lessons with Barbara Rohde, an accomplished artist in our community. Recently, Nicole finished a tole-painted clipboard. She also gave Jane a hand-painted vase for Mother's Day. Take a look at Nicole's work below:

Jake the Bubble Dog

Jake loves bubbles. We don't know if this is normal behavior for a dog but it is normal for Jake. He's always loved trying to catch bubbles, even if he has to jump to do so. And he's usually successful!