A New Year!

We have started in a new church, Foothills Baptist Church, in Maryville, TN. It has been very difficult for us to leave our church family at Sevier Heights Baptist Church. However, we felt God's call to go to Foothills where Andy is Pastor of Bible Fellowships & Small Groups! While, this is a huge step for his ministry (which we have prayed for 8 years) and a great call to obedience, we also know that sometimes the hardest things in life can also be the best things in life!

It was in 2007 that we felt God's call to leave the church we were in and start attending Sevier Heights. I was not happy about that.. I loved the church we were at and the people there. My whole family was there! However, we obeyed and the 2nd Sunday there I realized I wasn't saved! It was devastating to me.. all these years I had been telling others about Jesus and His love. I had told them about His sacrifice on the cross to save us from our sins, and yet I myself had never accepted that gift! I had been telling others that I had been saved since I was 8 years old (almost 15 years!) and here I was realizing that I wasn't saved at all! God saved me on February 22, 2007 and my sweet husband, Andy, was there with me and he led me in to the arms of our Savior. Had I not obeyed God I may not have gotten saved. God put a wonderful friend and mentor in my life who has walked with me through many dark valleys this year. She prayed for me and lifted me up, encouraged me, and loved me through it all! Had I not gone to Sevier Heights I may never have met her. I met so many wonderful people and made so many beautiful friends! It has been so hard for me to leave them! They have all be so wonderfully gracious to me, though, in extending our friendships beyond our church walls.

I say all of this to introduce the fact that.. God knows what He's doing. We are only to obey and allow Him to lead us. The year 2010 was a long journey for me, but also a year of great blessing! I look forward to seeing what 2011 holds for us! I know that because we were obedient to God's call to go to Foothills Baptist Church, God has wonderful blessings ahead! I know that the church holds some amazing people within it's walls and I look forward to getting to know them.. God knows how to stretch us and then bless us!