We're...

...moving!! Is anyone REALLY surprised?!? Well, I've asked Joe to post about the life changes that we are in the middle of right now but he has been crazy busy lately and as I have finished school for the year, well, I can do my best to update everyone.

Joe went through a very long process of applying, interviewing, and being named the Head Baseball Coach at Houston Christian High School over the last several months. He applied way back in February along with a full time position teaching Bible at the school. He was told back then that he would not be considered for the Bible position because he has not been to seminary and because of that, he would not be considered for the baseball job even though he was one of their strongest candidates (apparently they wanted someone who could be on campus full time). Anyway, he applied for various positions all over the country and we were preparing ourselves to move to Austin after a summer in New York for camp. Long story short, they interviewed for months and could not find the person that they were looking for. They brought in Joe along with 4 other candidates. With his incredible interviewing skills his "30 minute interview" turned into an hour and a half long interview for the baseball position and the Bible job! They did their research, talked to lots of references, and found mutual friends on Facebook (yeah, seriously!) and offered him both positions! The Lord did some serious work through this whole process and we are so thankful! They quickly called a players meeting and a parent meeting so that everyone could meet the new coach and everyone is excited about the new season. Joe can tell you more details about the school and the program but this is like moving up to the "big leagues". The school is very competitive academically, not to mention very expensive (it looks like a mini college campus - I've never seen anything like it!) and the baseball program is a super big deal (I think they've won state 3 out of the last 10 years and have sent kids to some major universities to play not mention the kids who have been drafted straight out of high school!). Needless to say, I am a very proud coach's wife! This is like a dream job for Joe and we plan on sticking with it for 30 years if that is what the Lord has for us!

Anyway, because of Joe's new teaching position we decided not to go to camp this summer. I will be staying at my school in Baytown. I will be teaching 4th grade ELA (Reading, Writing, and Social Studies) which I am thrilled about. We also decided that since Houston Christian HS is on the other side of Houston (in Spring Branch) we needed to move to the middle so that we could both more easily get to work. We are moving on Monday to the Heights neighborhood which is just north of downtown Houston and much closer to everything that we love. Baytown is great for what it is but isn't really our kind of place. It has been a hard place to be for the last year and a half as the Lord has been working in such amazing ways - bringing us here to work at the church, giving Joe the Bible job at BCA and allowing him to work with the baseball team (who became State and National champs by the way!!!!!!) and Kade Johnson (who I call "Joe's boyfriend" - they are two peas in a pod!), allowing me to work at an amazing school with an awesome team and an incredible class, and now to HCHS! We could never have guessed how the Lord was going to work here and it has been a long and frustrating road at times. But, we are thrilled with what is happening now and we wanted to share it with you. Thanks for all of your prayers. Keep them coming please. We would love for a post soon that could be titled "We're pregnant!" but we are trying to trust the Lord with that as well (me especially!).

Our new address (which you can start using immediately) is:

1007 E. 25th
Houston, TX 77009

Since I have absolutely nothing to do this summer I should be posting pictures of our new house soon. It reminds me so much of the North...hardwood floors that creak, tall trees in the neighborhood, neighbors who know each others names - nothing like Baytown :) Let us know if you want to come visit!! Maybe you can come watch Joe's team play their district rivals who are coached by Craig Biggio :) Just a thought!