We moved to St Louis four and a half years ago for Stephen to serve as a worship pastor at a church called The Journey. Our time here has certainly been a journey...we've had some of the best and hardest years of our life so far while in St Louis. In many ways I feel like we grew up while we were here. We've made so many wonderful friends that we love deeply. We adopted two little boys. We had a baby. We were blessed to be a part of 3 different campuses across St Louis over the years here and are thankful for our time at each one.
We also had several miscarriages and a couple of other traumatic events. While here I experienced the deepest pain I've ever gone through. I struggled and mourned and took over a year to work through some deep grief. Then I saw God restore so much in my life and bring healing to my heart. I experienced his faithfulness in ways I never had before. I am in awe of his goodness to me. I still cry when I think about how faithful he has been. I do not deserve it. How beautiful this time has been for me. I am so thankful for it all.
God recently brought along a new opportunity for our family that we are very excited about. Stephen has accepted a position at a wonderful church in Austin called Real Life. It's been amazing to see how God has orchestrated it all together and we have already been so blessed by how kind and gracious the people there have been to our family and band. We are confident that this will be a great fit for Stephen, the band and our family long-term and we are so excited to partner with them in sharing the gospel in Austin. We are also looking forward to being close to family again. Having five kiddos (and wanting to possibly adopt again at some point) is wonderful and challenging at the same time, and it will be such a blessing to have family near by. Not to mention, we just love our families. They are awesome! :)
Anyway, this is obviously a huge change for our us. We are listing our home this week and moving in August. If you think of us, please say a little prayer for our family as we transition to a different home, city, school and church.
And if you are one of our friends in STL, we want to hang out with you before we move!! If you are a friend in Austin, we want to hang out with you after we move!! :)
