Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Answered Prayer!

This last week and a half in our life has been filled with many ups and many downs. Thankfully more ups than downs! While I didn't get the leasing consultant job I was hoping for, many more options presented themselves! After a few days of diligent prayer, yesterday proved to be an amazing milestone in both of our job searches! I applied and had an interview with a nannying agency who actually gave me the contact info for a family who is looking for a nanny immediately (I was able to have an interview with the mother today and it seems pretty promising)! I also got three other calls for interviews yesterday from a variety of other employers...all in the matter of minutes. It was amazing! Brian also got a call from one of the banks he has been waiting on and they are finishing up the hiring process, which is awesome! To say the least, God is providing!

Brian has been enjoying his classes so much...although he is starting to get a little tired of all the reading he has :) I have gone to a few with him and they are unlike anything I have ever experienced. They are like Sunday School on ridiculously strong steroids! I begin my Seminary Wives Institute (SWI) class on Thursday night and I am very excited for that! Especially because it will allow me to make some connections with some other women here in Louisville. I was a little skeptical, but apparently SWI classes here at Southern aren't as lame as what one would initially think. Almost all of them are taught by actual professors wives and are very theologically based (not "how to make curtains" based--although that could be helpful) ;)

We are planning on visiting one more church on Sunday and then we think we will be making our final decision on where we make our church home! The crazy thing about Louisville is that there are so many amazing churches that its so hard to choose! We think we have found where we are going to stay, but we think this last visit on Sunday will help confirm that.

Thank you for your prayers and your love!!
We miss all of you!

-AM

Monday, August 15, 2011

A thought.

It's official. Today marks the first day of the fall semester at Southern. And after an interesting weekend, we are happy to see that everything is moving along as planned. Saturday evening, a massive thunderstorm (I've named it Hurricane Louis) graced its presence upon Louisville. If we were still in Florida, this thing would have been classified as a tropical storm...and a heavy duty one at that! As we ate our dinner, we watched the swaying trees, howling winds, and utter downpour just outside our windows. And then the power went out. We figured that, like Florida, we'd be getting our electricity back in a few hours, tops. It wasn't until Sunday morning when we woke up--still without power--that we remembered that we surely weren't in Florida anymore. It wasn't too big of a deal...just a couple of cold showers and a few meals out. But it wasn't until we ventured out for church on Sunday morning that we realized the great effect of the storm. Stop lights were out all over town (scary at the largest, most dangerous of intersections), huge trees had fallen into houses and cars, businesses and families were without electricity as Louisville electric worked to repair the ancient power lines. To say the least, everyone thought it was an interesting way to begin the new semester at Southern (luckily, the school's power was restored on Sunday evening...or that would've made for a fun first day)!! While this incident was, in the grand scheme of things, rather minuscule compared to some other alternatives, it did teach us a few things. It reminded us of the luxuries that we have and it tested our ability to do without those things if necessary. Considering we were in the middle of an extremely intriguing TV show when the power went out, it was tough :) But it reminded us that God doesn't always have our comfort in His interest. Sometimes He reserves the right to put us places and in conditions where we aren't always safe and aren't always comfortable--but ALWAYS where His name will be glorified. And thats just something that we, as believers, need to accept.

So yea, it was just a storm. And yep, this is a rather far-fetched analogy...but I thought it was worthwhile to share.



Ways that you can pray for us in the coming days:
Brian had two interviews today for two different banks and two different teller positions. One seems like a better opportunity than the other and both banks seem intent on hiring him, but the time might come when we have to accept or reject one without knowing the final decision on the other. Pray for guidance in this area, that we would be willing to step out on faith if the situation arises.

I have a second interview tomorrow for the leasing consultant position I applied for last week. This interview will be with the actual owner of the apartment complex. There are two other applicants in the running for the job. Pray that they might see something different in me.

We have begun our church search in Louisville. Right now, we are feeling drawn to the two churches we have visited--but they are entirely different from one another. We feel as if each would be equally amazing choices...just for different reasons. We want to get plugged in as quick as possible so that we can begin serving and building community. Pray that God would show us exactly where He wants us to be.


You're awesome. Thanks for following.
-AM

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Just Passing the Time Away...

It's hard to believe we've almost been here for 2 weeks already! Boy, how time flies! And boy, how happy we are to have made the decision to move in two weeks before school begins on Monday! Not only have we been able to get all of our belongings unpacked, make our apartment as "homey" as possible, and complete some of the tedious tasks required of moving to a new state (transferring auto insurance, attempting to get new licenses, etc.), we've also been able to enjoy some much needed REST! With such an exhausting two weeks before we moved, having an opportunity to relax has been such a blessing! We forgot what life was like without having the responsibilities of work and school to worry about! Our days have consisted of sleeping in, gaining so much valuable knowledge from Food Network and HGTV, checking out numerous coffee shops around town, applying (x10) for jobs, getting a considerable amount of reading done, and even cooking dinner together! Sounds splendid, I know! Of course, we know (and we are praying) that this won't last for long!

Fortunately, we both have job interviews within the next 5 days! I have an interview tomorrow afternoon as a leasing consultant for a nearby apartment complex. I'm praying that this could finally be the end to my job search. It's a full-time position, so if I got it, that would really be perfect! Brian also has a phone interview on Monday morning for a bank teller position at PNC Bank. He has already made it through two stages of the application process and we are assuming that this will be the last (besides training, of course). It would be amazing if we were both offered these positions. Not only would they result in a much needed income, but we are truly excited for the fact that both of these positions require daily interaction with people outside of the seminary--outside of what could easily become a Christian "bubble." We are looking forward to the opportunities to spread the light of Christ in our places of work. So they would definitely be an answer to prayer, to say the least!

We still have yet to make many friends here, but we know that there will be more opportunities to do so once school actually begins and once we find a church home. Campus is definitely filling up more and more everyday! We visited our first church here on Sunday morning: Highview Baptist Church. We enjoyed it, but we are still hoping to try a few more before deciding on where we will become members. We have found the people of Louisville--and especially students/alumni of Southern--are so friendly and welcoming to new seminary students. Brian has already gotten two calls--one from the worship leader at Highview (a student at SBTS and predecessor to a friend, Eric Yeldell, who used to lead worship at Highview) and one from the pastor of Vine Street Baptist Church (the church that was so hospitable towards us on our mission trip to Louisville in March)--asking him if he would like to get coffee sometime and assist us with the transition to Louisville. This was definitely a blessing and I truly hope that they would be the beginning of great mentoring relationships for him.

Well, what was intended to be a short update turned into quite a long update! Sorry about that...thanks for sticking it out 'til the end :) We are just so excited to share about our time here and want to keep you as "in the loop" as possible! Thanks for following!

-AM

Check out some pictures of where we live below...

This is our apartment complex.
Our kitchen.
Our living room.
A main building on campus: Norton Hall.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

The "Luhvul" Life

Tomorrow will be our fifth day in Louisville and we are finally settled in to our new apartment. The apartment is great...it suits our needs extremely well. We are living right on campus amongst other seminary students and families and we really think this will be a great way to get to know some people here in Louisville. In the past couple of days, we have seen many more students moving in and much more activity on campus--an indicator that the start of the semester is just around the corner. 

Ashley's parents helped us move in and just left this morning to fly back home to Florida. It was such a blessing that they were with us to help with the driving and the furniture lifting!! With them leaving to head home, we were given a small taste of our new life here in Louisville...and reminded of the fact that we are alone here in Kentucky. To say the least, we definitely missed their company. Pray that we would begin to make connections with the students that are already here!

Our job hunt is still in full force. We have both applied for countless jobs and are waiting to hear of any responses. Unfortunately, Ashley has not heard back about the job she had a phone interview for 2 weeks ago. In the end, we know that God is going to provide something for us. It's just a little daunting to see the bills start piling up and no income as of yet (although it has only been 5 days). We have been trying to stay optimistic and diligent with searching for more jobs and completing more applications. Your prayers would be appreciated in this matter!!! ;)

Upon our arrival to Louisville on Monday, we remembered why we fell in love with this city to begin with. The character and the culture that is here is really incomparable to anywhere else! The countless local coffee shops are a plus too! We are excited to begin our church search on Sunday and find a place to get plugged in and serve during our time here. 

We'll keep you updated :)
-BM and AM